Gas Cap On The Back Left Hand Side Of A 1970 Cj5 ?

Dear friends.

I am in the lookout for a CJ5 but when I see a picture there is something odd, the gas cap which you find on the left hand side of the car close to the driver and the gas tank, is not there, it’s in that left hand side but way back between the left back tire and the tailgate.

Have you seen this before ? I want my Jeep as original as possible but I have not seen a picture of a CJ5 like this


Thank you for your comments

Javier

 

I believe sometime late in the 1970 model year, they moved the fuel tank to the rear as opposed to under the driver seat, but the filler cap was on the rear of the vehicle to the right side of the tailgate by the brake lights. This is true of US models anyway, I am not sure what may have been different in Venezuela.

Welcome by the way.

 

Many early CJ's were converted from a tank under the drivers seat to one mounted in the back. Most have the filler on the passenger side rear but yours may have been done differently. If your Jeep is not a US made version it may have been built that way...

 

Welcome to the forum. Left side rear filler cap is unusual. I have never heard of it. American motors was about to take the reigns from kaiser somewhere about that time. Any thing is possible

 

I recall the tank location change was required by NHTSA regs. The pickups moved their tanks outside the cabin also, as required. A safety issue, nothing to do with AMC, and the timing would suggest it was in the works before the takeover. Pretty sure the only effect AMC had on the '70 model year was the little AMC logo badges on the tailgate, and the first real AMC-related change was use of AMC V8s and the 258 in the 1971 trucks and wagons. The CJs and Commando were slower by a year so they could engineer the changes needed for the 232 and 258.

I presume this is not a domestic Jeep, and I would hesitate to draw any conclusions without looking at similar vehicles delivered to the same country. The North America CJs had the filler on the passenger side starting mid-year in 1970, which I believe by convention is opposite to the tailpipe exit. South American CJs are different, since I believe these vehicles originated at: Industrias Kaiser Argentina - Wikipedia

 

Thanks for your replies.
Chatting with the persons selling me this 1970 CJ he said he is the original owner and it came like this way
First the Willy’s and then the CJ5’s, were first imported in Venezuela from the late 40’s until 1963. Then they started to be assembled with the main parts, I presume, brought in from the US and then complemented under as much local parts / components as possible. What I read about the Jeeps history is that other Countries served as testing grounds for modifications that were or were not put in these cars, maybe this was one of them and we have a black swan. Too bad the seller did not want to share the Jeep’s ID number.
Javier