Misc. New CJ Help
ColoradoDerek
Jeeper
Hello.
I'm Derek from Colorado.
I do not technically own a CJ yet but that is why I am here. I'm looking to buy a 1973 CJ5 and I don't know anyone to ask if its a "good" Jeep or not. Maybe the question is silly or unanswerable but I would feel better about it if someone could just talk to me and look at some pictures and tell me if "yeah that's decent" or "no, its going to fall apart in 1 week".
I'm kind of surprised at how hard of a question this has been to get answered. I've tried another forum and despite over 100 vies on the post, no one has offered anything. Maybe its weird to ask for help or something? heck, even a response like that would be SOMETHING lol.
Anyway, It's pretty cheap and I'm probably going to do it but a second opinion is always helpful.
If anyone is willing to help me out, I'd really appreciate it. Here is some information.
1973 CJ5
No doors, no top.
It has what looks like a roll cage?? but maybe its just normal CJ frame stuff. (go ahead, laugh at the jeep noob hehe)
It has a AMC 360 motor in it, but unfortunately I do not know anything else about that. No miles, no rebuild date, so I understand that is a weak point but , nice motor huh? it fires right up and sounds nice. the exhaust smells nice but I haven't checked it close enough yet (it's sitting in a muddy area ATM) to see if anything is leaking. I didn't notice anything bad coming out of the exhausts. dual exhaust right under the door on either side.
New starter, new alternator.
35's on it, new back ones, front ones are cracked (but hold air) so I'd need those.
New springs (or maybe its struts? whatever the long things that are stacked on top of each other are) on the front, unsure on the status of the back ones. It has shocks, but I don't see any coiled springs? is that normal?
If I try to push the suspension down, I'm not able to. I'm not super strong, but I'm about 220, and 6'1" so if it was broken I should be able to at least push it a little right?
the gas tank has been "re-glued" or "re-blued" I wasn't sure what the guy was saying. He says it makes it like new again but they are only like $100 online anyway brand new.
speedometer works and gas gauge works, but unsure about the oil gauge.
new wiring harness, all lights work including blinkers.
it started on the first try , with a choke, after pumping it a few times, in the cold after sitting through a snow storm the last week. I had him drive it backward and forward and it didn't have any issues that I could tell with the tranny. it kind of "sputtered" but it's possible it was because it was cold. I kept asking him about it and he kept saying it was cold and I kept questioning that, and finally he was like "I'm not sure..." but then he did it again and it didn't sputter. not a big deal I'm able to work on stuff like that anyway.
No body rust that I found. He said it "pulls to the right" when driving it so I'm not sure what causes that, but he thinks it's the front tires. Maybe its something else and that is something I'm hoping someone can tell me about. like the little horizontal shock looking thing, I think its a steering stabilizer? unsure how expensive those are to replace or if this one is good or not. it looks normal.
I didn't know what else to ask.
PM For the price or pictures or to talk to me about it(unless I have to put them on here and then I can, but I'm always worried that someone is going to go buy toys I'm interested in when I'm doing research on it and posting all the info online)
I'm Derek from Colorado.
I do not technically own a CJ yet but that is why I am here. I'm looking to buy a 1973 CJ5 and I don't know anyone to ask if its a "good" Jeep or not. Maybe the question is silly or unanswerable but I would feel better about it if someone could just talk to me and look at some pictures and tell me if "yeah that's decent" or "no, its going to fall apart in 1 week".
I'm kind of surprised at how hard of a question this has been to get answered. I've tried another forum and despite over 100 vies on the post, no one has offered anything. Maybe its weird to ask for help or something? heck, even a response like that would be SOMETHING lol.
Anyway, It's pretty cheap and I'm probably going to do it but a second opinion is always helpful.
If anyone is willing to help me out, I'd really appreciate it. Here is some information.
1973 CJ5
No doors, no top.
It has what looks like a roll cage?? but maybe its just normal CJ frame stuff. (go ahead, laugh at the jeep noob hehe)
It has a AMC 360 motor in it, but unfortunately I do not know anything else about that. No miles, no rebuild date, so I understand that is a weak point but , nice motor huh? it fires right up and sounds nice. the exhaust smells nice but I haven't checked it close enough yet (it's sitting in a muddy area ATM) to see if anything is leaking. I didn't notice anything bad coming out of the exhausts. dual exhaust right under the door on either side.
New starter, new alternator.
35's on it, new back ones, front ones are cracked (but hold air) so I'd need those.
New springs (or maybe its struts? whatever the long things that are stacked on top of each other are) on the front, unsure on the status of the back ones. It has shocks, but I don't see any coiled springs? is that normal?
If I try to push the suspension down, I'm not able to. I'm not super strong, but I'm about 220, and 6'1" so if it was broken I should be able to at least push it a little right?
the gas tank has been "re-glued" or "re-blued" I wasn't sure what the guy was saying. He says it makes it like new again but they are only like $100 online anyway brand new.
speedometer works and gas gauge works, but unsure about the oil gauge.
new wiring harness, all lights work including blinkers.
it started on the first try , with a choke, after pumping it a few times, in the cold after sitting through a snow storm the last week. I had him drive it backward and forward and it didn't have any issues that I could tell with the tranny. it kind of "sputtered" but it's possible it was because it was cold. I kept asking him about it and he kept saying it was cold and I kept questioning that, and finally he was like "I'm not sure..." but then he did it again and it didn't sputter. not a big deal I'm able to work on stuff like that anyway.
No body rust that I found. He said it "pulls to the right" when driving it so I'm not sure what causes that, but he thinks it's the front tires. Maybe its something else and that is something I'm hoping someone can tell me about. like the little horizontal shock looking thing, I think its a steering stabilizer? unsure how expensive those are to replace or if this one is good or not. it looks normal.
I didn't know what else to ask.
PM For the price or pictures or to talk to me about it(unless I have to put them on here and then I can, but I'm always worried that someone is going to go buy toys I'm interested in when I'm doing research on it and posting all the info online)