1961 President Red CJ5 Restoration Questions

Hi All

My Grandfather has given me a 1961 Willys CJ5 that he used as a plow jeep for his shop over the past 50 years. It has always been a dedicated plow jeep, and it shows. It currently has 3,000 ORIGINAL miles as well as the original set of tires. What I am looking for is a new set of tires to go on my wheels. I cannot determine the width of the wheel, as the only marking on the tires is a 7.60-15 Which I believe is to be a 5.5" Rim. I'd like to put a BF Goodrich All-Terrain TA KO 235/75R15 On there, I just don't know if it would fit as it is rated for a 6"-7" wheel.

Also, does anybody have any images of some perfectly restored 61' CJ5's ? I am looking at something to base my restoration off of, and I am trying to make it as original as possible, except for the tires. I am changing the tires as I need to make it a bit more roadworthy. On top of this, I am having a local body shop do the body repair as we speak. I gave my body man the Classicent website for all of the body parts, and it is in the process of being repaired. Is there anything I should inform him of doing before he goes ahead and repairs the rust on the panels?

Overall, this is all I am wondering about, so if you guys had anything that could help me with the restoration that would be fantastic.
Thanks!

Dan

 

Welcome from Clarksville Dan, and yes we love pictures!!! Some times I Google "images" looking for information.

 

Here's Some pictures of my jeep!





Currently the paint is off the entire front of the vehicle, the small dings have been repaired and it is premiered. Just the tub remains to be repaired.

 

Beautiful.

 

That is a great looking cj5. I think you are going to enjoy having it. Just noticed does it have locking front hubs or is it still stock? If it is stock and even if you are restoring it you might want to put locking hubs on. They will save a lot of wear and tear on the front drive train when you are on the road.

 

Do You have any suggestions as to what hubs I should use? Can I revert it to the original hubs easily enough if I ever decide to go back?
Thanks

Dan

 

Warn is the most well known and works great. I haven't kept up with the models preferred. There are several brands available. This thread has links to suppliers. I would stick with American made because material quality is very important in a hub.

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?25203-Where-to-Find-Parts

 

Used hubs come up all the time in the classifieds here; there are plenty of old school all steel hubs floating around. As an aside I have free o-rings to fit most hubs if anyone needs a set.

 

Easy to revert if you save the original parts.

But personally I don't think locking hubs are needed unless you are doing a huge amount of highway miles. Plenty of old jeeps did fine without them.

 

My new tailgate, the original was rotted out.

 

How bad was the original?

 

The original tailgate was not actually too horrid. I found that that it was just the hinge that was the main culprit, however there was a small amount of cancer in the actual hinge itself so I didn't want to make it too horrible.

I have finally finished my build and I am currently installing my new Bestop Supertop for my jeep. I've been having a lot of trouble with the mounting brackets, probably because of the excess paint buildup. I am assuming that I will have to grind down some of the nuts included with the soft top to get it to find correctly on the body.

Another problem I am finding is with the transmission. I am finding it incredibly difficult to switch from 2WD to 4WD, and from Lo to neutral to high. Also, I find general shifting slightly hard, with a lot of gear grinding. I have driven plenty of manuals, and my daily driver is a stick, so I know that it is not my shifting abilities that are the culprit. One of the things I have trouble with the most is downshifting. I find that it is nearly impossible without making horrid amounts of gear grinding noise.

Lastly, does anybody have any suggestions for the service of the Oil Bath air cleaner? I heard they had countless problems, however I was never explained the maintenance and issues that come with them.

I will post pictures later tonight of the truck.
Thanks

Dan

 

Dan,

There's definitely something up with the trans, all gears are synchronized right?

My Dana 18 T case was rebuilt, and I have to stop to shift, wheels have to be pointing straight, then it shifts fine.

As far as the oil bath air cleaner, I have never heard of real problems from a properly maintained cleaner.
I change the oil in mine every 2k miles (about every year for my CJ), just the same oil I put in the engine (clean of course).

IIRC, you're supposed to clean the filter element in mineral spirits, but we'll need to hear from someone with a 134.

You do have the 134 in the CJ right?

 

If this is a F134 Jeep, the only 3-speed it came with is the T-90. The T-90 is not synchronized in 1st gear, so downshifting into 1st when you are moving will grind ... unless you know how to double clutch and match the gear speeds.

But 2nd and 3rd are synchronized, so you should have no need to double clutch around town. Just stay in 2nd if you are moving at all, and only shift into 1st at a dead stop.

It sounds to my like the clutch is not completely disengaging? Have you adjusted the clutch? You should be able to shift from 2WD high to 4WD high with no grinding, if the hubs are locked in and you are moving straight ahead. 4WD low sometimes needs a little coaxing, but at worst you might get a clunk when it engages. And then only if you have to move a little to get the gears to line up. In most cases, it should just go in if the clutch is in. If the clutch is in and you've been sitting for a few seconds with the clutch in (to let the gears come to a stop), you should be able to either shift right in, or find the gears misaligned and you'd need to bump them a little to get them in. You should never get any loud grinding rrrRRRrr when shifting. If you do, that means the clutch is not letting go of the transmission input shaft somehow. Could be adjustment, could be rust from sitting so long, something.

 

I don't know where you get your info about the oil bath air cleaner. They work fine. There's a line to add oil - at oil change time (or more often) dump the oil, clean the mesh element with some mineral spirits, paint thinner or kerosene, put oil back in the reservoir up to the fill line, and put it back. Simple and effective. You can even use the old motor oil for the air cleaner - it will work fine.

 

"I am finding it incredibly difficult to switch from 2WD to 4WD, and from Lo to neutral to high."

Because the front and rear wheels do not move in perfect unison, especially in turns, torsion can build up in the drive components and bind up the transfer case. Try reversing a few feet, then shifting may be easier.

Also perhaps a shot of grease in the pivot shaft for the shift levers, and a drop of oil on each plunger rod.

Oil baths are no trouble at all, and work well.

 

Nice looking Jeep! It looks just like mine, I have a '59 in President Red that I just finished restoring (well, I guess they are never finished.) You can check out my blog at http://59willys.blog.com/ Virtually no difference between '59 and '61 so you can use my photos as reference -- I painstakingly kept it stock with the exception of radial tires, white wheels (originally body color), and stainless steel fasteners.

 

Here are some more pictures, and a link to my photo bucket album! www.photobucket.com/61cj5rebuild

I will have the clutch looked at by someone who knows the know about these clutches. I am guessing my uncle will have a pretty good idea of what needs to be adjusted. Also, as far as the brakes go, is taking a long time to stop normal?

 

Sweet!!!