My 1976 CJ-5

[Motherfrog402]

Hi gang,

So I haven't been on the board in several years, but I'm back and have some catching up to do on posts. Based on some good suggestions by old friends, I'm posting some pictures of my new toy, a 1976 AMC/Jeep CJ-5. It has the original 258 I-6, Dana-20 transfer case and T-150 3-speed transmission, with 3.54 gears. Since I don't have the Burb anymore, I needed something else to keep my mind sane, and this is it.

Hopefully the guy I sold my Burb to will want to sell it back one day, but for now this will keep me busy and happy.

Oh yeah, I live in Texas now....this is where I plan on retiring from the Army, which happens next year.

Fred

[leddzepp]

Nice! Before I was into these trucks, I was heavily into 76-86 Jeep CJ's. I restored 6 of them. That one looks like it has a 2" body lift as well as a 4" spring lift.

[Motherfrog402]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Nice! Before I was into these trucks, I was heavily into 76-86 Jeep CJ's. I restored 6 of them. That one looks like it has a 2" body lift as well as a 4" spring lift.

I was the other way around...still miss my Burb, but this CJ sure is fun!

This thing actually has a 4" body lift, not sure about the spring lift, but those tires are 35x12.50 so, I wouldn't be surprised if the spring lift is 4" too.

It's going back to bone stock plain jane...already bought the stock white steel rims on ePay and, contrary to many opinions, I'm going back to bias ply H78x15 tires. When it's done it'll be Renegade Orange again with the black Wellington vinyl seats.

Fred

[cam.man67]

Nice, I have a '63 CJ:

[Motherfrog402]

Originally Posted by cam.man67

Nice, I have a '63 CJ:

I like it! I can't wait to start tearing into mine. I promised the wife that I'd finish up the birthing stalls for our horses first, before I do any Jeep work, so we'll be doing that this weekend.

Fred

[68,69 K20]

Nice, I had a 77 CJ5. Same drivetrain as yours, had a Clifford intake/exhaust, and a Holley 4 barrel carb. Really woke that 258 right up. Never liked the T150 3 speed, worthless offroad imo, I really wanted to swap to the 4 speed.

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by 68,69 K20

Nice, I had a 77 CJ5. Same drivetrain as yours, had a Clifford intake/exhaust, and a Holley 4 barrel carb. Really woke that 258 right up. Never liked the T150 3 speed, worthless offroad imo, I really wanted to swap to the 4 speed.

I had the same setup in 2 of my Jeeps. Night and day difference with that 4 barrel! I ditched the T-150 in one and swapped in the T-176 4 speed.

[Motherfrog402]

Well, the plan is to put it back to bone stock, which means I'm keeping the T-150 in it....I don't plan on rockcrawling with it or doing serious off-roading, but if I were, you can bet I'd put a T-18 in it with a 6.32 1st gear in it, vs the 4.02 1st gear.

I'm one of those weirdos who really enjoys putting things back to the way they looked, when they rolled off the showroom floor...I think it goes back to the fact that, since I can't fix myself, I get satisfaction from fixing something that can't fix itself.

[abebummy26]

I cleaned the h*** out of 61 cj5 and rebuilt the axles, tranny, and transfer case. I never got the frame all the way cleaned out, There was still dirt in the boxed front section. I loved rebuilding that thing. I got filthy dirty doing it and loved every minute of it.

[Motherfrog402]

Hi gang,

So not much has happened, since my last post. I decided to go back to college and finish the last couple of classes that I needed for my Bachelor's...only took me 20 years to do! I've been gathering used OEM pieces off of ePay here and there....scored five original off-white steel 15x6 wheels that are in killer shape, an intake and exhaust manifold, as well as a functional Thermostatic Air Cleaner, so I'll actually have hot air to the carb, when it gets cold, which does happen in my neck of the woods in winter.

I was planning on pulling the engine last month, and then Murphy took over and broke my foot, so that's been put on hold....besides, I want to finish my classes this semester, before I mess with remembering what bolt went where. I pulled my charcoal canister, to see what shape it's in, and it's completely crudded up with mud, so I'm going to take it apart and rebuild it, which will entail a cutoff wheel and gasoline-proof epoxy, when I'm done.

I also scored a complete tan Levi's interior from a great guy on the Jeep Forum, including the soft top, carpet, front and back seats with seat belts, soft doors and dash for free!!!! Everything is still in near-immaculate shape; the front seat does have a rip, but it's minor and the carpet needs a good cleaning, but it's workable.

I'll post pics of the new seats, when I get home.

Fred

[Motherfrog402]

Hi everyone,

I finally started on my project, to restore the Jeep With No Name.

Here are some pics of my progress. You can see that the CJ sustained a hit on the rear passenger side...no issues, because the tub is getting replaced with a new one from Willys Overland, in Ohio...there's just too much rot to mess with fixing it...more cost-effective to go with new.

[Motherfrog402]

You can see the homemade extensions to drop the tranny/transfer case to decrease driveline angle, as well as the tweaked rear passenger leaf spring.

[Motherfrog402]

I got the engine wiring harness out, and my little buddy decided he wanted to help, so I let him take the P/S pump off.

[Motherfrog402]

Worked on getting the interior out.

[Motherfrog402]

Got the interior harness out, as well as all the leaves that had accumulated in the heater box.

[Motherfrog402]

Got the heater box, windshield, roll cage and body off.

[Motherfrog402]

Got the engine out and on the stand and started disassembly. The last time I used the engine stand was when I was living in California and took the 402 out of the Burb....remember that, Kalle?

[Motherfrog402]

Waterpump, camshaft and timing set have definitely seen better days.

[Motherfrog402]

Three of the six cylinders were wet, shocks were all shot, but I got the axle assemblies out and the frame on jackstands.

[Motherfrog402]

Thought I was going to end up with a totally solid frame, but I found a crack under some welded 1/4" diamond plate on the driver's side...thought it had been put there to reinforce the frame from the gaudy, heavy front home-made bumper....it's an easy fix, thankfully.

This teardown took me one day shy of three weeks...would have taken less time, but I was fighting the flu for a few days.

Now that everything is torn down, the project is going to slow a bit, because I'm on a monthly budget. The next step is to get the frame rewelded, sandblasted and coated, to protect from future rust.

The engine will be next on the list.

I'll keep you guys posted with more pics, as they come.

[Motherfrog402]

Hey guys, so it's been a little over a year and I'm getting parts together, little by little. Tracking down NOS or OEM parts that I can restore for an AMC is a challenging task, but it keeps me busy.

I finally got the frame welded up, straightened, sandblasted and then I painted it. I also found an original set of black wellington vinyl front seats. I rebuilt my T-150 3-spd and painted it just this past weekend and painted the bellhousing yesterday. In addition to all of that, I restored all of the wiring harnesses that go on the CJ, so they look 100% brand new.

I'm going to have to take a bit of a break, because the tranny on our BMW 740iL went up in smoke, so I'm getting another one installed.....$2150.

Oh well, the CJ is keeping me happy. Here are some pics.

[Motherfrog402]

Few more pics. I found a proportioning valve that looked similar to mine, so I ordered it. When it arrived, I disassembled it and the internals were a 99.9% match to mine, so I cannibalized all the seals and swapped them over, along with the brake failure switch (mine was broken), then I polished the body with Bar Keeper's Friend.

I then took three speedometers (one was my original) and made one good speedometer. I cleaned up the needles and then sprayed Rustoleum Fluorescent Orange in a cardboard box then used a soft brush to apply the paint lightly on the needles.

The CTO switch was next. Again, I used Bar Keeper's Friend, then I masked off the base and painted with Duplicolor Low Gloss Black.

The final thing I've done this year was my T-150. A good degreasing, painting with the above-mentioned Duplicolor Low Gloss Black and painting the bellhousing with Duplicolor Cast Gray.

What do you guys think so far?

[dammitmitchell]

hey brother! good to see another san angelo person here!
let me know if you ever need anything im allways around.!
p.s. San Angelo is freaking super proud of all their vets! i love this place for that.

[Motherfrog402]

Again, sorry I haven't been on in a couple of years....time flies. The family and I moved up to Idaho a couple of months ago. My mother-in-law passed away last year, so we sold the house and came here to be by my father-in-law.

In March of 2013, Brooke got tired of seeing me work on the CJ-5 and not driving it, so she found me another 1976 CJ-5. This one is painted Lime Green, the only Jeep painted this way. Lime Green was an AMC car-only color, reserved for the 1977 Hornet/AMX and Gremlin. This one was painted this color for an auto show, to test out with the consumer; I guess it didn't test well, which is funny considering all the new lime green Jeeps you see around today.

So now we're getting ready to break ground on our new house in a couple of weeks. 3-car garage....1 bay 16x22 and the other two bays 24x24.