'71 CJ5 225 on going build

This is my first Jeep. I've built a played with a few mustangs and me and my son built a F-150.

It is a 71 CJ-5 with the 225. It was last tittled in 1974. Spent most of it's life in west Texas, was reworked around two years ago to replace some toys that were washed out by IKE in Bolivar, so it spent somewhere around a year as a beach buggy. At this point it received a poly gas tank, new 7x15 tires, battery, custom built heater core to fit in OEM location, brake shoes, hoses etc. It sat outside for sale for a month or two, long enough to ruin all the switches.




It did not take too long before we had it street legal and inspected, but the surface rust had to go. We tore it down, sanded all the rust and sprayed a gallon of Tractor Supply Company rusty metal oil based primer.




Then another 1/2 gallon of TSC IH red, along with a hardener.




Bumpers painted TSC gloss black (oil based and mixed with hardener)




A little Rustoleum off-white oil based for the rims



We then buffed the shiny off of the interior and rolled on TSC acquired plastikote truck bed liner We did 5 coats, each 20 minutes apart on a day in which the temp and humidity was within limits stated on the can. One gallon did the trick, I used the roller and buffing pad that came with Plastikote's bed liner application kit. I am very happy with the liner.



The factory seats were killing us and the high seat was not good for the road, so jcwhitney sent me some buckets for the front and a bend for the back. I plan to send the fronts back and get Bestop for the front to match the rear. The fronts required brackets to be fabbed and the passenger seat can only fold fully forward when the windshield is down.




We since purchase in august we managed almost 2000 miles, but the I had a flat. Upon further investigation it was not the tire but the rim itself was rusted to the point of having a pin hole leak. My wife has been bugging me to get "thicker" tires so I ordered a set of BFG KM2 33x10.50x15 and some US wheel 15x8 (3.75 back spacing) rims. We went with white painted rims to keep the old school look going. We also installed a set of performance accessories shackles to help make way for the new rubber. The front tires rub when the steering wheel is locked so I need to find out what sized wheel spacers to order. (the silly spacers are going to cost over half the price of the rims)




It also got cold so we finally got around to added the half doors and summer top I picked up when we started painting it this summer.

(pictures to come)

 

That thing looks great. You should be proud. Another sweet Jeep saved from the scrap heap. Enjoy that bad boy.
Greg

 

I love that front bumper,perfect fishing seat,or bench to set on while stretching your legs.Great place to stand while drying wires,I love that bumper.Work bench.

 

Great looking jeep. I love the IH red and the white wheels combo.

 

To share some more tips:

OEM horn button:
To fix the original horn button I ran the signal ground out of the bottom of the steering column (under the hood) to a standard relay, as the original horn switch did not provide a good enough ground to signal the horn. The relay is powered ignition on and I went ahead and installed a toggle switch in one of the PO holes in the dash to give me the chance to cut power in case the OEM horn switch sounds the horn, but has never done so.

Fuel gauge:
The original fuel gauge worked about 5 minutes once I rewired the dash. I took apart the speedo-gauge to look for rusted contacts, and also ran two ground wires to the gauge housing. Everything tested within specs with a multimeter to I bought a $16 fuel gauge for a Dodge (something like 10 to 73 ohms) and installed under the dash in screwed into a hole already in the dash from the PO.

H4 headlight conversion:
Aftermarket headlights that utilize H4 bulbs that I ordered required cutting the galvanized metal pans behind the sealed beam lights. I figured be able to see at night warranted the cutting and replacements can be sourced readily.

Tail lights, blinkers, brake lights:
The PO installed amber bulbs in the original reverse light locations, I guess they did not understand to run the brake light feed through the turn signal switch to make the brake lights and turn signal work correctly. After thinking about it I decided I light the classic look of the two separate lights (although not correct) and that the extra lights may help minimize the chances of being rear ended on the road. While messing with the turn switch I disconnected the bulb inside the turn signal switch as it was too bright flashing in my face while driving at night. (it was one of the three wires hooked up to the flasher) I also installed a "loud" flasher to I would not be driving around with my blinker on.

Prestolite vs. HEI
When doing the tune up I had to source the prestolite points, cap rotor for a 69. 71 pulled up AC delco stuff. All this stuff ended up costing around $90, money that should have been put toward one of the HEI conversions out there. The HEI units need to have the correct advance for lower torque, so it is not a direct swap even if you find a late 70's buick odd fire. I am open to suggestions on Summit's $150 MSD box.

Aftermarket oil filter relocation kit make had a funky napa gold special order oil filter on it, but a FL-1A will most likely fit as well. (this was the case on my tractor as well)

 

Here are some pictures at the current stage. I tried to take angles that some of the guys on the site have asked for in other posts.



Front shot showing tire width (15x8 3.75 back spacing), electric fan off of a Toyota fourrunner, and H4 headlights. I need to paint the fan black.



I hand painted the Jeep and V-6 emblems using oil based paints. It was hard to find gold.



I just noticed how much the trailer pig tail stands out



The back seat will need to go forward one hole on the brackets if I ever find a full top.



Interior shot. I got some paint thiner on the original stickers on the dash. I need to find some replacements and touch up the dash paint job. The bed liner floor looks dirty at all times unless it is spotlessly clean.



The dash had already been cut by the PO for a shaft audiovox cassette player, so I went ahead and cut out a DIN sized hole for a CD player. The glove box made way for a speaker box. I would like to get some pods to go in the floor at some point.