Build Thread Bi-Centennial CJ-5

[Niedhogg]

I figured I'd get a build thread started for my newly aquired CJ5 ..

The goal for this CJ, is a back to original stock, although I might go up a tire size from stock, just to fill the wheel wells a bit.. every stock CJ I see always seems to be needing just a little more tire..

A little history, I bought this from a friend of mine who has had it in his posession for 12-15 yrs.. he wheeled it a little bit early on around here, which in Iowa, is not a big deal, we have some gypsum quarries around here that are more than a hundred yrs old and are really no challenge for any offroad vehicle. He never really drove it much at all in the last 10 yrs I have known him, and when I asked him why he bluntly said "It's scary as hell on the street"... as you look at the following pics, you can begin to understand why.. He has never personally modified this Jeep, it is as it has been since the day he bought it, so unfortunately I can't ask him what the heck he was thinking, lol!

I still need to determine the engine size, he thinks it's a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l , but the core support says AMC 232 i6 with the basic timing and tune up specs for '76, so if anyone can tell me how I can tell the difference aside from pulling apart and measuring the internal parts, please let me know!
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It has the T-18 four speed, and I believe the Dana 20 Transfer Case but that's still to be determined as well..

It has the corporate 20 rear, but it has been modified with an auto-locking Detroit Locker and it also has manual hub locks, so could this have been converted to the full floating axles?? Still to be determined, and the front is a Dana 30 with manual hub locks, and I have no idea yet what the gear ratio is..
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Which brings us to the suspension.. a jumbled, homemade mess of parts including 3" body mounts from round tubing and square stock.. and 10" spring shackles!
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Body wise, it's fairly rust free, but someone had decided to enlarge the rear wheel wells anyway, so what little rust I did find will be gone when I replace the tub sides.. the seats don't match and are high backs, and the carpet was hand cut and glued and riveted down, and should be a joy to remove... you can also see the fenders are from an earlier model year, and now have some home made spacers between them and the body.. It also has some brackets that attach the core support to the frame on each side that I don't believe are factory installed, take a look and let me know what you guys think!
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[Trucklocker]

I can't say I've seen anything quite like those shackles. Don't blame the po for being reluctant to drive it, especially on the street.

 

[BC CJ]

YES, you have a full floating rear axle conversion. The warn lock-out hubs are the give-away on that. Usually lock-outs are only on the front

Cool find. Good luck with the project!

 

[Petescj]

You sure do like to make it interesting dont you? This outta be fun to watch.

 

[Sasquach]

The 2 steering stabilizers don't counteract the neg caster from the 10" shackles?
Probably steers good in reverse.

 

[Niedhogg]

YES, you have a full floating rear axle conversion. The warn lock-out hubs are the give-away on that. Usually lock-outs are only on the front

Cool find. Good luck with the project!

Well that's awesome! Kinda what I had thought..

You sure do like to make it interesting dont you? This outta be fun to watch.

Thanks Pete!

The 2 steering stabilizers don't counteract the neg caster from the 10" shackles?
Probably steers good in reverse.

Go figure, right??! LOL, I have a nagging feeling this is the center of the drivability issue..


Well, I'm already running into walls, they're small though so far, I drove to every parts store in two counties and I can't get a cap and rotor set.. I should say, I can get the distributor cap, but nobody has a rotor cap in stock.. I just ordered both yesterday, so maybe this pig will run by the end of the week.. My buddy has told me he has had some ignition issues with it, and the rotor is missing from under the cap.. of course, knowing him, it was probably his anti-theft device..

More pics, you say??
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[Petescj]

Once you get past the shackle/body lift and imagine it without those awesome bumpers it looks pretty decent. As you move along and the tire size grows in your head (along with the hole in your wallet ) you may not even mind the opened up wheel wells.

 

[Trucklocker]

So, the floating rear axle with lockouts probably means this Jeep was towed behind another vehicle at one time??? Is there any other advantage of this setup?

 

[Sasquach]

So, the floating rear axle with lockouts probably means this Jeep was towed behind another vehicle at one time??? Is there any other advantage of this setup?

A full floating axle is a stronger design than a semi float.

 

[Niedhogg]

Once you get past the shackle/body lift and imagine it without those awesome bumpers it looks pretty decent. As you move along and the tire size grows in your head (along with the hole in your wallet ) you may not even mind the opened up wheel wells.

You know, I'm of the same mind on this.. the body isn't bad at all. I hadn't paid much attention to it over the last ten years that I've known about it, I knew he rarely drove it and that it was ugly as sin, and the way he always talked, it would NEVER be for sale.. but i started talking to him about it after I got back from PA with my CJ7 , went over one afternoon a couple months ago and took a really good look at it with him, and unbelievably, he said he would sell it to me!

I have got to get that carpet up though, and I'll be starting on that this weekend, downside is, I'll have about a hundred new holes in it after drilling out the rivets...

 

[BC CJ]

So, the floating rear axle with lockouts probably means this Jeep was towed behind another vehicle at one time??? Is there any other advantage of this setup?

Anti theft device

 

[Niedhogg]

So today maybe, juuust maybe, I get to work on the Jeep.. and this thing will hopefully purr like a kitten..

New cap and rotor are in hand, I have 3-4 gallons of fresh gas to pour into the tank, check the oil and water levels, I will pull the plugs to make sure they CAN make a spark, set the crank on top dead center to make sure the distributer isn't too far off, slip in the battery from my CJ7 and see if we have a winner!

 

[tarry99]

So today maybe, juuust maybe, I get to work on the Jeep.. and this thing will hopefully purr like a kitten..

New cap and rotor are in hand, I have 3-4 gallons of fresh gas to pour into the tank, check the oil and water levels, I will pull the plugs to make sure they CAN make a spark, set the crank on top dead center to make sure the distributer isn't too far off, slip in the battery from my CJ7 and see if we have a winner!

You did not mentioned flushing that fuel tank out.......been setting that long the fuel may have turned to jell and may even have some rust? Good Luck!

 

[Niedhogg]

You did not mentioned flushing that fuel tank out.......been setting that long the fuel may have turned to jell and may even have some rust? Good Luck!

Good point, Tarry, thanks!

 

[Niedhogg]

Disappointing day.. popped the cap off, and all I see is the mechanical advance weights.. and one of them is stuck..

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So I decided to give it all a good cleaning, inside the cab, and degreased the engine which was surprisingly clean already.

This is about all I accomplished today, aside from going to an auction with my wife and grilling some boneless pork ribs to perfection... talked to the PO about the distributor, and apparently the guts grew legs because he had just replaced everything before he parked it in his buddy's pasture.. I really hate people sometimes.

Oh ya, I sat in the driver's seat today for the first time.. did I mention I'm almost 6' and 310lbs?? (All muscle.. of course) Let's just say, if I hadn't lost 15lbs these last couple months....

 

[Niedhogg]

What do you guys think of my first body mod??
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[mtnwhlr]

I don't think that is going to help it get down the road but looks cool.

 

[Niedhogg]

I don't think that is going to help it get down the road but looks cool.

I was just playing around, found that old scoop in a pile of junk yesterday while cleaning up and brought back some old memories.. that scoop was on my '70 Charger when I bought it near 20 yrs ago..

 

[mtnwhlr]

I was just playing around, found that old scoop in a pile of junk yesterday while cleaning up and brought back some old memories.. that scoop was on my '70 Charger when I bought it near 20 yrs ago..

I had a '68 Charger with a bigblock aww those were the days should have never sold it.

 

[Niedhogg]

I had a '68 Charger with a bigblock aww those were the days should have never sold it.

No, you shouldn't have.. hind-sight is 20/20.. Mine was originally a 383 4-speed car with a bench seat, only 211 produce with that driveline combo in 1970, but the original engine was long gone before I got the the car. I got a 440 with the purchase, and spent a couple weekends shoehorning that thing in, and what a blast! Drove it for a few years and the tank started leaking so it has been sitting. I have a 6-pack set up for it now, ready to bolt on.. I almost sold mine 6-7 yrs ago.. I was in the middle of restoring it and someone broke into my shop and stole my gauge cluster (tic-toc tach) and they cut the harness, my grill, my gas door, my 6-pack air cleaner, almost got the steering column (4-speed), and left the pistol grip hurst shifter behind as well, thank god.. something must have spooked them or I have no doubt a lot more would have been missing.. They also got a few other things, I had a brand new Holley 850 double pumper, and they got the shaker scoop off my '74 GTO... It was a bad weekend when I walked into the shop, and in the coming weeks I really struggled to hang on to the car.. those are some big ticket items, but I kept it, it's covered in the corner of the shop waiting for me to resurect him again, and I'm slowly collecting the missing pieces.

On a brighter note, I ordered a new distributor for the CJ5 today, I figured it would be worth the 60 bucks and be done with it, so in the next few days it should be running!