Ewan's 79 CJ-5 restoration project

Started working on the tub this weekend, still need to remove a few odds and ends. At this point, the "ugly" orange is kind of growing on me and I'm considering keeping it. The paint on the inside of the tub is actually in quite good condition, especially under the dash. I'm thinking of just prepping the inside and laying down liner like I did with my CJ7. I'll add carpet on top of it and won't have to worry about sanding or painting the inside. As for the outside, I can get it painted and touched up using the factory color. I wouldn't even bother with the underside since most of the floor needs replacement including all the hat channels. Looking at various under body coatings, haven't decided.

 

Boy nice jeep. Wish i had deeper pockets. Well heres to hope and good luck/progress.

 

Thanks for the comments. The chassis and "heart" of the Jeep is nice however the tub is really nasty. I started working on the body tonight, drilling out spot welds on the left side panel. The whole underside of the Jeep is worse than I thought. It looks like surface rust but a closer inspection reveals flakes. I knew the hat channels were toast but the floor supports are crumbling as well. The bellhousing hump and cargo area appears to be in good shape from a leaky driveline. Too bad it didn't cover the rest of the vehicle. mehh

 

Working on removing drivers side panel, everything forward of the stamped fuel section is rotted. Passenger side isn't nearly as bad, I think that side only needs the lower strip replaced.

 

Front clip is off, haven't done much else besides poke the frame a lot with a screwdriver. Trying to get a good idea of what exactly I need to order and submit a purchase request to the wife. I've been doing quite a bit of metal work on my Lotus frame and have enjoyed it so far. I'm going to make some of my own repair panels. My sides are only rusted on the lower ~ 3 inches, it makes no sense to rip out the entire side panel. I'm going to order some 18ga steel through my local vendor and invest in a brake. I was looking at just buying the lower clip / strip from Classic, but I don't even need the entire piece.

 

Not much progress lately, been busy with other things. Removed lower section of side panel. The windshield / cowl support brace needs to be replaced, at least the lower half does. Saving my money to purchase a metal brake so I can fabricate some of my own parts. I'm also going to give c2c floor pans a try.

http://c2cfabrication.com/jeep/cj-series/

 

Took about 6 months but I logged back on and will pick back up on my build. Really nice work, give me a call or text sometime man.

 

My replacement floor pans are supposed to be delivered today, can't wait to get started on the floors. I wasn't too concerned how they look or fit so I ordered a pair from C2C. I'll post up some pics soon as I get them.

 

Quality appears to be pretty good, they are sturdy and 18 gauge as advertised. They are visually different from the stock pans but since the floor is going to end up being covered with carpet it doesn't bother me any.

 

The more I tear into this tub the more disgusted I get. Rust just keeps getting worse and worse. Traverse supports and the front body supports looked decent and solid enough. I just finished drilling out the spot welds and removed them. They are starting to fall apart in flakes and brittle as hell. Tried to fit the front pan but the upper right corner is rather crudely made and is going to need some work. Rear floor is a joke, both C2C and Classic mention shortening the floors for CJ5's. Shortening is one thing, cutting completely in half to make it fit is just a complete waste of metal. (see pic below).


Rear pan needs to be cut down the middle. Why don't they just make a CJ5 specific floor pan? Less metal and less work.mehh

 

I'm officially giving up on the tub, hauling off Friday morning for scrap. I'm going to put away some money from our tax return and watch craigslist. With any luck I can find something that isn't completely rusted through. I'll be keeping the hood, front clip, dash, windshield frame, roll bar and VIN tag.

 

I found myself another tub, need to borrow a trailer and go pick it up. In great condition, navy blue with only a few dents here and there. Underside looks great, almost no rust I can find. Hoping to go grab it in the next few days.

 

Goodbye rusty mess and good riddance.

 

That tub looked pretty good compared to the one I am attempting to resurrect LOL

 

Yeah, I was really torn about trashing it since I've seen some tubs that make mine look good. If it was an earlier model or a military Jeep, sure I would have kept it. For me it came down to simple economics. For all new correctly fitting parts and a paint job I was looking at probably $1000 or more. I'm buying a tub that needs some paint touch up and two small rust patches near the wheel house for $350.

 

Thats a good find. Good luck

 

Good luck with yours, I'm envious of the passenger side toolbox. I wish Jeep had carried that through the later model years.

 

I picked up the new tub today, just finished giving it a good washing. Originally from an 80 w/ the 151, dark brown metallic according to the tag. At some point it had a paint job, over spray all over the place. I'm going to start cleaning up the underside and use some sort of chassis coat, I haven't decided on which one yet. Once the underside is complete, I can mount it up to the frame and do all my body / paint work from there. Wife should be happy, I'll have an empty garage bay for once.

I'm probably just going to leave the wiring in place, it is in better shape than mine and still original. The one I pulled had a bunch of weird PO splices that powered who knows what...came with the whole heater box assembly, e-brake and cable.

 

I would have killed for the orange tub out hear I rust land nj

 

Sorry to hear about all your rust but it looks like the new tub is much nicer. I don't think I would have been able to scrap that other tub though... When I bought my '79 I spent probably 45 minutes going all over it checking for rust. I didn't even test drive it! Since it drove up I knew it ran and drove. I was happy with the body but should have test driven it. I had to put a clutch in it right away. But that's much easier than rust... Will be looking for updates.