Build Thread Bill's 75 CJ5 ground up rebuild

[JR74CJ5]

Damb Bill, Looks great man!

 

[billyocup]

Thanks JR It's coming along.
I've spent the last couple of days filling in all of the unused bolt and other holes in the tub and hope to get the interior and underside coated with bedliner by the end of the week. There were a lot of stock holes for mounting the rear seat and stuff, but there were a lot of other holes that POs had drilled for unknown reasons.

Here are a couple more picks of patches we made to the tub where it rusted through at the cowl side supports. I've got the welds ground down now, so a little bondo and some sanding and the tub will be ready for paint.

 

[billyocup]

Made a little bit of progress the last couple of weeks. Got the underside and interior coated with bedliner, 2 coats underneath and 3 on the interior. I used Herculiner because it was readily available locally. All of the reviews I read on it say it holds up pretty good as long as you do the proper prep work. I scuffed the paint (even though it was primer) and cleaned everything with acetone before installing the coating.

When I got the Jeep, it had aluminum diamond plate on the rockers and a 2"x2" steel angle along the bottom edge. I liked the protection that the angle provided, but I didn't like the 2 piece set up. I also didn't really want to go through the process of welding up all of the holes where the diamond plate was bolted on and then trying to make the side of the tub look half way decent. So I got some 5"x3" steel angle that I'm in the process of fitting on to the rockers. I'm fitting them in place so I can mark them to clear the rear flares, then I'll take them over to my friend's shop and cut them with his plasma cutter. Then I plan to just paint them out the same color as the body. I think it should provide pretty good protection for the tub.

I really wanted to finish up all of the body work while the tub was out on the driveway, but the weather has change here and we got a little snow on Thursday night, so I put the tub back on the frame and in the garage.

 

[johnbilt]

Wow - Great work! This brings back memories of rebuilding my 73CJ about 10 years ago. I think I had it apart for about 2 years. I started by taking the tub off to fix the floor pans and sides. This turned into rebuilding everything like you're doing. Love the photos. Good Luck

 

[billyocup]

johnbilt - Thanks. I'm having fun building it, but it sure would be nice to have it running again. I'm hoping it will be on the road (or better - off the road) by next spring. Time shouldn't be an issue this winter, cause works slow, but money could be. Thanks again for the encouragement - Bill

 

[billyocup]

Progress on the Jeep has been a bit slow the past month. I decided in the middle of October to close my office in town and move it back home, to cut down on the overhead costs, so that took up a lot of November. I hated to give up the office, but being at home I can sneek down to the garage during the day and do a little work on the Jeep, now and then.

Still, I've had some time to work on bits and pieces. I pulled the heater completely apart. Cleaned and refinished the metal parts. The housing had some cracks and broken parts. Whatever the material that the housing is made of has gotten pretty brittle after 35 years. Anyway, I repaired all of the cracks and breaks with fiberglass. Got it all back in one piece and primed. Hopefully will get it painted and reassembled this week and ready to bolt back into the tub.

 

[JR74CJ5]

Hey Bill, While you're in there, I'd replace that heater core... they are not terrible to replace later, but have a habit of developing a leak after being messed with then re-used...

They're not too bad new either. Found mine at Oriliey for under 40.00.



And as always, Looking good man!

Mines been on time out

~ JR

 

[billyocup]

Hey Bill, While you're in there, I'd replace that heater core... they are not terrible to replace later, but have a habit of developing a leak after being messed with then re-used...

They're not too bad new either. Found mine at Oriliey for under 40.00.



And as always, Looking good man!

Mines been on time out

~ JR

JR - Thanks for the tip. Was thinking about replacing it anyway, but you just confirmed that it was a good idea. Bill

 

[tonkatrucksryan]

I just bought a 75 CJ5 and I am going over it thoroughly. It has great potential, but a lot of work. I hope that you continue to update this post. Great job so far.

 

[oldguy]

Bill, been following your build and am impressed. Time an patience is the difference between a good build and a great build.

 

[billyocup]

Ryan - I checked out your new 75 and it looks really well maintained, at least from the outside. I think you will have a lot less work to do than I have.

Dave - good to hear from you! After watching your build, I really appreciate your comments.

JR - I got the new heater core at the NAPA store in town. It was a little more expensive than O'Reilly's ($60), but I figured by the time I drove the 25 miles down to Angels Camp and back it would have cost about the same in gas.

Anyway, hope to get all the rest of the little pieces painted up this weekend and get the heater reassembled.

Bill

 

[billyocup]

I've been slowly chipping away at bits and pieces on the Jeep. I got the heater put back together and ready to install. Then I started working on finishing the rocker guards I started on a month or so ago. First, I had to finish up the body work where the rocker panels were patched. Then I put a coat of satin black paint on the tub where the guards are going to mount to give it some water resistance. After I shaped, sanded and primed the 5x3 angle, I also painted the inside surface of that in satin black. When I mounted the angle to the tub, I ran a couple of beads of polyurathane caulking the entire length of the angle and around all of the bolt holes. I used button head bolts for a smoother finish and used fender washers on the inside with more caulk on them to get a good seal. Then I reprimed the entire rocker panel. When I paint the tub, everything will go the same color.

You can also see the tranny & tc in the background of the pic of the angle. I had those gone through and they are ready to be painted. Fortunately both pieces were in pretty good shape. Mostly just seals, a couple new bearings and new syncros in the tranny.

I've got a little bit of fuel line plumbing to finish up and then bolt the tub back on the frame. Then I can start bolting all of the other bits and pieces that I've refurbished back on the tub.

Oh - by the way, Merry Christmas to all!

 

[TexasBlues]

looks GREAT!...

i use ALL of you guys' work for inspiration on my own...

keep it up, i ll be watching fer sher

 

[billyocup]

Texas - Thanks for the encouragement. I do the same thing, watching all the builds. Lots of inspiration and ideas out there.

I got the tub bolted back down on the frame, thanks to a little help from BusaDave to get the bushings in the proper order. The PPO had installed a 2" body lift, but had one bushing installed between the top of the spacer and the tub and one between the bottom of the spacer and the frame. So there was almost 3" of lift and it seemed really unstable. I really only wanted about an inch of lift, so I decided I could cut the existing lift spacers down to 1" instead of buying a new kit. Then I got the bushings installed where they're supposed to be. Now everything seems secure and stable and the 1" of lift is plenty of clearance with the 2 1/2" suspension lift for the 33" tires.

Then I started bolting things back on the tub. I got a new master cylinder and got the pedal assembly back on. Bolted the e-brake assembly back on and got the cable hooked up. Then started hanging the new wiring harness. The dash harness is hanging there waiting the dash and the tail light section is strung, but I've still got to secure it.

A friend of mine gave me a bunch of misc. parts a few months ago and this neat billet aluminum battery hold down was in with it. It looks like it was designed for an Optima style battery and was meant to be bolted on to a stock battery tray. The stock tray for my CJ is long gone and the PPO had rigged one together that was also on it's last legs. I decided with a little adaptation, I could make the aluminum unit work as both the tray and hold down. I made a couple of minor modifications to the aluminum unit, so that it will take either the Optima or a standard battery. I bolted an angle on the firewall. Drilled and tapped the aluminum frame of the hold down so I could bolt it to the angle, and then used the original support tubes to brace the unit back to the firewall. I think it will work.

 

[Niedhogg]

Great build so far, Bill, I can't wait till you drive it either! It's a great feeling, I just drove mine for the first time a few days ago.. it was awesome!!

 

[JR74CJ5]

Hey Bill, I'd plan on putting some rubber between the bat and that tray (the bottom). Help you not drain the bat while sitting. But maybe the billet aluminum its not necessary with ? I've only heard a few stories of needing rubber separation between tray and bat...

Cheers man! Looking great! Really jealous of that clean wiring man!!



~ JR

 

[Niedhogg]

Hey Bill, I'd plan on putting some rubber between the bat and that tray (the bottom). Help you not drain the bat while sitting. But maybe the billet aluminum its not necessary with ? I've only heard a few stories of needing rubber separation between tray and bat...

Cheers man! Looking great! Really jealous of that clean wiring man!!



~ JR

Yaa... I really don't think the rubber thing can possibly work like you're thinking, I mean, you're already sitting on rubber tires, and the battery case is made of plastic so there is really no possible way the charge can drain away from the battery in that manner... batteries just loose their charge over time if they're not being used, your best bet is to invest in a good battery tender, they keep the electrons excited so your battery won't let you down. They are very simple to set up with a quick connect pigtail so when you're done wheeling around and you're not sure when you'll use you Jeep again, just plug in and walk away, she'll be ready when you are.

 

[billyocup]

Niedhogg & JR - Thanks for the encouragement guys! I can't wait to get it running, but there's still a lot to do and it's a step by step process.

JR - I'm kinda with Niedhogg on the need for a rubber liner on the battery tray. Unless there is some kind of conductivity through the battery case I can't see how the battery would drain by sitting on a metal tray. The battery in my truck sits right on the factory metal tray and I have no problem with it.

Anyway, I've been working on fitting the rear corner guards, tail lights, backup lights, etc. so I can get all of the holes in the body either used or filled in and get the body ready for paint. Will post some more pictures in a couple of days.

Thanks again - Bill

 

[JR74CJ5]

Yes I agree it make no sense. In addition I can find no back-up stories or info to support it.

It's probably just an old wise tale my Grandpa told me long ago

In any case, looking forward to you getting this thing going man!


~ JR

 

[itchy]

It very refreshing to see a build like this. Very nice.