Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

1978 CJ-5 build.

6K views 40 replies 6 participants last post by  lovett86 
#1 · (Edited)
1978 Jeep CJ-5 frame-up build (lots of pictures)

Project current status picture (click picture to view):

While back I was towing my 2000 TJ using a tow-bar back from a run and blew out a tire on my tow vehicle, which caused my TJ to disconnect and barrel-roll into oncoming traffic (my mistake for not using safety chains). The accident ended up totaling both my TJ and my tow vehicle. Pictures of my TJ are here: www.wilsonzone.com/jeep/

I found a 1978 CJ-5 that was rolled and repaired and I bought it. The CJ-5 had all kinds of issues. It had a leak in the rear axle at the axle shaft. It had a SOA lift and the cross-member was being held up by dog chains, among a long list of other shortcuts. Drive-train is an AMC 360 V8, T-150 3-speed tranny and a Dana 20 transfer case. I knew the tub was bent but didn't realize the frame was bent until I started building a front bumper for it.

I found another 1978 CJ-5 with the same drive-train except it had a 304 from a 1970 AMC Javelin and the PO ran unleaded fuel in it burning up the valves. It also had a broken 2nd gear in the tranny. I bought it so I could build up one CJ-5 using both vehicles. I wanted to make it look real nice and also trail worthy.

Because I'm using body parts from both Jeeps (one is black and the other is yellow) I've been stripping the paint off the tub and body parts. I have the grill stripped down to the bare metal and I'm getting ready to paint or coat it.

I'm torn between POR-15 or bed-liner. Or do I use POR-15 as an undercoat and cover it with a bed-liner? I'm thinking POR-15 really can't be used as an undercoat, am I right?

Also if I'm to use a bed-liner, do I use a spray-on liner? Or would it be best to use a roller to apply the bed-liner? I want it to look about as good as a mall-crawler but still be able to take the abuse from the trails. I plan on keeping the 35 inch tires but I'm debating if I want to stick to a SOA or buy new springs.

Forgive any misspelled words here, I'm typing this out using my iPhone...
 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
First I would suggest using mar-hyde one-step after the removal of heavy rust then use a roll on bed-liner. I've done this many times on our builds here. It works well and lasts years. I would also suggest sticking with the SOA if you have an updated high steer conversion.
 
#4 · (Edited)
1978 Jeep CJ-5 frame-up build

I guess I should share my build. I had a 2000 Wrangler that was totaled on my way home from a run to Clayton, Oklahoma.





A friend of mine had a friend who was trying to sell a 1978 CJ5 in Knoxville that needed a little work. We took a road trip and picked it up.





 
#5 ·
When I bought the CJ, I was told there were something wrong with the wiring that caused the battery to die so he'd just disconnect the battery when he wasn't driving. He also told me the rear seal was bad. The fuel filler hose was replaced with some PVC pipe and putting gas in it was a real pain.

After I got it home I found more issues with it, some were done before the PO bought it. There were loose wires everywhere. The tub was bent so the driver's side door wouldn't shut at all. The friction point on the clutch was so small and the springs were rusted together so driving on bumpy roads were a back-breaker. Plus there were issues with the brakes. Both driveshafts were shot so I built driveshafts using square tubing.

After taking it on a run the master cylinder had gotten so bad that the only way they would work was to pump it a few times first before stopping.





Thanks to the carburator, I had to use my starter to get the Jeep down.





I decided to add power brakes and tilt steering to the Jeep. The hood, fenders and windshield frame had been replaced before I bought it but they weren't painted, so I removed them to give them a quick coat of rattle-can paint.
 
#6 ·
At the same time I decided to build a bumper for it that would double as an air tank. I had this 3x8 rectangular tubing that was given to me and I picked up a York AC compressor from the local Pull-A-Part.





I initially just had a winch bolted to a cheap winch plate that I got from Steve's Wholesale.


After removing the winch and winch-plate, I worked on mounting it on my Jeep.



I added this hoop to the bumper, but ended up removing it because the fenders were in the way.




While figuring out how to attach the bumper to my Jeep I realized that the frame was bent as well. :mad:
 
#7 ·
A friend and his father had a 1978 CJ5 that they bought 26 years ago as a father-son project to keep at their cabin in Colorado. After replacing the blown engine with one from a 1970 AMC Javelin and other repairs they drove it for years until a few years ago when the engine and transmission had busted.






 
#8 ·
My friend didn't have the time or resources to do the work needed but didn't want to give it up to just anyone so he sold it to me, knowing I'd take good care of it. So I loaded it onto my trailer and hauled it home.


 
#10 ·
Next we removed the drive-train from the yellow CJ5. Discovered the cross-member was welded to the frame because the bolts had been broken off.






We started to install the drive-train from the black CJ5 into the yellow CJ5. At the time we were just going to swap the drive-train and not worry about the color, but that changed later.




Had to stop due to rain.


The old 304.


At first I built a homemade cross-member to replace the one that was welded to the frame: :welder:







The next day I realized I didn't account for the front drive shaft. :brickwall: So I abandoned the replacement cross-member. I began drilling out the busted bolts in the frame.




The only place a bolt for the cross-member hadn't been snapped in the frame.


I made a bracket to hold the nut in place so I could weld it to the frame.
 
#11 ·
The whole swap was taking place in my back yard because a guy living down the street would see me working on my Jeep and come over to help out. Normally I would welcome the help, but he usually made things worse. Anyway, because of the heat I decided to move my Jeep to the front of the house and just risk it.



The carpeting had been glued to the floor hiding the rust holes.


Sheet metal riveted to the floor to cover a large hole.


a lot of the "repairs" were done by using window screen and tons of body filler. :eyebulge:




The guy from down the street? Yup, he showed up. :nuts:
 
#12 ·
I began using paint stripper on the body, which made things a LOT messier. Yes, there are two more Jeeps, they are our daily drivers.




For the fun of it I installed the 35 inch tires that came from the black Jeep.



This is where I'd stash my Jeep when I'm not working on it. I couldn't leave it in my driveway because the city would give me a 10-day notice to remove it.



My CJ5 sat in the garage for a month and when I came back to it I found some surface rust, so I decided to sand the old paint off and cover it with primer.






Found a large rust hole that was filled with body filler.




More sanding and primer.




Jeep




Looking a bit better, but will need to fix those rust holes.





Removing the body filler on the driver's side panel.


 
#13 ·
While I had it all torn apart I decided I would rebuild the transfer case so I could install a twin-stick.






No matter how careful I was, I still lost a ball and spring for the transfer case! I had to order new ones from 4 Wheel Parts.



Because the transfer case looked great I decided to pull the engine and transmission, clean them up and paint them.


I was able to clean the motor up pretty good.





Notice the bumper I built is sitting on the yellow CJ5. It sat so long that it developed a bad surface rust, so I spent some time cleaning that up.




AMC 360 with the motor taped up and painted.





Valve covers painted and some of the tape removed. Damn, I should have taped better.


Added some black paint to the raised numbers on the block, and added some other items that were cleaned and painted.









Because of the weather and a certain someone complaining about the amount of time I've put on my CJ5 (*cough*wife*cough*):ballchain:, I'm holding off working on this for a couple days.

Anyway, this is where I'm at so far.:cool:
 
#14 ·
The bolts holding the tub to the frame was really bad. I had to cut 6 out of 10 bolts to free the frame. The "nuts" (not real nuts, just blocks of threaded of metal) broke loose from the tub and are located in spots that will be tough to re-attach them to the tub, so I'm not sure what I'll need to be doing with them.


Tub pulled back from the frame. Had to wait for my son to come home from school to help move the tub off the frame and onto the trailer.


Tub off the frame with the help of my 18 year old son. We should have had more help though, the tub was not only awkward but heavy too.


Tub temporarily on my trailer. I wish I had a rotisserie to help do the body work on the tub.


Next I need to remove the axles from the frame.


Axles off the frame.


Time to remove steering gear box, brake lines, fuel lines and any other removable items from the frame.


Original rubber fuel hose with original clamp. The rubber line is brittle and needs to be replaced. I'm glad I decided to strip the Jeep down to the frame instead of just doing a power-train swap so I could see this and remove it.


This is hard to see, but apparently one of the previous owners decided to do this to repair a fuel leak in the metal line. The rubber hose is pretty brittle so it needed to go anyway.


Frame stripped of almost everything. Just a couple bolts and a bracket for the exhaust needs to be removed.

I decided to quickly power-wash the frame. My neighbor suggested sand-blasting the frame. Looking at some posts here about the cost and I'm guessing it would cost me about $150, which I really can't afford. I'm doing this build on a VERY limited budget, so I plan on doing what I can with the tools I already have.

I bought 4 cans of engine degreaser to put on the frame before I power-washed it. I bought these because they were on sale at $1.99 a can. One can could not cover one frame rail. No wonder it was so cheap! It took all 4 cans to coat the frame.


Frame power-washed. Because I can't afford to sand-blast the frame I'm going to use a wire wheel and sanding disc to clean the frame up as much as I can. I might as well remove the front spring bracket and build my own brackets for a shackle reversal. I have YJ springs to replace the front CJ springs. Plus I'm going to keep the SOA lift that I had on my old CJ5.


Now that I can flip the axle it will be easier to fix the threads needed to mount the crossmember to the frame. A PO broke 4 bolts into the frame so they welded the crossmember to the frame.


I found a broken bolt that holds the steering gear box on the frame, so I need to remove this.


I welded a grade-8 nut to the broken bolt so I could remove it.


Between lubricant and the heat from welding the nut it came right out without a problem.


I need to replace this crossmember on the frame. Has anyone done this kind of work before? I'm just wondering if I can replace it with angle iron or c-channel and drill the holes needed for the tub mounts. Has anyone replaced this on their frame? Or should I just straighten it out and weld where it is cracked or cut?:confused:


This is where I'm at so far. I bought a quart of POR15 to use on the frame and bumpers. Today I'm going to finish the threaded holes in the frame for the crossmember, remove the spring brackets and clean the frame to get it ready for POR15. I also need to replace the rear crossmember on the frame and start building my rear bumper so it will be ready for the POR15.
 
#15 ·
I started cleaning all the paint and rust off the frame.


Time to start working on this damaged rear crossmember.




Old crossmember cut off the frame.


Had some scrap 3/16 plate steel, so I began cutting what I needed to replace the crossmember.


Pieces cut, rust grinded off and welded together.







While working on the rear crossmember, I spotted what looked like rust damage in the frame. Did some grinding and sure enough, frame damage from rust.:brickwall:



My next task is to repair the rust damage on my frame and finish cleaning the frame.
 
#16 ·
I am very happy to see the old girl being rebuilt right. This is the plans that I had for her but lack of funds and a place to do it prevented it. Many many great memories with this Jeep and I am happy to see some new life being brought back to her! (BTW, it was 1st and reverse that were gone, not second :p)

Keep up the awesome work my friend! I am going to try and make it over there soon.

Here are a couple more pics.

The first one is from her heyday with us in the mid 90s while we had her in Colorado:



Next one is the whole reason for the mangled cross member in the rear. Dad was towing his 1958 MFG 14' boat behind it. He was crossing a major intersection (NW Expressway and Portland for you locals) on a green light. Someone who was waiting on the oncoming traffic to make a left on NW Expressway didn't see the boat behind the Jeep and turned directly into the boat. It tweaked the hell out of the rear bumper and cross member and destroyed the trailer on the boat.

 
#17 ·
Oops, my bad on the gears. Either way, it be broken. :p

When I talked about the previous owner, most were about the guy your dad bought the Jeep from (transmission crossmember welded to the frame, for example).
 
#18 ·
No worries man. However, dad is totally guilty of the shoddy patchwork of the rust. He was doing the best he could without a welder. I learned most everything I know about Bondo that summer.

I gotta say though, even after being on there for 20 years, the bondo still wasn't cracked LOL!

This is hard to see, but apparently one of the previous owners decided to do this to repair a fuel leak in the metal line. The rubber hose is pretty brittle so it needed to go anyway.
Holy cow, I had no knowledge of this. :eek:
 
#19 ·
I figured the fuel line repair was before your dad bought the Jeep; the rubber hose was pretty old and cracked. I've been under that Jeep several times and didn't see it until I pulled the tub off.
 
#20 ·
That is a scary thought that I was driving that thing in 2005......


I totalled my daily driver and I had to drive it to work. No reverse gear, 1st gear moaning like a 60 year old hooker, leaky power steering, valves popping.....luckily work was within 5 miles.
 
#23 ·
Began working on the rust damage on the frame. Here I cut out the damaged area of the frame.


Used a piece of foam to create a template.


Marked off and cut a piece of plate steel.


Placed the plate in the cutout of the frame, using the magnets to keep the plate straight.



While welding the plate on the frame I kept burning through the frame. I discovered that I did not cut all the rust out and was burning through the thin part of the frame. So I cut out more damaged metal from the frame.


After cutting some more patch metal and tacking it on the frame I had to stop due to rain clouds coming in. I was able to put my tools away before it started pouring, but wasn't able to snap a picture until after it stopped.


A few hours later it dried up enough for me to finish welding and grinding the patch metal on the CJ frame.



Cleaned up the crossmember and notched it for the shackle bracket. It wasn't until I finished this when I realized I was using the front 2" bracket instead of the 2.5" rear bracket. :doh:



I found this bracket near the rear driver's side spring bracket, but I don't remember what was connected to it, if anything. Does anyone know what this bracket is for..?


 
#24 ·
I think that bracket is for the e-brake lines. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.



Here is a funny story about this Jeep that I recalled tonight.

It was the mid 90s and I was taking my girlfriend out. We were driving down the highway with the top and doors off and all of the sudden, my girlfriend started squirming and squealing like crazy and shielding her face with her hands. I was like WTF!?!?!?!


It turned out that we were at the left rear corner of a cattle truck and one of the cows was relieving themselves and the wind blew it right on her!
 
#26 ·
When I bought the tube to build my new shackle brackets for the front I realized I bought enough to replace the rear shackle brackets as well, so I figured "why not?" Because I'm doing a shackle reversal I plan on cutting a hole in the frame and welding the tube in it so my front spring bracket won't need to be so tall. I'm waiting for a neighbor to help me do this so I don't make any mistakes, so until then I thought I'd go ahead and make my rear shackle bracket.

Welded 4 pieces of metal together and cut the hole for the rear shackle bracket.



After cutting the brackets, I mocked what the bracket is going to look like.


Welded the bracket together. Here's the new bracket next to the old one.


New bracket welded to the frame and crossmember.



A couple of the tabs on the frame for the tub mount was rusted pretty bad. It was to the point where the hole was much bigger than they are supposed to be. I want to cut these out and weld some metal in it's place with new holes, but I haven't gotten my body mount bushings yet and don't know how big the hole is supposed to be. I noticed the holes in the rear crossmember is larger than some of the tabs, so I want to make sure I know the exact size they are supposed to be before I start drilling.



Here's a tab where the hole is not rusted. Are all the body mount tabs supposed to have the same size hole?.



I figured I'd use paint stripper in spots on the frame that I couldn't sand the paint off. I found out the hard way you shouldn't use sponge paint brushes to spread paint stripper around.


I found some more frame damage on the frame. I'm debating on either fixing it or leaving it alone. One I will need to use my welder to fill it. Nice finger, eh? :thumbsup:




Most of the frame is cleaned up. I just need to figure out how to get to the spots where the flapper wheel can't reach. I also need to flip the frame over to clean the top.





After removing the old bushings from the springs I noticed on one end there's a sleeve that didn't come out with the old bushings. The new bushings won't fit because of this sleeve. Any ideas..?


While trying to flip the centering pin on my springs, the threads for the pin was messed up so I needed to replace them. Since I had the pin out I figured I'd go ahead and get rid of the rust on the springs and paint them.

 
#28 ·
Thanks lovett86. This is the first time I've done this so I'm making sure I don't screw things up. :newbie:

I did some more work to my Jeep. I have new centering pins for my rear springs.



I sprayed the back of my springs with graphite lube.


Painted the spring clamps black. I think this will make the springs look better.



Sawhorses really aren't the best thing to hold up the frame. I moved the frame a bit and it caused my sawhorse to crash. I wish I could afford jack stands.


While cutting some metal to make my front spring bracket and shackles, my angle grinder burst into flames. I'm not kidding, flames shot out of the motor! Even after 20 minutes my grinder was too hot to touch. I paid $20 for this grinder. I guess you get what you paid for. :facepalm:


Picked up a grinder from the pawn shop, a Hitachi G12SR3. I paid more for this used one than I did for my old one. These sell new for $50 (I paid $30 for this used one), so hopefully it will last a bit longer.


I never noticed this before, but cutting blades have an actual expiration date. I guess after a certain time they spoil. :laugh:


I found this image a while back, probably from this forum. I'm using this to make my new shackles.


Making three shackles from one piece of plate metal, cleaning off the rust, drilling the holes and rounding the edges.






I only finished one shackle plate. Just need to finish 7 more, but had to stop for the night. Today it is supposed to rain, so I guess I'll be working inside the garage.
 
#30 ·
Did a little bit more work on the CJ-5. The springs have a metal sleeve that I had a difficult time removing. I was able to remove one, but ended up taking the springs to a friend and having him help me remove the rest.




The rear shackle bracket I built won't work. I finally got the new poly bushings and found out I made a mistake. the shackle brackets for the front are not the same size as the brackets for the rear. I had already welded the bracket to the frame so I ended up cutting the bracket off. Maybe someone else wanting to install front YJ springs on a CJ might want them. :brickwall:



I tipped the tub on it's side to power-wash the bottom and trying PB Blaster to try and remove the bolts I had to cut for the tub mount. Unfortunately the tub mount locations are pretty damaged and will need to be addressed.






I borrowed a friend's Sears sandblaster to clean the rest of the springs and spots on the frame I couldn't get the flapper wheel on.




I tried using all-purpose sand after screening the larger rocks out of it but the sandblaster wouldn't work right. I tried drying the sand in the oven, thinking maybe it had some moisture but that didn't help. I even bought Black Diamond media but no change. It would work for a bit then plug up. I tried to replace the ceramic tips but Sears didn't stock these in their stores.



I bought a cheap $14 sandblasting kit and it worked perfectly. So I decided to build my own sandblaster using two buckets and a window screen.


I needed to cut holes in the frame for the front shackle brackets but I'm worried I would measure wrong and the holes would not match, so I made a guide for my drill out of scrap metal.



I've never done a lot of this type of work before and had never used a hole saw. Every time I tried to cut a hole in the frame I would burn up the blades to the hole saw. I kept buying new blades just to burn up the new blades.




I didn't know the speed of my drill was too fast until before the last hole saw blade was used. I was able to cut two holes before I burned up the last blade.


I couldn't afford to buy more blades, so I was stuck. I thought I'd try to use my angle grinder to cut new blades in the hole cutter, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Fortunately it worked and I was able to cut the rest of the holes out.



I pre-fitted the tube in the hole. Too late to continue working on this tonight. Tomorrow I will be welding the tubes to the frame, finish sandblasting and painting the springs and build the front spring brackets. I also have to repair the tub mounts on the frame as well. I'm hoping to be able to paint the frame with POR-15 in a few days.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top