Looked like I would have enough clearance to fit under the carport. I was pushing the cab along from the front by myself. Well it suddenly didn't move anymore as it had jammed under the first beam!!! My heart sunk.
Pulled the cab back with my guts all twisted up wondering what damage I may have caused. Fortunately none! Went inside and had a sit down wondering how to solve the problem. As the rear axle was already past the low beam, I figured taking off the front set was a quick way to drop it down some more.
That got me to the halfway point only though. Thought about letting air out of the rear tyres to get more clearance. But taking the jack out from under the A frame and lowering it to the ground the last little bit got it past the beam with only a few millimetres to spare.
Got to enjoy the look of how the two sizes of gold pearl, silver metallic and the xirallic in the olive paint reacts in the setting sun while I wait for my wife Lisa to get home from work to help me unload. Before putting it back on the chassis, I can finally run the donor Grand Cherokee under floor heat and isolation moulded mat.
There is also a firewall section and can see that I have to cut off the top section that used to go under the area of the donor cowl where the wipers and HVAC sat. Only problem was that being right on the fold, it left an ugly edge along the top of the mat.
Used some pinch weld trim along the edge and that cleaned it up nicely. I had left all the mounting studs in place from the donor firewall and floor and placed the retainers back over them to hold it all in place. There was also a factory pressed heat shield that sat above the exhaust system.
The pressed shield goes over the tunnel mat and fits perfectly. We also put in the cab windows while it was easy to work around the cab. I put some rubber grease in the groove with along the cord as well as on the face of the lip that gets pulled over the window flange. Helps it pull over the flange when installing it.
Now it was time to roll the cab very carefully between the 32 Willys and the house to get it into the workshop. Once along side the chassis, we attached the engine crane to the lifting rig I made that bolts to all the front seat mounts. It is angled back to be in the centre of balance of the cab.
Using plates between the crane and the rig with a single bolt allows me to tension the joint and stop it swinging around. Can set it on an angle for instance and it stays there. Lisa is just keeping it steady and not holding any weight. We angled it up over the transmission as didn't have much head room under the panel door guide.
Not a lot of room between the back of the bell housing and the front of the bed floor, so had to go in straight. It dropped straight over the mounts so the hard part is all done without damage. :)
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