My 65 Gladiator

Kavanji

Member
some 30 years ago a good buddy and i rebuilt his Gladiator that he found on a farm.
back then i told him if he ever wants to sell i take first option!

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what a surprise to get a call the other day if i still want the Jeep.
he did not have time for the Jeep anymore, he sold his Farm and the engine was busted.
i jumped at the opportunity and bought the Gladiator for next to nothing.

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i opened the engine up expecting a disaster but only found the timing chain and gears worse for wear.
i ordered them from the USA and now the 232 is running nicely again.

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there is still a lot of small things i need to do but i am very proud of the jeep.

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i could not resist buying a model of the Gladiator on E-Bay wich cost more than the engine parts at the end of the day:eek:
 
some 30 years ago a good buddy and i rebuilt his Gladiator that he found on a farm.
back then i told him if he ever wants to sell i take first option!

28353238mz.jpg


what a surprise to get a call the other day if i still want the Jeep.

Nice Jeep! I've always liked those and I'm interested to see what you do with it.
 
thanks :)

the truck was assembled in Toledo, Ohio and shipped to South Africa as a cab and chassis.
the bed is local content, that is why it does not have any fender flares on the bed.
when we did the build up 30 years ago we swapped the 3 speed for a 4 speed out a wagoneer.

my son and i just replaced the Release bearing on the clutch,the old one was trashed and making a racket.

the next thing will be a front disc conversion, power brakes and power steering.

i need some info as to what the biggest Tyre i can fit on the closed knuckle Dana 44 in front.
 
lately i noticed the valve-train being very noisy and then the jeep started misfiring like crazy.

at first i thought it was dirt in the carburetor or the old mechanical ignition acting up but soon found the problem to be far more serious.

We took the valve cover of and found quite a few rockers not moving and having massive side-play.

i was shocked to see everything bone dry in the valve cover.

We took the sump of as well to determine the condition of the bearings because i suspected something wrong there

the oilpressure was good at 43 psi so the inspection ruled out any bearing damage.

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my son stripped down the rocker shaft and the rockers and we found the rockers all seized up and worn down like crazy

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in the pic you can see a good rocker right and a worn out one to the left

here you can clearly see the damage. the metal in the hole is where the oil hole in the rocker shaft is. this is the only part that did not wear

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after much research i found one website that mentioned a AMC service bulletin suggesting a fix on the pre '70 232 engine
so i set out to manufacture said fix.
my brother machined a new special rocker shaft bolt that was drilled so it would stick out the valve cover and suply oil into the rocker shaft.

i was lucky to have an old 232 for spare parts so we mixed and matched the best rocker shaft and rockers to complete the assembly.
here is a pic of the special bolt installed:

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i was never happier to see oil coming from a rocker as i was today!!!

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here is everything plumbed up and test fitted:

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i installed a grommet in the valve cover, which was predrilled by the factory by the way, to avoid future leaks and buttoned everything up.

the Jeep has never run so smooth and i hope it stays that way for a long time!
 
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