59 CJ5 - Go gently into the night? Or don’t follow the light!

Happy New Year everyone!

I wanted to appeal to some of the veterans here for some input on a potential resurrection. I’ve been reading through the forum and know you guys like photos, so I went up to where the Jeep rests a few days ago in order to take several. The idea was to catalog the condition of the vehicle for savvier eyes than mine before we bit the bullet and trailered her back.

Just a little back story -

A lifetime ago an uncle of mine moved out of state and left his CJ5 here with plans on coming back to get it. That was roughly 30 years ago. In that intervening time some work was done on it and I believe it was last running, say, 20 years ago.

A few days ago I went up to see what condition it was in and of course it had been moved from it’s covered area under a barn ease to a spot on the side of the hill well down “in the weeds”.

Here’s a pic, poor thing:



After about four hours of battling with tow straps, hi lifts and the works I got her out of the mire and onto flat ground so I could do a little surveying.



Here’s what I (believe) I found out:

Though titled as 1960, she’s a 1959. The engine has been replaced with a Ford 289. Dana 44 rear with Dana 25 front. Has an overdrive but I’m not sure which. I assume T90 with Dana Spicer 18 transfer case.

The good:

Though the tub was filled with a good foot of wet leaves and muck, there doesn’t appear to be much more than surface rust there. The body is kind of shockingly straight. She only has 38k miles on the OD. The engine, while not stock, appears to be relatively well suited to her and parts aren’t hard to find. And umm…

The bad:

Mechanically I have no idea really. The brake pedal doesn’t budge. The shifter only has a little play (say a half inch either way), and doesn’t go into any gear, but the clutch depresses. None of the other levers work either, they’re all frozen. The engine is in disarray. The passenger front wheel catches here and there, and she’s basically impossible to hand push. I flat towed her around the block for about ten minutes and the front passenger wheel got warm to the touch, while the hub stayed fairly cool - which makes me thing the drum is frozen. The seals around everything have quite a bit of gunk around them.

The call:

Our use for the Jeep really would be just for dinging around a cabin we have. I wanted to ask the community here, in their opinion, what it would take to get her into serviceable shape so that we can enjoy her around the hunting property a few times a year. Very hard to do without getting your hands on her, I know, but I’m posting a bunch of photos to see if anything jumps out at you guys. Basically back of the envelope type estimations.

Thank you so much for help and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

Nice project. fb

 

I agree

 

x2

 

Looks like a diamond in the rough.

fb

 

No kidding! If I had that the thing would have already been down to the frame with a dustless blaster guy on standby!

 

I just started a frame off restoration of a 1957 CJ5. Everything you noted is common. Like Warloch already stated, you will have to disassemble, clean and replace all seals and rubber, and maybe other parts. I have about $3000 into mine plus 3.5 months worth of cleaning and painting. I was surprised how many loose bolts I found, leaky seals and surface rust to fix. It doesn't sound like you want to do a complete restore, so I would minimum: 1. see if the engine will start, idle and rev. 2. replace the axle seals. 3. replace all fluids (especially bleed the brakes) 4. overhaul the brake system.

 

I’ve got to be honest everyone, all your input is pretty encouraging to hear. The struggle to get her out of her not so final resting spot was so difficult it was hard to look at her objectively at the time.


It’s hard to tell from the pic but she was on about a 30 degree incline. Maybe that helped with the drainage? Who knows? To me, the most unbelievable fact was that three of the four tires still had plenty of air in them, even after fifteen years. Bizarre.


@Warloch and @Mike stg - Looking for exactly that - some back of the envelope estimations, both time and dollars. As well as what a general plan of attack is to get these things running on their own power.


Absolutely hard to tell what “treats” are inside without just opening her up. Not sure if the pics show anything obvious.


For safety and enjoyment, I agree that the steering, brakes and wiring are all necessary upgrades. From what I can tell - it appears about $600 for the disc brakes. I’m confused about the power steering as I don’t have the stock Jeep engine - but it appears around the $600-$800 mark. Wiring harness about $275… not anything too bad.


But the engine and drivetrain are a bit of a black hole to me. I’m not sure what goes into getting an engine like the 289 running. I wouldn’t think she’d need a full rebuild on that mileage - but obviously it looks like she needs a lot of help. I’m not sure what a ball park estimate for getting these old engines running is. They aren’t something I’m familiar with.


The same goes for the drivetrain, though rebuilds seem fairly straightforward (famous last words). From her history, I know the 4Lo doesn’t work. I’m not sure what would keep the transmission from not going into any gear but the clutch seems to depress fine. Maybe gunked oil, maybe fused gears, maybe water?

 

Nice Project if that's what your looking for............the unknowns as Chuck mentioned will drive you to 'Drink".
You say "Serviceable Shape" which depends on your definition of Serviceable!
Heck if your just going to putt around on the family property, I would pull the wheels , hubs and free up the brakes, get some fresh gear lube in the tranny and axles.........who care's if it leaks? Then concentrate on getting the motor running..............it will also be frozen up as the cylinder walls will be rusted to the rings after sitting that long........ everything else will also be rusty inside. The gear boxes all may have water in them or at least moisture.......the bearings will also be effected , the gears will also be rusty , Brake Master Cylinder and wheel cylinders will also need to be replaced along with the brake lines........just to be able to stop if that is important!
The motor probably needs to come out to see the full extent of the damage..........

Hopefully you or someone in the family is a Gear Head and can work on things like this , if you were to take that motor to a shop they would not even touch it unless it was a complete rebuild which would be at least a few thousand dollars.

So a family owned Jeep that has some sentimental value to you is really not worth much in that condition..........I think Chuck was pretty reasonable on his estimate of what it would take. I would have been much more than that...........point is you could easily spend $5000 plus on it once everything was looked at not including your time..........Really hard to bring back one like that cheaply! Perhaps you may consider buying something that's already running as I think the cost to get the motor running may be the deciding factor...............Nothing but choices!

 

That's a solid jeep. Start tinkering

 

I would expect to find water in the transmission and transfer case. If the shifters aren't moving, insides may be rusted together. It is unusual, at least, to pull a rag top JEEP out of the woods and, find it not completely rusted through. It's gonna take time and denaro to get 'er moving under her own power. I would think a minimum of a couple, maybe 3, grand, without doing upgrades. Just repairing what's there.

 

Amazing . That Jeep is in great shape for sitting so long. Very worthwhile project. Where are you located ? There may be a member here that could be close by that could take a look at it with you. If I were fixing it up, I would probably set aside about 4 to 5 thousand dollars. Lets hope the motor is not locked up and is still in good shape. Good luck and if you don't want it, you can send it to me !!

 

What all those guys said. Brake up grades can be dramatically less than 600 bucks for disk. here is a thread with a parts list from rock auto. http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/show...my-dana-25-and-had-no-problems&highlight=47v6 do more searching and you will find a lot more info.

 

All I can say is, I wish my CJ6 was half this nice/complete!:drool:

 

Very nice Jeep. You ever play the Lotto? Might be time. Rusty asked also, but what part of the country does a Jeep sit out that long, and not have rust holes all over? Are there even any dents in the body? Lots of PB blaster, and things might start freeing up.

 

What the hay, it's a project for sure and a very good one at that to start with. That ole girl will look beautiful running around a hunt land. Goferit.

 

As everyone else has stated, that is a great starting point, I wish mine looked half that good when I picked it up.

 

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to look and to evaluate.


She’s currently located in Central Arkansas, not known for being especially dry. She started life in Arizona though, spending about the first 10-15 years there I believe.


@tarry99 Thank you for the “sober” approach on what would need to be addressed! My definition of serviceable would be that she starts up when we get to the cabin, doesn’t puke too much over everything in the meantime, and tends not to leave us stranded out in the woods. I agree that the motor is the big one. Not sure if there are any good recommended resources to read about how to address these old motors, and the 289 in particular. So far it seems PB blaster in the cylinder, time, a breaker bar on the crank bolt, and more time is the general recommendation. Then after that replace the points, battery of course, plugs, cables, rebuild carb, get clean gas to her and see if you can get her turned over.


@wheelie Ok, good to know water in the transfer case and transmission is basically par for the course.


@rusty Your estimation is closer to what I expected. Before I went up and saw her I assumed $2k-$3k. But after going through this site, a back of the envelope estimation started inching upwards due to safety and usability upgrades (mainly the steering and brakes).


@47v6 Thanks so much for the link. I had run across that post and thought it looked very interesting - so long as you can source the caliper mounts reasonably.


@baja4 No real dents that I could see besides a small one on the passenger front fender. The metal is flexed at the tow bar mounting bracket.