mikes 1957 CJ5 restoration

Question: These seats are just garbage to me, but I thought I would ask you guys if they are worth saving.... The drivers seat has the rear cross support completely rusted off, coil springs rusted to the point of breakage.




the passenger seat is not much better: the cross springs are all missing and has rust through in the corners:




should I just toss them out? I just bought new seats to replace them. thanks.

 

everything is worth something to someone else, but I am NOT a packrat. it bothers me having stuff sit around knowing I will never use it... just in case it might sell. I have only dealt with Craigs list in the past because I am not willing to ship anything.

I have a diamond plate dash, corner guards, 2 gas can holders, 4 wheels, seats, and transmission guts. All of it has value to someone, but it is worthless to me, and I don't want it taking up space in my yard.... and I can't even bring myself to put it on CL because I am never home on my days off and I don't want to be bothered by cheapskates wanting something for nothing.

When I built the 1947 chevy, I had all of its unused drive train and all of the body parts from the 1996 S10 to get rid of. I ended up taking most of it to the scrap yard when I moved. The hassle of selling it is just not work the few bucks I get out of it.

So if anyone local wants to come get it, its yours.

 

Location?

 

I got a lot of little things installed this weekend and I worked out a design to install the new seats. Coming down the home stretch..... at least the assembly part. it may take awhile to finish the wiring and get the thing running and driving.

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Question: I am laying out the new seats and it appears the original seats were not evenly spaced...... the passenger seat is only 2" from the side of the tub and the drivers seat is 5" away.... is this correct? the passenger seat also looks like it is sitting up higher than the drivers seat in most pics that I see..... is this correct? or should they be the same height?

thanks in advance

 

Passenger seat is higher in my '70 for sure. And the seat spacing doesn't sound too far off. I actually outboarded my seat spacing a bit when I built the new seat brackets. made a heck of alot more shoulder room.

 

OK, thanks.
strange that they would not both be the same spacing.

 

I got a lot of small stuff completed this weekend.... painted and installed windshield, painted and installed roll cage, installed battery, seats, seat belts, and fuel line. Seat frames are very basic, but I think they will work well.

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These pics were taken before the windshield and seat belts were installed.

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I tried to install the new electric windshield wiper motors but the shafts stick out almost 2" too far. I will have to do some research and figure out what the problem is.

 

I think with those windshield wiper shafts, you can carefully cut them down to size. I seem to remember that being the solution that most people recommended. I always just used mine with the wiper shafts extended, and didn't seem to have an issue. I never had my windshield down, however.

 

which wiper motors did you get? these ones are garbage- http://www.ebay.com/itm/19101-02-Om...67?fits=Make:Jeep&hash=item5d512552db&vxp=mtr

these ones work much better- http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Bo...V-6-/252085185649?hash=item3ab172ac71&vxp=mtr

The shaft will stick out aways but it doesn't stick past the standoffs for when the windshield is on the hood. I replaced the crappy Omix wiper motor that didn't last a year with used Bosch motors I got with another windshield. They work so much better.. And don't start smoking after 3 wipes. They're still early jeep wiper motors and blades, but are hands down the way to go if you're keeping top mount wipers. Watch for front cage hoop interference though. I built my cage around the Omix motor and had to mount the bosch motors upside down to fit.

 

ya, I got a set of the cheaper ones. Right now they stick out way to far. I will try to cut them down to make them fit. As for function, I am not too worried..... I don't use wipers anyway...... summers here ruin wipers after just a few months. Since we don't get much rain here, I just use RainX. I don't plan on driving this open thing in bad weather *fingers crossed*. I am only putting them on for legal reasons.

Yes, I checked the clearance on the roll cage. whoever built the roll cage placed it 3" away from the windshield.

 

almost one year to the day and I am just about done (and I took 4 months off in the middle to move and do 'new house projects')

I took the CJ5 to an all willys car show in Flagstaff AZ and had a blast. I was the only CJ5 there. When I got home, I worked on it a little and got it started, so I drove it around my neighborhood for a few minutes to test it out. I never left 1 gear because the brakes still need to be bled better, but I was very please with it.

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I still have a lot of small things to finish up, but the race to complete it for the car show is behind me, so I can take my time.

Oh, here is a comparison shot from the beginning:

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Still plugging away. 1st I got the windshield wiper shafts shortened and got the wipers installed.
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2nd I got a lot of the wiring cleaned up.... all labeled and sorted (most of the wiring is for extra circuits that I don't use).

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3rd I made a hoop to help keep the bikini top off of my head. I still need to add snaps to the top, but the hoop already makes a huge difference. keeps the rain from puddling there too .

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The 4th thing I am working on is making an insert so that the new ignition switch does not rotate in the dash (dash hole is 1" and the new switch is 3/4"). I would have welded the hole smaller if I had known the new switch was different. argh!

 

thanks, it makes all the difference.
I am still tinkering with the jeep to get all of the little things completed. I repainted the dash and windshield frame and I got the instrument cluster all connected and the wiring under the dash all cleaned up. I have come to the conclusion that keeping the CJ bone stock for 'value to a collector' vs. 'making personal modifications for safety or comfort' was probably a mistake. If I am to keep the CJ and have any hope of enjoying it, I will need to make some changes like modifying the wheel well so that I can put a seat track on the drivers seat for added leg room.

 

well, I bit the bullet and cut into the wheel well. I didn't want to ruin the rhino lined tub, but I just had to get more leg room. As you can see in the pics, the rhino lining is more than 1/8" thick. Fortunately, most of it will be hidden by the tool box. I have more welding and cleaning to do, but you can see how it is going. I ordered some universal seat tracks off of ebay that should arrive next week, so I will show finished pics then.

 

I am sure glad the toolbox and seat will hide most of this.