Build Thread Sons '74 CJ5 Project

[Colo Dean]

Finally got a few pics of the work that has been done and where she is now.
Engine all wired except for a battery cable and charging up the battery since its sat for a year.

Fuse blocks wired up, still need to take the grill support rods off and paint them.

The grill doesn't sit perfectly level. It had been hit or hit something with the right front corner at some time. The frame had a little twist at that front cross member. Diagonally, everything measured fine when the tub was off. may have to open the holes a little on both sides to try and get it to set more level. (need to get a headlight too)

Drivers side

Getting closer

Still more to do, but the end is at least in sight!

 

[caveman]

You may be able to tweak the grill a little by adjusting the grill support rods.

 

[Hedgehog]

The tweaked frame/grill arrangement would drive me crazy. If you can find a frame shop they might be able to fix the frame with the body on. But that's not why I'm posting. In this overly sensitive PC world it's nice to see a father working with his son in a nice clean garage with a fridge for beer and pictures of mom on the wall behind it. ..... No wait, that might not be mom in those pictures. Even better! How many years has a picture or two of "Not Mom" graced garage walls. Keep it up my friend.

 

[Colo Dean]

Thanks Hedge, guess I'm an old school guy, used to be a mechanic long time ago and the "not mom" posters were everywhere in the shops. I do keep them in the back corner so as to not advertise them to everyone walking by. My youngest calls that the "boobie wall" Mom doesn't have any problems with them as my 1st anniversary present was a sub to playboy that has continued for 22 years and counting.

Hoping once the Jeep is running to do more work in the garage. Only have half insulated and rock'd so far. Really want to build sofit cabinets all the way around and add more outlets. I like to have a clean shop and things organized.

 

[Colo Dean]

Well we now have the passenger seat mount fabricated and the seat mounted. Oil, anti-freeze, power steering and gear oils all changed and full. Replaced power steering belt with a longer one since we had to space it out a bit to route the heater hoses better. Finally got to turn her over after a little over a year! Still idles nice and smooth as when it was parked.

Had one small glitch, it wouldn't shut off. Somehow I lost power to the idiot light for the alternator and couldn't kill it. Was still cold enough to floor it and kill it that way. Checked fuses and wiring, think a fuse may have been loose because we tried again and everything worked fine, alt idiot light came on the second try. May have a few electrical bugs to work out since its all new.

Still have things to complete but the list is getting smaller. Install hood, paint roll bar and bumpers, need seat belts, new shocks, extend front axle breather hose, replace clutch rod (found it had almost worn itself in two), replace brake light switch, replace power steering cap and low pressure hose (has small leak) mount side mirror and adjust brakes and front wheel bearings. Probably a few other small things I'm not thinking of in there also.

Hope next weekend to fill with gas and ENJOY IT!!!

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Put a diode in the alt's 'excite' wire and that should fix the no shut down deal.
LG

 

[Colo Dean]

Had neighbors come over last night and we got the front wheel bearings/brakes adjusted as well as getting the hood back on. Tightened up a few loose items.

Today we let it idle up to temperature in the driveway and noticed that she was on the warm side (230/235*). It had a new thermostat prior to the tear down. Dropped the rear into the gutter to bring the front of the engine up and let it warm up with the cap off. It puked up a few gulps of air, topped it off and let it run a while with the cap off to see if it puked anymore. Didn't seem to have anymore big air pockets coming out so I put the cap back on. Seems to be hanging right around 210* after that.

Once all of the antifreeze was washed off from the puking episode, I got to take it for its maiden voyage to see what shook apart or fell off. Luckily, everything ran nice and smooth. Doesn't even make any clanking sounds anymore. Running around the neighborhood (no roll bar yet so I kept it pretty local for the test run) seems to be running between 200* and 210*. Do the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l 's run on the warm side? Factory gauge barely left the cold mark so it may or may not have been this way when we bought it.

Will need to adjust/rebuild the carb as its smelling pretty rich. Ran good and good throttle response but at stop lights you could smell it pretty good.

Anywho, really excited to have the tires back on the ground and take it for a spin. Still have to get the roll bar and bumpers painted and installed along with a new set of shocks.

Older brother and younger brother

Decided both of them needed a bath



Even though she's not completely done, felt great to cruise around, even got a thumbs up at the gas station from someone in a BMW.

 

[Colo Dean]

The roll bar has been painted and re-installed along with the bikini top. Something about driving around with the top patting you on the head

Went out and grabbed a couple shots. Sons been working on cleaning up the bumpers so we should have those painted this week. New shocks will be in tomorrow as well. Did rebuild the carb as it smelled pretty rich driving and especially at stop lights. While trying to get that tuned up and running smooth, looked down and saw gas on the garage floor. Fuel pump wouldn't leak at an idle, but off an idle, it was dumping gas out on the ground. Replaced the fuel pump and she seems to run pretty good now.


Still a few more things to do, but at least it's on the road again!

 

[mudsomemore74]

Hey Guys, I too have a 74 CJ5 . Nice build! You really got agressive with this, very nice. I am torn between just getting mine going and doing it right. You are definately doing it right. So far on mine I have rebuilt the Dana 20 and took out the detents and put in dual shifters on it, rebuilt the T14A tranny, replaced the AMC 232 i6 's exhaust manifold and all the exhaust behind it, welded in a piece on the passengers side, welded in seat belt brackets on the roll bar, and now am tackling the part I hate the most, doing a complete rewire with the Speedway wiring harness. Keep up the good work!

Mudsomemore

 

[Colo Dean]

Thanks for the comments. Originally we hadn't planned on doing so much work to her but once we started fixing one thing, we found we had 5 more things to fix to get the first problem done and it kept going from there. We looked at the fact it is 40 yrs old, but if we fix it right, it will last another 40. We also had the benefit that it wasn't needed to take someone to work or school so we had the time to tear everything down.

Sounds like you have a good start to your build. Just remember its all worth it in the end. Good luck with the wiring, its not too bad. I printed out my diagram on about 10 sheets of paper taped together so I could see everything and also make notes as I went. Would be happy to send you a copy of the wiring diagram as a pdf if it would help.