Opinion

Howdy again. I was wandering about a couple things and figured your folks opinion would be the best place to start. This is my first rebuild, as I've said before, so I'm learning a lot of new stuff everyday. The motor in my jeep was rebuilt around 20K miles ago according to previous owner. Everything on my jeep is stock except wheels, tires, and a winch. I hope to restore the jeep to as close to factory as I can. The only thing I am currently planning on upgrading is 11" drums instead of the stock 9"ers. So my two questions are these:

A) Should I trust the guy I bought it off of and not worry about the motor? It sounds fine, and you can see the head gasket kinda sticking out a little. Everything looks good and clean on it. If not where can I get a premade "kit" to rebuild my :v6:.

B)What did they do for engine and suspension mods back in the day. It may sound silly, but I'd like to look into upgrading it the way someone would have in say 1970 or so.

 

I'm not sure upgrading is a good term to use for the mods done in 1970. There were few aftermarket suspension folks back then (resultant add-a-leaves, shackle lifts, and spring overs), aftermarket engine parts were limited to headers, and tire and wheel selection was very limited.
The most popular mods today would be moderate lift (to 3") w/ new spring packs, H shackles w/ little or no lift, tires and wheels up to 33", front disc brakes and saginaw steering conversion (some swap in the later D30 front axle to accomplish this), headers (still popular) and HEI ignition for the motor, and rollbar/cage protection. All would have been popular in '70 had they been available and became popular as soon as they were.:v6:

 

The brakes on your jeep should be 10" drums not 9".
If the motor seems to run fine, do a compression test on it and if it comes out fine change all the fluids and run it. If it does turn out that you need to rebuild later on, Autozone sells the only decently priced complete kit. I rebuilt mine 2 years ago with there kit, the kit is $356.

 

If you look at the '72 model Jeep, that's a pretty good model for the kind of popular mods that pre-72 Jeep CJ owners were adding to their Jeeps. Bigger brakes, power steering, power brakes, V8 engine.

At that time, you could buy replacement springs over the Jeep parts counter, so there wasn't the market for replacement springs that tehre is now. Plus, tires were smaller, so more lift to add clearance wasn't an issue. Also, the monster truck look wasn't popular then, so ride height wasn't boosted a lot.

Baja racing and dune buggies were the big things then, and upgrades like dual shocks, axle trusses, full cages, and other Baja go-fast gear were popular. IIRC the T-10 and Super T-10 trans swap was pretty popular, and favored by dune runners. One of my buds at the Jeep dealer then had the big implement tires on his '71, no grooves and no sipes, and drove it daily. Those were the biggest/tallest tires on a CJ that I can remember. He got away with it becasue it never rains in SoCal.

 

Let's see............Whitewall tires.........mini-skirts...........mud flaps.........hubcaps.................longer hair..........A PEACE SIGN!!!!............How about one of those 45 record adapters for a hood ornament....................burnt bra hanging from mirror..........Styrofoam '76 ball on radio antaenna............Top value stamps in the glove box........................"Fill'er up with regular, and don't forget to check the oil"!...................Have you wife hold a free green gas station glass in her lap.....................Army jacket from Viet Nam.....................
.
But what do I know, I was only 4!

 

I'd do the brake upgrade when time/money allow
other than that, why fix it if it's not broke ?????

and Tim, I still have my "Delta Float" implements on 10" wide wheels I used to run.....
wasn't that long ago....was it ?????

 

R)R)


Sounds like the engine is fine. If you want it to look stock and run a little bigger tire, go with superlift 1" springs and new shocks. I did on my '53 and it rides so much better. Have fun and do a little at a time. You will have no problem spending $ on it.

 

....and then Armstrong came out with Tru-Tracs and everything changed.....

 

If it has the 225 oddfire v6 you have a great little torque motor, read about it on this site! as for brakes I just went disc and that is a 110% upgrade from drums. also If your drums are shot, pads are gone, and it needs new cylinders, the price is close to the same anyways. also you can drop in a newer HEI dist. and it will start easy and run all year without ever fooling with points. I am by no means a mechanic and with the help I have gotten from guys on this site I have been able to get a neglected 71 running like a top! all the information is here, either in the tech section or the forums. GL

 

I speak old school. My grandpa put the 260 ci small block ford in my jeep in 1965. still runs good and it's probably not comming out until that changes. I am using 50 merc 11" brakes, thats the old school way, takes a little fabrication but they stop alot better than the 9" brakes. If yours has 10" brakes now, I wouldn't change them. My Dad's CJ5 has 10's and stops OK. the 9" brakes were not self energizing the 10" & 11" are; apparently makes a difference. The 72-76 cj brakes would be an easier upgrade I imagine than Merc brakes. Guess it depends how old school you want to keep it.