just got a jeep, have some questions

just a warning, this is my first jeep or 4x4 and im still learning the terminology and how things work. i just bought a '69 cj5 with 28,??? miles on it that my uncle has been sitting on his property for about 16 years. it run when he parked it so im going to change the fluids and try to get it started next weekend. this is going to by a good weather driver and a mild trail rig.

it has been in socal for the last 25 or so years so not much rust was found except the lower tailgate between the hinges. the top is a kelly top and all glass is intact. even has the factory stickers.


on to the questions
#1 are the top and doors worth much? i plan on taking it off and running a bikini top and dont have room to store it longterm.

#2 i want to do a manual saginaw swap and was woundering if the mounting brackets #27, #28 and #29 in the diagram will work. http://www.4wd.com/HardParts/HPDetail.aspx?hpID=18&hpDID=135

#3 is the stock front bumper strong enough to lift the jeep with a highlift jack and for bolt on D-rings to winch or pull the jeep. should i box the box the back side?

#4 i have found conflicting info on weather or not the stock rims fit with a 11'' drum swap. if they dont what backspace shoud i get for a 15x8 rim?

im sure the questions have been answered before but i havnt mastered the search function yet.

 

Congrats and cool rig. I've got to run off to work, so I will post some quick answers. I'm sure that others will elaborate.

1. Depends. Around here it would be about $600.

2. Not sure, I built my own. It was easy. Someone on the forums builds them for other folks as well. They look really nice and are a great price. I would look into that first. Post a WTB in the classifieds.

3. Yes and it's up to you but its not a bad idea to make the D-rings attach to the frame and the bumper.

4 Get 16" wheels for the 11" swap. They came stock on a lot of old Jeeps are are pretty easy to find.

 

Re the top, your main difficulty will be to find a buyer nearby. There will be more demand in snow country. There's not a lot of demand to begin with, and shipping will be prohibitive. Depending on how long you want to hold on to it, I'd advise you take any offer more than $100 or so. Try eBay; if you are willing to pack and ship, you might get more.

Check out the Saginaw thread in the Builds forum. There also may be an album? I recall the album is gone for security reasons. http://www.earlycj5.com/technical/steering/converting_to_saginaw_steerin/