My Little "Barn" Find... '55 CJ5

I thought no pictures was the agreement... what happens in Los Alamos stays in Los Alamos.

 

Well it's been a fun week of working on the Jeep. Left front wheel bearing started growling at me so I brought the jeep home and took a look....

Well crap... that's a lot of metal.


Looks good to me....


...and it was cool enough to essentially weld the inner portion of the bearing onto the spindle... heat and a BFH wouldn't budge the thing.


I guess I get to order a new spindle now... hooray.

 

I appreciate that... I'll try getting it off of there with a hacksaw. Maybe I can salvage it as a spare.

 

Jeep is almost back together with new front wheel bearings, a new driver's side spindle, and new brakes up front. I ran into more issues with the Omix-Ada parts that I was using. I'm starting to notice a trend in their machined parts. I'll write a full post on the issues and link to it here.

 

Making a late entrance to your thread but had to say WOW!! what an awesome jeep, love it.

 

Yay Ebay!

 

Cool looking speedo!

 

King-Seely!

 

Started refinishing the new hardtop and had to get the old paint off first.... here we are after one round of brush-on paint stripper and a pressure washer. Round 2 is in the works. The stuff actually worked pretty well. Maybe tomorrow I can spray some paint.

 

More work done on the Jeep....

Little Ebay rheostat for the heater:


Got rid of the speakers under the dash and put new ones into the ammo can console:


...and did some painting:


I also installed some new lights in the bumper. As much as I'd like it all to be period-correct, I'd also like to not hit a deer.

 

Yeah the fit issues got sorted out. I got around putting any holes in the windshield frame by installing toggle clamps to the top that clamp the windshield frame. Next fall a foam strip will go between the windshield and top, then it'll be sealed up tight and good to go.

 

The old Warn winch looks great on the front of your CJ. I have a 56 CJ5 - just found a very early Warn 6000 (after Belleview name but before Warn added the "M") that I am planning to use. The winch came with the original switch and control cables but not the mounting bracket.

Thanks for the pics. They will make it easier to fab a bracket, unless of course someone has one laying around.

Joe

 

Fixed that for you.....

 

Just out of curiosity, what did the eBay speedo run? Love the look but my 58 didn't have the 'Willys' one.

 

The lights have worked out great thus far. This is the exact model I got... can't beat the price: Amazon.com: Nilight 2pcs 18w Flood Led Work Lights Jeep Light Bar Off Road Light Led Light Bar for SUV Boat 4x4 Jeep Truck Bumper,2 Years Warranty: Automotive

I just wired them straight into the factory high-beam junction on the left inner fender and have had no problems thus far.