Build Thread 95's 81 CJ5 rebuild

[95yjman]

So I picked up this 1981 CJ5 , I think its in pretty decent shape. The body has rust here and there. The frame seems good. The motor is a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l , believe the Transmission to be the T-176 , and a Dana 300 for a Transfer Case . Dana 30 front and AMC20 rear. Have no idea what gears are in it, still need to find that out. The AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l knocks i'm told, I haven't tried to start it and listen to it. I believe barrie lol. Plans right now are to get it running, fix the suspension issues, make the brakes stop and do a fluid fest on it. Then drive it around the street, and slowly make it "shine"

So here's some pictures of it at barrie's getting loaded up and ready to head north..



Oh and here's where it sat for awhile..

Here's it arriving at my place, dang indiana had to drop some snow on us.. this is the last time it will see snow..


getting it unstrapped from the dolly

unloaded and warming up in the garage next to the red jeep

It came with some factory wheels that will go back on it

Heres some over all pictures of it, still kinda frosty from the trip..




Here's the motor



Dana 300 !

frame seems decent..


the Dana 30 , see its currently sprung over, I wanna get new stock springs and shocks, and put it back to spring under..Also take the crazy big shackles off of it and put stock ones back on..


AMC20 ..

the bed area


I had my pug check for rodents


Playing around with the fold down windshield.. lol


the front drivers seat looked to be out of an f150 and its cloth. it was all moldy and stinking up the garage, so out it came! however I had to cut it out because the nut in the tub was just spinning..

yucky seat..


thats pretty much it, I drained the oil in the motor, it seemed decent. I was gonna pull the oil pan and peak around but haven't yet. I pulled two of the spark plugs and they seemed in really good shape. So I'm hoping the motor is still in somewhat decent shape for the rebuild. This is gonna be a slow thread of fixing it up, so you may get bored!

 

[95yjman]

Here you go @gixxerphil


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[gixxerphil]

I'm here

 

[95yjman]

Only thing I have really picked up for it is a new set of shift knobs.. boring I know lol


I charged the battery up, well the most it would hold a charge, turned on the lights and not all work.. will have to look into it, electrical is not my strong point

noticed the radiator was dry and started filling it up, found out the heater box leaks..

While messing around under it, I noticed someone removed the Transmission mount bolts..

I found one in the back of the tub that seem to fit.. need to find another one.. but at least it makes everything more solid for the time being..

and is this supposed to be open like this?

Was doing some searching into the factory paint color.. gonna go with dark brown..(the photo kinda makes it look maroon but its really brown)

and I finally got around rolling it out and getting it soaped up and hosed off..my son helped move it out..

and my wife had WAY to much fun helping push it back in the garage..

and last but not least.. seems like a happy driveway/ garage right? lol

 

[95yjman]

Well did a oil change on the motor, just because I didn't know what was in it and I'm guessing it was old. The plan was to try and get it to start. Also picked up some primer and paint for when I pull the front axle to redo the suspension on it and bring it back to spring under.
So charged up the battery...and nothing. Starter just makes a slight grinding noise.. I feared the motor was stuck/ locked up. I removed the fan belt and was able to turn the motor over by hand fairly easily. So now back to figuring out how to get it to fire.

Which it got late and I just fiddled with other stuff..

but I did get the rear lights working.. So it wasn't a total fail

The next day the cops came. and checked it out.. and deemed it safe to sit in my garage!

 

[95yjman]

So I have fallen a bit behind on updating this.. I have gotten some stuff done to it here and there. Nothing major but stuff it needed really.
Its kinda been a fancy storage bin..

and a play pin for my son..


here's a few items I have picked up for it.
A new glove box


A summer top..

new (to me) windshield brackets for when I put the correct windshield back on it

a set of factory repop shackles

and in my stash of jeep , I found this! hey better than nothing..

Also was looking into fitting a YJ back seat into it, its a seat out of my old YJ, which I miss and this thing kinda reminds me of. So kinda for weird sentimental reasons too

What its legit?


and I have seemed to of miss placed some pictures somewhere but I ripped the front axle out and got it cleaned up..
Primed up

and painted up..

Painting the underside..

and how I moved it around, Cj Dana 30 's are heavy! compared to the TJ/XJ Dana 30 's of today..

Cleaned up the gasket surfaces..

Shiny!

and with the help of my son, I got that pig back under the jeep.

I plan to replace the springs and shocks, but for now I just put everything back together to keep it mobile, incase I need the space for a bit.
the first time I have "lowered" a jeep in my life.. back to stock!

I need to get the rear shackles on, but I plan to pull that axle and get it cleaned up also

My dirty little helper!

and tonight I pulled the diff cover and threw on some ultra gray and got it sealed up and ready for fresh gear oil



Thats pretty much it for now, if I find those other pictures I will post those up..

 

[95yjman]

Oh yeah, and heres a video of the first start attempt..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJtPiPYusk&feature=youtu.be

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Wife shot video from the safety of the TJ :lol:

Edited by CJ - embedded video.

 

[95yjman]

Ok here's a little update..

A couple weekends ago, my edition had their annual "everyone have a garage sale weekend" I sat in the CJ and "people" watched like an old man. However something funny happened with one shopper, It was a younger lady, in an MK, not bad looking. She goes to get back in her jeep stops, sees the TJ, see's the CJ, and then KJ.. then goes to get in her MK but stops again and looks at the driveway for a minute and then finally gets in and leaves. It was really weird. but she was hot so I didn't care..

Anyway I picked up a hitch for the 5, and the guy threw in a YJ roll bar. lol I actually traded those crazy big shackles for the cj hitch..

I already had the fronts removed because I cleaned the front axle all up.. so I had to scramble to remove the rears..

"look ma, no shackles!"

and those that know me, know I hoard jeep parts of all sorts, well I don't have factory CJ shackles for the rear yet, well I have one but need another. so I found some factory YJ shackles and threw those on for the time being. just to keep it mobile if I need to move it in and out

The YJ shackles are still a bit taller than CJ ones, so her butt's still up a little..

My switches and knobs are finally here! a new wiper switch and heater swtich! the other three are cables, so I'm gonna pick those up soon to replace

Then.. bored last night I said fawk it and did this..


the AMC20 's new home for right now..


and for some reason AMC thought it would be a good idea to make the diff cover bolts torx! Well three wouldn't come out So I very carefully cut the heads off but ruined the cover.. hey I would rather the cover than the housing! I'm thinking about picking it up a fancy cover but may just go with a new to me stock one
Saluting the torx bolts! they will be getting replaced with regular bolts

and once inside, not as bad as I expected but the gear oil was still pretty bad! and boo no trac lock. Which I wasn't to surprised, the jeep seems like a base model anyway

got the axle all wire wheeled, (yes the cover was on during the wire wheeling to protect the gears)

and first coat of primer! note the untouched cover lol


thats pretty much where I'm at, my garage is once again a wreck!

 

[95yjman]

oh yeah, I made up a list with everything I can think of at the moment, I'm sure it will only grow more! lol


Also forgot to add, I have been browsing fleabay for my T-176 's missing inspection cover that got taken off by the previous owner and is long since gone..


I was worried it wasn't gonna match up because someone said the T177 is similar but I think that Transmission was only used behind the 4 bangers.. either way it matches up.. just need to find bolts that fit

 

[95yjman]

Mainly just trying to sell stuff and save for an engine rebuild and doing cheap little stuff here and there.

I got the AMC20 all painted and back under the jeep



and bam!

Then added a factory radio delate plate,


Then got a new set of dash indicators, installed them and got them working

just a random figuring out what carb i have picture lol

Then purchased a factory overflow tank to add factory heavy duty cooling

and recently we have had a lot of rain

so finally when it stopped I move the CJ to the other side of the garage with my red jeep and warn winch


because it will make it easier to pull the engine when that time goes

Also purchased some threaded rod and cut to size for my new shift knob



thats pretty much it for now, until i can find other little things to do while I save.

 

[95yjman]

Ok its been forever since I have updated this so here it goes!

I got the Transfer Case shift knob issue all worked out. AMC made two different kinds of Dana 300 shift handles.. kinda annoying but a slight mod fixed the issue.



and I has two new shift knobs now!

The original owner also found the owners manual and paperwork and mailed them too me! i was excited!

My son is working on his jeep too

Just playing around, thinking about making a winch plate for it

and put the TJ steering wheel and airbag on for laughs lol

and maybe a rubi locker switch? lol


Ok, ok enough playing around, here's where things start to get real! I found and got another CJ5 .. a 1977, running and driving just really really rusty. well the tub that is. It is 95% original too.

It was currently living on a farm in southern ohio, here's some pictures



a dang strong running AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l


oh and it had buddies

It ran and drove, and had a clean title, so loaded it up and off it came to my driveway!



The people next door loved it! another jeep! lol Here's a few more pictures of it at home

My son loved it! another jeep to play in!


Dana 20

warn premiums

and it even came with extra parts!

Some trail doors!

a factory hitch

It truly is a shame the tub was beyond rusty, it was so original. but it was time to take what I needed, so let it begin!

first out! the back seat!

and found a army shovel!

sat the new to me back seat in the 81

I was digging it!
so transferred over the factory fronts to the 81

the interior is pretty much complete now..


While the seats aren't brand new, it gives me something I didn't have, something to plant my butt in! and they are a factory..

Well now its time to get real, real my friends.. so the JK helped me haul this box home..

What could it be you ask? My "motor slut"

So lets get this on!

and bam! instant room to work!

and drove the 77 in.. it was time,
and out came the 77's motor!


Thats pretty much it on catching you guys up, this weekend I plan to order my gasket kit for the good motor, "AMC blue" paint for the motor, and some bolts to bolt it to my engine stand to work on it and get it ready to be placed in the 81. I need to get the "bad" engine pulled out of the 81 yet. I also need get the 77 torn down the rest of the way because I'm sure the people next door love seeing a half torn down rusty jeep sitting in the driveway lol

 

[95yjman]

oh and here's a video I made of the 77 right before the tear down!

running for the last time..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpP_Ptyg7YY

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[95yjman]

Here's another update for those following along,
I pulled the bad motor out of the 81

mounted the good motor to the stand

Also picked up an old factory Jeep amc radio

and then picked up a few items needed to overhaul the good motor and get it running tip top
The photo that caused large amounts of rage from many! :lol:

some tune up items

the 81's valve cover is made of plastic and cracked, 81 was the year that Jeep really focused on fuel milage. however the 77's is made of metal and an all around better design. Just needs cleaned up and painted.. back to AMC blue! so thats what I did
wire wheeling

2 coats of engine primer

and 2 coats of AMC blue

However the 77's oil pan was rusty and nasty.. the 81's was not, so I pulled that and will clean that up, and swap that over to the good motor

and it turns out the 77 has been quite the little gem, old aftermarket jeep stuff.. gonna reuse the center console

breaking the frame and rear axle down off the 77 in true redneck style!

and again the 77 strikes again.. come to find out the axles are better than whats in the 81.. better gears, bigger brakes, and warn premium hubs.. so.. gonna clean those up and swap those under the 81 also.




Thats it for now, I need a new clutch which is currently stopping me from getting the good motor sitting in the frame rails of the 81, but I'm waiting until my wife goes back to work, so its not just my income to get one. For now I'm working on cleaning up the 77's axles.

 

[95yjman]

Alright so here's a little update on the 5,

I ended up having to deep six my axle swap project mainly because of this..


The rear axle was ate up something crazy and I failed to see it before I started cleaning up the front axle. So I just pulled what I wanted off the front axle to swap over to my 81's clean axle


Still have to pull the larger drum brakes off the rear axle. Not 100 percent sure I'm gonna mess with that though.
Anyway, as some of you know I got the motor in, but before that I added a new clutch, pilot bushing, and throw out bearing

new pilot bearing in

test fitting the new clutch

Threw the new clutch on

I pulled the Transmission and Transfer Case for a couple of reasons, my Transfer Case is leaking, I want to paint it up, along with the my belly pan, and I thought it would be easier to mate the Transmission to the engine that way.

I then separated the two

brought the Transfer Case inside for kicks

anyway, mated the Transmission and engine up and threw them in, here's a teaser shot

I had pull the front bumper off to gain a little wiggle room, plus it got scratched, and I didn't like the glossy paint i put on it before. So I cleaned it back up and repainted it
before work

bare

first coat of primer

added a second coat of primer and two coats of flat black, then threw it on!

My seal and gasket kit showed up for my Transmission , I only replaced what was leaking and what was easily accessible.

shifter cover

Then got back to motor, tried throwing my manifolds back on but ran into this.. ugh..

I drilled it out and got it on! I figure if it doesn't end up working, I will just buy a new one.


Man that looks good doesn't it?


Next will be buttoning up the motor, new plugs, cap, rotor, wires, water pump, and t-stat. After that, need to fix up my Transfer Case , gonna do the belly pan also. I can't test fire the motor anyway until I get a radiator and heater core. However its getting there!

 

[95yjman]

Ok, It's even further along but I need to upload the photos and get everything organized. Again if things seem a bit off its because everything was copy and pasted from my local forum.


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[gert]

Well this is different I didnt realize you were so busy and a different motor to boot. What Gears do the 77 have? maybe you can transfer them over just getting away with a seal and crush sleeve swap and toss the AMC20 housing. I love the blue Shum8 is supposed to be mailing me some of his extra blue for my motor

 

[gixxerphil]

I hope you are copying and pasting all of this

 

[95yjman]

I hope you are copying and pasting all of this

Yeah it's all copied and pasted from the other forum. No way would I retype it all lol

 

[Peanut Butter]

LOOKING GOOD! I like the back to stock approach. You mentioned wiring. I would suggest getting a color diagram. I bought one of these and rebuilt my harness. Took a little time but was made much easier by the color diagram. Jeep 1981 CJ-7 & Scrambler | Prospero's Garage

 

[mtnwhlr]

Looking good but it didn't look like you had the flywheel turned, something you should always do when replacing the clutch.