Greetings Jeepsters!
I've been a fan of Jeeps since as long as I can remember. My family owns a 1962 Jeep CJ5. Chevy 283 V8, T14a tranny, D20 dual stick transfer case w/ D18 in-line setup. It's just an old hunting jeep that had seen it's share of owners and paint jobs before my dad bought it for hunting in the early 70's.
Apparently the first time ever riding in it was when I was three. My dad rolled me up in a blanket and small mummy bag, stuffed me on the passenger side floor board and actually ran some bungee cords over the top of me to keep me from bouncing out while hunting.
The first time I "drove" it, I was 8, out hunting and we were running a wash. My dad had removed the pin in the transfer case (I forget what it's called but I am sure I will learn it soon enough!) so he could put it into 2WD low range. I simply held onto the steering wheel while it idled through the wash, tracking through the ruts already cut into the wash bed.
In the late 90's, my dad handed the Jeep down to me where I lovingly drove it as a daily driver until about 2001 when the transfer case plug suddenly and mysteriously fell out a few days after I fired an employee from a previous employer. I should have been mad but I just had to laugh. Everyone thought I was being paranoid but after nearly 30 years of bouncing through the desert, I doubted that the plug would simply unscrew and fall out. Besides, I honestly had no clue where the plug had been up to that point. The transfer case pan was so caked with dirt and oil from hunting that it looked like one solid piece!
So the poor Jeep sat in my garage for 15 years, collecting dust, spider webs, and an assortment of boxes and totes. I had wanted to rebuild it back to running condition for years, but unfortunately when our son, Eddie, was born in 2005, we found out he was very special needs and would require full time care. My wife quit her job to stay home and take care of Eddie, reducing us to a single income for a 4 member family, so money was tight.
Tragedy hit in January of 2014 when Eddie passed away due to complications from the flu and pneumonia. It's almost been 3 years since we lost our little angel and it has been difficult to heal. Kelsie, my daughter, was probably hit the worst. She loves the outdoors and would go camping and fishing with my parents a few times a year. We weren't able to do much with Eddie because of all the equipment we had to tote around but we did the best we could. I remember her being so excited before her brother was born because she was going to show him how to fish and set up a tent and use the microwave in my parent's 5th wheel (hahah).
Now here it is, late in 2016, and we've managed to scrape together two incomes, heal a little, and start looking forward again while always keeping our son in our hearts. One morning my wife was watching TV and saw a program called Arizona Highways. They were doing a piece on various tours in Sedona (about 4 hours from where we live) and one of the tours was a Jeep tour. She asked me what it would take to get the Jeep running again and I told her not very much but that I would have to do a lot of maintenance on it and wanted to make a few changes to the setup before putting it back on the trail.
It was decided that we would revive the Jeep for some weekend fun! We have a lot of neat places here in southwestern Arizona to take a Jeep. So my 1962 Jeep CJ5 project was born! Here is a little run down on what I am wanting/needing to do:
- Replace both under-seat fuel tanks with a single rear tank
- Replace D20 housing (inside parts are perfectly fine)
- Replace dash
- Lots and lots of body work
- Flush the engine (apparently I didn't get ALL of the water drained before I parked it)
- Completely rewire under the dash, lights, and engine compartment
- Replace factory bucket seats with after-market high-back buckets
I've been a fan of Jeeps since as long as I can remember. My family owns a 1962 Jeep CJ5. Chevy 283 V8, T14a tranny, D20 dual stick transfer case w/ D18 in-line setup. It's just an old hunting jeep that had seen it's share of owners and paint jobs before my dad bought it for hunting in the early 70's.
Apparently the first time ever riding in it was when I was three. My dad rolled me up in a blanket and small mummy bag, stuffed me on the passenger side floor board and actually ran some bungee cords over the top of me to keep me from bouncing out while hunting.
The first time I "drove" it, I was 8, out hunting and we were running a wash. My dad had removed the pin in the transfer case (I forget what it's called but I am sure I will learn it soon enough!) so he could put it into 2WD low range. I simply held onto the steering wheel while it idled through the wash, tracking through the ruts already cut into the wash bed.
In the late 90's, my dad handed the Jeep down to me where I lovingly drove it as a daily driver until about 2001 when the transfer case plug suddenly and mysteriously fell out a few days after I fired an employee from a previous employer. I should have been mad but I just had to laugh. Everyone thought I was being paranoid but after nearly 30 years of bouncing through the desert, I doubted that the plug would simply unscrew and fall out. Besides, I honestly had no clue where the plug had been up to that point. The transfer case pan was so caked with dirt and oil from hunting that it looked like one solid piece!
So the poor Jeep sat in my garage for 15 years, collecting dust, spider webs, and an assortment of boxes and totes. I had wanted to rebuild it back to running condition for years, but unfortunately when our son, Eddie, was born in 2005, we found out he was very special needs and would require full time care. My wife quit her job to stay home and take care of Eddie, reducing us to a single income for a 4 member family, so money was tight.
Tragedy hit in January of 2014 when Eddie passed away due to complications from the flu and pneumonia. It's almost been 3 years since we lost our little angel and it has been difficult to heal. Kelsie, my daughter, was probably hit the worst. She loves the outdoors and would go camping and fishing with my parents a few times a year. We weren't able to do much with Eddie because of all the equipment we had to tote around but we did the best we could. I remember her being so excited before her brother was born because she was going to show him how to fish and set up a tent and use the microwave in my parent's 5th wheel (hahah).
Now here it is, late in 2016, and we've managed to scrape together two incomes, heal a little, and start looking forward again while always keeping our son in our hearts. One morning my wife was watching TV and saw a program called Arizona Highways. They were doing a piece on various tours in Sedona (about 4 hours from where we live) and one of the tours was a Jeep tour. She asked me what it would take to get the Jeep running again and I told her not very much but that I would have to do a lot of maintenance on it and wanted to make a few changes to the setup before putting it back on the trail.
It was decided that we would revive the Jeep for some weekend fun! We have a lot of neat places here in southwestern Arizona to take a Jeep. So my 1962 Jeep CJ5 project was born! Here is a little run down on what I am wanting/needing to do:
- Replace both under-seat fuel tanks with a single rear tank
- Replace D20 housing (inside parts are perfectly fine)
- Replace dash
- Lots and lots of body work
- Flush the engine (apparently I didn't get ALL of the water drained before I parked it)
- Completely rewire under the dash, lights, and engine compartment
- Replace factory bucket seats with after-market high-back buckets