restoration - what would have done different?

[sponge]

For those that have done the full tear down and restoration!

Please share your wisdom and experience.

What do you wish you had done differently or wish you had done at the time instead of waiting till later and later has yet to come...

No limits...body, mechanicals, drive train, whatever.

 

[Peanut Butter]

I wouldn't change a thing. I've learned a lot doing my rebuild, and now I'm challenging myself in a way I never thought I would.

 

[HackFabrication]

What do you wish you had done differently or wish you had done at the time instead of waiting till later and later has yet to come...

I wish I would have bought a new TJ and gotten the whole 'Jeep Thing' out of my system 20 years ago....

Honestly, I wouldn't do this again. But you can never say never... It took 20 years to get mine from this:

December 1996



To this:

September 2016



Unknown hours of my labor, many many hours of billed labor from others. Some that I was happy with, some that I wasn't happy with... Many parts that were bought that had to be Hack Fab'd to fit. Many parts that were bought that were never used and later sold at give away prices. Or just scrapped because nobody wanted them and I can only store so much.

I changed directions on the build so many times, that I've got a lot of things that don't really work the best for what I'm now using the CJ for.

That being said....

I wish I had started out with a vehicle that was in a lot better shape. Although it didn't suffer from classic previous owner created problems, the body wasn't usable. The frame was okay. The engine had a cracked block, the gas tank was leaking. Rear crossmember was trashed. On and on and on....

What I would have done different to the drive line, is go with a custom Dana 44 /60 setup. Or Ford 9" axles. Perhaps geared at 4.11 or 3.73 with the thought of never running more than a 32/33 inch tire. I put a lot of money into the OEM Dana 30 / AMC20 , and in the 'big scope of expenses', it would have been a negligible amount to get bigger/better axles.

I would have ditched the Ford T-18 install, and went with either a NV35xx or AX15 to get the Overdrive . Or a T-176 for better 'street-ability'. Definitely would have dumped the Dana 20 Transfer Case (it's been twin-sticked and TeraLow'd) in favor of an Atlas or Dana 300 with 4:1 (or lower) gears.

Am I happy with it? Yes. Was it expensive? Yes (embarrassingly expensive). Is it done? No. Still have a lot of small details, wants, and 'rigging' left to do:

The BesTop needs to be 'tweaked' so the doors fit better.
Bikini top purchase/install.
Need to re-design the rear swing-out tire carrier (for the third time).
Have to come up with some sort of storage/tool box for the inside to carry recovery gear/etc.
Add a second battery with isolator to the rear to power on-board air and portable rear winch.
A set of street tires, may go to either a 16 or 17 inch rim and run metric AT's.

There will always be something to add/remove/improve on my CJ5 . But thankfully, all the big ticket things are done. It will most likely outlive me.

 

[Hedgehog]

Mine isn't exactly a restoration, it's more of a make it work project. I love the whole CJ jeep thing, but it is entirely the wrong vehicle for my needs and I never should have started down this path. Mostly due to the changing border situation. Its just not safe to leave an open CJ with hunting equipment in it alone in the desert. What I should have invested all this time and money in would have been a Willys Wagon. With the wagon I would have completely sacrificed the whole Willys drive line and gone with something modern. Yes, even an SBC or possibly an entire drive line from a ford.

Why not the CJ? I want a hunting vehicle, I want something I can work on, I want something with room and lockable doors. Maybe even room to sleep in the back. I have absolutely no interest in the Rubicon Trail, I do want to see Death Valley and Alaska.

But, I do love the CJ, it connects me with my Grand Father and a friend I bought a CJ from that took his own life. Then there are a few internet friends I met here.

 

[Belizean]

Sounds like you need a suburban. I had an old 81 3/4 ton and really liked it. I already had the jeep and eventually sold it, will never sell my CJ. The suburban was just to big. QUOTE=Hedgehog;230398]Mine isn't exactly a restoration, it's more of a make it work project. I love the whole CJ jeep thing, but it is entirely the wrong vehicle for my needs and I never should have started down this path. Mostly due to the changing border situation. Its just not safe to leave an open CJ with hunting equipment in it alone in the desert. What I should have invested all this time and money in would have been a Willys Wagon. With the wagon I would have completely sacrificed the whole Willys drive line and gone with something modern. Yes, even an SBC or possibly an entire drive line from a ford.

Why not the CJ? I want a hunting vehicle, I want something I can work on, I want something with room and lockable doors. Maybe even room to sleep in the back. I have absolutely no interest in the Rubicon Trail, I do want to see Death Valley and Alaska.

But, I do love the CJ, it connects me with my Grand Father and a friend I bought a CJ from that took his own life. Then there are a few internet friends I met here.[/QUOTE]

 

[Belizean]

Not sure what happened with that quote reply

 

[HackFabrication]

You must have deleted the left bracket:
QUOTE=Belizean;230441]Not sure what happened with that quote reply[/QUOTE]

Not sure what happened with that quote reply

 

[Hedgehog]

I hunted out of a CJ for years, that was bird hunting with dogs. Very little was left in the CJ when I was hunting. Now I'm a predator hunter. Predator hunting requires an extra fire arm (usually a shotgun and a rifle). and a considerable amount of equipment that simply can't go with me. It's also a moving game. Drive, stop walk to a stand, call for 15 minutes, go back and do it again all day long. Lots of driving, lots of time away from the vehicle. With the area I'm hunting in crawling with illegal border crossers leaving an open CJ is a dangerous situation.

Had a Bronco, worked well, but was expensive to maintain. A Suburban is definitely not my cup of tea. The Willys would be big enough, but short enough.

As I said before, I'm not going to sell my CJ. I love the old thing, it says something about me and what I'm all about. But, if I were to do it all again it would be with a Willys Wagon. Still a jeep, but a little bigger with locking doors.

 

[hole]

Hedge, have you thought about a trail rated trailer?
Sorry, back to the original topic

 

[007]

In addition to what has been said above, I would like to remind you as I have to remind myself; that there's a saying that says "The poor man pays twice."

Basically, if you try and half a55 it the first time around you will more than likely double your effort and triple your money by doing it right the second time around. For some things you can skimp depending on your needs or desires. For things like brakes and driveline, see the saying above.

It's not a frame up restoration, but it's getting better all the time.

Hedge, I'm kicking around a 1978 Cherokee... Something like that would a good hunter for you... ;-)

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