Father-Son project

Hello all fellow jeepers

We just picked up a 56 CJ5

It's in pretty good shape and stock at this time. We have stripped it down to the frame and sandblasted and primed all parts with a Zink primer, named him "Mr. Willy OrWon'tHe" and would like your imput on good and safe upgrades for the old Willy's.

We have a set of springs for a 75 CJ5 in 2.5" lift.
? do you suggest SOA old or new springs? or leave SUA and install the wider springs? or would you just have the old springs rearched?
We have rusted out floor boards, driver side panel, and spare tire holder, this is not a problem for us we have a welding shop and are welders.
We plan on converting to power steering with junk yard parts.
We have removed the old tool box under the pass side, the fuel tank from the driver side and will install some seats from the junk yard with seat belts. and put the fuel tank in the back where it belongs!
We plan on building a roll bar to fit inside the old hard top.
Also a brake upgrade of some sort, at least 11" drums.

My Son is 13 and his name is CJ so you can see why this project is important to both of us to spend some time together and have a safe vehicle to drive to school in 2.5 years.

Thank you for your time and any suggestions are welcome.
CAM & CJ

 

Cam: Sounds like you have a great project for you and your son. The memories you both gain will last forever. For general safety, I think it would be best to stay SUA with new springs (or the '75 wider ones) and not try to re-arch the old ones. I think you have 9" brakes, so 11" ones is the way to go. I get along fine with my 10" ones, but I'm an 'Ol Fart and are used to them.

Oh, BTW, welcome from Havasu. Drop by the Intro section and let us know where you are located.

 

welcome from cental VA
the jeep should be a safe driver like everyone says. jeeps are safe vehicals as long as the driver knows 1. this is not a sportscar so dont drive like it is one. 2. dont let your buddies convince you into doing something stupid. i did a dana 30 disk conversion on mine which happens to also be a father son project just i did it when i got into college. i dont know if i like it or not since my jeep still does not run (a lack of time is the major cause)

 

I just bought a 64 CJ for the same reason. My son is 11, and that gives us 5 years to get it ready for him. It's pretty stock, w/ 9" drums, L134 4 Cyl, and a whole lot of rust. We took it out for the first time today, and had some fun.
I wish you the best of luck w/ yours. Keep me posted on the rebuild.

 

enjoy yourself. my 69 cj is a father daughter, son, son, and "inner child" project. welcome from iowa.

 

Sounds like a great project. All three will be better in the end! Jeep, son and Dad.

Your smart to take on a project like this. They grow up to fast.

I might be a fuddy dud compared to the rest of the folks who like some mods. I like to keep the older jeeps as stock as possible. Might take a look at the 1956 CJ5 I just finished.

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7125

Main thing is to enjoy your jeep and spend some great times with your son doing some wrenching. . There are plenty of guys on this forum are always glad to help. Please also consider me one of them.


Best of Luck


Cliff

 

Great project. I have two trannys sitting on my garage floor.

 

Sound like you have a good idear of what you'd like out of your CJ. For the brake upgrade, I've been happy with the 10" upgrade. For the 9 - 11" brake upgrade, please see this article/writeup on the project:
http://www.earlycj5.com/tech/brakes/11InchSwap/11_swap.shtml

It depends on what you want to do with your CJ. IMO, definitely leave it SUA, and even better just replace the springs from Krage. (http://www.jeepdoc.com/catalog/zproducts.asp?id=193). You'd have to replace all hangars to acommodate the wider '75 springs, which = a PIA. Consider selling your '75 springs to fund the project.
You might save a few bucks having the old ones re-arched. I've never seen that done, so I have no idea how long that would last but it may last you long enough to do whatever you intend (for a year, at most).

Ha ha I wish I too were a welder. On Thursday I paid for someone to weld a bead around an exhaust pipe where it came out from the muffler exit (Ford F-250).
-Alan

 

It's good to see men spending time with their children. Enjoy your project and remember, stock is good

 

Same width IIRC. Something must be different - the '72-75 models use different hangers. Maybe the bushing length?

 

Re the '75 springs, 2.5" isn't a huge lift. You should measure the lengths and widths of the stock and '72 springs. Compare the eyelet diameter and the lengths of the bushings. Compare the location of the spring center pin. If they pass the test, I'd say use 'em.

Re-arched springs will go flat again, right away. Waste of money IMO. If you want stock replacements, ESPO is good and cheap.

 

Thanks to the kind replys

The stock springs are 1-3/4" and the front has 12 leafs and the back has 13 leafs, new springs are front 2" and back 2.5" with 5 leafs each,I could be wrong on the "75" maybe for "80" but was told they are for a CJ5 jeep.

I'll head up to the other form for an introduction!

Glad to know you guy/gals are here for moral support.

Have really injoyed the tech page and the past posts with pixs.

Thanks again and will keep you all posted on progress.

CAM

 

good luck with it, when i was 15 my dad and i did a frame off pro street project to my 65 chevy pickup. we had a blast and it really gave me memories that i still think about day to day