1972 CJ-5 Almost Restoration

Just be aware that blasting with plain sand is banned most places. Too much danger of silicosis. Blast slag (black beauty) is about the cheapest media, other than the aforementioned playground or silica sand.

Certainly easier to have it done, but likely more expensive.

 

An update on the media blasting thoughts. After lots of discussion over the weekend. I'm leaning back to doing the blasting my self. The price of a bag of "black beauty" is far lower than the cost of an hours blasting time. So I think I can afford to be less efficient.

Now on to this weekends progress.

Cleaned up the rear end - lots scraping and wire wheeling. Looks like I have a small leak/seepage at the ends.
Was hoping not to have to tare it apart, but I get the sinking feeling that now is the time.






Most of this weekends effort was devoted to the front end. Again lots of scraping and wire wheeling. And a significant amount of "banging with the mallet". But in the end, its all torn down.
Before:
















After:


I was always under the impression that something other than sand and rust was suppose to be on the inside.:?



As always more photos at :http://www.flickr.com/photos/loft42/sets/72157624429890308/

 

What is your paint code for the original color?

I downloaded the paint chips from autocolorlibrary but the shades that I see don't quite match your picture.

 

@nwedgar Not sure. And I agree, looking at the chip for what I would assume is the color - Renegade Orange 60696. The chip has a lot more red than the paint on the jeep.

I don't have a paint code on the Special Sales Order plate that some have referred to. The code on my Special Sales Order plate reads D-5472-1. And that does not match any of the codes on the color chip sheet.


I think I'll need to pop off the dash panel to get a look at some less faded paint. I'll post a pic next weekend.

 

Are you missing the VIN plate then?

I really like that color. I'm hoping to paint this month but I still haven't narrowed down the shade of orange.

 

@nwedgar No, I have both the dash VIN sticker, and the VIN plate for the firewall. But I thought they didn't have paint color info in them?


Dash VIN sticker:


Firewall VIN plate:


Firewall "Special Sales Order" plate:


(You can click for larger views)

The VIN decodes as:
J = JEEP
2 = 1972
F = TOLEDO 3-SPD/LHD
83 = CJ-5
5 = OPEN BODY
T = 3,750 LBS
H = 304 STD
51122 = Sequential Serial Number

 

Huh...I guess they changed the engine bay VIN plates after '72...I know my 74 VIN has the AMC paint code (509) on it. Oh well. Thanks for checking.

 

Yes.

This is a paint and trim tag for a '72:



The Renegade should have the 999 paint code, and may not have a trim tag like this. With a 999 paint code, the FSM says to supply the VIN to the local Jeep parts distribution center "to obtain information."

Abnother way to approach this is to ask your local auto paint dealer to match the existing paint. Find a region of the body that has had no sun exposure, and match that. Reds, oranges and yellows are very UV sensitive, so you'll need to match a hidden area to get a good match to the original color.

Also, re chips, it's hard to judge the final color from a chip. You could ask the paint store to mix up a quart of the candidate color, and spray a big flat surface like the hood. If you like the match, order another gallon and mix the quart and gallon together - then spray the whole Jeep (and respray the hood).

 

@timgr Thanks, that's rather helpful.

My paint trim tag is long gone. But knowing it's a 999 code will at least help me "re-create" it once finished.
If you look real close - open the high rez version - you can see the clean spot on the right side of the firewall where the paint code tag originally was. I'v removed the special sales order tag that is the larger clean spot next to it.


I'll pull the dash this weekend to get a better look at the color. I suspect that will be the best place to look. As the Jeep was in Florida for a large part of it's life, the outer surface is very faded.
I'll post a pic once I get it puled.

 

So it's been a little wile since my last post. Lost of general progress, but not as much on the Jeep as I would have liked. After the tare down and all the parts ordering - most parts. The compressor went on holiday! So the search for a new compressor began, one that would not compromise the overall budget. Took a while, but we found a nice old Briggs & Stratton powered gas compressor. A quick valve job and she fires up on one pull and develops about 120psi in about a minute. Works well for blasting, and should have no problems with the paint.

Not to dwell to long on the blasting, but I thought I'd share a couple of shots

Before and after - blasted with aluminum oxide, and sprayed down with Prep & Ready from Por




Now with that out of the way.......

The new tub arrived yesterday from Willys Overland. Overall I'm happy with the tub, especially in comparison to my current tub - far to far gone for restoration. Lets have a look...
Fresh off the truck! I'v seen worse crating.....mehh




The good news, the tub was secured much better than the external cardboard.






Tub out, and a couple of detail shots. But first, overall I'm happy with the quality of the tub. A couple of areas that could be better, but again for the price point vs. restoring a rather worn out tub. The Repli seems well worth it.

With my original cowl vent. Not a 100% match to the original shape, but well within the 95% range.






You can see some of the areas where they had to move / re-weld some of the mounting plates.


Ant test mounted the original dashboard.










So far my biggest complaint is the positioning of the bolt holes for the dash board. They align perfectly with the aftermarket dash, but some of them are a bit off on my original. Nothing that cant be fixed. I suspect this is a lot like some of the body mounting holes that they had to fix/weld. Almost in the right spot, but "not exactly".

No pictures of the bottom of the tub yet. But we'll get there...

 

Couple more comments on the Repli-Tub, with measurements.


Cowl Measurement
Repli-Tub CJ-5 measurement 1 3/32"



Original 1972 CJ-5 measurement 1 16/32"



Lower Cowl Measurement
Repli-Tub CJ-5 measurement 2"



Original 1972 CJ-5 measurement 2 4/32"



Repli-Tub Windshield Cowl Width
measurement 58 12/32" outer side to side



Repli-Tub Outer windshield hinge to outer hinge
measurement 58 26/32



Original windshield hinge with Repli-Tub



Repli-Tub windshield hinge mounting holes



Repli-Tub windshield hinge mounting holes



So, not the best job of matching the original tub measurements. But not far enough out that it cant be made to work. On another note, every single hole that I have test fit so far - most of the firewall holes - that was added by Willies-Overland has been spot on. As soon as I finish blasting the frame I'll do a test fit of the tub and well see if Willies-Overland can maintain the trend.

Forgot to take the camera last weekend, but I managed to get a lot of blasting done. I should be able to finish up all the frame components this weekend. So far 2 bags of Black Beauty have done the job. I'm blasting against a tarp to help with recovery. And I suspect that I'm seeing about 10% loss of media per cycle.

I'll try to remember to take the camera with me this time.

 

Been a bit since the last update. Lots of work commencing, and some posing to deal with the hurricane.

We didn't get any direct damage - apartment or workshop/tent. But the Day Spa downstairs had 3 1/2ft of water in. It's a mess, so we've been lending a hand with the clean up.

Most of the chase and drive train parts have been blasted. Free blasting with Black Beauty against a leant tarp. Took about 3 80lb bags and a number of days to get everything cleaned up. But the results seem to be paying off. The parts look good, and the extent of the rust damage is minimal. The PO had the underside of the Jeep coated when new. And once everything was scraped and blasted, the amount of rust pitting was minimal.

The worst was a small crack in the forward cross member plate. That was addressed and the frame was prepped with POR Mettle Prep. The stuff works very well at stabilizing the bare mettle before painting. Some slight rust begins to form in places, but that is easily addressed with the POR15.

Crack in forward cross member plate



Forward section of frame
The suspension hangers took the brunt of the rust over the last 40 years. I didn't replace them, so lets hope they hold up.


Long view of the blasted frame


Now for the paint. My first time painting anything - not counting some miss guided activities as a youth with a can of Krylon. I'v very satisfied with the result. Did 3 light coatings with POR15, thinned down with about 5% thinner. Then 3 coatings of POR Chassis Black - thinned again about 5%.

Forward section of frame


Forward detail of frame


Forward cross member plate


Big drip
Cant have it perfect…..


Rear view of painted frame


Rear frame looking forward


More drips, but I can live with it



Also managed to get the new suspension mounted up. Driving out the old spring hanger sleeves was a PITA. But the impact chisel and a muffler splitter did the trick. I need to get pictures this weekend.

Next up, the axles get rebuilt and painted. Weather holding they should be on the frame by the end of the weekend. A rolling frame is within my grasp..

 

Moving right along. Frame and most of the drive line components are painted and installed. It's so close to a rolling chassis.

Last weekend we got the axles painted up. The front dana 30 was torn down for the paint process. If you look back you can see how much 'non gear oil' was tucked up inside it. Surprisingly the bearings all looked is good shape so I didn't completely tare down the gears. All the parts were cleaned and reassembled, maintaining the same shim packs.

Pinion Gear - cleaned and bagged




Pinion installed and torqued down


Oil seal installed


And re-torqued down


And the rest of the bits installed


Buttoned up with a little RTV

Looks so new and fresh with the blue gaskit and fresh paint.

Got both the front and real axle hung on the springs and bolted down. Still need to torque them in, but I need to order a new spring plate for the front left side. The PO had snapped off the shock threads and re-welded a bolt on. It's on the list, just waiting to build up a good size order.

Couple of shots is the almost rolling state....








More photos @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/loft42/sets/72157624429890308/

Next up is to assemble the front end, get the rims powder coated and mount some tires.

 

I guess I didn't put the shots of the dana 30 up. So for anyone interested in a practical example of why you should check the inside of your axles every once and a while.

This is what I found when I opened the dana 30 up

Oil seals that had seen better days




Before & After

 

Re: Post #33 showing oil seal install. Sure looks like it is backwards to me. Any body else?

 

I'm hoping your wrong.... but this is my first axle rebuild, so I wont argue.

I used best deduction when determining the position - spring band on the wet side, and matching the contour of the mettle seal casing to the stepped contour of the opening. And following what I think is a rather detailed rebuild from another forum. I assume it's ok to post a link to it - it's a very detailed sep by step. Dana 30 Rebuild Post #12 has a shot of the seal installation.

 

Looks like it to me also, I have never seen one go in in that fashion, but then again I have been mistaken before.

 

I put in the same seal as you did, and it would only have fit in the orientation you have put it. It fit perfectly into the step in the lip of the housing, we measured with calipers, and, as you stated, it put the spring on the wet side of the seal. It does look very different than the old original seal we took out, maybe others are thinking of a different type of seal? Been quite a few miles, no issues.

 

What brand and part number is that pinion seal?
Mine was a Dana/Spicer 35723 with a metal front to fit in the grass catcher on the yoke. Supersided to Spicer 44894.
A search also shows Napa NOS15788, Victor 49161, and National 5778, or 5788, I am so confused.
Truck parts sold me one for a Grand Cherokee that is completely wrong.

 

It looks like the Napa, That is what I used, and his looks identical.