Build Thread '66 CJ5 project

[peep6543]

I posted my steering question in the other forum, my mistake. Here is a pic of what I've been dealing with the past few weeks. the spray painted thing sheet on the left is paper thin and hardly attached. the push-button start is way down by the glovebox door and not a single switch or guage works or looks like it has in a loooong time.

 

[Petescj]

Yup theres a noticeable improvement there.

 

[peep6543]

I spent some time going over the dash this weekend. The pic makes it look like its stainless but its really a mild brown, like the color on all the page borders on this site. It is in pretty good shape with original mounting hardware, holes, even the factory cig lighter haha. Coolest part is the inside of the glove box door has the VIN sticker so I know its from a 74. Left to right it has: 'Motor Minder' guage with a pull handle below it(?), two pull switches that are unmarked (one white, one yellow), lights pull tab, washer pull tab, hazards pull tab, empty hole where original ignition switch was I believe, an 'Ampres' guage, the speedo/odo/fuel guage, and finally the oild pressure guage. Looks like everything is factory and usable. I plan on taking them out, prepping and painting the whole thing and polishing the rings around the guages. I'm also going to wire a switch in the dash to control the winch, instead of using the pistol-grip activator it came with.

Can anyone explain to me, in simple terms, what the motor minder guage was for? I don't believe it was on the '66 originally. Is it some kind of fuel efficiency monitor?

 

[CJ]

The gauge in question is a vacuum gauge. Keep a high vacuum and that means you don't have the throttle cracked open... Kinda defeats the purpose of having a V8 though! :laugh:

Dash Gauges Motor Minder

 

[IOPort51]

you may want to re think the winch switch idea, the drivers seat is not generally the best place to be when using a winch. In fact it can be down right dangerous.

 

[BajaEdition]

you may want to re think the winch switch idea, the drivers seat is not generally the best place to be when using a winch. In fact it can be down right dangerous.

I am with that 100%
the reason a lot of commercial work vehicles have them is that they do not need to supply the remote that every one using the vehicle would lose and the replacement cost would be phenomenal.
Best to have a hand held remote so you can monitor both the spool and the object being winched.
Sitting behind a glass window, in direct line of fire of a backlashing broken winch cable is not a great idea.

 

[IOPort51]

I like to flip the hood up so I have a place to hide if I have to be in the drivers seat. In fact I usually just lift the hood when I use it so it will dent the hood rather than destroy the wind shield. If you break a cable, and it does happen, it is coming back with authority.

I am with that 100%
the reason a lot of commercial work vehicles have them is that they do not need to supply the remote that every one using the vehicle would lose and the replacement cost would be phenomenal.
Best to have a hand held remote so you can monitor both the spool and the object being winched.
Sitting behind a glass window, in direct line of fire of a backlashing broken winch cable is not a great idea.

 

[BrockGrimes]

I've seen a 1/4" cable cut a man in half, while in the military.
Get the remote!

 

[peep6543]

Wow all good info everyone (except the guy being cut in half, thats awful). I didn't think much of the logistics and focused solely on convenience in the cab. That is way low on my priority list so everyone can sleep well knowing I haven't tried installing a switch yet.

 

[IOPort51]

It would be an embarrassment if one of us was to win a Darwin award, so we try to look out for each other.

"Hey ya'll watch this!!"
"Hold my beer, I'm gonna try something":laugh:

 

[peep6543]

Makes me feel good not only that I'm making progress on the rig but also that it seems a few people are interested. Sad to say however that this weekend will be dedicated to cold beer and BON JOVI live at the Key Arena. wait...who am I kidding, I'm not sad at all I'm pumped! think what you want about Bon Jovi, but my college buddies and I Love em and rocked all their gems at kareoke. Next weekend (2/27-28) I'm gettin back to the garage and rollin up the sleeves.

Cheers

 

[CJ]

LOL - I grew up during the long hair Bon Jovi days - I would go see them again in an instant! Have a great time!

 

[peep6543]

Concert was great! had a blast with my buddies listening to all the hits. Funniest part of the night actually came just before the concert started... Dude comes around the corner at the bar we were at and happens to be a professional Guy Fieri look-alike (he is the food network cook from Diners Drive-ins and Dives). We were blown away at first and then had fun with it. As far as the jeep goes, I go back to work on her 2/27 and 2/28 and am feeling pretty ambitious after taking a few weekends off...

 

[peep6543]

Update from Saturday 2/27: Only had half a day this weekend to work but still managed to be mildly productive. FINALLY found an air cleaner assembly for the buick 231, got a fresh filter and put it on. Also had to get about a foot of hose to the valve cover to complete it. Now she doesn't sound like a fish out of water anymore :laugh:.

Noticed the steering was beginning to lock up and get difficult but put in some fresh power steering fluid and thats all better. Saved the best for last and finally got to work on the dash replacement.....

The night before I spent a while with the new (used '74) dash taking it apart and cleaning everything up. Sanded, primed, painted surface black and used a 220 grit on the guage bezels to clear some surface rust and it looks pretty good.

We started by removing the hardware on the dash and clipping and pulling wires of everything that wasn't going to be transferred. This includes the air and old wiring for fog lights I ditched. Because its push button start with a seperate electricity switch, those wires will be kept and moved closer to the steering wheel. To keep it theft-proofish I got a newer switch that comes with a key to turn on/off the elec. We pretty much ran out of time there with the old dash ripped up and literaly hangin on the steering column. Saturday 3/6 will hopefully be the finish of the install. Then we have maaaannny other bits to clean up. Including:

seat brackets
sag in one of the springs
gas flush and guage fix
steering wheel
new shifter
paint
tires

you get the idea.... but anyway its just as fun as the first day we started. thanks for folloing.

Cheers

 

[peep6543]

Update: Not sure how many of you are following this, but I want to keep posting as long as things are moving forward. Sunday 3/28 was about as productive a day as we've had in a while so I thought I would share. New dash is finally in secure and looks so good compared to the rest of the vehicle it stands out a bit too much! After firing we found the speedo works but nothing else yet.... We also got rid of the cage someone had in there and the open look is growing on me. Not sure yet if I'm going to put in a stock bar or keep it open. Next we adjusted the drum brake gears to push the shoes out and greatly improved the stopping power. After that we bled the minimal amount of fluid in the clutch cylinder and filled her up. The clutch is much more firm now and feels like it should. After a few hours this amount of work warrented a drive around the block to show off our work (nobody was around). finally, we began taking a closer look at the suspension lean. It has a noticeable lean to the drivers side so we went through the checklist.

We took of a shock on either side to see if one was seized, not the case.
we visually checked the leafs for a crack, didn't find one. We actually swapped the rear springs to see if it leveled out, and it did a bit, but not that much.
A couple tires could use air also, but that wouldn't lift the side up another 3 inches.
Then we tossed around the idea that the frame is bent? but it seems unlikely

That's about all we got done yesterday but I feel good knowing its still getting attention and not a complete waste of my money or time.....yet! I'm glad to see the mechanical stuff is slowly but surely getting worked out so I can begin looking forward to the cosmetic stuff. I'm out of town Easter weekend but the remainder of April should be dedicated to her. To those who do read: thanks for following and any tips/advice helps. Also: parts places in the pacific nw anyone?!

Cheers

 

[IOPort51]

Q; how do you eat an elephant?
A; one bite at a time.

We are watching
find a roll bar of some kind, you are short, narrow, and tall and you have no roof. a no brainer.

Update: Not sure how many of you are following this, but I want to keep posting as long as things are moving forward. Sunday 3/28 was about as productive a day as we've had in a while so I thought I would share. New dash is finally in secure and looks so good compared to the rest of the vehicle it stands out a bit too much! After firing we found the speedo works but nothing else yet.... We also got rid of the cage someone had in there and the open look is growing on me. Not sure yet if I'm going to put in a stock bar or keep it open. Next we adjusted the drum brake gears to push the shoes out and greatly improved the stopping power. After that we bled the minimal amount of fluid in the clutch cylinder and filled her up. The clutch is much more firm now and feels like it should. After a few hours this amount of work warrented a drive around the block to show off our work (nobody was around). finally, we began taking a closer look at the suspension lean. It has a noticeable lean to the drivers side so we went through the checklist.

We took of a shock on either side to see if one was seized, not the case.
we visually checked the leafs for a crack, didn't find one. We actually swapped the rear springs to see if it leveled out, and it did a bit, but not that much.
A couple tires could use air also, but that wouldn't lift the side up another 3 inches.
Then we tossed around the idea that the frame is bent? but it seems unlikely

That's about all we got done yesterday but I feel good knowing its still getting attention and not a complete waste of my money or time.....yet! I'm glad to see the mechanical stuff is slowly but surely getting worked out so I can begin looking forward to the cosmetic stuff. I'm out of town Easter weekend but the remainder of April should be dedicated to her. To those who do read: thanks for following and any tips/advice helps. Also: parts places in the pacific nw anyone?!

Cheers

 

[peep6543]

I agree the roll bar saves lives and I would turn into a broken watermelon if it flipped, but I am only planning to use the rig as a cruiser around town. Not really for wheeling. Does this change anything?

 

[IOPort51]

I agree the roll bar saves lives and I would turn into a broken watermelon if it flipped, but I am only planning to use the rig as a cruiser around town. Not really for wheeling. Does this change anything?

nope, How many passenger vehicles in the world come stock with a roll bar? You want to leave the grill at home too?

 

[peep6543]

Decided to save lives and add the roll bar. Also taking care of a few other body parts that are in rough shape. Getting all three of these for $100 and should be mocked up this weekend. The hood looks rusted but he swears its just a red primer. The cowl on mine is bent in good from the PO slammin the windshield frame down, also the drivers side gap to the grill is bent up so lifting the hood catch is a real . You can kinda see it in the pic, but its much worse in person.

Dude says the wrap on the bar is actually quite nice even though the pic is dark so we'll see if its worth keeping on or stripping and starting over. Anywho, upgrades get updates!

Also got my mini bike back and running.
straight piped the 50's 2 hp briggs and redid the throttle cable. She is a mean son of a gun. way too much fun on the farm!
cheers fellas (even though its 10AM!)

 

[IOPort51]

I guess the mini bike didn't have the brake option??

Decided to save lives and add the roll bar. Also taking care of a few other body parts that are in rough shape. Getting all three of these for $100 and should be mocked up this weekend. The hood looks rusted but he swears its just a red primer. The cowl on mine is bent in good from the PO slammin the windshield frame down, also the drivers side gap to the grill is bent up so lifting the hood catch is a real . You can kinda see it in the pic, but its much worse in person.

Dude says the wrap on the bar is actually quite nice even though the pic is dark so we'll see if its worth keeping on or stripping and starting over. Anywho, upgrades get updates!

Also got my mini bike back and running.
straight piped the 50's 2 hp briggs and redid the throttle cable. She is a mean son of a gun. way too much fun on the farm!
cheers fellas (even though its 10AM!)