Overdrive on a '62 Willys CJ-5 -- is it worth it?

Yeah, I understand that the top end on the Jeep I have is 60 mph with the engine red-lined and stock, it takes 22 seconds to get there. Far cry from my Hyper-tech'ed Xterra, but then that is not what I am building this Jeep for. I do like the thought of gear-splitting, however.

I think I will get the thing on the road first and see if I like it as is, and then go from there. Thanks for your comeback...

 

Drive 28

Thanks for the input. I may be getting ahead of myself. I will just get the thing roadworthy first and then see what I think. It has two sets of tires -- Street tires mounted on mag wheels and then Mickey Thompson Baja Claws. I would imagine the Claws will be rough, noisy and wear out quickly if I use them around town, so I will most likely use the street tires until I have a trip planned to Utah, where I am originally from, and then I will tow it behind my Xterra Pro4-X on a trailer with the Claws on the Jeep.

 

Then what you have is OM617.950 or .951 later version introduced with the turbo 300SDs Sedans. The engines had to made beefier to handle the turbo. The earlier OM 617.910 to .913 was a non turbo for the 300D that only produced about 87hp and 125 Ft.Lbs of torque. Thought you said it was from a 300D which would have been the non turbo sedan. The two engines were 5 cylinder but they are night an day! That turbo engine is a great engine and it moved the 300SD that I had along very well (It weighed about 5800lbs) and got between 28 and 30mpg on the hwy.

 

eti....every vehicle I have owned has been a mechanical adventure & different driving experience I was trying to give you an idea of the first and foremost mechanical shortcomings I see from this pretty much bone stock (except the rims/tires) 61 CJ5 that I have. First thing is safety.....the 9" brakes were great when everybody else had 9" brakes and were poking around at 40mph or less in an Army convoy or on back roads . If your brakes are the stock 9" then it will definitely grab your attention as soon as you put it on the road. I am prone to keeping my vehicles stock and drive them as they were intended.......unless something poses a real safety issue. I am thinking of at least upgrading the fronts to 11" drums to keep it looking stock but cut down on the stopping distance so I don't park this beauty into some one's trunk. Cheers

 

Yes, the "300d" did come with a non-turbo 617.......But it was also available with a turbo 617....It was still referred to as a 300d.Just for my own curiosity here is a "copy/paste" from wiki...The 300sd was a "116" body with a turbo 617 but they ran from 72-79...My car was a 1983 "123" body 300d.

[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TD]W123.133[/TD]
[TD]1981–1985[/TD]
[TD]300D Turbo[/TD]
[TD]3.0 L OM617 A I5 turbodiesel[/TD]
[TD]125 PS (92 kW; 123 hp) at 4350[/TD]
[TD]245 N·m (181 lb·ft) at 2400[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TD]
300D
[/TD]
[TD] MY 1981–1985[/TD]
[TD]OM617.952[/TD]
[TD]125 hp (93 kW) @ 4350[/TD]
[TD]181 lb·ft (245 N·m) @ 2400[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

Yep....I use to mix up the Mercedes diesel sedan model numbers back then and I still do now apparently......and I owned 3....an 1984 300SD, 87 300SD and a 1998 300E (6 cylinder TD). The 5 cylinder TDs and the in-line 6 TDs were the best engines Mercedes ever made! Tough...tough cast iron engines!!

 

Yeah I really like mine. I would just like a little more torque. But the fuel economy and reliability make up for that....Sorry, didnt mean to hijack this thread. Back on topic.... I have never driven an f-head jeep before...but I bet they have better low end than my 617 before the turbo spools.

 

The f-head even sounds nostalgic when you crank it up through the 3 speed gear box.......every time I take it out the sound reminds me of the old show MASH! Its great!

 

One of my neighbour said the same thing.

 

That is the first thing I noticed once I got my F-head fired up and accelerated it. MASH was the first thing I thought of. Sounded just like it did on the show when they would come flying into camp with the engine revved up. I love that sound. There is no other engine in the world that sounds like it.