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New Toy: 1981 CJ-5

3K views 26 replies 12 participants last post by  sweetguardian00 
#1 ·
i just picked myself up a 1981 CJ-5 for $700.00 off of craigslist

  • frame is flaky, yet still solid
    4cyl
    sr-4
    body is alright
    it ran a few months ago
    needs some TLC

im debating takin the body off and seeing what could be done to strengthen her up a bit

any advice
 
#3 ·
ill upload them , but a bit of bad news, the frame issue, the "flaking" is actually alot worse then i though (there are NO rot holes) i dont know how much frame fell off on my driveway....... when is the frame too thin to use properly?
 
#7 ·
its not rotted anywhere.....its just really really rusty..... and its flaking off..... ill take photos tonite and upload them.

its hard to say if its safe or not because from what i've seen previously, almost any frame is good enough to run as a woods beater..... get welder happy and por-15 the frame and it might actually give it a new youth..

is por-15 going to add anything to the frame?
 
#10 ·
How much do you want to put in to this build? If it were me I would pull the tub and at least hand grind that rust.. may be worse than it looks. You may even want to take it a step further and get the frame sandblasted.

Of course this is coming from a guy who's CJ is in a million pieces scattered throughout the house.
 
#13 ·
If you're not prepared to dig deep, I'd avoid pulling it apart to "clean" up the frame. I'd either go all the way, or just drive it like it is.. a beater Jeep. Judging by the pics, I'm willing to bet you'll be able to poke thru in a few places if you use a good "pick hammer".
 
#14 ·
oh, another great suprise.......

correct me if im wrong..... in 1980 they stopped with the 6-Bolt Hubs and introduced the 5-Bolt....
this Jeep, a 1981 has 6-Bolt Hubs....???
also...... a 4cyl standard should have 4,10:1 gears, correct......this has 3.54:1's
 
#15 ·
Well, what's left of the frame is certainly "age hardened"...

I agree too that your either commit to a major project or just leave it alone. If it's just a woods beater you might as well just run it. If you simply can't help yourself (like many of us jeepers) and want to work on this beast I hope you had your tetanus shot and some large tanks of acetylene and oxygen!!!
 
#17 ·
ha, i wish i had the pleasure.....
the jeeps tub os coming off the frame anyways, so the frame might as well got POR-15'd and left alone.....also the jeep has white seats with CJ embosed in them...... is this jeep a special edition jeep? possibly golden eagle?
 
#18 ·
Pull the body and get it sand blasted and primered, it will look new again. There is alot of scale, but it doesn't appear to be that bad. I would for sure get it blasted so they can get into every nook and cranny, you can't get into every spot with a grinder. After it was blasted, I would give it a good coating of por-15 as well.
 
#20 ·
does anyone have any designs for brace locations that make sense and really add something to the frame?

also, my buddy just cracked his 1972 CJ-5 frame in half, i dont want that to happen, but im mreally worried about the thickness of that frame, any ideas?
 
#23 ·
update for all of you fellow jeepers out there.....
the frame has been welded and the main eyes strengthened, pictures to come. the Iron Puke went to a buddy of mine, we're still working on something to trade. axles removed (and found 3 missing teeth off of the ring gear on the 30.) and the moser 1-piece axles were a nice suprise outback. irs going spring over on what looks like rancho replacement springs, sweet deal. the PO welded some perches on the axle tubes, but they are at zero degrees now, and will need to be moved to improve the pinion angle, or should i just compensate with degree shims? by now, we're thinking of putting the Chevy 350/SM465/D300 combo in it with the D30/AMC20 stuffed with 4.88's and lockers on 35x10.5 Boggers. the original rusted to crap body will go back on, painted john deere green with yellow rims. i think im gonna run the exhaust up the sides of the tub with dual cherry bombs and flappers at the top. hopefully after all this the woods beast jeep will keep on breathing to life. quick question also, the CJ-7 frame has only 2 rear supports, the rear crossmembers in front and rear of the tank.....however the CJ5 has 3.......any reason? is it needed?
 
#26 ·
Wouldn't surprise me if the axles have been swapped. On a Jeep that old, no telling what the PO may have done. A common thing to do is to swap out the 4 cylinder axles in a Jeep thats going through a build up since the 4 cylinder has lower gears.
 
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