Late CJ5; got it bought!

Well, I've been after this jeep for the better part of 10 years, and yesterday I got it bought. 1979 CJ-5, factory or dealer installed metal half-cab has never been off. 4 speed with granny low 1st. Have to assume it is a T-18. 30,060 original miles. 60 / 40 bench seat. Original wheels and maybe even tires are intact including passenger side mounted spare. 258 cu in 6 cylinder. Black with white top. 8000 lb winch that might get removed. It has a few barn bumps on it, as it was purchased new in St. Louis and was driven to the farm where it lived most of its life fixing fence and checking cows. It sold several years ago, and I got first dibs on it if they ever wanted to sell it. I am the 3rd owner. I plan to clean it up, fix or have fixed all of the dings and dents, and maybe have it painted. This one will stay stock. Don't have it home yet. Have to make the trip to go get it. Pictures will follow.

 

Ya tease!

 

Patience wills out. Good for you.

 

J9M83EC02xxxx

J=jeep
9= year, 1979
M=4 speed transmission (Warner T-18)
83=model, cj-5
E=gvw, 4150
C=engine, 258, 2 bbl
Balance of numbers sequential build number

Hope to have it home this weekend if the weather allows.

 

Well done, hope it's all in one piece with no major issues.

 

Glad you got it. Can't wait to see it.

 

VEry nice, take photos during the travel!

 

Can't wait to see this. A friend in high school had a '79 Golden Eagle. 304 3 speed. Tan. I liked that JeeP a lot.

 

While we are waiting patiently.... Here's my '79.

 

...and this is my '78

 

Well, she's not quite parade ready. I powerwashed 37 years of farm off of her Saturday. We went to pick it up and it had been sitting so long the clutch was stuck to the flywheel. A short tug with a tractor and it broke loose. Engine ran well enough, considering how old the gas was. I drove it onto the trailer. When I got it home, the first thing I did was put some fresh gas and some Stabil in the tank. Then, I drove it. My wife and I hopped in for a short test drive. Windshield was so dirty you could hardly see out. We ran it about 10 miles. Brakes are great. Steering is a bit loose, but not like most-and I suspect either a tie rod or a quarter turn of the worm adjuster will fix that. Clutch is great, shifts well. 3.54 gears with the 258 and it pulls hills well-also helped by those short 7.00-15 tires, which are not the originals, but the spare is. Cleaned it up well Saturday afternoon. Taped up the drivers side of the seat for now. Looks like I'm ordering 2 front fenders and a set of tail lights today. I decided its easier just to bolt on a new set than beat on those. Top has never been off. Lights all work-other than broken one on drivers rear. It will get the body massaged and some fresh paint in the original color. Frame will get either POR or quality undercoating applied. No rust in floors. One dime sized spot on drivers side below tail light. I thought it was BLACK. I had never seen it out of the dark barn it was in. Its actually a metallic brown. All gauges work, as does heater, blower (lots of mud dobber nests to blow out), wipers, etc. I drove it about 30 miles Sunday after she was cleaned up, and it just purrs. All that work I went through to get a T-18 in my CJ-6, and here is one from the factory. Just love driving it. That shifter nearly sticks up as high as the windshield. Transfer case shifts smoothly too. No lockouts and it was in 4 hi when I got in it. Might have spent most of its life in 4wd. Here are a few pics and a copy of the sales ticket. I got the owners manual, tire brochure and warranty, jeep warranty, original invoice, snow plow brochure, window sticker, etc all in a nice file. It does have 36,085 miles on it after I drove it this weekend. I had a number transposed before when I said 30,060.

 

And a few more.....

 

That's pretty sweet!! That's a good one to keep original

 

Excellent. 258/T-18 is a great combo. Cool half cab.

Re the front fenders, I'd fix those rather than buy repops. The repops don't compare in quality with the originals. Should be easy since you can get to the back side of the panel so easily.

Interesting to see the sales ticket. I recall I paid ca $4400 for my '73 new, and about $5500 for my first '75 new (not my current Jeep).

 

Nice piece of history!

That's interesting they put a used half cab on a new jeep. I wish I could find one for $200!

Not to mention a bench seat for $37, a new T-18 for $161, a trac-loc for $87....

 

a good buy

 

Damn good buy! I'm with Timgr. I'd fix the front fenders rather than repops. Those don't look that bad, and re-pops just aren't OE quality.

 

Re. Undercoating is a bad choice it tends to trap moisture. Paint or paint and fluid film no more rust.