Just popped my Jeep cherry

Hi all, just bought my second 4x4, and my first Jeep. 1966 CJ5 with a 225, grenaded 3speed, and a Ramsey PTO winch. $1350 got me the title, luckily it's got a tow bar so I'll have an easy time getting it home. I want to get it up and running as quickly and cheaply as possible, but it's been sitting for 2 years without running (it did roll 2 months ago so I'm not worried about getting it home) and I was wondering besides general stuff, if I should be checking anything special to the 225-powered CJ as I'm trying to tune it up? I'm assuming I can try to get the engine running before I decided what to do about the transmission, as it is already removed from the Jeep, and sitting in this awesome rear-mounted gear basket (which also has the spare and a gas can attached to its sides). Did I mention it also has a CB, spotlight, and a snorkel? The soft top has a tear, and the tub is pretty rusty, but I'm really hoping I at least covered most of my cost with all the bolted on goodies on this thing. I'd show pics but the seller already pulled the Craigslist post. Tires have good tread, has SuperWINCH front locking hubs. Even has rifle mounts, a rear seat, and I believe an aftermarket heater.

So, think I got my money's worth? Or should I bury my head in the sand?

Also, what am I looking at for transmission swap? I could just rebuild the stock one, if it's a T-86, I believe I could rebuild the case with T-90 guts? I'm under the impression T-86 parts are scarce, and it's probably more affordable. If I wanted to get a stronger transmission for more serious fun, is a SM420 a drop-in with a Novak adapter for the Dana 18, or am I probably looking at several driveshaft modifications? With the PTO winch setup, I'd be afraid I'd need to modify all three driveshafts if the TC will move too far. I've also heard the SM465 might drop in as well? I have a bit to spend, but I'm really looking for what's going to get me the best bang for my buck.

Edit: Pics added, post - http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?92666-Just-popped-my-Jeep-cherry&p=987282#post987282

 

Welcome from Georgia. As far as $1350, well a lot of that depends on where you are located. Posting pictures is done by putting your pic's on photobucket or the like and then copy them here. The T-90/T-86 is a fairly weak tranny behind the 225. I have rebuilt my T90 3 times due breaking gears. I was a little rough on them but they are really just too weak for that torque. A look-see at the Novak site and look up transmission knowledge base will shed some good light.

 

I would check wiring.. I went through my wiring on my 66 (previous owner did bad things) and then gave it a engine tune up (oil change, spark plugs, points)
i'd check fuel system mine was severely messed up don't know if yours is.

Good luck and it made me so happy when I got mine started even happy when I drove mine

PS welcome to the community

 

Have fun. I'm guessing I'm gonna be spending somewhere between 10-15k on my 67.

 

Sure it is the tranny, and not the clutch?

 

The guy I bought it from said he'd looked at the gears already and they were shot. As far as pics go, it wasn't a matter of not knowing what to do with the pics, but a lack thereof. When I bought the Jeep it was already dark, so I won't be able to show it off until I see it again next week in the daylight. Cellphone camera doesn't even have a flash. As far as spending upwards of $10k, I hope that my not being a stickler for cosmetics can make this a lot cheaper project for me. Where's a good place to get diamond plate for cheap?

 

My only suggestion is to do a great deal of searching and reading on each thing you work on. I guarantee it's been discussed here before. The time spent reading will save you $$$ on anything you do. Take your time and do quality work. You will be glad you did. Look forward to your photos.

 

The very first thing I do when I get a new jeep home is check it out good. I look at the frame, body mounts, floors, springs for breakage, loose bolt, leaks, u-joints and such. Once I decided it was fixable, then Id get that engine running. On my latest project, I fixed the body, interior, wheelbearings, replaced a couple u-joints and one of the last things I did was get the engine running (mistake), I will not do that again.. I had this nice looking jeep I was dieing to drive and spent the better part of a year trying to get it running right, finaly did a partial rebuild and it runs awsome now. So, I would get the motor running real soon before your to far into the project (or you will wish you did). I spent around 2 grand or so (maybe a little more) on the jeep in my avitar. It was given to me in sad shape, but as you can see, you dont need 10K to have a decent looking jeep. Good luck!

 

yup make alist of eveything that needs fixed , then a list of everything you might want to change,lift steering, etc then start searchin this awesome knowlege base. that way your not fixin something you might be throwin away.

 

Yeah, I'll admit, one of my first goals is to get that odd-fire fired up. If I have luck with that, I can always turn the engine on for some motivation, like it's cheering me on

After that, figuring out what I want to do about the transmission is probably going to be my first tough decision. I really don't want to rebuild the 3spd only to realize I should have swapped to something beefier.

 

IMHO, your best bet is to rebuild your trans or replace it with a good used 3 spd (maybe even a t14). Any 4 spd swap will need driveshaft mods and unless you find some cheap adapters could easily cost you what you paid for the jeep. Sure the 3 speeds are not the strongest transmissions in the world but given a fresh rebuild and some reasonable care will last a long time. I'm sure even the jeep you bought had a lot of miles on it before the trans went out.

 

04sd2 is probably correct.. or for the price of a rebuild you may be able to find a replacement of the same type for cheap, being its not a very high demand tranny. FWIW: I had a 79 cj7 with 4" lift, 33x15.50 super swamper SX ,stock axles with a one peice kit in the rear and a locker, 304 V8 and the t150 three speed. Everyone I knew that was in the know, told me my tranny will never survive the type of wheeling I do, Well 8 years later when I got rid of the jeep, that same tranny was in there and I never had to touch it..(I did put a clutch in it) I did use some slight caution with it wheeling knowing it wasn't the strongest but believe me I did some tought trails with it and it held up just fine. I did worry about it from time to time, so a stronger one would have given me that peice of mind but it held just fine.. to avoid spending lots of money and going through the trouble of adapters and bellhousing issues and such. I would rebuild what you have or find a cheap replacement of the same. Just my opinion

 

i parted out what was good in my t-86 and made a few hundred buks it was well worth the trouble. then i lucked out and scavanged a freshly rebuilt t-14 from half restored commando at the junk yard. Its great to have that 1st gear synchro especially with highway gears.

 

Since the T-14 also came factory between the Dauntless and the Dana 18, would I have good odds of finding one that I could drop in as a direct replacement? I wasn't sure because it seems to be 11/16" longer than the T-86. If I rebuilt the T-86, I'd like to at least get T-90 guts if the T-86 is as shot as I think it is, but then I heard the T-90 has different input shafts and I'd have to hunt down something to make it work.

 

You'd need a long input shafted T-90 from a Wagon or Pickup and use ALL the internals in the T-86. You will need to change one shift fork also. Can't remember if its the 1st/reverse or 2/3 fork for sure but want to say the 2/3. It's really not hard to do if you have all the parts.

 

Ok, that's starting to make sense. Then the output shaft of the T-90 in the T-86 case should still mate to the late-model Dana 18 with the large bore? It seems like I'd want the T-90 that was married to a Dana 20 in the '62-65 trucks to get both the right combination of input and output, unless finding the right parts to mate the earlier T-90s to the large bore TC is not that big a deal.

 

You use the rear bearing retainer from the t-86 and it will mate to a large hole 18 or 20 case

 

You might check with Oldtime on here. He's in St. Charles and usually has a lot of pieces on hand. He may be able to fix you up with a t-14...

 

Now that's a name I've already seen on several websites, good to know there's such a helpful guy living in such close proximity. I'm actually about to buy a house in St Charles myself, with a 2 car garage so I have room to support my new hobby. And as a bachelor, I'd be more than able to host some local Jeep get togethers if there's a demand for such a thing.

Good to hear about the bearing retainer, I hoped it was something like that. So all I need is a long shaft T-90 and between that and my T-86 I should have enough parts to make it work. Unless I go the T-14 route. When you talk about input shaft stick-out, is that from the front of the case itself, or some part of the front bearing retainer? There's a guy selling a T-90 on CL and I want to make sure he measures it right if he doesn't already know which it is.

 

I found a t14 that came out of a jeep with a Craigs list search. it bolted right in. I find it is a much more dependable tranny than the t86 was.
the only difference was the t 14 is about 3/4s of an inch longer so the shifter does not center in the floor hole like it used to but it never touches the sides.
I also did the Advanced Adapters clutch chain drive while I was at it so there would be no clutch linkage difficulties.