A very long cj 5 build.

I used some 1/8" steel plate on the outside of the firewall and when I bolted through to the bracket for the petal it stiffened everything up. I also put antother plate on the angled part of the floor for the steering column and soon to be fabbed clamp. I will try to get some picks this weekend witht the front end up.

Todd

 

It's alive!!!! Started the engine today finally. Been a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time coming.

Whoooo Hoooo.

I have made a lot o' progress the last few months. It's been a long winter here in Michigan and with the jeep parked in the garage I was able to get a lot done.


I will post some pics soon.

 

:uwop:

 

A little update. Actually have driven it a few times now on the property! My kids love it.

I rebuilt the carb over the winter and it was running waaaayyy to rich. When I rebuilt it I assumed the float was already set so I didn't need to adjust it. WRONG! I took the top off and set the float to the right depth, hooked up the choke and it fired up and ran terrific. It stumbles under acceleration right now but I thing once I get some exhaust, get it timed and get the idle/air screws adjust I should be good to go.

At this point I need to mount the pass. seat to the body, build some sort of mounting clamping system for my one piece front end and button up some of my wiring gremlins(ground issues with the glass body). Picked up a rear seat last weekend up at silver lake and need to fab some brackets for it too. Oh yeah I need seatblets. I haven't been to good about taking pictures but I will post some this weekend.

What I have found though is that the glass body I have needs support up to the angle in the floor at the front of the tub. I think if I had a steel front with the fenders bolted to the body and to the front mount this would stiffen it up quite a bit but with the one piece front I really can't do that. It bounces so bad it moves the throttle linkage for me!!!

On a positive note the th350 works well. I took me a few drives to realize it was shifting just really quick I think because of the 4.88's and not having my overdrive linkage in place to shift it. The brakes work way better than I thought. Thanks to Posimoto for the advice not to do power brakes.

I have decided to "dry fit" everything this summer and get it where I want ie bounce fixed family roll cage and so on and so on. At this point it looks, well, ugly. Then, this winter pull the tub back off and do all the body and interior work and have it looking nice for next spring. Wow that seems like a long way off.

A little slow at work this afternoon.

Thanks for listening.

Todd

 

http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn67/familyman_cj5/

Pics finally. Wish I had painted the engine. Big mistake not to. Open to advice comments

Thanks
Todd

 

Been over a year I see since I posted anything in this thread so here goes. I got my roll cage in and all the seats and belts bolted in place.

I used grade 8 1/2" bolts on all of my seat belt and harness tie in points. I still need to work out some details for my shoulder harness tie-ins but I feel the lap portion is adequate for now. I think it is probably comparable to the original lap belts.

I have decided to put it all together, get it road worthy and enjoy it this summer and fall. I think I may tackle some body work this winter. Not sure yet. It is a fiberglass body that still needs a little work and I have a steel tub that needs a lot off work. Not sure yet but I just want to enjoy driving it for a while.

I drove it last night and took some video. I love the tractor like sound of the V6 with my mufflers in place.

A few things I have discovered:

Leaky brake line,
A gremlin in my grounding for the lights in the one piece front,
I really need to set the timing and adjust the carb not bad but needs to be tweaked a little,
The power steering belt is too long and is causing steering power loss issues,
The th350 is leaking somewhere that I can't see ugg,
I need a steering box brace after watching said pump move the 35's and the front frame horns----Wow.

That's it for now.

 

Holy Cow! 12.5 years ago. It's back in the garage finally for some R&R and body work. a short list(ha ha) of my plans for this winter

- Clean and paint and reinstall primo windshield frame, hinges and small parts I have had for a long time. the one I was running finally rusted out enough on the bottom it wouldn't stay upright solidly and I didn't want to install my soft top on it.
- do something with the transmission. I have three routes I am toying with, 1. keep my saginaw 4 speed but rebuild the 3.5:1 version I have since the one I am running makes noise in 2,3 and 4, 2. Rebuild the sm420 I have I have the long AA adapter but the length is within 1/2" of my old th350 setup so my drive shafts should work, or 3. go with the 4:1 t18 I have which will need a new front drive shaft to make work.
- remove the mini spool from the rear end and install the two spartan lockers I have for the front and rear dana 44s
- Redo my saginaw steering. I want to raise it a bit and move it over and put the stock pitman arm back on it. I have a long one on now and it makes the steering a bit twitchy. This work will allow me to
- install my 8724 winch up front that I have had for 20 years and just sitting on the garage floor.
- redo my cage a bit to create new attachment points for my corbeau harnesses.
- redo the wiring in spots and clean it up behind the dash. I have had issues with grounds since day one and I just need to redo them and add more with my fiber glass body
- new fenders and grill and hood to get rid of my clapped out one piece front end. repair the tub and hopefully paint the whole shebang.
- clean and paint a bunch of small parts.
- Install new to me soft top.
- try to get a speedo working (yeah right)
- Install slots and 33x10.50 tires
- build spare tire carrier and install spare with fifth slot.
- Maybe and I mean maybe fuel injection. I also have a 4 barrel intake and 390 holley I might consider.

That's my wish list.

Working on a new picture hosting site so I can post pictures more effectively

Todd

 

This place is life's pit-stop for some of us, it seems. I've come and gone a few times since first arrival.

 

Back at it finally. I stripped off the one piece front clip and went after the front bumper. I originally had a piece of 5/16"x5" steel running from one rail to the other and it wouldn't allow me to install my 8274 so out with the plate and in with the two gussets that will be welded to the back of the bumper and the side frame brackets. If you look closely you can see the bag of soon to be smoldering TP after a made a few tack welds. And last but not least the 33x10.50 howler monkeys on my 70's renegade slots!