New !!!!!

Good Day Early cj5 world.... Good news i picked up a beautiful 1961 cj5 ! and i have a few questions before i dig into it ...it apears to have all the factory components f-motor , t90 , and dana 18 25 front? 44 rear ? ,,, i live in california and i really want to make this thing a fun cruiser and a mild trail killer ( it needs to handle freeway speeds ) ... what am i to do ! i was venturing down the lines of :

dauntless 225 , t-18 , dana 20 ... front 30 with discs , and a rear 44 w/ auissie .Saginaw steering... holbrooks springs and i would love to run some 33s !

done a bit of research but asking you guys who have the experience would be much better ... any input would be greatly appreciated .... money is obviously a budget situation ...

 

Welcome. The best thing that you can do with a new Jeep is to drive it. The single biggest mistake that you can make is to tear it all apart and then lose interest in the project. Safety items come first. Brakes can easily be upgraded with bolt on kits of 11" backing plates to go along with a dual chamber brake master cylinder. If everything works and runs well then a Warn overdrive can be easily bolted on to make it a little better on speed and drivability. Enjoy and post some pictures using photobucket or another photo hosting site.

 

Welcome.
I'm with Daryl. One thing at a time! Enjoy it for what it is.

Have fun.

 

Drive. Enjoy. Get to know him.

 

Good advice above.

In the meanwhile, you can continue your research. Go the the Novak site and read everything http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/chevy_buick_swap.htm

There is lots and lots of discussion of engine swaps on this site. Use Google to search the site - here's a good example https://www.google.com/#hl=en&outpu...pw.r_qf.&fp=f7bcdab3fe9d6679&biw=1104&bih=989

The most popular upgrades are engine, transmission, brakes and steering. But if you are a new Jeep owner, I'd suggest you take this a step at a time. You don't want to incur a lot of downtime right away.

If it were mine, I'd upgrade the brakes first. The 11" brake upgrade is a fairly easy project with a big payoff in both safety and driving. The next best upgrade is likely a Warn overdrive. The overdrive will get you up to near-highway speeds, and will extend your range a lot.

Expect to do a lot of maintenance too. Unless this Jeep was owned by an enthusiast, the front knuckles and kingpins will almost certainly need to be completely gone through. You will likely need Ross steering parts. The transfer case and transmission may need rebuilding. Lots of moving parts in a Jeep, and they tend to be abused and/or neglected.

As you get more seat time, your priorities will change.

So you likely have plenty to do without any ambitious projects. And Jeeps need to be driven... so make sure you can do that first.

 

What they all said and welcome from Ga. and pic's for sure.

 

Welcome from OK!

Your CJ was a mild trail killer when it rolled off of the Toledo assembly line. Don't let the upgrades everybody does make you feel that your cj is is anyway inadequate. Jeeps rolled across European battlefields with no upgrades. IMO The brakes thing is an issue because it sounds like you are using it as a daily driver, in CA no less, so that is probably the only must have.

Have fun and learn what your stock CJ can already do!

 

Homersdog is right on. As built the Jeep was (and still is) the best ever at what it does, even the F-head. Makes me crazy when people try to make them into what they weren't.

 

Vintage Rubicon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vov-IPy_6NM

 

I do agree with the guys above, mine has several upgrades but the ones that matter. 11" brakes, one piece tie rod and snaggy swap, I still have the f head/t90/dana 18, and original axles. I wheel with much more "capable" Jeeps, But little do they know I wheel in 2low allot where they use 4wd, let it be our little secret!!!! the lift and 33" tires do help allot, But they are not necessary. Have fun with it and enjoy the looks/waves, and smiles you will get driving your JEEP!

Like the guys said don't do a total tear down, mine has not been down more than a few weeks in the last 10 or so years. make upgrade/rebuild it's own little project. fix something drive evaluate and move on to the next!

I still have an overdrive on my wishlist!

 

Where are you in California?

 

Thanks for the replies ! i love the advice ... and this was just a post rattling off ideas ,,, but 11 inch brakes will be a first !
This sight is awesome thanks again ....

 

Sylmar 20 min north of hollywood !

 

Agree with all the above, especially the "Drive it" part. You won't really know what you want to do to it until you get familiar with it!

 

To bad your not way way farther north. I'm gettin ready to swap some stuff in a few months, and will have some things as extras.

 

i go to san marcos almost every other weekend ! let me know when parts are available !

 

My suggestion would be drive the '61. A couple of years. Then if you still want to do those changes, then buy a second one and do the changes to that one.
You may find that you don't want to change from what you have and you may also find, like some of us here have, that JEEPs are like Oreos. You can't have just one!


Also, forget about driving one of the ECJ's at anything over 60 mph. They were not built for it. You want one that goes faster, then buy an Intermediate for that.

One thing you will discover is that when you slow down to the speeds the JEEP was built for, that there is an awful lot of stuff you have been missing because you have been zipping past it at 75 mph. Slow down, Enjoy the scenery, Live Longer!

 

Sorry but san Marcos is like 700mi away. I live near the Oregon boarder.