June 18th 2014 - Im a little behind on this update but I grabbed some new power lock switches at the junkyard, unfortunately that didn't solve the problem. My parents then told me its had that issue since they got it so I suspect a broken wire somewhere. Got the door buttoned up, and replaced some interior lights so it was more convenient to drive at night. What do you do with a truck you just rebuilt? I did what grandpa would do and immediately put it back to work removing large rocks from grandmas flower bed. At this point there are some odds n ends ill be picking up at the junkyard next time im there, but the bulk of the repair is done and its fun to drive around in grandpas truck again.

May 28th 2014 - It doesn't look like much but these photos sum up two days worth of work. I managed to track down some gold left and right fenders with the inner liners. Its a darker gold so not a direct match but its straight and cheap so ill take it. The process of installing it was pretty intensive as I had to modify/repair further damage I wasn't expecting to deal with. By the end of day one I managed to get the new fender installed. Day 2 was spent swapping over the door internals and putting the mirror on. Im so close to being done but in the swap process some of the pinouts on the power lock switch came out. I didn't have time to mess with it much but basically right now my power windows work on both doors, but the power lock switch on the drivers door does nothing and the passenger door can unlock the car but not lock it. I tried figuring it out with the Haynes manual but that was a no go. Tomorrow ill probably just start switching up pins and hope I get it right So close to being done though and it turned out pretty good.

May 15th 2014 - Got the old door removed(royal pain since its power windows and locks), and the new shell put in place with my wifes assistance last night. Closed it and.....bummer theres still a massive gap. So I went to bed. This morning I determined the front fender needed to be removed to straighten it and make the door repair easier. Didn't realize I was in for a 16 bolt and hood removal procedure to accomplish that. Then I busted out the tree saver, attached it to the hinge, and put the jeep winch to work Results of first pull looked pretty promising. Lined up again for the second pull. Getting better.... I had to get going to work and only had time for one last pull. the problem I was running into was either the truck would slide, or the jeep would slide from the force of the pulls. I chocked the wheels with everything I had, and even chained the other side of the truck to a heavy press I had to keep it from sliding, then gave it one last go. Success! Im super pleased with the results. Now im trying to decide if ill stick with my original plan of just hammering out the existing fender, or getting one from a junkyard. Hammering the existing one out is cheapest, but I really don't want to have to take it back off later. Decisions decisions...

May 14th 2014 - Not much of an update but I feel pretty accomplished. Over the weekend I ran up to get pre-tech'd for OSRC and thought I may as well check out the junkyards in the area. Found one that had what was supposed to be a complete door, that turned out to be just a shell. Since the system said it was complete the manager threw in the regulator for it as well all for $100 which seemed reasonable. But more importantly I got the door open!! Now I just need to switch over the existing internal panel and I should be set door wise. Looked at the A pillar and it actually appears to be undamaged. The picture makes it look cockeyed but I double checked the other side and it seems the same. Fingers crossed. Hopefully I get more time to work on this soon.

April 2nd 2014 - Fixed the upper ball joint this morning. Luckily it had been replaced before so there were bolts instead of rivets, but I did have my grinder just in case. Put it all together, hopped in the truck, dropped it in reverse, and the car drives forward? Put it in park and it goes backwards. Odd. Well I tracked down where the linkage goes and from what I can tell I think the firewall got shifted a little and it threw off the column shifter linkage. Made some adjustments and its all back to normal now. Drove down to the junkyard for a new driver side mirror that I put on to keep it legal. The good news is it tracks straight and I got it up to 65 with no issues. Probably get an alignment on it anyway though. Next project will be figuring out how to get the door to open. Currently im trying to take off the inside door panel but im not sure that's going to be feasible since parts of the panel are inaccessible. Also found this little gem under the hood. Took me a few minutes to figure out how it all works. It has a 25ish foot cable on a reel that comes out and a switch on the box to power it. Pretty neat little item.

Thank you! It was an awesome experience for sure, and was so fun it has me already on the lookout for my next adventure :)

With the super easy painting stuff completed thanks to Coy, the vehicle was moved back to my place for that difficult task of reassembly. Originally i had planned to put back on the same parts id taken off, but now they looked old and junkie when paired with the new paint so i decided to get all new lights, reflectors, door sliders, door slide skirts, refurbished front blinkers, hood latches, gas bezel, and stainless hardware for everything. I then discovered i had lost part of the mirror bracket, which i have just ordered a new one and should have the mirrors buttoned up by next week. Next up will be the rims, and then something will have to be done about the interior that looks awful now compared to the outside.

With the main body painted, Coy moved onto painting the rear and side doors. I even helped mask the side doors.

The goal wasnt to have an immaculate paint job, just something that looked decent and not so ratty. With that in mind after a few hours of painting the vehicle was pulled into the makeshift paint booth and the first coat put down. Unfortunately an o-ring in the gun failed and caused water to enter the paint, which in turn created fish-eyes in the paint. Not satisfied with the look, Coy again sanded the freshly painted vehicle and hit it again with another coat. I think at this point in the project i had at least come by once and helped mask off a few things so that was my generous contribution to my own project.

The weather was a bit finicky for a bit, but finally a weekend opened up that looked like it was going to be just about perfect. Only problem was we had a trail ride that day. Coy opted to stay home to work on the sanding and painting while i led the group on the trail ride. What a guy!

Back to it! Each year BOAR participates in the UVU auto expo. While signing up for the event there was some discussion between my friend Coy and I, which led to wondering if we could get the DJ painted in time for the event. One thing led to another and next thing i know im stripping the DJ down to take it over to his place Coy had painted his Jeep Willys with some plain old rustoleum paint and it had turned out great so i popped down to Home Depot to pick one out. The colors were pretty limited but i ended up settling on a Royal Blue they had in stock.

I need to get a better pic that does the rig justice, but for now here it is. Im finally back to driving it around almost daily and having fun so for now the rig will be staying as it is while i focus on other things. Plans that are currently in the works for the future is a new paint job, radiator upgrade, and some other odds and ends. Thanks for following along so far!

With the immediate issues sorted out on the rig, i was anxious to get the thing back out on the road and put it through its paces. Currently the exhaust was mostly removed in anticipation of installing a new one, and the jeep was so loud i had to wear ear protection when starting it up. In keeping with the old school hot rod look, i decided to go with some side dump exhaust pipes. Since the jeep is a bit short in between the wheels(40"), and the shortest side dump exhaust was 50", some fabrication work was definitely going to be in order. I contacted my friend Craig down at Computune in Provo, told him my plans, and setup an appointment. While dropping it off i decided id like to stay and help out as well so i could learn something new, and Craig thankfully allowed it. We spent the entire day cutting, test fitting, welding, etc... to get everything just right. We had quite a few set backs and other issues arise but in the end the system was installed and sounding great.

With the trans sorted out i was able to work on something a little bit easier, installing an oil pressure and voltage gauge. I figured it was time for a gauge upgrade to something that at least was back-lit after my near engine death experience that kicked off this whole mess. My brother had some gauges he graciously donated to the cause that were in great shape. The oil pressure sending unit is a bit large and wouldnt fit into the factory manifold spot. I also wanted to install an oil pressure safety switch that kills power to the fuel pump should the oil pressure drop below 5psi. WIth these two issues in mind i used a 2" brass pipe extension with a T fitting and an L fitting. This would allow me to install both sensors at the necessary offsets. Although it isnt pretty, its functional and was cheap to make. With the sensors installed, all i had to do was run the necessary wiring to the dash and validate everything was working as expected. During the install i also discovered the amperage meter had the power for all the electrical systems running through it. While that may have been ok back in 1972, it was a bit worrisome to me and i plan to change it in the future.

With the mount sorted out, i decided i better do something about the leaking trans since it had been leaving basketball sized puddles under the DJ. The trans had leaks coming from the pan seal, selector shaft, kickdown shaft, speedometer output, and rear output seal. Im sure there are others as well, but figured i would take care of the worst ones first. I also used it as a chance to replace my transmission filter, and of course paint the pan orange. I also replaced the pan bolts with studs. Unfortunately i didnt get many pictures during this time since my hands were always covered in transmission fluid, but i did get a picture of the selector shaft and the two clamps that took me hours to remove and reinstall due to the way they have to be put in. It definitely was not one of my favorite parts of the job.

Now that the engine had been tested and seemed ok, it was time to button everything back up. I wasnt happy with the transmission situation i discovered earlier, and the cross-member that was in there would need some major work to make it not crooked and off-center, so i decided to make a new one. I had a transmission mount for a YJ i had planned to use on another build, but that is so far away that it was re-purposed for the DJ. You can see the old cross member, and exhaust system in the following pics. You can see the slant on the cross-member, and the bailing wire exhaust. I hadn't planned on dealing with the exhaust just yet, but the new cross-member made it a necessity. Step 1 was supporting the trans and removing the cross-member. Notice the leaking trans pan, speedometer gear output, rear output seal, and general condition. I then bolted up the new plate to the trans, modified and test fitted the DOM cross member, then burned everything in with the welder. After everything had a chance to cool down, i painted the cross member and mounting brackets, and once dry i installed the cross member. Unfortunately while the trans was being bolted down, i heard a pop noise and realized part of the trans side mount had broken. Since it was a small piece and there is still alot of thread engagement left, i decided to run with it for now and keep an eye on it. In the event it gets worse, i will replace the tail housing section with a new one.

One step of replacing the oil pump i wasnt looking forward to was priming the oil system. This requires removing the distributor and using a special tool and drill you spin the pump manually. This ensures the oil system is full, your oil pump is functional, and there are no air pockets. The drawback is you have to ensure the distributor is put back exactly how it was, along with the rotor system or you are stuck using the top dead center method which i had no interest in. I carefully marked everything and removed it. Then i used the special oil pump priming tool and a drill to prime the system. After which i put the distributor back in and lined it up with markings i had made prior to removal. At this point my attention changed to the fuel system. With the block out plate in place, i spent some time wiring in the fuel pump and pressure regulator. The pump is a bit noisier than id like, but it was fairly cheap so i guess its expected. I modified the firewall a little so the regulator would clear, then plumbed in the feed line, return line, and vent line. Interestingly the vehicle was previously connected to the vent line, which forced the pump to pull through the roll-over valve and honestly im not sure how it worked at all(which is becoming a theme with this rig). Even after all this work i still was unsure if the motor was wrecked from its low pressure experience weeks before, so i was a bit anxious to fire it up. I rigged the fuel pump to the battery and turned the key. Success! I was surprised when the rig fired right up and oil pressure looked great. After letting it run for 10-15 mins the pressure dropped down a bit but still seemed acceptable. Better yet was i didnt hear any clicking or knocking from the engine so fingers crossed i dodged a bullet on that one. Wont know for certain until i start driving it heavily again but it was definitely the encouragement i needed at this point in the project

Jumping back slightly, during my time waiting on parts i decided to work on the mechanical fuel pump delete. When i had initially dropped the oil pan i found what looked like slightly ovaled BB's, that at first i thought were bearings of some kind. I checked the block as best i could and couldnt figure it out, so i chalked it up as another oddity along with the cigarette in the oil filter canister. The mystery was solved though when i pulled out the mechanical pump and was unsure exactly what i was seeing. There was some sort of fibrous substance clogging up the pump area. Upon further inspection it appears at some point someone filled the housing with sound deadening beads, which had the plastic BB's at their center and a type of insulation surrouding it. Over time they had decomposed and the BB's for the most part made their way down into the pan. I cleaned out the housing, pulled the pump actuator rod, and installed the delete plate.

While waiting on parts for the pump fiasco, i also went ahead and ordered new motor mounts since the ones on there were shot. Seemed like a straightforward deal, got the mounts, bolted them on, and all seemed fine until i went to bolt the motor in and it wouldnt line up. It appeared the block was shifted to one side and the sleeve for the bolt was narrower than the mount. Frustrated i pulled the mounts off to investigate and discovered the ones i got, which were for a chevy 283, werent as tall as the ones that were on the engine before. Spent some time digging around on the internet looking at motor mount pics and discovered the mounts i needed were not the 1962 283 C10 mounts, but had been changed at some point to 1970 Camaro "Big Block" style. Got those swapped in, and with some effort they were lined up and bolted into place. Finally i was able to remove the crane/chain holding the motor up for weeks. It was also during this time that i noticed the transmission mount was shot. Got a new one installed and realized the holes wouldnt line up without pulling the trans over(out of where it should be). Guess that explains why it failed. The crossmember appears to be modified from another vehicle and is also not up to snuff so for now i bolted the trans down and plan to replace the crossmember and mount with aftermarket stuff.

The adventure continues, sadly. I ended up getting a new pump and pickup screen locally, which took 2 days and is another story, but when i went to install the screen it just wasnt working out. After an hour of fighting it i managed to get it installed but it was a little beat up and had me nervous. I considered running it anyway, but then reading online they say you should braze or tig weld the pump to the screen. I figured id give brazing a try even though id never done it before, bought some rod, and according to people online my MAPP gas torch should be able to handle the job. Long story short it didnt work and i ended up burning up the pump, literally. Defeated i ordered a new pump and screen online, got a clamp attachment that bolts on so i dont have to braze/tig the pickup tube to the pump, and ordered the pickup tube install tool. Everything showed up a few days later, and just my luck the pump was faulty. The bolt hold was drilled too close to the pickup passage and if i used it, would have leaked oil out. I messaged Melling(pump maker) on facebook, and they gave me a number to call. To my surprise a gentleman with the last name of Melling is who the number reached which i thought was neat. He agreed i shouldnt run the pump and paid for a return box to their plant so it could be inspected and other pumps checked from that same time period. They also sent me a new pump which arrived a few days later. Once the new pump showed up, i went to use my pump install tool, only to discover it was too small. Back to the internet and ordered up a larger one, which showed up days later. It sort of worked, at least well enough i was able to get the pump in without too much fuss and finally after weeks of work i was able to install the pump into the engine. During all this time i finished up cleaning and painting the oil pan and filter canister. The paint turned out pretty good, although i have noticed it hasnt held up well to even small hits without chipping despite me following the instructions for the paint. The worst of it was on the pan bolts since they came with sharp star washers, but the pan and canister are now installed