Build Thread 1972 CJ5 Start to Finish....
Reddrig
Jeeper
- Posts
- 141
- Thanks
- 1
- Location
- Ca
- Vehicle(s)
- 1972 Jeep CJ5 304 T15 Dana 20 Holly Carb
Dana 44 rear
Dana 30 front 4.27 stock gears
Front and rear power disc brakes
35" Mickey Thompson tires with Mickey Thompson 17" wheels
Rhino lined tub with custom tool box
Rugged Ridge ORV 4" lift, 1.5 BL
I wanted to share my experience with the rest of you, so this will be a modified build thread about my acquisition of a 1972 CJ5 .
To start the story off, I was visiting another non jeep forum and looking through the classifieds section when I came across a white 1972 CJ5 that looked to be in decent shape. The seller advertised the jeep for 5000, but told me on the phone he wanted $4,000 cash or was open to a trade. Eventually I traded an item that had a 3,000 trade value for the jeep. Anything under a 1975 in Ca is smog exempt, big selling point for me.
So I made the 2 hour drive to check out the jeep, upon my arrival the owner was gone, but left the keys in the ignition and said to take it for a drive (unusual). So I took the Jeep out, first impressions were somewhat predictable. The vehicle started and ran fine, the brakes were beyond scary, the suspension had a bad lisp and felt like a buck board, the steering had two inches of play. The Jeep had holes all over from previous owners attaching various items. The dash looked horrible with different sized holes everywhere. I looked under the Jeep and noticed the frame had either been reinforced or cracks fixed near the front mounts (typical location). The underside was caked in so much dirt it was hard to tell what was going on. I did notice oil leaking around the Transfer Case . Surface rust was on all of the parts, the body had rust spots in places, but was still in somewhat decent condition for a 42 year old vehicle. The Jeep had a tow bar attached and looked like it was towed a good portion of its life. The body was OK with numerous dents and a big gouge in the hood. The paint was a white pearl that was starting to chip places with most of the clear coat gone.
So I drove home and asked myself if I wanted to take on this project. I eventually decided the $3000 was worth the risk (potential fun) so I made the trade. About a week later I actually drove home in the jeep. Looking back this was not a very wise decision, but I made it home. Trying to keep the thing in one lane was almost impossible. The brakes were basically non existent.
When I returned home, I started the process. I'm mechanically inclined, but this was the largest project I had ever undertaken. This was not a a frame off restore, but I think I have hit almost every part of the jeep without pulling the body off. I decided this would be a custom build suiting my needs or taste. I was not worried about resale, I wanted to build this thing the way I wanted.
I came up with the short list which had tripled as I got into the project. These were my priorities in order.
Brakes
Suspension
Steering
Engine
Body and paint
For the most part I stayed in this order, a lot depended on when parts arrived. So I started doing my research which included a ton of information from this site. I eventually contacted a gentlemen named Herm up in Washington who talked to me about a disc conversion. Originally I was going to do just the front wheels, but eventually opted for his front and rear disc conversion. This was sold as a bolt on conversion, not quite a bolt on, but it was fairly straight forward. I have a Dana 44 30 combo. Took about a full week for me to get this job done. Once I started pulling the old
off, I opened up a can of worms with the brake lines, eventually I replaced about 80% of the old lines. Let me tell you if I never see another brake line fitting in my life it will be fine with me. I actually drove 2 hours for a special fitting for my brake light switch so it could be plumbed into the line. I also pulled apart the front axles and replaced bearings and seals. The bearings and seals came with the kit.
Used Spidertrax hub centric spacers on all four wheels. The wheels are Classic Mickey Thompson 17" x 9 with MT Radial 35" x 12.50 tires.
The next project was the suspension. The old suspension was shot, one leaf spring was actually coming apart. I went with a standard 4" kit (Rugged Ridge ORV) which included springs and shocks. I originally used the stock shackles which I found out real quick wouldn't work, so I purchased some longer HD shackles which made all the difference in the world. The ride is very good at this point. Made a few rookie mistakes during this install. I mounted the springs the wrong way on the first try, which I found out wouldn't work real quick when the drive shaft u joint was binding, because the angle was all screwed up. I felt like an idiot. Anyway I reversed the springs and all was good. I also have a 2" BL that was left over from the previous owner.
The steering was interesting, I replaced almost everything from the steering box up which included HD tie rod, drag link and Borgeson steering shaft. The steering is now tight as a drum. I can also drive on the freeway without white knuckles. I also replaced the steering wheel with a cheap eBay special. This was probably the easiest project as everything was very straight forward. I did make the mistake of trying to use the stock shaft by replacing the coupler, this coupler made me nervous. It just seemed weird that the coupler was the joint holding everything together. I broke down and ordered the Borgeson. Make sure you paint the new shaft as it will rust fast.
The engine is the original AMC 304 AMC which I was told was rebuilt 45 thousand miles ago. I will say the old engine runs very good and has made it real hard to replace. I have replaced rear main, oil pan, valve covers, sorted out the vacuum hoses (pain in the ***). The motor runs strong, but still leaks a little oil. The oil leak is driving me nuts, but I'm learning to live with it. I'm always trying to solve it, but I'm failing miserably. I replaced the the radiator and flushed the system which solved my slight overheating issue. Added a tachometer, not sure I needed it, but it looks cool. New air filter was also added. All in all the old engine is running strong at this point. Once it gives up, I'll look to swap out with a 360.
The T-15 Transmission is working ok, but will pop out of Reverse on occasion. I'm getting ready to rebuild very soon along with the Dana 20 Transfer Case . For now they are working OK, I did replace the fluids which looked horrible.
I serviced both axles with fluid replacement. As I scrubbed off the dirt, I made a nice discovery, my Jeep came with the upgraded 4.27 gears from the factory. I thought I had 3.73's, this explains my confusion with the tall tires and believing the 3.73's were performing better than expected. Anyway the gears were in great condition.
Added a Flowmaster exhaust system which exits straight out the back, twin pipes.
The gauges were next, the speedo, fuel, and temp were not working. I was able to sort out the wiring and get everything working again. I did replace the fuel gauge. I also added a stereo system at this point with some 6x9 speakers under the seats. The dash was still in bad shape which I addressed at the body shop later in the process. I pulled the speedo out and cleaned it up, greased the connection port and added a few custom touches to the screen.
The lighting has been another nightmare, I'm finally to the point everything works. I won't bore you with these details. I will say the circuit tester became my best friend. I bought new front clear turn signals.
The interior had been Rhino lined from the previous owner. The lining was so sun faded it looked white. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, when I discovered a product actually sold by Rhino. I'm always skeptical of these so called reconditioning potions, but this stuff was amazing. I painted it on the entire interior and achieved what looks like a brand new interior. It's like a black die, all together it was $20.00 for a new looking interior. Por 15 also became my best friend. I have used this miraculous product on several rusted parts with great success.
The body and paint was another interesting project. I searched for a month or two for a shop that would tackle the work. 93% of the shops flat out refused the project since it was not an insurance claim. And if they did give me a quote it was $7.000 or higher. I eventually contacted Larry the owner of Jeeps R Us in Laguna Beach, very nice guy, he put me in touch with Miracle Paint and body in Santa Ana. Spoke to Rodd who was a straight shooter. I explained my budget and told him what I wanted done. He gave me what I felt was a good price of $2,200 out the door including tax. Most of you know this is on the cheap for paint and body work. I went with a current ford color, Darkside Metalic which is a very dark green metalic.
I made the decision this jeep was going to be a Ca jeep, so I had him fill in all the old holes created from previous owners and fill some of the hard mounting point holes from the hard top. I think it's a much cleaner look this way. He also filled the old dash holes up and fixed the trim piece from the dash to the window. Both were painted to match and look very clean now. I added some diamond plate backing around my stereo and temp/oil gauge. The diamond plate matches the exterior and also looks good against the dark interior (my opinion). I didn't realize diamond plate is a bitch to work with. While at paint my front window blew over and shattered, Rodd replaced the front window free of charge. My old window was actually pitted so this was sort of a blessing. I replaced most of the outer hardware with Stainless Steel.
All in all I'm very happy with the paint, some areas are not perfect and you can tell this is not a $10,000 show quality job, but I believe I got more than what I paid for based on my research. So I'm satisfied.
I have spent a good portion of my life in the desert in buggies or riding dirt bikes, so after completing this project, I'll probably only ever use the jeep for an occasional trail. It turned out to nice for me to beat up. For the most part it will be used as a weekend driver. The project has been fun for the entire family. Oh I did add a winch to the front because I believe every Jeep should have a winch. I included a basic price breakdown so people could know what they might be getting into. I'm probably upside down a little at this point but not much. We don't rebuild these Jeeps for the investment, although money is a consideration. I have done 100% of the labor which has made this project somewhat affordable. Thanks to this site for all the help. I thinks it's tacky to post figures, but I wanted someone considering an older jeep to know what you can get for the $. All of these projects are different, but I thought this is a good starting point. Ask me questions if you want and I'll try and give you the answer or explain my thought process. Hope u enjoy..
Jeep $3,000
Suspension everything down to the bolt $900.
Tires and wheels $1,800
Steering components $500
Brakes $1,500
Engine upgrades $450.00
Chemicals Por 15 and Misc $AMC 150
Winch and mounting plate $450
Kc driving lights and stock light replacement $200
Stock gauges and new gauges + wiring $AMC 150 .00
Diff maintenance and rear cover $250.00
Body and Paint $2,200
Tool / trunk option $200
Stereo and speakers $300
Side steps rock guard $400.00
Exterior SS hardware $200.00
Wheel spacers $200
Flowmaster exhaust $400
Front Window Free
Selling of old parts including wheels and tires -$300
Total $12,500.50
To start the story off, I was visiting another non jeep forum and looking through the classifieds section when I came across a white 1972 CJ5 that looked to be in decent shape. The seller advertised the jeep for 5000, but told me on the phone he wanted $4,000 cash or was open to a trade. Eventually I traded an item that had a 3,000 trade value for the jeep. Anything under a 1975 in Ca is smog exempt, big selling point for me.
So I made the 2 hour drive to check out the jeep, upon my arrival the owner was gone, but left the keys in the ignition and said to take it for a drive (unusual). So I took the Jeep out, first impressions were somewhat predictable. The vehicle started and ran fine, the brakes were beyond scary, the suspension had a bad lisp and felt like a buck board, the steering had two inches of play. The Jeep had holes all over from previous owners attaching various items. The dash looked horrible with different sized holes everywhere. I looked under the Jeep and noticed the frame had either been reinforced or cracks fixed near the front mounts (typical location). The underside was caked in so much dirt it was hard to tell what was going on. I did notice oil leaking around the Transfer Case . Surface rust was on all of the parts, the body had rust spots in places, but was still in somewhat decent condition for a 42 year old vehicle. The Jeep had a tow bar attached and looked like it was towed a good portion of its life. The body was OK with numerous dents and a big gouge in the hood. The paint was a white pearl that was starting to chip places with most of the clear coat gone.
So I drove home and asked myself if I wanted to take on this project. I eventually decided the $3000 was worth the risk (potential fun) so I made the trade. About a week later I actually drove home in the jeep. Looking back this was not a very wise decision, but I made it home. Trying to keep the thing in one lane was almost impossible. The brakes were basically non existent.
When I returned home, I started the process. I'm mechanically inclined, but this was the largest project I had ever undertaken. This was not a a frame off restore, but I think I have hit almost every part of the jeep without pulling the body off. I decided this would be a custom build suiting my needs or taste. I was not worried about resale, I wanted to build this thing the way I wanted.
I came up with the short list which had tripled as I got into the project. These were my priorities in order.
Brakes
Suspension
Steering
Engine
Body and paint
For the most part I stayed in this order, a lot depended on when parts arrived. So I started doing my research which included a ton of information from this site. I eventually contacted a gentlemen named Herm up in Washington who talked to me about a disc conversion. Originally I was going to do just the front wheels, but eventually opted for his front and rear disc conversion. This was sold as a bolt on conversion, not quite a bolt on, but it was fairly straight forward. I have a Dana 44 30 combo. Took about a full week for me to get this job done. Once I started pulling the old
off, I opened up a can of worms with the brake lines, eventually I replaced about 80% of the old lines. Let me tell you if I never see another brake line fitting in my life it will be fine with me. I actually drove 2 hours for a special fitting for my brake light switch so it could be plumbed into the line. I also pulled apart the front axles and replaced bearings and seals. The bearings and seals came with the kit.Used Spidertrax hub centric spacers on all four wheels. The wheels are Classic Mickey Thompson 17" x 9 with MT Radial 35" x 12.50 tires.
The next project was the suspension. The old suspension was shot, one leaf spring was actually coming apart. I went with a standard 4" kit (Rugged Ridge ORV) which included springs and shocks. I originally used the stock shackles which I found out real quick wouldn't work, so I purchased some longer HD shackles which made all the difference in the world. The ride is very good at this point. Made a few rookie mistakes during this install. I mounted the springs the wrong way on the first try, which I found out wouldn't work real quick when the drive shaft u joint was binding, because the angle was all screwed up. I felt like an idiot. Anyway I reversed the springs and all was good. I also have a 2" BL that was left over from the previous owner.
The steering was interesting, I replaced almost everything from the steering box up which included HD tie rod, drag link and Borgeson steering shaft. The steering is now tight as a drum. I can also drive on the freeway without white knuckles. I also replaced the steering wheel with a cheap eBay special. This was probably the easiest project as everything was very straight forward. I did make the mistake of trying to use the stock shaft by replacing the coupler, this coupler made me nervous. It just seemed weird that the coupler was the joint holding everything together. I broke down and ordered the Borgeson. Make sure you paint the new shaft as it will rust fast.
The engine is the original AMC 304 AMC which I was told was rebuilt 45 thousand miles ago. I will say the old engine runs very good and has made it real hard to replace. I have replaced rear main, oil pan, valve covers, sorted out the vacuum hoses (pain in the ***). The motor runs strong, but still leaks a little oil. The oil leak is driving me nuts, but I'm learning to live with it. I'm always trying to solve it, but I'm failing miserably. I replaced the the radiator and flushed the system which solved my slight overheating issue. Added a tachometer, not sure I needed it, but it looks cool. New air filter was also added. All in all the old engine is running strong at this point. Once it gives up, I'll look to swap out with a 360.
The T-15 Transmission is working ok, but will pop out of Reverse on occasion. I'm getting ready to rebuild very soon along with the Dana 20 Transfer Case . For now they are working OK, I did replace the fluids which looked horrible.
I serviced both axles with fluid replacement. As I scrubbed off the dirt, I made a nice discovery, my Jeep came with the upgraded 4.27 gears from the factory. I thought I had 3.73's, this explains my confusion with the tall tires and believing the 3.73's were performing better than expected. Anyway the gears were in great condition.
Added a Flowmaster exhaust system which exits straight out the back, twin pipes.
The gauges were next, the speedo, fuel, and temp were not working. I was able to sort out the wiring and get everything working again. I did replace the fuel gauge. I also added a stereo system at this point with some 6x9 speakers under the seats. The dash was still in bad shape which I addressed at the body shop later in the process. I pulled the speedo out and cleaned it up, greased the connection port and added a few custom touches to the screen.
The lighting has been another nightmare, I'm finally to the point everything works. I won't bore you with these details. I will say the circuit tester became my best friend. I bought new front clear turn signals.
The interior had been Rhino lined from the previous owner. The lining was so sun faded it looked white. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, when I discovered a product actually sold by Rhino. I'm always skeptical of these so called reconditioning potions, but this stuff was amazing. I painted it on the entire interior and achieved what looks like a brand new interior. It's like a black die, all together it was $20.00 for a new looking interior. Por 15 also became my best friend. I have used this miraculous product on several rusted parts with great success.
The body and paint was another interesting project. I searched for a month or two for a shop that would tackle the work. 93% of the shops flat out refused the project since it was not an insurance claim. And if they did give me a quote it was $7.000 or higher. I eventually contacted Larry the owner of Jeeps R Us in Laguna Beach, very nice guy, he put me in touch with Miracle Paint and body in Santa Ana. Spoke to Rodd who was a straight shooter. I explained my budget and told him what I wanted done. He gave me what I felt was a good price of $2,200 out the door including tax. Most of you know this is on the cheap for paint and body work. I went with a current ford color, Darkside Metalic which is a very dark green metalic.
I made the decision this jeep was going to be a Ca jeep, so I had him fill in all the old holes created from previous owners and fill some of the hard mounting point holes from the hard top. I think it's a much cleaner look this way. He also filled the old dash holes up and fixed the trim piece from the dash to the window. Both were painted to match and look very clean now. I added some diamond plate backing around my stereo and temp/oil gauge. The diamond plate matches the exterior and also looks good against the dark interior (my opinion). I didn't realize diamond plate is a bitch to work with. While at paint my front window blew over and shattered, Rodd replaced the front window free of charge. My old window was actually pitted so this was sort of a blessing. I replaced most of the outer hardware with Stainless Steel.
All in all I'm very happy with the paint, some areas are not perfect and you can tell this is not a $10,000 show quality job, but I believe I got more than what I paid for based on my research. So I'm satisfied.
I have spent a good portion of my life in the desert in buggies or riding dirt bikes, so after completing this project, I'll probably only ever use the jeep for an occasional trail. It turned out to nice for me to beat up. For the most part it will be used as a weekend driver. The project has been fun for the entire family. Oh I did add a winch to the front because I believe every Jeep should have a winch. I included a basic price breakdown so people could know what they might be getting into. I'm probably upside down a little at this point but not much. We don't rebuild these Jeeps for the investment, although money is a consideration. I have done 100% of the labor which has made this project somewhat affordable. Thanks to this site for all the help. I thinks it's tacky to post figures, but I wanted someone considering an older jeep to know what you can get for the $. All of these projects are different, but I thought this is a good starting point. Ask me questions if you want and I'll try and give you the answer or explain my thought process. Hope u enjoy..
Jeep $3,000
Suspension everything down to the bolt $900.
Tires and wheels $1,800
Steering components $500
Brakes $1,500
Engine upgrades $450.00
Chemicals Por 15 and Misc $AMC 150
Winch and mounting plate $450
Kc driving lights and stock light replacement $200
Stock gauges and new gauges + wiring $AMC 150 .00
Diff maintenance and rear cover $250.00
Body and Paint $2,200
Tool / trunk option $200
Stereo and speakers $300
Side steps rock guard $400.00
Exterior SS hardware $200.00
Wheel spacers $200
Flowmaster exhaust $400
Front Window Free
Selling of old parts including wheels and tires -$300
Total $12,500.50