1956 Cj5 dash and other newbie questions

Hi all,

I just bought a 1956 CJ5. It's been sitting for years and is amzingly rust free and failry unmolested. I'm going to get it up and running and as original as possible. The dash has tons of different vintage Stewart Warner gauges and looks to me to be from a later model. What year range can I look at for a replacement dash to keep it stock?

It looks like the jeep was red new, because I see red on the frame... I also see a light green in places that are worn. Was the light green the primer? Is there a way to know for sure what color it was new? And if it was red, what parts besides the shell would have been painted red from the factory. I assume the interior besides the dash would have been black?

My manually locking hubs are stamped "Sears" I assume they're aftermarket. But any info on that would be great.

I was going to attach some pics, but it says I don't have the posting privileges to attach pictures. Thanks!

 

Pictures, pictures, pictures.

To do this, go to a site like photobucket or imageshack, upload them there, and then you can link them here.

 

Thanks! I used photobucket and it worked.

 

Wow! looks like someone was gonna build a competition jeep with all those gauges.

I bet you could sell them on the forum.

I don't know the exact differences between dashboards,
but any dash from 1955-1971 would fit, I just don't know how correct the holes would be.

 

The dash is really weird because the rest of the Jeep looks like it was an old farm vehicle. I'm tempted to take out the dash and try to sell the gauges to a hot rodder because they look vintage. I'll take some more pictures tonight. Did the 56 have the 1-10 gauge in it new?

 

A '56 "should" have had a 1-9 or 1-8 IIRC.

 

Thanks for the info, that helps with the primer and where the paint was originally. I'll look tonight more closely. Here are pictures of the hubs.

 

Here's another picture of my dash....



And here's a picture of my brake pedal. I thought the light green was primer, but maybe that was the original color...? I'll look under the dash to try to get a better idea, but not sure how well that will work since the dash isn't original.

Were the parts on the Jeep that were black new...like the windshield frame...gloss black? or semi-gloss, satin?

Thanks again for all the help!

 

Most Jeeps I've seen that were untouched had a Black semi-gloss frame............and the rest of the body and fenders were lightly primed in a greyish-white primer and then the body color whatever it may have been was shot everywhere.............a good place to see the original color would be up under the dash in the upper cowl area...........should be a little original color left up there.................also there could still be a color code strip on the firewall either side.............may be covered with paint.

Any of those early dashes should fit but the bolt pattern will be off a little depending on year.............chances of finding an unmolested stock dash...................Zero.........D&D metal fab on the east coast does a nice replacement dash and he will put the holes where you want them..........probably have to send him your old one so he can get the correct hole locations as yours.

 

The '56 could have the silver centered "Willys" speedometer or the 1-8 white on black, I think nickmil is selling one now minus the needle. The "willys" would be early '56. Of course both are six volt, so if you're running 12-volt, you'd have to convert back to original (they started 12v in '57, w/ 6v only optional).

 

Those paint tips help a lot. It has been converted to 12v, but I was going to rewire everything because it looks like a hack job. I didn't even think that I'd have to get a 12v speedometer. Maybe I should look for a late 50's 12v speedometer. That would probably be easier than switching back to 6v.

 

And were the shifters black? Thanks!

 

There's nothing wrong with 6v, unless you are running alot of electrical accessories, and converting back isn't that difficult, especially if you are doing a rewire. Walck's has cloth insulated wiring harnesses if you really want to look stock.

 

Hey, I just sent you a PM. Get with me and I'll try to get together with you and check out your Heep. Might have some pointers for ya.