New (to me) 67 CJ5

Hello all!
I thought I'd show some shots of the jeep as it sits in the current owner's garage. I paid him and I owe him about 100 bucks more (just for some parts). My father went and took these pics, said it started up after about 1 second of cranking and purred like a kitten. Plans are to see where the "cancer" is and see what I have to do. Some white wagon wheels are gonna go on it and I think I'm going to paint it blue. Naming the jeep Ole Blue.

 

Oh, and it comes with a hard top. From what the PO said, all I need to do is fix the rear lights for it to pass inspection, and get some new tires. I'm gonna get some AT's from my buddy's shop I think and start tinkering.

 

Looks like a good start... What's your plans for it?

 

Well, being that it's my first real Jeep (the Cherokee doesn't count to some people even though I have hundreds of hours in that)
It's hard to say, I'm thinking about one of 2 routes. Full driveline swap, or leave it alone and clean it up. I'm going to get some 31's on it and the new wheels when I can, but the motor is fresh off a rebuild so I figure "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
The man I got this one from has the tub and frame of another CJ (I have no idea what year and style) that he only wants 75 bucks for. The motor is siezed up but that sounds like a good recipient of a full drivetrain swap with maybe a 3 link front and 4 link rear susp setup? Hard to say. I only have summers to tinker and learn so I'd like to see where this one takes me and go from there. Any Advice or sources would be appreaciated

As for this one, I'm gonna see if the tub needs to come off and if it doesn't I'll be first wire brushing the inside and putting bed liner on it I think.


Oh, I saw that it has a twin stick??
So if I'm assuming correctly that means that it has the front and rear axle controls seperated?

 

Kool jeep. IMO leave it close to stock, you'd be surprised what these old Jeeps can do.
As for the twin stick, one controls the front axle in or out and the other is Hi/Neutral/Low. It's either 2 hi, 4 hi, or 4 low. You can remove the interlock pill in the tower and introduce 2 low, but no front digs with a D18

 

I'm not sure how much I need to do, I have the XJ pretty well hooked up with plans for more.

 

Can anyone recommend a tire size for me? I was thinking about a 10 or 11 inch tire, probably a mud or aggressive tread. There are 235/65 on there now.

 

Nice JEEP. Looks like you have a great start. As for tires......31x10.50r15 TSL, or 31x9.50r15 TSL radials. I like super swampers. the skinnyer the better. I like the pizza cutter look and performance. R)

 

Yea, I was thinking either 32/11 or 32/10. Looking at the TSL, I like them and it's not like I'll be driving it enough to worry about wear.

 

that thing is sweet,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,beat the **** out of the xj,,,,,,,restify the cj,,,,,,i love the bad to the bone paint,,,

 

Thanks, I dunno about beating the tar out of the xj, it's my baby even though I take it out trail riding. I do have to keep it good bc it's my daily driver when I'm home.

I'm gonna take those little comments off the jeep but they're funny.

Oh, and is it possible there's a 4spd manual in that? I was lookiing through my pictures last night and it has a 4 gear pattern on the knob

 

Good news!
Ole Blue got delivered to the house by the PO last night. When he drove it up behind the garage, he told my pops that it was the 3rd time the motor had ran since the rebuild...rings aren't even seated yet! So nice not having to worry about that whole ball o wax

 

come on now lets get work we need more pics of this.

 

As much as I mad more to report...I've been away from home working for about a month and a half.
When I have been home, it's been under snow. I usually get only one day off work when I'm here (I fly out to work and fly in for days off) so working on this isn't easy or something I have a lot of time for.

Put "blue" up on blocks today, so I could get a good look at the underside. Saw that the spring mounts for the rear leafs were welded on poorly...the welds look like pudding basically. And about 70% of the body underside is rusted out. I'm going to get a welder and start practicing on it, pull the body off and replace the floor panels. Basically the plan is to pull off the body and fix anything I think needs to be replaced. High standards, I've been a weld inspector for a long time so I know how they should look...just need to figure out how to get the welds nice and secure. I was thinking about getting sheet metal, but I'll end up getting the replacement panels from 4wd and welding them in. I'm not willing to spend the money for a full tub, though it's really tempting.

We had some nice 30X9.5 tires mounted on the rims that came with the jeep and I took two and put them on. The tires are off the ground about an inch but I think it looks good. I should be able to have lots of time this summer to work on blue, so I'll spend the spring ordering parts I may need and then just take a few weeks and take my time doing what needs to be done.

Chris

 

Nice looking CJ!! I agree, keep it as close to stock and have fun with it!!

 

And KEEP the hardtop!!

 

I had no plans on getting rid of it. A PO used some sort of small garden hose for the forward seal thing. I'll take it off and put a good few days into cleaning it up. no plans for a heater so I have to see what holes need to be filled in the firewall.

 

It's been a while since I had anything to say about this jeep until now.
I towed it to the house I live in now and took the top off today and the doors. Not sure about keeping the top as I'm going to primarily use this for a trail truck. New plans are to weld the rear diff and leave the front open with the stock drivetrain. Next summer I think I'm going to pull the suspension off, upgrade the steering and probably the fuel system and steering and put a set of mud tires on the white wheels I currently own and wheel the hell out of it. Sorry about the blurry pics

 

IMHO I would never,ever weld the diff unless it would Never see pavement again.
Those lunchbox lockers are comparitivly inexpensive, work great on the trail and allow you to still drive on pavement, if you ignore the pops and clunking.

 

Well I don't think this will be used for anything other than trail use. I haven't made any hard decisions because I haven't driven it. I'll drive it and then decide. I have 2 cherokees so I'm not lacking for a street vehicle.
I removed the rear bumper today, I didn't like the welds that were holding it on to the frame so I cleaned it up and I'll have to mock up something when I get time. The rear diff fluid looked like muddy water. The gears looked great though and the fluid didn't have the nasty smell (well not AS nasty).
The body has supports that are welded in the rear to the frame, I have yet to look upstream of the rear end in depth. Some "chewing gum" and worse welds are here and there but nothing I can't cut out next summer and repair. It's all solid and rusted together.