Factory Bondo?!

I was told that the area aft of the hood (CJ5) has Bondo from the factory to get the correct curvature. I may be describing this area wrong as this conversation occurred over the phone. Is there any factory Bondo?

Also, what are shackles? I was told this same CJ5 has a lift because of oversize shackles.

Thanks,

John

 

The cowl? Nah, at least not in the years I'm familiar with. There was a sealing compound in the seams, and putty between the fenders and body, and in the corners of the body, but no bondo.

Shackles are the pieces of steel that connect between the end of the springs and the spring hanger on the frame. One end of the springs has a sort of hinge to allow the spring to compress and lengthen at the same time - that's the shackle. Shackles can be made a little longer to get some lift, but it's not the best method.

 

seenig as how the cowl is a stamping, it would be hard to believe that it would need bondo to fit correctly. $.02

 

never saw bondo from the factory in the time we were in business
as dealers, we weren't permitted to repair any hoods, fenders, w/s frames etc. on new, in stock vehicles.
They had to be replaced, at least thru the mid 80s.
and.......the eventual buyer had to be informed what repairs had been performed prior to taking delivery.

 

He did refer to the area as the cowl. Is that the area immediately aft of the hood...where the hood attaches and in front of the windshield? Can that piece be replaced or is it part of the body?

Thanks, John

 

FWIW, I stripped Nixon completely down to the bare metal with a 4" side grinder and about a dozen wire wheels. There was bondo every where on the Jeep. Honestly I couldn't be specific as to location because it was literally everywhere. And the confusing part was that even with the bondo gone, I couldn't find a dent or ding in it anywhere, (scept for the front fender was creased a bit). Made no sense to me, but I was told that with all the spot weld connections that the factories skim coated with bondo to hide the dimples.

 

I don't know if you could get the cowl separate from the body - I kinda doubt it. You could buy complete OEM bodys when I was around the dealership - my CJ-6 was repaired by replacing all the sheet metal, including a complete tub (the dealership was very happy to get my bent tub).

Body shops today typically skim everything with bondo. Some bondo isn't a problem, if it's well bonded to the underlying metal and it's not too thick. Re Baby John's observation about the bondo, I'd be very skeptical that it came from the factory that way in order to hide spot weld dimples. The original Jeeps I've seen have had plenty of obvious spot weld dimples...

 

in my opinion, if you find bondo on a new vehicle, the dealer made a repair at the dealership; it wasn't from the factory

 

I don't know when they started doing it, but sometimes they use a "leveler" type primer which is thick enough to level out the uneven areas on the body. I found some of it when I stripped the 5. It looks like a real thin coat of bondo. I'm sure mine was done with the second paint job, so it wasn't factory, but I undestand that it was sometimes used from the factory.

Jim

 

I know exactly what you are talking about. You can ask Timmy, Lulu had bondo in that area. It had to be from dealer/factory as all her paint was original.

 

Yep - Lulu had bondo there. And when I removed it, there were no obvious dents or anything under it. It made no sense to me.

But - I'm not 100% convinced that it came from the *factory* that way. It's possible that the Jeep was repaired and the same color, original paint was used...

 

I went and looked at the Jeep today. I couldn't tell if the area in question was a factory job or not, but, there were other areas near the "cowl" with obvious Bondo...and it wasn't pretty.

The owner stated that he installed power steering. I thought in 76 they all came with power steering?!

Being somewhat mechanically challenged, how can I tell by looking if a CJ-5 has a 304 or 360?

The hunt goes on. Somewhere out there is my beloved future CJ-5.

John

 

No, power steering was an option. Installing power steering on a '76 Jeep with manual steering is pretty easy though - all bolt-on stuff.

The AMC V8s all have the engine displacement cast-in to the block on the front left hand side, by the motormount. The numbers are about an inch high IIRC - you can usually see them from underneath, or with a little mirror from above.