69DJ5
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2026
HI All,
I posted in the introduction thread, and after receiving a lot of nice responses, I've decided to create a "revival post" instead of a build post, because my intent is to get it back on the road safely, and reliably.
A few weeks ago, my FIL gave my wife his 1969 DJ5 that he converted to a CJ5 in the early 70s, using several old Jeeps and the powertrain from a IH Scout. It started its life as RHD DJ5 delivering mail in remote parts of Wyoming. He had, I believe, 4 or 5 of them at the time, and used the best parts to make one.
Here's a list of how the Jeep is configured:
Dauntless V6
T90C 3spd trans
Twin stick t-case, D18 (unconfirmed, but it might be a D20 since it came from a Scout)
Warn overdrive
Dana 27 front axle with 4.88
Rear Dana 44 with 4:88 and Spicer axles
It looks like a decent little rig on the surface, but the old saying, "Beauty is skin deep, but ugliness goes straight to the bone", is proving to be the case. To truly understand how it got to this point, you need to understand my FIL. He owned his own garage for more than 40-years. The man is a brilliant mechanic and machinist. The work he did for his customers was always top-notch, and at a good price. Somehow, that never transitioned to his own vehicles. To this day, he has the "it's fine" attitude and it shows. His car, his yard equipment, his tractors, all look like hell and have some really janky fab work. Well, the Jeep is no different. He built this Jeep for hill climbing competition on the 70's and offroad vehicle recoveries in the 80's. She's lived a tough life, and I'm finding out, just how tough.
First job was to get it to my house. They live a few houses down from us, so that was easy. For years, the thing always had a tip-in stumble, and if you weren't careful, would stall. Had some close calls turning left across traffic. The Dauntless had a 1-barrel manifold with a Rochester 2Jet, using an adapter that my FIL had fab'd up 50-plus years ago. Power was OK, but the carb was severely worn and was leaking fuel out of the throttle shaft. He gave me a 2-barrel manifold that he "never got around to installing".
The 2Jet and 1-barrell manifold setup
The 2-barrel manifold in the condition I received it.
Overnight in rust remover, sandblasted and epoxy painted.
Next, it was time for the valve covers to get some tlc. Degrease, rust bath, paint stripper, a light scuff, another degrease, and then a few coats of Alpine Green. That color is amazing and I think the Jeep would look great if it were painted that color.
The new carb is a 2GC (the internet said it is compatible with the Dauntless). The bolts line up with the manifold, so there's that, but it's bigger than the previous one, and I needed to build my own spacer because the linkage wouldn't clear the manifold. Built custom linkage to work with existing throttle pedal. 3D printed an adapter so the original air cleaner could be installed.
The replacement manifold didn't have the ability to mount the coil and ballast resistor, so I built a bracket to mount it the cylinder head.
Replaced the water pump
Replaced the radiator with a larger aluminum unit that has the proper lower port on the passenger side. There were 3 hoses spliced together from the water pump, under the crankshaft pulley and to the radiator. This also made it nearly impossible to find an upper radiator hose that would fit. The thermostat housing exited to the passenger side, and even the Gates Vulco Flex hose would collapse the internal spring and cause a kink. I had to install a new housing that had the port position centered, and towards the radiator. This was accomplished using a Dorman 902-2020.
With the different port configuration on the bottom of the new radiator, the mechanical fan wouldn't clear, and had to switch to an electric fan setup.
EDIT: Typos
I posted in the introduction thread, and after receiving a lot of nice responses, I've decided to create a "revival post" instead of a build post, because my intent is to get it back on the road safely, and reliably.
A few weeks ago, my FIL gave my wife his 1969 DJ5 that he converted to a CJ5 in the early 70s, using several old Jeeps and the powertrain from a IH Scout. It started its life as RHD DJ5 delivering mail in remote parts of Wyoming. He had, I believe, 4 or 5 of them at the time, and used the best parts to make one.
Here's a list of how the Jeep is configured:
Dauntless V6
T90C 3spd trans
Twin stick t-case, D18 (unconfirmed, but it might be a D20 since it came from a Scout)
Warn overdrive
Dana 27 front axle with 4.88
Rear Dana 44 with 4:88 and Spicer axles
It looks like a decent little rig on the surface, but the old saying, "Beauty is skin deep, but ugliness goes straight to the bone", is proving to be the case. To truly understand how it got to this point, you need to understand my FIL. He owned his own garage for more than 40-years. The man is a brilliant mechanic and machinist. The work he did for his customers was always top-notch, and at a good price. Somehow, that never transitioned to his own vehicles. To this day, he has the "it's fine" attitude and it shows. His car, his yard equipment, his tractors, all look like hell and have some really janky fab work. Well, the Jeep is no different. He built this Jeep for hill climbing competition on the 70's and offroad vehicle recoveries in the 80's. She's lived a tough life, and I'm finding out, just how tough.
First job was to get it to my house. They live a few houses down from us, so that was easy. For years, the thing always had a tip-in stumble, and if you weren't careful, would stall. Had some close calls turning left across traffic. The Dauntless had a 1-barrel manifold with a Rochester 2Jet, using an adapter that my FIL had fab'd up 50-plus years ago. Power was OK, but the carb was severely worn and was leaking fuel out of the throttle shaft. He gave me a 2-barrel manifold that he "never got around to installing".
The 2Jet and 1-barrell manifold setup
The 2-barrel manifold in the condition I received it.
Overnight in rust remover, sandblasted and epoxy painted.
Next, it was time for the valve covers to get some tlc. Degrease, rust bath, paint stripper, a light scuff, another degrease, and then a few coats of Alpine Green. That color is amazing and I think the Jeep would look great if it were painted that color.
The new carb is a 2GC (the internet said it is compatible with the Dauntless). The bolts line up with the manifold, so there's that, but it's bigger than the previous one, and I needed to build my own spacer because the linkage wouldn't clear the manifold. Built custom linkage to work with existing throttle pedal. 3D printed an adapter so the original air cleaner could be installed.
The replacement manifold didn't have the ability to mount the coil and ballast resistor, so I built a bracket to mount it the cylinder head.
Replaced the water pump
Replaced the radiator with a larger aluminum unit that has the proper lower port on the passenger side. There were 3 hoses spliced together from the water pump, under the crankshaft pulley and to the radiator. This also made it nearly impossible to find an upper radiator hose that would fit. The thermostat housing exited to the passenger side, and even the Gates Vulco Flex hose would collapse the internal spring and cause a kink. I had to install a new housing that had the port position centered, and towards the radiator. This was accomplished using a Dorman 902-2020.
With the different port configuration on the bottom of the new radiator, the mechanical fan wouldn't clear, and had to switch to an electric fan setup.
EDIT: Typos
Last edited:
