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Project Old Goat - 1965 Cj5a Restomod

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by BadGoat, Feb 1, 2019.

  1. Feb 14, 2020
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    Thanks John,
    The axles are out of a mid 70s J10 with drum brakes. I haven't actually measured them, but the rear axle per the table on Pirate 4x4 should be 63.8 inches wide with drum brakes. I did convert the rear axle to discs using a kit from Dave's Customs and some Cadillac Eldorado calipers and it is close to the original width. The front axle is a hybrid as I pulled the Jeep knuckles and replaced them with knuckles and stub shaft from a GM 10 bolt axle for the conversion to disc brakes. It ended up being about 3 inches wider then the rear axle, so it should be close to 67 inches.

    The fenders flares are from Xenon and are 5 inches wide. About 1 inch of tire sticks out past the flares. A different wheel with more backspacing would bring the tires in under the flares.

    The original 350 Vortec engines from the mid-90s do make more useable bottom end torque then a stock 5.3l does. But I figured the LS would at least match the bottom end torque of the original 4 cylinder or Dauntless and it's roughly the same weight. Plus it's very easy to push the 5.3 into the 400-500 hp range with the stock rotating assembly. The head flow and the simplicity of getting fully computer controlled timing and fueling was a big plus for me as well as this will be used as a daily driver once it's complete. I was never any good with tuning carburetors, and I hated rebuilding the ones on my motorcycles every spring to get the crud out of them so EFI was a definite need. The parts availability from the aftermarket is another big plus. I have a 351 Cleveland in an old Ford pickup and getting parts for it is challenging and expensive.

    Mike
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2020
  2. Mar 13, 2020
    Dne007

    Dne007 Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor

    Cypress, Tx
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    Sep 2, 2019
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    :clap::bow: Incredible, love the little video too!!!
    dne'
     
  3. Mar 19, 2020
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    The wife has been driving the Jeep to work and back and we are finding a few bugs, as you'd expect, but she loves it and that was the goal. I do find that at 5'11" and about 190 lbs, I'm almost too big to drive it with the stock seats. At 5'1". it fits her perfectly. The only challenge she's had is getting in and out of it. I tried a set of the stock type steps, but they rusted out in record time, without even being on the Jeep. A couple of nicks in the paint led to all the paint flaking off from rust. They also hang to low to use off road. So I looked at what was available commercially (I don't have access to a tube bender on the island) and was pretty sure I could make the ones from Poison Spyder fit.

    It took a little modifying (cutting off the front extension to be flush with the front of the tub), and they don't line up with the body mounts, but they fit just fine. For now they are just mounted with the bolts you see. I'll go back later and mount them through the floor too. And the step is a little narrow, but it does work fine.




    Mike
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2020
  4. Mar 20, 2020
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
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    326
    So after 2 years of working on this Jeep, including 18 months of finishing it in a dirt driveway, it's not surprising that the paint wasn't in as good of shape as when it was first painted. The paint looked fine, even up close. It wasn't as shiny as it might have been, but the biggest thing was when you ran your hand across it, it felt like sandpaper. I ended up having to do a fair bit of metal fabrication to finish her up, so I was cutting, grinding, and welding in close proximity to the Jeep. I had been doing lots of research on how to get the grinder residue off the paint, without having to take it in for a respray. I finally found a product recommended by numerous professional detailers, and they seem to have cornered the market. I know this might sound like a commercial, but I have no affiliation with the company, just a happy customer.

    Chemically, it seems to be a form of weak phosphoric acid. The regime is to wash the Jeep, spray on the IronX, wipe it down, rinse it off, and then clay bar it to remove the contaminants. Repeat until the paint is smooth to the touch. It took me 3 cycles to get all the stuff off. When you spray it, the chemicals turn purple when they come in contact with iron. It's works really well and is mild enough to not damage the trim and plastics. It seems some people use it to clean their wheels of brake dust, although I haven't tried that yet.

    Has anyone else tried this or know of a similar product?

    Spray it on and let it sit for a couple of minutes.



    Wipe it off, rinse it off, clay bar it, and repeat until smooth like butter.


    Mike
     
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  5. Mar 20, 2020
    sgogpn

    sgogpn From the top of Lions Back... 2022 Sponsor

    Glendale, AZ.
    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2002
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    349
    Very nice work; congrats on a really nice Jeep!
    Enjoy!

    Mike
     
  6. Mar 20, 2020
    givemethewillys

    givemethewillys Been here since sparky ran it. 2022 Sponsor

    New Kent, VA
    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2005
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    1,998
    I've seen that stuff on a few retailers youtube channels recently, and honestly it's new to me. I would have thought clay barring would have gotten most of the contaminants out. Looks like it did a good job! Your jeep is fantastic btw!
     
  7. Mar 21, 2020
    Dne007

    Dne007 Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor

    Cypress, Tx
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    Sep 2, 2019
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    1,549
    OMG, that looks fantastic! a beautiful jeep;)
     
  8. Mar 22, 2020
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    Since you can never have too many projects, I figured it was time to start looking at the hard top that came with this Jeep when I bought it. So I started putting some pieces together and laying it out.

    It has some challenges that I'll need to repair, but it's in better shape then I thought it was. Oh, and it's all aluminum. So it's not as strong as the steel top, but it's much lighter. I think I'll start cleaning and painting it piece by piece. I'm going to keep it off-white for now, but may do an FJ style white roof and body color sides at a later date. The glass is in good shape with the exception of one door window. It will need all new rubber around the glass. The few iron/steel pieces on it are pretty corroded and will need to be cleaned and/or replaced. The door handles and latches seem fine. The mechanism for the rear hatch is a bit tweaked, but should be fixable. It uses standard soft top type door hinges, so no special pieces needed. I'm not sure if it'll line up with the current hinges or not. I also need to do some heat shielding on the firewall and trans tunnel before I try to mount it. The baby Vette LS throws quite a bit of heat with the headers. It's tolerable with a soft top. It'd be an oven with a hard top.

    From when I first bought the Jeep.





    Mike
     
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  9. Mar 24, 2020
    Desert Runner

    Desert Runner Member 2024 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Hickory, Pa
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    Sep 11, 2005
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    806
    Looks mighty familiar to me :)

    [​IMG]
     
    fhoehle, Beach66Bum and BadGoat like this.
  10. Mar 24, 2020
    Oldriginal86

    Oldriginal86 Member

    Pasadena, Md.
    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2014
    Messages:
    589
    That hard top is a necessity in Pa., not so much in the islands.
     
    Desert Runner likes this.
  11. Apr 2, 2020
    Bigdaddy13

    Bigdaddy13 Member

    So.Cal
    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2019
    Messages:
    556
    I had poison spider sliders on my LJ wrangler. Very nice product! I think these look great on your rig. Do you remember which part number you used?

    On a side note, I'm wondering if the package arrived in good shape?
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2020
  12. Apr 2, 2020
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    Hi Brian,
    Yes the package arrived and looks good. Thanks again. I still need to mount it up and decide how I want to run the wires.

    The Rocker Knockers are the ones they make for a CJ5. You have to cut off the little extension that covers the front fender on the AMC Jeeps, but otherwise they bolt right on to the tub. You will not be able to use the slot that attaches to the body mount, but it's not in the way. I still need to drill some holes through the floor and bolt the bottom part on. Also, the side step isn't very big, but it does work.

    https://shop.poisonspyder.com/CJ-5-Rocker-Armor-Sliders-p/10-08-020.htm

    Mike
     
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  13. Apr 2, 2020
    Tom_Hartz

    Tom_Hartz Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    North Carolina
    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2014
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    478

    I ran them on my TJ. Great product.
     
  14. Apr 2, 2020
    IRQVET

    IRQVET Bubbaification Exorcist

    Tallahassee, FL.
    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2015
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    680
    Nice transformation (y)
     
  15. Jun 25, 2020
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    Quick update, mostly just driving it and now getting ready to move back to the mainland. We'll be in Northern Virginia starting late July. Need to drop the Jeeps off at the shipping company next week.



    Mike
     
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  16. Nov 21, 2021
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    Alright, it's been a while since I updated this thread, so it's definitely time. First, we moved back to the mainland last summer, during the middle of the Covid lockdown. This is the first time I've lived in the mainland US since 2008, and there have definitely been a few changes. Mostly good, but I'm not enjoying the DC area traffic.

    I shipped the CJ and the JKU together from St Croix to Jacksonville. Then had to fly down and pick them up. The JKU does just fine towing the old CJ.

    This is picking them up at the port in Jacksonville. I shipped the tow bar and tow lights attached to the front of the CJ and left the hitch and extender on the back of the JKU. It all arrived just fine.

    The drive to VA took about 12 hours, and I got a late start so I overnighted about 1/2 way. Here it its arriving at the new house.


    And tucked into the garage to make the classic insurance people happy.

    Mike
     
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  17. Nov 21, 2021
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    We managed to drive it around VA for a couple of months, and then suddenly it wouldn't start. I had a similar problem in the USVI and it was the ECU for the FI system. So I checked it, and once again I had an ECU full of water. Now the only thing I had done was to wash the Jeep and been caught in the rain a couple of times. I had a couple of long conversations with FiTech and at the end of the day, they agreed to send me a new ECU under warranty, with the understanding that I relocate the ECU to inside the cab.

    Here's a picture of where the ECU had been mounted. Turns out not only does it need to be under the dash, but the connector needs to come up from the bottom, not upside down like I had mine mounted. This means I now needed to rewire half the engine bay to get everything to reach.


    I figured as long as I was in there I would install the heater that I didn't need in the USVI, but definitely would need in VA. So I took delivery of a basic Vintage Air, some heater hose, and a firewall bulkhead for the coolant lines. Between waiting for the new ECU, getting the heater and installing it, and reconfiguring all the wires, the Jeep was in the garage all winter. I also didn't care for the little bolt on bracket Vintage air uses for their heater controls, so I ordered a set of their controller decals and installed the heater controls through the dash. I also wanted the defroster to work. I had already ordered a diffuser when I first did my build, but it didn't fit properly when I initially put the dash on, hitting the nice Speedhut gauges. Turns out I needed to shave about 1/2 inch off the firewall side of the mounting flange for the diffuser and source some gasket material to try to make a decent seal. It finally got put together and my defroster works, not super well as the entire lower part of the windshield frame is open, but it does put hot air on the windshield.


     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2021
    Lockman likes this.
  18. Nov 21, 2021
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    The heater and ECU took most of the short VA winter, so it was nice to be able to drive it again. Took it to a couple more car & coffee type events, when driving home from one of them the t-case kept popping out of gear. My schedule was pretty full, so I made arrangements to take it to a local shop and let them do a basic rebuild on it if necessary. Well, while flat towing it down there to drop it off, the t-case slipped from neutral back into gear at about 40 mph. Scared the heck out of me and made quite a noise. Now the rear tires were locked up and nothing would move. I put the transmission in neutral and proceeded to slowly tow it the 15 miles to the shop. If the t-case wasn't damaged before, it likely was now. Also, it had suddenly developed a fuel leak from around the tank. I got it to the shop and they pulled the t-case out. Yes, it was broken, and they were pretty booked up. So we shipped the case off to Herm to let him do the work. I had never looked at the case in detail before putting it in, I got it from a friend who claimed that it had been recently rebuilt. Turns out it was a 1 1/8 intermediate shaft case and most of the gears in it were broken. Doing burnouts may have hastened it's demise... Herm sent me a rebuilt 1 1/4" case without my asking for it, I would have so I certainly wasn't upset, but he forgot the new bull gear as they are a different tooth count from the 1 1/8" cases. We got that sorted out, he sent it free of charge, and the shop finally got me back in their rotation to install the new t-case.

    In the meantime, they had pulled the fuel tank and discovered that the seam that runs around the middle of the tank, where they join the upper and lower halfs together had split. So I elected to have them install a new poly tank from MTS. That should have been the end of it. Everything was fixed and running well, but it was now July. I brought the Jeep home and noticed that the fuel gauge wasn't working, so my assumption was they had forgotten to hook up the sending unit wires or done it incorrectly. After looking it over (I'm glad I installed an access door in the rear floor) it was wired fine. Ok, must be a bad sending unit, so I pulled and tested it with an ohm meter and sure enough it wasn't reading properly. Now some of you may know that I'm using Novak's EFI sending unit to provide the high pressure fuel supply for my LS swap. I called Novak and they were happy to send me a new sending unit that I could transfer my existing fuel pump too. Problem solved? Only 1/2 way. Now the fuel gauge would read correctly with the key on, but once I start the engine, it changes and doesn't. Head scratching commenced.

    The Novak EFI sending unit is a three wire configuration with two power leads, one for the fuel pump, and one for the sending unit, and a third lead for a shared ground. With a steel fuel tank, the system also gets some grounding through the tank and the frame. With a poly tank, it does not. My Speedhut fuel gauge has a dedicated ground wire that I had run directly from the gauge to the sending unit. So now my fuel pump was grounding through my fuel gauge. It ran fine, but this is not a good long term solution, plus the gauge doesn't read correctly. I added a jumper near the fuel tank to the frame so the fuel pump isn't grounding solely through the fuel gauge. I think this is a compatibility issue between the three pieces that was unforeseen. Holley makes a similar drop in unit that has separate ground leads for the fuel pump and the sending unit. I will probably swap to one of these units to see if it fixes the issue, I just hate that Holley charges $365 for this thing.
     
  19. Nov 21, 2021
    BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Northern Virginia
    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2017
    Messages:
    326
    Ok, so the ECU is fixed, the new t-case works good, the heater works, the wiring has been cleaned up a bit under the hood, time to drive it? Not exactly. The last week we were in St Croix, the security guard at the hotel we were staying in hit the driver rear corner of the jeep with his golf cart and put a nice gouge in the paint, under the taillight. Also, the Flowmaster 10 mufflers that I had installed when the exhaust was done the first time sounded awesome, but quickly moved to painful after about 10-15 minutes of driving time.

    So I found a local exhaust guy and we swapped the Flowmasters for a set of short Magnaflow mufflers. It still sounds really good, but doesn't give me a headache. He also recommended a local body guy and I had the rear corner touched up. The body did a great job color matching the custom blue paint. it blends in seamlessly.

    Now summer is gone and the last of the cars & coffee events are winding down. Time for one or two last events. So this week I pulled her out of the garage, and gave her a good wash. She also needed a wax, but I thought I'd do a quick run around the block to warm the oil up before I put her back in the garage for a thorough detailing. I only forgot one small thing. You really do need to latch the hood down before driving off...

    I made it about 1/2 way around the block when the hood flew up and off the Jeep, landing on the highway behind me at about 40 mph and sliding to a stop. Luckily there were no cars behind me or it could have been a very bad thing. As it is I now need to find a new hood and get it painted. I took mine to the body shop and they don't think they can properly repair it. The hinge points at the back of the hood are both bent enough that it'll probably never sit right on the Jeep. So now I need to decide between buying a new repop hood and drilling it for the Tux Park emblems or trying to source an original Tux Park hood that is straight and not rusted out. I'll also probably change the stock early style hood hinges for an aftermarket later style ones so if it ever happened again, I'm not endangering the traffic around me. Some days I love her, and some days I question keeping her.

    Here's the hood.


    On an up note, the engine bay is looking good, and the hood didn't damage the windshield frame or the windshield when it came off.

    Mike
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2021
  20. Nov 21, 2021
    timsresort

    timsresort Active Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    South Lake Tahoe CA
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    Jan 22, 2014
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    Ah, son of a gun. I have always feared doing that. We have the same jeep, and I had not seen yours until today when I read your build. Question- did you use single stage paint for the sierra blue?
     
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