'66 Cj5 Tux Resto-mod

Hello everyone. I've had my '66 CJ5 for 10 years now after I bought it in 2008 from the "second owner" who used it for hunting in Idaho, and sold it to me for a reasonably low amount of money in good working order. For many years it was my daily driver, and for some years she only saw dirt once or twice a summer. I've decided after many happy days on the mellow trails around Truckee, it's time to give the old girl some TLC and tear her apart and address whatever issues I may find, and refurbish her to a high level of safety and reliability, while still being able to enjoy the dirt roads around me.

I'm aware that she is somewhat rare, however I'd like to keep using her and not turn her into a Garage Queen by doing a full restore. My goal is to end up with a vehicle that is safe to drive at highway speeds around the Tahoe / Lakes Basin / Reno area to access backcountry trails. I don't want to make a rock crawler, and I'd like to put whatever I can back to stock where reasonable.

To my (very) untrained eye, the previous owner(s) have made a great deal of mods, but the main drivetrain and front/rear end components are still original. She still currently fires right up and drives well, but with some issues that need immediate attention.

I've been poring over her, making a to-do list, reading threads in this forum, and scouring the 'Net for pics of similar vehicles, so I can chart out a plan of what to address, and in what order. I thought it might be a good idea to share some pictures for the experts in here to point out anything they see that I should attend to, and to perhaps let me know what items they see that are not stock. I also have some specific questions that I'd love help with, which I will post in a list below.

• VIN: 8322 A 16450
• Tuxedo Park Mark IV left hand drive with Buick 225 V6 1966 Model year vehicle #450
• Front end: Dana 27
• Rear End: Dana 44 Axle= 9 - 275B3-2297-10, Gears 941866, 73, 41-11
• Transmission: Borg-Warner T-86 Bellhousing #9774035, Gear Ratios 1st – 2.79 2nd – 1.68 3rd – 1.00
• Transfer Case: Dana Spicer T-18

Pics of vehicle "as-is" here on Dropbox:
Pre-Teardown PIcs

A word about myself - I am somewhat mechanically inclined, but I am NOT a mechanic. I know and expect that a great deal of this project will require my taking components to Reno or Sacramento to be rebuilt by professionals. I know it's going to take at least a year and cost a lot of money. The only engine I've ever completely rebuilt was on a Harley Davidson Golf Cart...and I don't have a sandblasting / paint booth. But I do have the FSM, and several highly talented professional mechanic friends nearby for help and guidance. I want to have fun, learn a LOT, and end up with a safe, fun vehicle to enjoy.

Anyway, please have a look at the pics above and I'd love to hear some opinions on what you guys think is stock, and what needs to be done to partially restore this vehicle.

To my knowledge, these items are not stock:

• 6" (?) Shackle lift
• Tires/Wheel size far larger than stock
• Heater core replaced with a late-model Dodge RAM core
• Missing air-bath oil cleaner
• Missing radiator Fan shroud
• Exhaust looks non-stock
• Front-end hubs are WARN and thus not stock (?)
• Steering wheel
• Tailights

Here is my ever-growing to-do list:

• Remove tub and assess whether it cam be repaired or needs to be replaced
• Strip frame to metal, address bend, missing / damaged crossmembers, paint and rust-proof
• Bad exhaust leaks at manifold (Driver side)
• Remove, inspect, repair engine and mounts (valve and piston wear, condition of heads and head gasket)
• Rebuild steering gear box
• Rebuild front-end knuckles
• Inspect front and rear differentials, gaskets
• Alignment
• Remove, inspect and repair transmission/clutch
• Replace 100% of wiring at end of project with Painless Kit (chose this to have fuses)
• Re-install parking brake on driveline
• Rebuild original speedometer (if possible)
• Have seats re-upholstered
• Rebuild brakes
• Get rid of awful rattle-can black paint and determine original vehicle color, replace with authentic '66 color (already found some great info here on this site for options)

Questions:

• Should I do a compression test before removing the engine?
• Should I flush and save the radiator, which looks OEM, or replace?
• Can I have the tub repaired or is the rust bad enough that it should be replaced with an OEM from Kaiser Willys?
• Should I try and grind/paint the frame myself or take it to a professional body and frame shop?
• Is an after-market disc brake conversion worth it (I know, heresy in this forum, but love to have some opinions)
• From the factory, this vehicle did not come with a roll bar, correct?

Thanks for having a look! And lastly, apologies to the moderators if this is in the wrong place, it's kind of 50% research on what's stock and 50% technical...happy to move if needed!

 

Looks like allot of work.......especially the rust on the floors and other panels......also looks like someone cut off the rear tow hitch off the frame or at least the braces that go to it..........If the motor runs fire it up...........if it drives, drive it for a bit to help you decide on what to do first............

 

It's getting difficult (and expensive) to find the Tux specific parts ie.
front and rear chrome bumpers
drop down rear license plate light holder
chrome side mirror
chrome hood saftey latch
chrome hood emblems
chrome hood bumpers
fenderwell seat cushions
hubcaps
701 Hall Chrome taillights
Those are just a few of the Tuxedo parts.
Looks like you will need most of these parts.
They are out there.
The price to get these parts could add up to 3K

 

Yikes wow. Thanks for the info - given that I may be skipping all of those "restoration" parts and just getting the frame, body, and engine in good safe reliable working order and leave the restoration to the next guy or gal.

I know this is going to be tons of work, but I'm looking forward to the challenge and the learning experience.

 

Nope, not yet. I know from driving it recently that the steering gearbox is likely in need of repair, the brakes probably need a tune up. I rebuilt the carb last summer and she fires right up and idles great.

I only took off the seats, hood, windshield, tailgate, and roll bar to investigate and prep taking the body off for repair and frame inspection/repair.

 

The Tux was mainly the trim pieces mentioned above in 66 with the v6. None of them are needed to drive it though. That looks like a Jeep that I would just fix anything that needed fixed mechanically and enjoy driving it. I always tell people that it is really easy to put $10,000 into a Jeep that is only worth $2000 when you are all done with it. I also find that most really nice restorations end up sitting in the garage and are never used again in fear of taking away some perceived value that probably only existed in their head as a justification for dumping a ridiculous amount of money into an old Jeep in the first place.

 

Taking yur Jeep apart is slippery slope. Stay with the plan.

 

This ^^^

Do a basic fix-em-up; keep the Tuxedo Park parts you have on it, patch the body, clean up the chassis (rust treatment and paint), research the original color and do a repaint, etc., etc.

It just brings me back to my HS buddy who “rustored” a 1955 F100 in his garage along with a repaint. Amazing results (with some help from his dad).

 

Your Tux is missing some of the unique parts as mentioned above. Your windshield hinges, clamps, and hood badges look pretty nice though. The tail light panel should not have any holes cut in other than two small ones (each side) for surface mounting the Hall tail lights. The roll bar was never offered by Jeep as early as '66, but it is a good safety feature. The Tux signature chrome bumpers are scarce and can be expensive, as can be the license light that mounts on the 4 small holes on the tailgate.
Concentrate on fixing the body and mechanicals, then get it running and work out the bugs. The Tux parts are just trim that you can add later as you find them.
-Donny

 

That's the plan! On that note, I'd love some advice/help on determining what the actual paint color was, and if some of these items are OEM. I removed a lot more of the easy to remove body/interior items last night, and am wondering:

Guessing this hood came from another (red) CJ5, but the PO kept the "Tuxedo Park" emblems?

The bottom of the toolbox lid also appears to have been red, diamond plate added by PO


Is this the original roll bar? I would guess no, but the Gold paint matches.


How about the tailgate (which the PO modded with a spare tire carrier)

And how about the seats? Is this the original upholstery pattern? I like the look of them so thinking a refresh might be worthy if I can find a good / affordable (yeah right) shop in Reno.

The vinyl on the dashboard seems to have been brown where it wasn't turned grey by the sun
Would the plate covering the shifters, with all the extra holes, be stock, or added later on? Looks "Frankenstein"


And this enormous Dodge heater core came out as well, not sure if I will put it back, probably not.

Last pic - this is the OEM Speedometer, right? It wasn't working in 2008 when I purchased the vehicle, so I replaced it with a new old one, but the single digit numbers are OEM, yes? Does anyone know of a shop that manufactures these?


It would seem to me that the original OEM Jeep was some type of Gold, and then at some point in it's history various parts were added from a red CJ5, ,and those were painted Gold to (try to) match, and then the last PO went with Black.

 

The floor and the painted pto cover on the transfer case hint that it probably had an overdrive at one time. The best way to tell original color is usually to lie on your back with the passenger seat removed and look up at the bottom of the cowl behind the dash. Very unlikely that it would ever see a repaint there.

 

Did Tuxedo Parks come with Naugahyde dashboards? That’s a new one to me if so.

That Beige Gold color looks attractive
Dodge heater core looks atrocious
Speedo looks legit/OEM
Search eBay and junkyards for a better tailgate
Those horizontal pleats on the front seat look sorta OEM...

I’d say break out your magnifying glass, a good light and see which paint overlaps the other.

 

Here's the big question . do you have the space to work on tub and frame inside
frame looks like you might need to source replacement pieces
and there's always been a problem with fit and finish on aftermarket fenders /windshield frames / whole tubs
most of the tub panels can be had at
1955 - 1974 Jeep CJ6

 

Thanks for the feedback so far guys, I really appreciate it. I've almost got down to the tub last night after work, just slowly taking everything off and carefully putting everything into ziploc bags and labelling it all with masking tape and taking pics along the way. Tying to get an assessment of what I can fix myself and what I need to get professional help with. I've only had to drill out two bolts so far, haven't touched the engine yet and don't plan to until I need to! My goal is to clean, address rust and rot on the frame and body and fix the broken mechanical stuff like brakes and steering.

I do have plenty of room (as long as my wife doesn't need to put her car in the garage), and I should also mention that my good buddy who lives a few streets away is a professional mechanic. He's got a media blaster I can borrow, and both he and I have decent MIG welders and access to a metal shop in Truckee.

Huh - I thought it was OEM, but shows what I know...after I got the dash off it looks like the backside of it is just primer, with some red in places - so I wonder if it came from another Jeep? If so that's sort a bummer....I had a feeling though from the radio cut-out and that galvanized plate that it wasn't OEM. Anyone have any further thoughts there?





So should I strip off the naugahyde when I cleanup, and plan to not put it back? Sure looks like the OEM should be bare metal and there aren't as many holes.. (1966 WILLYS-KAISER JEEP Cj5 TUXEDO PARK MARK IV - Vintage Motors of Sarasota Inc.)



I'm going to take the fenders to a professional body shop and see what they think about whether they are salvageable. The worst part of the whole tub is under the toolbox and adjacent to the passenger rocker panel - full of rot and bondo and the PO had covered in Aluminum Diamond Plate. Will definitely need a big patch. I'm not going for show quality, just want to arrest decay and return as much stability as I can.



A question for the old-timers here - how disrespectful would it be if I didn't repaint this thing Gold (I think it was #22705 Gold Beige Poly), and picked something else from this option list. My wife's 2006 Honda CRV is gold and our family can't handle two Gold vehicles...I know new paint is probably next summer at least just wondering...

 

I just did a dash replacement from one I purchased from Walck’s. Very pleased with the quality, only minor adjustments for the glove box door needed. Nice to have a clean, straight, hole free dash
There’s a few really nice pics on Goggle images of gold Tuxedo Parks, I tried to load them for you to see but images were to large, ack!

 

Paint the Tux any color you want. To be more correct, pick any color offered by the factory for 1966 (there were 12 standard colors for '66). The gold is Gold Beige Poly, code 393. Presidential Red is code 226/326. The dash originally was painted body color with no naugahide. Your's looks like it came from a white Jeep, and has 3 extra guage holes, as well as a radio cutout. Your Tux did not come with a rollbar from the factory. Your tailgate is an original Tux part with the 4 small holes for mounting the license light. I would weld up the larger tire bracket holes. Your single seat with the split looks original for '66.
Only you can determine the original color by finding an obscure spot ( under the dash/cowl, toolbox, or under the floors), be it gold or red.
-Donny

 

Thanks for all of this info Donny, you're the man!!