Build Thread Rough but Ready Renegade

[BC CJ]

A few more pics just for fun







and here she is, all parked away for the rest of spring I'll be back! Until then though I'll enjoy watching everyone elses builds.

 

[CJ BRIAN NJ]

im getting jammed up with work but i have your jeep as my screen saver to keep me motivated! hopefully i will be at that point by the time you get back!

 

[BC CJ]

im getting jammed up with work but i have your jeep as my screen saver to keep me motivated! hopefully i will be at that point by the time you get back!

 

[Renegade]

Turned out Great! Nice Work!!

 

[BC CJ]

Turned out Great! Nice Work!!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing your Jeep all painted

 

[WHATROAD]

Great job on the resto. Good chance that it was indeed a Renegade as in 75 they ran the AMC 304 as a part of that package, along with alloy wheels and Trac-Lok.

For quite a few decades now the auto industry has begun selling it's new model cars about mid to late Sept of the previous year. Your 75 was probably introduced Sept. 1974 and had possibly been an assembly line product for about 5 or 6 months by the time yours was put together in December of 74.

your color choice was excellent, and again, GREAT JOB. Enjoy!

 

[BC CJ]

Thanks WHATROAD! Thats what I thoguht; it has the V8, dash pad, rear mount spare tire, power steering, power brakes. Pretty well equipped for 75.

Thanks for the color compliment!

 

[CJ BRIAN NJ]

Thanks WHATROAD! Thats what I thoguht; it has the V8, dash pad, rear mount spare tire, power steering, power brakes. Pretty well equipped for 75. Thanks for the color compliment![







im looking for a definate way to tell if my 79 CJ7 is a levis ed. ?? i was told on "the other forums" that it was not but now some guys are saying it might be ?not sure if you can tell by the vin what package it was . it has a Levi (Edition) back seat but that could be from another.

 

[WHATROAD]

bccj

To my knowledge the only way that to tell was by the options. ie: Laredo , chrome grill, tilt wheel, tach, leather steering wheel and grab bar, ect. There has never been a designating number in the vin.

Over the 19 years that the CJ5 was produced, the 5 had 10 different pkg upgrades as well as the plain jane variety. Over 600,000 CJ5 's were produced.

That is why some are more than ready to discount a vehicles claim to be something other than plain old jeep. The ability of the manufacturer to "upgrade" has always been a question of options.

I feel that you have represented a CJ5 with a AMC 304 in a form fitting the designation Renegade . It does not increase the resale value of your jeep and it contains the essential equipment that would have been on the Renegade of that time.

There is no way of determining so therefore it is what you say it is. Good job again on providing yourself with a great looking example of a 1975 JEEP CJ5 . American motors at its best!

CJ BRIAN NJ,

Same info about the vin and options applies to the 1979 CJ7 as well. I was selling the jeeps in Denver back in the late 70's early 80's. Patches of my memory have become less clear over the years so this may be incorrect but I believe that the denim pkg was a product of about 1981 or 1982. Don't take that to the bank but it is a pretty good guess. Im going to look through some old ads that I still have and see what I can find.

The CJ7 ran for 11 years and produced just over 379,000 units. Of those jeeps the plain jane was most predominant but there were also 6 or 7 pkg's. Most common were the Golden Eagle , Renegade , Laredo . more rare were the Jamboree and Limited editions. Aside from having the window sticker that came with your jeep or a clear proponderance of optons for the CJ7 line, chances are that the other contributors are correct. The CJ7 line just had such a more clear cut example of options for the different pkgs than did the CJ5 . Hope that helps!

 

[WHATROAD]

CJ BRIAN NJ

In the first folder I opened I found out how fuzzy this old cranium really is.

The Levi (Edition) package began as an appearance upgrade on the 1974 GREMLIN. In 1975 they began to run it on the jeep Renegade series but was an opton on the regular models. From what I can find at this time, it ran until 1978, (still checking that date) and the jeep that had this product would have had an orange Levi (Edition) logo directly over the stamped jeep name in front of the door.

 

[CJ BRIAN NJ]

bccj

To my knowledge the only way that to tell was by the options. ie: Laredo , chrome grill, tilt wheel, tach, leather steering wheel and grab bar, ect. There has never been a designating number in the vin.

Over the 19 years that the CJ5 was produced, the 5 had 10 different pkg upgrades as well as the plain jane variety. Over 600,000 CJ5 's were produced.

That is why some are more than ready to discount a vehicles claim to be something other than plain old jeep. The ability of the manufacturer to "upgrade" has always been a question of options.

I feel that you have represented a CJ5 with a AMC 304 in a form fitting the designation Renegade . It does not increase the resale value of your jeep and it contains the essential equipment that would have been on the Renegade of that time.

There is no way of determining so therefore it is what you say it is. Good job again on providing yourself with a great looking example of a 1975 JEEP CJ5 . American motors at its best!

CJ BRIAN NJ,

Same info about the vin and options applies to the 1979 CJ7 as well. I was selling the jeeps in Denver back in the late 70's early 80's. Patches of my memory have become less clear over the years so this may be incorrect but I believe that the denim pkg was a product of about 1981 or 1982. Don't take that to the bank but it is a pretty good guess. Im going to look through some old ads that I still have and see what I can find.

The CJ7 ran for 11 years and produced just over 379,000 units. Of those jeeps the plain jane was most predominant but there were also 6 or 7 pkg's. Most common were the Golden Eagle , Renegade , Laredo . more rare were the Jamboree and Limited editions. Aside from having the window sticker that came with your jeep or a clear proponderance of optons for the CJ7 line, chances are that the other contributors are correct. The CJ7 line just had such a more clear cut example of options for the different pkgs than did the CJ5 . Hope that helps!

thanks whatroad , yeah i guess im happy with mine even if its plain jane model a guy in north jersey bought a warehouse with thousands of brand new cj take offs . i believe some dealers did the package upgrades in house to help move leftovers and that explains why the former jeep dealer warehouse hadf thousands of grills , bumpers , wheels , roll bars and plain black pad sets and seats! i also had an origional Tuxedo Park Park CJ5 that i bought from the second owner who was the son of the buyer . i could never title it bc the way the estate was handeled after the old man passed. but it was cool top have as a yard and woods truck. it had embroidered seats complete carpet and pad set with the interior dress up panels and all the decals intact. i wish i held onto it but it rotted fast once it got started

 

[CJ BRIAN NJ]

Jeep Commercial Vintage CJ - YouTube

check out this great 70's commercial for the cj's!


and the launch of the first CJ7 !

sorry for posting them on your thread but i thought you would like to see!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Pna5kuVZDXE

 

[BC CJ]

Thanks whatroad! Yes AMC did some beautiful things to the jeep. I was comparing it to the Toyota FJ40 which was an optionless workhorse just like the pre-AMC jeeps. Some people apreciate that kind of thing but I think A Jeep with power steering, V8 etc... is even more functional plus fun to boot! As for Renegade or not, it doen't really matter, I would put the decals on anyways as I love the styling. It's just interesting to learn the history of a vehicle. The VIN doesn't tell me much but it does confirm the V8 with its' 'H'

Hey Brian, no worries, I did enjoy those adds. I like the old poster adds too. My uncle has a Dodge Sport Fury with a bunch of memorabilia and its pretty cool. I'll have to start my Jeep collection one day... but first I'll save the budget for the Jeep its' self!

 

[BC CJ]

Well, I'm back to work on my Jeep! A couple productive days already:

Yesterday I checked over all the fluids, cleaned the fuse box and replaced all the fuses, made longer diff breathers, got the temp gauge working, got the wiper/washer plumbed, and probably some stuff I forgot.

Today I replaced all of the wheel bearings on the front and inspected some stuff. The steering links all seem good, no noticable play, but the ball joints do have some play so (one day) I'll get to them.

Two more things to do before it hits the road:
1 - get tires.
2 - chase down and fix the last electrical gremlin: one brake light doesn't work.

 

[BC CJ]

Today I got a half-way-to-blown U-joint replaced on the rear drive shaft... and fixed the brake light. As of right now all of the electrical is working! Fingers crossed it stays working somewhat reliably!

And I did a ramp test to get an idea of shock lengths and bump stop spacers. Miraculously the 14.5 wide boggers tuck under the flare! There are a few more inches of up travel in the suspension so I think 33" tires will work very well on this Jeep.

opposite corners on ramps.

 

[justinfonder]

i love how this thing is coming out, especially for the time/money you have invested. great job

 

[BC CJ]

i love how this thing is coming out, especially for the time/money you have invested. great job

Thanks! I ordered tires the other day so she's starting to add up and hopefully a bunch of issues dont show up once I start driving it (soon!) but so far so good.

 

[Petescj]

Thanks! I ordered tires the other day so she's starting to add up and hopefully a bunch of issues dont show up once I start driving it (soon!) but so far so good.

Tires are a killer huh? Love what youve done so far.

 

[BC CJ]

Tires are a killer huh? Love what youve done so far.

Up in Canada we say "Tires are killer eh?" But yes, it's pretty hard to avoid the hole they put in vehicle's budget. Details soon(ish). Thanks Pete!

 

[BC CJ]

Project Update: Tires.

There is still a long list of odds and ends to do with this Jeep but now it is driveable! Sometime next week I'll get insurance and take it for a test run

I got a set of 8" wheels with this Jeep along with the 10" that the boggers were on. I had no idea what the different wheels would look like so I had planned to use the 10" for no particular reason. But I was recently inspired to use the 8" wheels by some pics of a couple intermediate CJ5s on the Rubicon Trail. These Jeeps looked just right to my eyes so that became the new plan for my Jeep (thanks Jr!).

The tires I chose are called Runway Enduro MT. Yeah, I'd never heard of them either but I liked the tread design and the classic style sidewall... and the price. They were the cheapest option and I was able to save a little more by mounting and balancing them myself at the shop where I work.

So before:


and after:


The worn out 35's are only half an inch taller than the new 33's but visually there is a lot more space in the wheel wells. Its a whole different Jeep without the boggers! It's going to take some getting used to but I like it. It has a more classic style now rather than the show truck/mud dragster look.

So naturally I pulled it out of the carport, pulled the top off and took some pictures! This is what I call the "Ka-chow angle."




and a closer up of the tires. Pardon the floor mess - it's still a construction zone