New to the forum and desperate for advice

[jmfillin1]

I recently purchased a 64 CJ5 Tuxedo Park park. It came with the stock T-90 bolted to a pinto 4cyl. It runs, but runs super hot (probably because the radiator has about had it and fans stopped working). The body is pretty solid except for a few spots (passenger and drivers floor pan, and a spot on the side thats about 4 inches in diameter). And the brakes do not work (allegedly just need to be bled) I am extremely new to the jeep world, and am trying to figure out where i should begin. Should i lift the tub and weld in new floor pans?..keep the tub on the frame and try welding them?..forget the body and focus on mechanics for now? forget everything and focus on suspension/brakes?...where would you begin?. And ive recently been given an opportunity to get a Dauntless Buick 225 V6 v6 for $100 albeit a rebuild is needed. Any advice is helpful but mainly...body, suspension, brakes, or mechanics first?...where to begin?

 

[csuengr]

Keep the Pinto engine. They are actually good engines and have no problem cruising at high rpm's.

Get the brakes working. Besides old brake fluid, you probably have frozen wheel cylinders and old, swollen soft brake lines. Then get to the overheating issue.

You can do the floor pans with the body on the frame. Just weld them in, don't use screws or rivets or nails.

 

[jmfillin1]

Okay, thanks for the reply, its definitely a learning process for me...are those 4 cyl decent engines for casual trail riding too?...ive been debating on keeping the 4 cyl and just refurbishing it a little. the only thing keeping it from being streetable at the moment are brakes and some wiring (i will be getting a new wiring harness within the next couple weeks). So i guess ill take care of the brakes, then radiator, then body, then the wiring.

And i will definitely be welding the floor pans in...im not going for a show winner, but also want it to look clean.

 

[Tin Medic]

http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f49/what-do-after-getting-cj-home-3563/

 

[jmfillin1]

its already in my back yard under my shed...plenty of stuff to do to it..itll be a project over the next year or two or three or four.

 

[Old Dog]

Are you planning on driving it while you fix it up?
If so I would do the safety things like brakes and steering first.

 

[jmfillin1]

I'm definitely not driving it while I'm working on it although I Do get overly anxious and want to at times

 

[Lucasday]

Having read your post about the 2.3 you have in your jeep, hit home with me. Then your thoughts on the debate of rebuilding an odd fire motor. I built a 2.3 in a rail buggy last year and loved how easy parts were and their ability to be built cheap. If I remember right I found an old ford motor sport 420 roller cam, Little port work on intake, little Holley carb, 6al msd, billet dist, and header. Had very little money in it with used parts but it was very reliable. Now I just bought a CJ5 with the 225 in it. I just rebuilt the front half of the motor this weekend and turns out parts are cheap and they are a very strong motor. Pull hard with a 50+lbs flywheel at low rpm. If you can get the 225 cheap I would grab it and build it to have it around. I'm guessing you have a nice adapter plate with that 2.3.

 

[jmfillin1]

i believe its a novak adapter, not sure (its what the owner before me had). And that sounds like a pretty nice conversion project with the oddfire. I think im going to keep the 2.3 in it for now, maybe a swap later if problems start to occur. I still need so many other things for it, tires/wheels/brake work/body work and wiring harness.

 

[jmfillin1]

so far, ive spent about 600 in upgrading to new 11 inch drums, and helped the steering out by replacing all bushings in the steering linkage. Slowly but surely things are coming together. Fortunately a guy helping use to work for Painless wiring and is going to help me build a harness from scratch. just figured id update those who care ha.

 

[thiswontbetooexpensive]

Sounds like you are going through with a plan on the CJ. Keep it up and looking forward to seeing some pictures of it along the way!

 

[jmfillin1]

Just an idea of what has transpired...the stuff in the bed of the jeep are all the parts...gooodiee