Illegal for AutoX: A 1976 CJ5 Build

Last summer, the wife and I decided to buy another Jeep for a winter project.  We have had a few over the years and since we are in a good spot with the Chumpcar we needed something to keep us busy in the winter.  We wanted a pile of parts, a stalled out project that had a bunch of money tied up in it.  We had time on our side and I expected the hunt to take awhile and to far off lands (like Atlanta).

Lo and behold, we found this Craigslist ad, locally, and the guy actually responded to contact.  Things were looking interesting!  He admitted on the phone the Jeep wasn't quite as road ready as the ad would make you believe (or the correct year, its a 1976), but we made arrangements to look at it on a Sunday evening.

Here are the pictures from the Craigslist ad

You're keeping the seat covers right?

Obviously the previous owner had great taste in seat covers and a diamond plate fetish. 

There were tons of new parts, and a lot of work performed.  He never quite finished it and it sat for several years.  I was impressed enough with the beast I was willing to pay asking price.  He bumped the price down to 2500 without my asking and we agreed to meet in a couple days to do the Pennsylvania Title Transfer Shuffle at the local AAA (It was our first experience buying a car in PA).  After the paperwork was done, we loaded up the Jeep, some more spare parts, a folder full of receipts he gave us and headed home to let it sit some more (inside at least) until we would actually start working on it.

The0retical said:

You're keeping the seat covers right?

I only have one left.  The other has been mailed to a fellow GRMer as a surprise (cough... cough... Dr Boost)

The previous owner gave me receipts that totaled $9552.98.  Three are parts I see on the Jeep that have missing receipts, so I would put the total closer to 13k.

Some of the new parts either installed or included-

fiberglass tub

top and doors

heating system (cables, core, etc)

wiring harness

lockers front and rear

new 4.10 gears and install kit, front and rear

all gauges

stainless exhaust

carb

header

all dash switches

Brake booster

brake master cylinder

rebuilt engine

clutch

hi lift jack and mount

fender flares

All u joints

Assorted stainless dressup pieces

Clutch linkage

Shocks

Lift kit

Fuel tank

Brake and fuel lines

It also came with a good Ford t19

One of the big things that was missing was the power steering pump bracket.  Originally this was a 304 but he put in a 258 and never found the correct bracket.  I figured I would keep my eyes open but most of what I was seeing was 200+ for the bracket only!

Craigslist to the rescue again.  I bought a rolling CJ7 frame with a supposedly running engine, Dana 20 and T150 for 200.  Plus it has a 2 barrel intake, weber carb, and Ford distributor.  The Prestolite distributor currently installed is cracked, just like every other one out there.  All this for the price of just the PS bracket off ebay

My wife kept telling me I wasn't allowed to touch it.  But I did the "Angry Jeep" mod that is so popular with the young peoples these days.

It was so green and scuzzy, we gave it a bath with Comet.  The soft top is covered in tree sap.  We haven't attacked it hard but it doesnt want to come off.

Post Comet bath

Because I couldn't keep my grubby paws off it, one night I started pulling off the diamond plate that had been glued to the sides.  I also removed the sketchy roll bar (the CJ7 frame came with a good one) and replaced the kangaroo smasher front bumper (also off the CJ7 frame).

I damaged the fiberglass, mostly under the roll bar, but I got the stuff to fix it.

So that is pretty much where we are at.  Now that we are done with Chump until 2018 I can start to pick at it.  We plan on going through EVERYTHING the previous guy did.  Some stuff looks ok, some stuff looks a little sketchy.  Its a solid base but I certainly wouldn't head off to California (or even the local gas station) in it the way it is.

The rear end had the gears swapped but the front hasn't been done yet.  The engine only starts with a squirt of ether.  I want to remove some of the springs from the lift.  It doesn't compress when you bounce on the bumper.  My guess is its a Rough Country. 

The wiring, while new, could use some ....... attention

I love me some CJ. Plans?

In reply to barefootskater :

We have a couple stages in mind.  Stage 1 is what we are working towards this winter.  The goal is to maximize what is already there and make it a reliable driver first.  I have been given a budget of 5k all in.  After buying the Jeep, tax/title fees, buying the CJ7 frame, and buying a set of closeout 33s from Tire Rack, I have about 1500 left.  Ideally I would paint it and replace the seats with that money.  There shouldn't be too much need to buy much along the lines of mechanical parts just due to what has been done and what came with it.  But I expect a few surprises.

Anything stage 2 and beyond would come later.  We don't want this to be a pile of parts in the garage for another 5 years.  I would like to swap in TBI and a 4speed trans but that will wait.

logdog said:

The0retical said:

You're keeping the seat covers right?

I only have one left.  The other has been mailed to a fellow GRMer as a surprise (cough... cough... Dr Boost)

I never got it!  My Volvo would look SWEET with one of those haha

In reply to DrBoost :

It was supposed to be a surprise but I ruined it.  Its in the mail now, I used it as packing material for the gauge.

logdog said:

There shouldn't be too much need to buy much along the lines of mechanical parts just due to what has been done and what came with it.  But I expect a few surprises.

 

Nice recovery 

Sweet score!  Do the 5s have the same 5 on 5.5 lug pattern as the 7s or are they 5 on 4.5?  If 5.5 I have extra Dick Cepek alloy rims from my Bronco that may need a home one day but other than that the only thing I have is lust for a CJ.  I've wanted a CJ8 Scrambler with a CL 350 Scrambler on the back bumper for a LONG time

At this point I've seen more Jeep CJs with diamond plate than whatever metal they originally came with down there.

Justjim75 said:

Sweet score!  Do the 5s have the same 5 on 5.5 lug pattern as the 7s or are they 5 on 4.5?  If 5.5 I have extra Dick Cepek alloy rims from my Bronco that may need a home one day but other than that the only thing I have is lust for a CJ.  I've wanted a CJ8 Scrambler with a CL 350 Scrambler on the back bumper for a LONG time

Yep, these are 5x5.5 too.  Ive been looking for some 15x8 turbine style wheels.  I posted a thread here, and posted some want ads locally.  15x10s are easier to find.

I was prepped to buy a CJ8 pile of parts down in WV before we bought this.  But the seller was holding it for somebody that promised to come later.  A few weeks after buying this CJ5, the CJ8 popped back up for sale minus the frame and other parts so I guess the guy cherry picked it.

ssswitch said:

At this point I've seen more Jeep CJs with diamond plate than whatever metal they originally came with down there.

Based off the receipt that came with it, this guy has a 4x8 sheet stuffed all over it. 

As a family man that takes a wife, 1 or 2 kids and a dog or 2 when i go offloading, my 96 Full Size Bronco ("Big Red ") is a better fit than anything jeep other than the SUVs or a 4 door Wrangler. But after my 12 yr old is gone off to school I may be looking for one like y'alls or an 8

As posted in my WTB thread-

Got a major score today. Guy had them advertised as 15x10s. They were cheap so I figured I would grab them and keep looking for 15x8s. When I went to pick them up they turned out to be 15x8.5s and came with the lugnuts. Win! All for 100 bucks.

Cool!  Those will look great on the Jeep!

Over the weekend I pulled the seats and started cleaning up the fiberglass damage.  I want to get the interior stuff done before I am waiting on fiberglass and roll in bed liner to cure in below freezing weather.

Luckily it came with a stock dashboard so I can replace the diamond plate one.

We tried a new junkyard in Scranton we hadn't been to before.

From a Grand Wagoneer we pulled a much needed tilt column (Fat dudes need all the help they can get in a CJ5) with the correct splines on the output shaft rather than the more common "D" design.  This was a bit of a surprise because I thought the splines had disappeared in the late 70s and this was pulled from an 88.  Almost all aftermarket shafts and most of the common swapped columns (s10 & 80s Cherokee) are the D design so I was expecting to need an adapter.  It has a column shift and fancier turn signal switch so I am going to see what I can make by combining parts.

The column set us back 26 dollars.

From the same vehicle we found a York AC compressor with the elusive Grand Wagoneer 90 degree fittings.  At 20 bucks, I could pass it up.  It would be nice to add onboard compressed air one day.  Now to keep my eyes open for a set of 258 AC compressor brackets.  I doubt I am going to find them in a yard around here.  I just need to find the Pennsylvania AMC nerds.

I've never understood how you handle lubrication with an A.C. compressor for tire filling.  What's the solution?