1974 CJ5 Rookie Build

@Jbostick: The HEI came from http://www.crtperformance.com As far as how I like it, It seems very well built, I can pick up my screwed up Harmonic Balancer this weekend so I should be able to get the motor back running and test it out. Although I will have no "pre-HEI" baseline to compare to.
The price was good and the hookup seems crazy simple, only 2 wires. 1 for power, 1 for tac.

 

Thanks

 

You will need to switch to the 81+ 258 intake and exhaust. Then use a MC2100 Carb or a Webber setup. Very good from the performance aspect plus your dropping about 50lbs off the motor.

 

UPDATE:
So my tub isnt done yet, it has only gone through the first light strip stage. I went over to check it out and see what the major damage was:
Both rear fender wells have some sort of odd heat damage on them:

The rest of the tub looked pretty good:

Some rust spots below driver side door:

And a rusted out hat channel on the driver side. Does anyone know where I can get just that piece and not the whole half hat channel?

All in all, it wasn't perfect but I think it is fixable... anyone know of decent body repair work in Sac that wont break the bank?


So home again after visiting the tub and started to bolt stuff back on the motor!
Rebuilt the carb:


GOt the manifold and headers bolted back up. I think the headers are a little much for this setup but its all I got soooo:

Now my engine is starting to at least look like an engine again:

Im supposed to pick the tub up this weekend again, but I am in no rush for it and let them know to move it to the back of the line if need be.
I also got the first couple pieces for my disk brake conversion on the Dana 30 front! I have no idea what I am doing with that but again, I think I will just just right in and try and figure it out.
This weekend the GF is out of town so I am going to try and put in some serious hours on this thing. I feel like I am stalling out a little but I dont want to lose my momentum!

 

I dont mind trying the repairs myself, I am just wondering if there isnt some special body hammers and blocks or something that would pound those ripples out of the back, as opposed to just covering them with thick body filler as the PO did. I have zero body work experience and would hate to miss out on a trick of the trade.
The rusty spot I think I can cut out and weld in fresh stuff but I will have to borrow a MIG welder as I haven't bought one yet. That shouldn't be too tough.

 

You can buy a cheap set of hammer and dollys from harbor Freight for like 25$

 

Update!
So I have yet to pick up the tub but while waiting I decided to get the rest of the motor back together. I bolted everything back where it came from with the exception of adding the HEI.

New plugs and a new Oil Filter and I felt like this baby was ready to start. Worried that the engine might just blow up, or I had set the timing chain wrong, or the new HEI that I installed was installed incorrectly, or that the replacement harmonic balancer that had the timing mark in the wrong place would have me so far off that I would throw a rod, or any numerous things that were unknown might cause catastrophic failure of the engine, I decided to take it to a professional and have them take a look to be sure that everything looked up to spec.
Wait.
That's not what happened at all. I mean this is Thompology here.
I rigged up a battery, sprayed in some starter fluid and sat back to see what would happen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNryy3KNihc&feature=player_embedded

After hearing just that first idle I was STOKED! I immediately had to throw the radiator in the grill, fill it with coolant and try and tune this thing up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dL_g17Fq04&feature=channel
BWAAA HAAA HAAAA IT'S ALIVE!
I dont really have any friends that are into wrenching so I just self celebrated in the garage.
I had a huge smile all day just listening to it purr. After I shot this vid, I spent a couple hours messing with the timing and the throttle adjustments to get rid of the lag in throttle response. I tried setting the timing by turning the idle as low as I could get it and then finding that "sweet spot" where the engine ran the smoothest between ignitions, and then setting the idle back up. I don't know if that is the right way, but it seemed to work out well.

Now I am so excited to get the body back! I need to find some seats to go in this thing and I was hoping to find some of the original style half backs. Any idea where to come up with those, maybe a member on here has some collecting dust?

Anyway I just wanted to say thank you for all the help on here so far. Going into this not knowing what I am doing hasn't been too terrible thanks to all the online help! atriot:

 

That is sweet! Congrats.

 

Awesome man Im jealous just paint my engine today not to far behind you

 

Great job getting it all fired up and tuned up. It sounds great! 2 Big Thumbs Up

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks guys, I'm PUMPED!

 

Great stuff!

Now get that body on there, and get on a trail!!

Looking good.

 

So I have been spending my time teaching myself to weld.
I have the tailgate that came on the jeep, looks like Swiss cheese and a few cracks and welds so I figure this would be good practice before I try for the body. First I cleaned up the holes, crappy welds and cracks: (Obligatory toe shot)

Borrowed this TIG setup from a friend:


I used a hole saw and cut a hole in a piece of plywood, then I took out the guide, clamped the plywood over some scrap metal and cut out the holes to make fillers:


Came up with my own way to mark the plugs for the perfect shape:


Next I used the bench grinder to get they down to perfect fit:


And then I had my very first attempt at TIG welding! So here is my first few attempts (Close up pics for the weld sticklers!)
First Weld:


Did the same on three others:


Hit 'em with a little palm sander and now they look SWEET! (to me anyway)


So those seemed to go very well but now I want to try to fix something a little bigger:
Cut out all the "Bad":


And now I am going to try and fix all that. I figure this will be a good mix of filling areas and adding materials, as well as managing heat etc. I pretty much just Googled "how to TIG weld" and went after it so I am bound to make some mistakes, IE burn a few holes and maybe even ruin the tailgate but I have already replaced it with one in perfect shape. And hey if it come out sweet I can add different accessories on it and swap tailgates as needed, or swap it out to you guys for something else I need... Heck I better just fix it first.

 

you have patience...

you can also do the opposite; enlarge the holes to fit the plugs. i did my patches that way...made the patch first and then the cutout...

 

Not bad for a first timer. Keep up the good work.

 

Looking really good!

 

Thanks guys, I'll try to post up some pics of my further fixes today. WARNING: they are not nearly as pretty as my first attempts! Maybe I get worse with practice?

@kf_chris: I actually graduated from U of Charleston, small world, welcome to my rookie build!

 

Keep at it. Looking good.