Nvborn 66 Cj5

Hey guys, my name is Jordan. I’ve been watching this forum for a long time and decided it was time I contributed. I’ve had my jeep since I was 14 years old and it has come along way since the day I got it. I’ll received my jeep as a gift from my grandfather when I was 14 and my dad and I spent the next two years rebuilding it from the ground up so I could drive it as my first car when I turned 16. When I started driving it, it was a pretty standard 66 CJ5 with at 225, T14/D18, D27/D44. We did lift it a couple inches to fit 33” tires and it also had the luxury of power steering and disc brakes. Here is a picture of it from that time period.

I will continue to add to this in the evenings until my I have you guys up to date on my Jeep’s current status. And don’t worry, yes I still have it and it is up and running, just on much bigger tires

 

Welcome from Washington state. Looking forward to more posts.

 

Can't see your pic. May need to allow everyone to see it. Great story though

 

Welcome Jordan

 

How do I do this?

 

Welcome Aboard from The ' South Shore of Lake Ontario.
My CJ5 was born in Sparks, Nevada ....in 1975.

 

Welcome. Lot's of guys with a ton of knowledge here...

 

Welcome from Virginia! Looking forward to seeing your updates, nice jeep!

 

Welcome from MT. And a second, third-- on the nice Jeep.

 

Welcome from (I'm just up the hill from you) South Lake Tahoe. Nice Jeep!

 

I daily drove my jeep for about 4 years before I saved up some money and bought a pickup truck. During those 4 years, I did a fair amount of upgrades and repairs. In somewhat of a chronological order here is what I did over those 4 years
-Swapped in an SM420
-Swapped out the no name leaf springs I had for Rancho springs
-Installed a Warn 8274 winch
-Installed a Warn overdrive
-Installed a D30 in the front with a truetrac
-Installed a DUI HEI distributor
-Offenhauser 4 barrel manifold with a 390 Holley
- Built a tire carrier for the rear bumper
-Built rock sliders
-Added a 20gal rear fuel tank


I can only find one digital picture of my jeep during this time frame. Next time I am at my parents house I’ll find some film pictures and scan them.

 

welcome to the forum, looking forward to more of your adventures. Got my first jeep was when I was 14 also. Caught the fever and still have it some 50 years later. There is no cure, all you can do is keep it under control by buying more jeeps and accessories. About 1 dose weekly will usually do it. Good Luck, Jim

 

Nice jeep!

 

That’s all good stuff. I see power steering coming in the next round.

Welcome to jeep heaven/hell. I’m not sure which one it is yet.

 

Welcome from Va.

 

Welcome from Concord, NH!

 

Once I bought a pick up truck, my jeep pretty much got put on the back burner due to the fact that I now had a reliable mode of transportation haha. I drove it a little bit through college but for the most part it just sat. After I graduated college I decided it was time to rebuild the motor and get her back on the road.

Soon after rebuilding the motor, I put 35” tires on it and drove it like this for a few years.

 

After taking a trip to king of the hammers in 2021 I was inspired to do some work to my jeep. I had a set of Dana 44s out of a 1976 Wagoneer that were just begging to be put under my jeep. So I went to work…

I started by boxing the remainder of the frame that wasn’t already boxed from the factory

Then slid the rear axle under my jeep and figured out how far I could push it back without comp cutting it.

I was able to push the rear axle back about 3.5”.

I knew that with the waggy front axle I was going to need to out board the leaf springs, so I went ahead and out boarded the rear springs as well. I almost forgot to mention, I used yj springs. Below are pictures of my spring mounts and shackle hangers mocked up

 

Welcome from rural Pennsylvania!