Ewan's 79 CJ-5 restoration project

I should have taken a few more pictures, especially close-ups. The tub looks decent enough from photos but in reality it was pretty bad. The only part of the tub that was completely rust free was the firewall, center of the drivetrain "hump" and the cargo area. All the channels and exposed parts underneath the tub were rusting from the inside out. Most of the spot welds, seams and areas between panels were rusting out from the inside. I usually don't throw parts away, especially for Jeeps but I had it with the tub. Not enough money or patience to properly restore it.

Spent a couple hours today removing dirt, grease and some minor surface rust. At this point, I'd love to just haul the tub off to get sandblasted and professionally painted but it just isn't in the budget. So far the worst thing I've found with the tub is the front right body mount, stupid bolt was sheared off and seized up good. Fixed it by drilling it out and and cleaning up the threads with a 3/8-16 tap.

I think I'm going to buy a can of this for testing:
http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/auto/coatings/professional-undercoating

I used their truck bed liner (spray can) on my Cherokee to make rubberized rocker panel. It has held up almost two years now, no chipping or fading.

 

I'm still working at cleaning up the underside of the tub, progress has been slow. Most of the work has been done with a wire wheels and various other brushes. Most of the gunk was removed easily enough with my HF abrasive blaster. I used soda which does a fine job at removing dirt and getting into the hard to reach places. It doesn't do a very good job at removing rust, only surface stuff.

 

The Jeep is coming out great.
Not to hijack or anything but here is my experience with rustoleum undercoating,
I used the rustoleum on a couple lawn mower decks that had lots of rust spots and after I patched them I did 3 coats on top and bottom. I sold all of them and so far its been 5 or 6 years and the owners of the mowers say that the coating is still there and no more deck rust. Even after hitting rocks, sticks, pinecones, and occasional tree stumps or pipes the undercoating is still there. Cost a good bit of money but well worth it in my opinion. Luckily I still see the mowers every mowing season because the people I sold them to just send them back to me for an oil change or full tune up.

 

Quick coat of primer on the firewall. I'd really love to give this tub a proper sandblasting and complete painting. My budget and time line doesn't allow this so for the time being I'm going to apply bed liner to the firewall. Once the underside is done, the plan is to bolt the tub back up to the frame. I'll bag and tape everything off, and prep / paint the sides. I haven't decided on the interior yet, DIY bedliner is cheaper than carpet but doesn't look as nice. I'd rather just get this Jeep back together and on the road at this point before I have to move.

 

Underside was sprayed with 2 cans of Rustoleum rubber coating, turned out fairly well. It should protect the body for the next couple years until I can do a proper sandblast and professional paint job. Firewall was done with 3 coats of Plasti-Dip, only cost me $6. A buddy is coming over tomorrow to help me put the tub back onto the chassis, after that it is onto paint prep. Blech....mehh

 

Sunshine! We haven't had any in a while so it was a nice treat to work in some warm weather. In between some yard work, I tinkered with the Jeep a bit. The tub is back on but still needs to be bolted down. Installed the power steering pump and belts, but I can't tighten anything down yet. My fan spacer is a bit too short, the fan touches the crank pulley so I need to buy a taller spacer.

 

15" Flex-A-Lite fan is installed and power steering hooked up. A previous owner had purchased custom stainless braided lines for the power steering, I decided to reuse them. When I removed them on tear down, the high pressure port flare nut was stripped so I had to cut the line. It took a quite a bit of hunting but I finally found the inverted flare nut I needed to hook up the 3/8" hard line. The standard 3/8" inverted flare nut most stores carry is too small. The flare needs to accept a 3/8" tube and have the 11/16" -18 thread to match the steering gear.

All that is left is to install the distributor and carburetor. I'm keeping the stock distributor since the gear was mated up with the existing Comp Cam. I'll probably do the cap / wire / coil upgrade and I'm currently looking at the Summit ignition module. Carburetor will most likely be the Weber 32/36, I've used them in the past and have had great results.

 

Tube flared with new fitting and system plumbed.

 

I was going to initially use the Weber 32/36 but I decided to re-use my Carter BBD carb. It will save me $300 to put towards something else like a pair of fenders and get this Jeep on the road sooner. :driving: PO mentioned it was rebuilt and it has a Holley rebuild tag on it. It ran fine when I drove it home but the idle was something to be desired. The vacuum system was quite a mess so I'm not really surprised. I'll have to wait and see how this thing performs with the upgraded ignition and Comp cam. Worst case scenario I purchase a new Weber if this doesn't work out.

 

I finished mounting the tub today. Started to remove the seat belts and encountered a rusty stripped out torx bolt. I HATE torx....

 

Heater assembly cleaned up and installed. I removed all the old rotten seals, cleaned everything up, and greased the linkages. I used some 1/4" window weather seal self adhesive tape to replace the old seals. I "glued" together the smaller defrost duct with RTV for a proper seal. I did this one before on my 85 CJ-7 and my stock blower was more than sufficient to defrost / heat the jeep.

(and yes, I know the blower motor is clocked wrong. I figured that one out when I tried to install the assembly and it hit the firewall)

 

I've got the exact same heater on my '62, and I always figured it was an aftermarket product. Is your's original? PS thanks for the pics. I've got to take mine apart (heater core is leaking)

 

My box is the original '79. I also have a 76+ box (unknown year) and an '80, I can't tell the difference between any of them. I'm pretty sure older CJ5's have a different style box but I may be mistaken.

 

Installed a couple tidbits here and there, mainly the battery tray and heater hoses. I did test out my new riveter and put the VIN tag back on. I wanted to finish installing the steering column and pedals but I misplaced the clutch rod boot cover. I can't recall if I threw it out or simply misplaced it. Tore most of the garage apart to no avail, oh well. New shiny Omix one on the way. I finally inventoried the two spare parts boxes that came with the Jeep. Lots of extra lighting equipment, seat belts galore, door hinges, door handles, etc...

 

For the sake of my own wallet and time, I decided to use bed liner. I used the Rustoleum brand since I've had good results in the past. It will rub off if you aren't careful but I planned on using floor mats anyways. The rest of the tub is going to be walked all over or used to haul stuff so I figured it doesn't really matter. I'd still like to eventually do a proper blast and full body paint job but that can wait. Anyways the liner turned out pretty well, drivers side is still wet so it looks a little wonky right now.

 

Grille is mostly cleaned up after a couple applications of paint stripper. PO had ran into a tree or something, there was a pretty large dent / crease by the drivers side headlamp. I've been working on massaging it back into place. I'm no body guy but pretty happy so far with my results. I looked through my old photos and didn't have any of the grill before I started working on it. It still needs some work though as you can see in the photo.

 

Finished applying primer to the grille, once it dries I'm going to continue to work on the imperfection on the drivers side top corner.

 

Pedal assembly, gas pedal and clutch linkage installed. I was going to put the steering column in, but I need a new boot kit. I'm getting ready to paint the front clip, still need to source a decent pair of fenders.

 

Passenger front seat installed and cleaned up a bit.

 

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nice!!!