Zack's 1956 CJ5 Resto

My name is David Zack. I took possession of my grandfather's old Jeep on May 6, 2007. On that day I moved it from his garage to mine. It still had air in the tires and had been sitting in his garage for over 30 years. It took a year of work to get it running. The usual stuff, mouse nest in muffler, nuts and seeds in the carb...etc. Got it running and actually ran it "As is" for a year or so. Then I decided to start rebuilding her. I want to keep it original. I have the frame, drive train and motor done. I am working on the body at the moment. I had managed to get my replacement panels from Jeep Panels Plus up in South Paris, Maine before the owner had passed away. Sorry to his family, hopefully they will get back into it if they have not already. I still have to rebuild the steering box and track down a glass bowl fuel pump or a rebuild kit for mine. It has been taking me a while on the body as I am not a body guy nor had I ever welded anything other than a go cart frame way back when. I am down to getting the rear corners and tail light panels and tail gate opening put together. Kind of tricky work, got a few layers to weld and fit together. I am using a Eastwood Mig welder. Great little unit, I can get some nice looking welds out of it. Of course being a newbie welder means I have "LOTS" of grinding to do. I know that the original welds were kind of crude looking in places and that I am not building a museum quality Porsche or anything but I want it to look like I actually tried to make it look good. The only thing I was thinking of doing once I get my tub done was to "Rhino-Line" it inside tub and possibly underneath. I realize that this is not what it had in it when new but my reasoning is that the tub would be painted metal with at most a rubber mat over it. Plus 2 boxers will eventually be riding in the Jeep when I get done. That means 32 sharp nails rubbing,scratching and digging the paint not to mention any sand that gets under he mats. I have not gotten that far in my resto to worry about it at the moment. Anyhow, enough of the BLAH BLAH BLAH chatter. Here are some pictures to look at.
-Peace
-Zack


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeephead/501419350/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeephead/5434744127/

 

Here is an easier way to see the pics. Flikr makes it difficult to copy the "img" code.
A lot of people use bed liner for the bottom and inside of the tub. I'm considering it myself, however, keep in mind that repairs down the road could be a pain. Bed liner
is very difficult to remove if you need to replace or weld a panel. It would be good to have with dogs though. Great history on your Jeep. It's looking awesome






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nice keep up the good work

 

Hey thanks for getting those up there for me. See if this works:

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Rear tub-DSC_2295_2 by Jeephead, on Flickr

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Front Floor - DSC_2294 by Jeephead, on Flickr

 

I had a question about how to best line up the tub on the frame? As you can see I have replaced the front and back floor panels. I was looking at some of my pictures and I think the rear valance under the tailgate is flush with the rear bumper. I want to make sure that she is level and square before I drill new body mounts. I also think that the body sat on some rubberized canvas pads which seem to have had better days. If I were to replace them, what should I use? I want to maintain the stock appearance in tub height and not have a big gap to the frame. I searched through all my photos of the jeep during its dismantle stage thinking I had all the bases covered for the small details but it is easy to forget where I started, HA! The part if the floor just behind the seats is now flat instead of tapered to mate up to the frame. I was going to grind down and weld a piece of steel to the angle of the original or maybe a use a piece of Delrin or rubber pad. Any picture details that might assist me would be much appreciated.
Thanks

 

That is correct. If the rear valance is flush and square with the bumper, you could assume that the tub is set on the frame correctly. Maybe someone with a similar year Jeep could help
verify a few measurements. You still need to reference the tub left to right, but items like the brake/clutch pedal and the tranny cover can get you close.

Here are a few choices. I'm personally using the the thick hockey pucks on my Jeep.

I just finished all of my body mounts and I came up with a solution for this issue.
Scroll down about half way on my build page to see these mounts...http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?79103-66-CJ5-Rebuild/page20

 

I was going to pick up this : "CJ2 Internal Wheelhouse Channel Support for Driver Side" from http://www.classicent.com/jeep.php for my driver's side rear fender. I know it says it is for a CJ2 but it looks exactly like the one I had in there. My wheel well is about 11.5 inches inside dimension. I do not know what the inside dimension is on a CJ2.

 

I am considering having the interior of the tub lined with a Rhino or Line-x style coating. A local shop said they can spray it in color if I supply the paint code for an additional $200. Black would be fine by me. I was going to get the black rubber mats anyways. If I go this route I will have it coated clear up the firewall and side rails. Now I know that this is not original to the way the Jeep came and I am trying to keep it as original as possible, but I would think it would make the interior durable enough to enjoy without worry of scratching the paint. Boxers have "Carbide" coated toe nails. What are your thoughts? I am a little ways off from getting to that point, just exploring my options.

 

Do it, bed liner is a good upgrade. Can help with the tin box sound effects, adds a good layer of durability.

 

Hey looks like good progress.

 

Excellent work, keep it up. Yes, originally the body mounts were thick rubber pads but most guys go with the hockey puck rubber ones. I tried them but it made my tub sit too high off the frame for the stock appearance so I ended up using the original style pads.

Why do you want a wheelhouse baffle for the driver's side? They were only used on the passenger side to support the weight of the spare tire, I don't think they serve any other purpose.

 

Oh by the way, one word of advice on fitting the body to the tub. You'll need to do a full mock up with steering column mounted to the dash, pedals installed, fenders, grill, and hood. Once it is all setup, drill your holes. I know it is a pain because you'll have to dismantle everything but trust me, you don't want to rely on measurements alone.

 

Yes I was just thinking about that the other day. I was going to put fenders and grill on to try and line things up. Did not think about the steering column.
I need to find something for the body mounts. The hockey pucks will raise the tub higher than I would like to see and the original pads are too low after my floor was replaced, HA!

That reminds me, I was in the process of rebuilding the steering box and got to the point of pulling the pitman arm. I have the rebuild kit but was having issues pulling arm with 3-jaw puller. Also I need to find out what to use to re-pack or re-grease the column.

 

I am working on a 1956 CJ5 Willys. It has been some time since I dismanteled the Jeep and need to know a few things.
1) Is there supposed to be a gasket between the tail light and the body? I made a cork gasket but it looks to thick, could be the cork. Seems like there should be something that goes between the fresh paint and the tail light.
2) The front fenders bolt to the tun at the fire wall (Duh) but this is a case where it seems like there should be something between the 2. I see in Kaiser Willys that they sell a canvas buffer gasket with holes drilled already. I can't remember what was there before. I thought it was "Elephant Snot" (Grey clay/putty)
3) Same question goes for where the fenders mate to the grill.

Getting close to getting it done. Hope the pictures show what I have done so far.
Yes, I am trying to keep it original. Colour is off the inside of the glove box. Tires are the Coker Denman's. Keeping it 6 volts with cloth wrapped wire. No seat belt, roll bar, top or radio. Unless I can get the old under dash mounted Motorola Tube AM radio rebuilt with some sort of FM converter. Even though it will not see winter, I would like to locate a 6 volt heater motor if only for the defroster and aesthetics.

Let me know what you think.
-Thanks
-Z

 

What is the black on the floor? Rhino liner?

I'm no expert but if you are trying to stay mostly original, I believe the grab bar should be black.

 

Yeah, I agree, but rhino liner isn't OEM either. IMHO one of the fun things about jeeps is that the owners always felt free to individualize them, from Day One. My '57 Jeep is "original" but was painted a brighter yellow by the original owner. Even during WWII infinite field customizations were the norm. Part of the charm of the Jeep platform.



Nice work in any case!

 

Looking good..

 

Looks good! Another one being saved.

 

I replaced the front floors and "Hat Channels" underneath, the rear floors, both corners, the tail light valences and the tail gate valance. After all the work welding and grinding I decided that the only non original thing I wanted to do was Bullet line the inside of the tub as well as the bottom. Since it was not going to have carpeting, and rubber mats just trap sand and water and any exposed floor would get scratched eventually I thought it would be a nice addition. I am sure that if Rhino liner existed back in 1956 that they would be all over it. ;-) The dash handle was painted green when I started this project. I took the Speed-o apart and powder-coated the inside ring a gloss black and the outside ring a satin black. It is a subtle difference but looks good.
The inside of the tool box is also lined.

Yup, got the spacer for that side.