So Now What?

New to the jeep world. Just picked what I'm to believe is a 67 CJ-5 as a project for my two oldest boys and I (13 & 15). Plan is to take it down to the frame and return her to glory. Lot's of rust, so I think it's best to get a complete pan hopefully saving only the Willy's stamped tailgate. Alternator, was sitting not mounted and sitting in the engine compartment, with no belts. Once I got her home I was able to get the 4 banger running which sounded good (as far as sowing machines go). Since these pictures, I've started to degrease the engine, and power washed her inside and out. This will be our first major restoration project, and out of all of the sports, wakeboarding, snowboarding, I've never seen my kids more excited than they are with this project. Been years since I played with anything like this, but feel with all the information available on-line and the fact this is a fairly basic set up, it would be great for my boys to begin understanding the workings of automotive as a great hobby. So my questions is where do I start? Thanks for any help or advise you can give.

 

Starts, runs, stops, steers.

Then the teardown begins!

 

As much as possible, do one thing at a time. Lots of fun tearing stuff apart, but not so easy to remember what goes where later on! Personally - I would keep it in one piece until you are sure you have a good grasp on what it needs AFTER doing the basics mentioned above. Restoring every piece can be an infinite and expensive task; running it as "good-enough" can give years of low-cost enjoyment. Others might differ.

This site is one of the best resources you can find. Very helpful and knowledgable people here.

Welcome!

 

Some great advise and direction. As she sits, there are no brakes, haven't looked into it yet but PO says brake lines are shot. Because of this I haven't been able to really drive it yet, meaning I don't know how well the tranny, gear box, steering box, etc is. I do know there are no breaks from when moving around the driveway when I did get it running. Maybe thats the starting point, invest some money to get her road worthy, then tear things down? Part of me wants to break it down, spend the money on finding JEEP experts who have experience with rebuilding the essentials (such as the steering box) and put it back together, that was the reason I was just thinking of a new complete tub and have it painted. I think the best way to inspect the integrity of the frame is to sandblast and inspect, not mention the easiest way to replace brakelines as well as many other items. The other half of me says just get it road worthy first?
Many thanks for the great feedback!!

Some picks of last weekends find.

Sorry, it appears I'm unable to post attachments?

 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/...6019790110249193090&oid=102383953834162637012
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/...6019789931874367346&oid=102383953834162637012

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102383953834162637012/albums/6019789926009545825

 

Take pictures of every part you take off for reference, and save everything, you will want to match the aftermarket parts you buy to them, and as the money runs out you will start to resurrect the oem parts. I know from experiance

 

Thats one of the best body's i've seen in a while, i think it would be silly to not try to save it, heck, that one could be saved without a welder, just rivet in new floor panels and bondo over the little spots you have in the body and it'll look and work great! Brakes can be a time/money consuming part, i'm learning that now. to completely replace the brake shoes, wheel cylinders, mastercylinder, lines, rubber lines, your looking at around $320.

 

Everything below the tub is the foundation of the jeep. Once you have this in good reliable condition then I consider it usable. The sheet metal work can be repaired and/or replaced piecemeal at leisure. JMO.

 

When buying parts stay away from Omix Ada brand parts, they are very very poor quality. Yeah I know you'll find they make every part you'll need but they are such poor quality you'll wish you hadn't. Crown parts aren't bad and they make a lot of reproduction parts.

 

True about Omix Ada. Better off with used or NOS parts.

 

1 - welcome from France. This is a good idea to learn mechanics for the children if they like it.
Your trailer is in good condition, that's point 1.
Point 2 : the Jeep is not in very bad condition, all can be repaired.
3 - you need time and go slowly.
4 - good specialists will help you on this forum.

 

Like he said the work is under the tub. My first 47 Willys started as a do the brakes then found the springs were flat and that lead to a complete restoration including a pto winch which wasn't there to begin with. After that I did my 67 learning a lot from the 47. All that being said the brakes are probably the best place to begin if it starts and runs. A lot of time was spent on my 47 waiting for parts to show up from Walck's. If you plan on keeping it I would recommend getting all new parts for the brakes and you will probably need the heavy duty puller it takes to get the rear drums off. It's pretty cool when the 4th generation of my family drives the 47 though and Jeep work is good work someone said a long time ago.

Something else to consider is immediate gratification by buying a YJ or something along those lines that may be or can be street legal quickly and get the CJ going after that. You should be able to buy one for what resto parts are probably going to cost for the CJ.

 

Tremendous input from everyone, thank you! Because of the great advise, I've changed the game plan completely.
I've gotten it started, now I'm going to get it to running, before getting it to stop, then I'll address steering. The only thing I'm doing before any of that is getting a FSM from http://www.kaiserwillys.com/print_ca...ts-accessories
I plan to tackle one item at a time and filling lots of hard drive space with images before I remove a thing, I'll be saving everything.I appreciate the link for the panels H., much rather spend a bit more and have it right.
The foundation is where I'm beginning and spending my immediate efforts (translation; money).
You are right again H. lots of bondo covering lots and lots of issues. I'm sure we'll be cutting away at it as we go, I have free labor looking for items to tackle (at least 2 of the 3 of us).

Brakes I know are shot as is the suspension, right side rear is leaning pretty good, so that will fit in eventually as well. Not so concerned with the body anymore, the foundation makes sense. Particularly being my oldest just got his temps yesterday. I hope to have him practicing with the Jeep, then beginning the teardown in time for his 16th b-day in November, perfect for the winter.

Can't thank you all enough for sharing your experience and wisdom. And you are right yet again H, my kids are going to love this, already are and we haven't even started yet (they've cleaned and organized the garage twice this week in preparation.

Oh, anyone notice the two fuel tank in the pictures? One under the seat and one back rear passenger corner? Was this a factory option, if not is the under the seats the original tank?

More questions to come I'm sure.

 

Under the seat tank is stock. The rear tank is a popular mod.

 

Welcome and good luck with your Jeep.
That looks good compared to some Jeeps I have looked at before.
Looks mostly complete.
In the forum there is a part dedicated to websites that sell parts.

 

I wouldn't really agree with that. It appears to have patch panels pop riveted or screwed on both fenders and tub. What one chooses to do with it depends on how you want to use it but if a nice paint job and a straight, solid tub are desired, I suspect one would still be ahead in time (and maybe money also) to just get a new MD Juan tub.

I too would get it in running condition first and then start on the body work. No better place for needed advise than this site but since the drivetrain is essentially identical to the 3B, there is also a wealth of applicable information on Derek Redmond's 3B Page. http://cj3b.info/Tech.html

And while the Willys stamped tailgate is a nice touch, I believe the last year that was used was 63. FYI, most or all the CJ tailgates will interchange and you do find a lot of Jeeps with tailgates from some era other than when they were built.

 

You're spot on duffer, there is shoddy patch work all over this thing. A straight, solid tub with quality paint is a priority, and I do believe it will be cheaper, time is money after all. However getting everything in running condition is the highest priority until winter. I have $500 invested into what you see, so if I can eventually find a quality tub that's provides a quality fit, that's my preference. I have 4 kids that will all learn to drive on this Jeep, so I'm building for the long term.
What is a "MD Juan Tub"?
Awesome site regarding the F 134 engine!
Now to find an alternator (which I have no idea on yet) and belt, then to the brakes I go.

Thanks a bunch!

Jim

 

MD Juan posts on this site, manufactures quality Jeep bodies. http://www.mdjuan.com.ph/

Any "new" body will still need a lot of fitting, shaping, cutting, welding etc.

If it were me I might keep one eye out for an affordable original that didn't need too much work, from a complete jeep, or someone clearing out their garage. Watch the classifieds, including here.