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1962 Jeep CJ5 Project and Introduction!

2K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  xwinterx 
#1 ·
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
 
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#2 ·
I haven't done a lot of work on it yet. Still trying to scratch the surface of things that I need/want to do with it but so far it's been a great experience for me and my daughter. She has been working on sanding the body down while I deal with checking the engine out.


I don't want to pull the engine just yet, so I pulled the heads to inspect everything and so far nothing looks worse for wear. Eventually I'll probably drop a 350 crate into it but for now, I'm trying to get it running and in somewhat "ok" condition with as little cash as I can. Hit my first snag while pulling the water inlet/thermostat cap. Broke the bolts in half so the manifold is going to come out on Monday so I can see what I can do about that. This weekend we have planned to pull the rear "bumper/hitch" that came on it and cut out the k-members to accommodate a rear tank. Aside from that, for now, We're just sanding the body down to metal to see exactly what we have to work with.


I mean, it has it's rust spots that need to be fixed, and various holes and tears from hunting, but I've learned that there is a lot lurking under the paint, namely bondo! For some reason, of which I can't figure out, a previous owner had welded some short metal tubes to the rear, outside corners of the tub. I cut off the rear passenger tube and ground the remnants off and discovered that pretty much that entire quarter panel had a nice thick layer of bondo. After days of dispensing with that, I found some ugly stuff underneath (will post pics of that later). I'm a decent welder so I figure that in the bulk problem areas, I can cut them out and weld in body metal inserts then grind them smooth to get a smoother tub.


That's it for now. Here is a brief look of what I am starting with after rolling it out of the garage. Keep in mind, before my son was born, I started some resto on it so that is why there is a lot of primer on it already.
 

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#3 ·
Been sick and had to nurse a sick daughter too. She's still recovering so hopefully she'll be good by Sunday to get back to work! HAHAHA.


I haven't gotten much done. I've ordered my new rear fuel tank and skid plate. I've got most of the driver-side rear quarter-panel sanded to metal. Whomever did the body work on it before did a decent job with the bondo, unfortunately, that just meant I had mountains of that crap to sand off to see what I am looking at. Nothing too serious though. I may just cut a chunk of the side out and replace it with fresh metal. I need to get my filler neck in so I can see where on the side I want to mount it and that will determine what body work I am going to do back there.


Progress-wise, I removed the hitch/bumper. It had some supports that bolt to the frame that would prevent me from installing a rear tank. They also were in my way of cutting out the k-members too. Impacted the hell out of the bolts/nuts mounting it to the bumper. Crawled underneath to unbolt those supports and WTF? Can't reach them with an impact wrench and they won't budge even with a 24" breaker bar with a cheater. Pfffffft! So I cut them off. It was breezy and I'm still fighting a sinus infection so I was happy enough to get them cut out. I'll clean everything up underneath later when I tackle those k-members. Pictures to come over the next few days.


Keep Jeepin'!
 
#8 ·
yeah! Maintenance led my dad to replace the front end many moons ago to get the bigger brakes. I'm due for some time off so I'm hoping to crawl under and get some numbers on the front and rear end. All I know is that the front end is slightly wider than the rear. I've never really "worked" on the jeep before. My dad and uncle were the "jeep guys" so they always did the tinkering. I was always the driver and responsible for pretty much every dent, tear, and broken part. But it was hella fun getting to some of the places we got to!
 
#11 ·
I put a second tank in my old CJ3b. I found a new tank with a right side fill, and a cut a hole for the neck. Then I just 'T'ed it to the other fuel line. the sender on the first tank still worked to show when I was low, it just 2X as long to drop down. It was a cool, simple project. Hardest part was the modification to seat support.
 
#12 ·
Sweet. I'm going to keep the tank under the driver's seat since it is still in decent shape. I have to cut off the seat mounts from the passenger tank and make some new mounts but that should be pretty darn simple. Some box metal and I should be good. Maybe I'll make a little storage compartment there.

Just got my skid plate in so that means I need to buck this freaking cold and get out and do some work!
 
#13 ·
I keep promising some pics. Took them but haven't transferred them to computer yet. Will do tonight.

I finally cut the k-members out of the rear end. Now I just have to grind them flat and purdy-like. The exhaust system was welded together and was run out behind the tires and would be in the way of the rear tank, soooo... I cut both sides out too. Left enough pipe to work with so I wouldn't have to screw with putting in new pipe from the exhaust manifolds. Cut the passenger side seat mounts off the under-seat fuel tank. Going to weld them to some square tubing to make a simple seat mount for that side. I still like the idea of making a little storage box under it. Probably something hinged with a lock that I can just mount to the floorboard. It's not like it'll hold a lot but it'll hold enough!
 
#18 · (Edited)
Yeah. That's why I cut out the k-member but I'm going to keep the driver-side tank under the seat for an aux tank. I gotta order the tank, probably after Christmas, but got the skid plate in so I get to get that all mounted up this weekend.

Sorry about your son , I'm glad to see your putting some life back into that awesome jeep .... can't wait to see and read more !!!!
Thanks. He was a good little fellow! This project is going a long way to help heal the rift with my daughter and I. She won't say it but I know that even though she really loved her brother a lot, it hurt that she and I didn't spend as much time together. So this is great!
 
#20 ·
Here's the old passenger tank. Cut off the seat mounts yesterday (not pictured) and honestly thought about repurposing it but after cutting it open, it's mass-trashed. Then I finally got that rear quater-panel sanded down. Lots of secrets hidden under a ton of bondo. Arrrg!
 

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#21 ·
So I got everything under the rear end grinded somewhat nicely so I can order my fuel tank soon! :)

I drilled the bolts for the rear passenger side tail light and got that removed AND finally got all of the paint and bondo sanded from that rear corner... :-(

pics to follow after some beers!
 
#22 ·
So yeah... fun fun fun! And I'm still pounding bondo from the body part joint... they must have wanted the "smooth" look. Honestly, I'll probably just weld it together and fill it in that way. They already welded the top and other places so it's not like it'll come off easily anyhow and I'll never replace it.
 

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#23 ·
Finally feeling better. Got the transfer case mounted. Taking a break for a sammich then gonna install the drive gear, cover plate, and fill that bad boy up. Daughter put in the drive lines. Got the intake manifold pulled so I can drill the holes for the water inlet. The bolts broke when I was trying to remove them a while back. Grrrrr. Skid plate in. Filler neck and fuel tank on order. December was a waste cuz I was pretty much sick the entire month. Feeling better and getting things going again.
 

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