Ground up 51 update

[Toms51]

Big step today, drivetrain installed... thought I’d share.

[5JeepsAz]

Clean look!

[bmorgil]

Looking great! I love this part.

[Toms51]

Thanks... I love this also... all new stuff from here on out.

[gmwillys]

Looking great! Well done!

[5JeepsAz]

What do you mean new stuff?

[Toms51]

I am pretty much out of usable parts from the original Jeep. The original driveshafts are close to being finished and installed soon. The original PTO will go back someday. After that, all new parts, including the tub, which is coming from a new source in India to be finished by Brian in Connecticut. The original Jeep was a real mess, rust on everything, gas tank poorly repaired several times, even the wheels were pitted badly with oval lug holes. I’ve gone this far, so new on everything as the budget allows. I’m shooting for 2 to 3 more years... Oh, the original drivers seat frame is good. It had no passenger seat.

[bmorgil]

I feel for you Tom! Mine was also mess. The good news the new stuff is pretty good no mater where it comes from. As long as it is the new stuff. Older tubs and parts were notoriously cheep. Not so on some anymore. There is a of of NOS out there. I tried to use as much as I could find.

[gmwillys]

Hopefully Brian will post videos of him going through his process of working with the tub. He isn't a fan of the India tubs, but he has the skills to make it right.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTHDVml1xugLuj0oi384tEQ

[Toms51]

Actually sir, I just dropped off something to Brian this past Friday and he was very excited about these new India tubs, so much so that we have switched from him cobbling and fabbing one to buying one of these. It will be a lot less expensive. It is the tubs from that one factory in the Philippines that most suppliers sell that he will not even consider working on. He is working on trying to get them in bare steel vs primer because he will just strip the primer off anyway.

[gmwillys]

My apologies. My brain wasn't engaged when I wrote that. You are correct about the Philippine MDJuan bodies being troublesome. I was so closed minded about the body kits, that I didn't know this outfit existed. If Brian is sold on the bodies from India, then I might need to change my thinking towards body kits, since he is such a perfectionist when it comes to fitment.

https://www.sgireengus.com/about-us/

[Toms51]

No apology necessary. You are right about him, a perfectionist to his core. He caught me off guard with that one. In fact I was bringing him the only body parts I had remaining, thinking we were going that route... I’m excited now, it’s going to be Luzon red with beige wheels and the red stripe on the wheels.

[Toms51]

Now for sure I’ve gone as far as I can. Maybe I could look at early wiring. Gotta adjust the brakes. The body from India is somewhere in the pipeline, held up we think buy the Suez Canal blockage backup and covid still going hard over there. I’ve started to stockpile parts that will be needed to finish.

[5JeepsAz]

You sound ready. On the beige wheels, is that color original? I was reading some debates about wheel color and am wondering how you addressed it

[Toms51]

Like yourself, I read up on the topic as much as I could and then there’s Brian in Connecticut who knows a thing or two. The consensus is two colors were used with the Luzon Red paint, the beige and a light yellow, probably used randomly as supplies allowed. Wasn’t it like that with the same parts from different vendors? Anyway, that, along with a few pictures swayed my decision. I just like the look and it happens to be correct, although I’m learning that “correct” in the Jeep world covers a wide spectrum.

[5JeepsAz]

Awesome. So, in conclusion it's the same stuff different century, and whenever the canal shipping starts flowing normal life is good, and we don't know why but, my how original colors are correct to see on a resto. Love it.

[Toms51]

Well, it’s been a while but Brian finally has the body and he’s very satisfied, except for the grill. A few things there that they got wrong but they are very open to feedback and Brian, along with Peter DeBella are letting them (India) know. In the meantime, we will use the original grill, which was the only body part I salvaged. I am excited about having that being used. Just waiting on word to bring the completed chassis down to CT for Brian to fit the body, make adjustments, then dismantle and paint. He is also going to put it back together before I bring it home and finish. It will also be started for the first time while it’s there. Been a year and a half since the engine was rebuilt. Next post hopefully is a painted Jeep, ready for finish.

[bmorgil]

Awesome Tom! Getting close now. I was also able to salvage the original grill. That is the most important piece of the body I think. The Jeep grill is the signature. Its worth any extra work it takes to keep it if you can.

[gmwillys]

Great news Tom51! Glad you are mostly happy with the replacement tub. Can't wait to see your plan come together.

[5JeepsAz]

Way to go!

[Toms51]

Need an opinion please. I have a shot at a 1949 Donaldson air cleaner, supposedly off a cj3a. He wants 200 firm. I like it, it looks so different from the reproduction ones sold that are all around 175. A lot of my build is new repro stuff because the originals were beyond repair but I do have a smattering of original throughout. Would you get that air cleaner, it looks like in mint shape? And is a 49 any different from the 51 I’m building?
Thanks, and Happy holidays to all
Tom

[5JeepsAz]

How are you making decisions on what is acceptable? Seems like this is one of many ahead as your build with 'new to the jeep' parts. I would hazard a guess that you will grab it up and slap it on, but only time will tell...

[bmorgil]

Tom, I ave this one on my 3A https://www.kaiserwillys.com/category/fuel/air-cleaner-assemblies-parts/complete-oil-bath-air-cleaner-assembly-fits-41-52-mb-gpw-cj-2a-3a-m38 It is exactly like the original. I was able to compare it to the originals at the shows. It is the same part, cant tell the difference. (Except I have the sticker in the wrong spot!) There were a few different brands used Dondaldson, Oakes and a dry Fram. The one from KW is an original design and bolted right into my Jeep.

[Toms51]

Sorry I didn’t get back gents, I had log in issues for a bit… Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts. I guess it doesn’t matter what I put in. I had no idea the KW air cleaner was that nice. Once again, “correct” on some of the things with these Jeeps is a broad term. I also didn’t know about there being 3 manufacturers of them. So the Donaldson that I did in fact buy, because I like the design, will look just fine. Now I hope I can find a filter element for it.
Happy Holidays everyone!

[bmorgil]

The Dondaldson is an oil bath air cleaner. There isn't an element originally. It has a mesh insert over oil. To convert it to an element follow this thread from the Tech Library on this forum.

https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys.com/showthread.php?2595-Converting-an-Oil-bath-Air-Cleaner-to-An-Element

For more about the original design, here is something LarrBeard put together.

https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys.com/showthread.php?1901-Oil-Bath-Air-Cleaners-101

[Toms51]

Excellent, excellent, excellent! Good read… thank you. I am officially excited about my”new”
Donaldson air cleaner.

[bmorgil]

Haha! I truly understand what you mean by "officially excited". It is really a great time working on these old things and getting them figured out. A lot of history in a restore.

[LarrBeard]

Here is a note from August 2017 when we all were curious about the Donaldson air cleaner. It is a surprisingly sophisticated device:

It is funny how a lot of us end up talking about the same subject at the same time. The discussion of this week has been oil bath air cleaners. Oil bath air cleaners, Donaldson oil bath air cleaners in particular, are an item that look simple, but have a lot of sophistication once we start looking at them.

Donaldson air cleaners rely on the fact that dirt has weight – and anything with weight has inertia. We don’t think of dust and grit as having inertia, but particles of crud tend to keep moving in the same direction just like everything else. Donaldson air cleaners take advantage of this to make dirty, gritty, dusty air into something that our Jeep carburetors will use and not grind up the innards of our engines. In fact, a guy named Dyson is making a lot of money selling vacuum cleaners that use this same principle.

The oil bath air cleaner consists of a canister having two concentric cylinders inside it. Dirty air enters the cleaner through a number of holes in the side of the outer canister. In many of the civilian Jeep applications, these holes are up against the wheel well so that as little rain or other water as possible will get into the air stream. On the M38 and M151 military Jeeps, which go swimming on a regular basis, there is a water separator to make water entry less probable.

Air enters the outer canister, it swirls around the inner metal cylinder and is drawn downward toward the bottom of the air cleaner. This swirling action does two things; the cyclone action uses the inertia of the larger dust and grit particles to throw them against the wall of the outer cylinder and then lets them drop into the oil puddle in the bowl at the bottom of the filter. At the bottom of the outer cylinder, the air stream makes a 180 degree turn, heading upward into the inner chamber of the air cleaner. Once again, inertia comes into play. Most remaining dust and grit does not make the 180-degree turn and drops into the oil puddle.

Now, the mostly clean air enters the inner canister where it goes through the steel wool, or whatever material, to the air cleaner outlet at the hose to the carburetor. This material acts again as a maze for remaining dust particles and provides acceptably clean air to the engine.

Yep, it’s messy. But – it has the advantage that it is a fail-safe design. Even if the oil bath at the bottom gets so full of dirt, dust and grit that it turns into a solid block of grease, the inertia action of the filter and the steel wool maze will still remove a bunch of dirt from the air stream. A paper filter is a fail unsafe device – if it gets dirty the air stream is blocked and the engine quits. This is no big deal if you can run down to the parts store for a new Fram air filter, but if you are in West Waziristan BFE ….. .

And, once again, the CJ3 people have done a much better job of describing this that I can. Here is a link to find out everything you would ever want to know:

http://www.cj3a.info/tech/aircleaner.html


And another note: If you don't want to deal with the loose oil in the reservoir at the bottom of the filter, a piece of oil-soaked foam still does a very good job of trapping dirt, especially if all you are doing is street driving. But, if you are going to go out and play in the dirt - use the oil bath and just deal with the mess.