1961 President Red CJ5 Restoration Questions

Beautiful jeep. Welcome from Ga.

 

Nice job.

 

"Is taking a long stop normal?"

It was when I had 9 inch drums. Inadequte for anything above 40 in my experience. I went to 11 inch drums front, made a heck of a difference, going to 11 inch rear at some point this year.

 

Please excuse the broken English. That is the result of forum posts at 2 in the morning after waking up at 5AM earlier the same day.

Anyways, today I drove the jeep a bit more, and seemed to still have problems with the transmission. Unfortunately on top of the transmission, now it seems to be cutting out under throttle, stalling upon approaching stop signs and slowing down, and on top of that overall much shakier than before. It also does not idle well, if at all, either. Anybody have any thoughts as to what it could be?
Thanks

Dan

 

"Anybody have any thoughts as to what it could be?"

That is a pretty broad question. Start with the simple basics, make sure each thing is in spec.

The symptoms you describe could just be water in the carb bowl, burnt distributor points, or a dozen other things. But there is no way to guess until you go through the basic check list. For instance, has it had a standard points-'n'-plugs type tune up? After that, maybe clean the carb?

 

Your Jeep turned out very nice. As said, do a tune up and go from there.

 

Hello All,

Today I was driving the jeep when it was very hard to start. After getting it to run, I found that it did not like to run at all. It was very stuttery and jolty, and seemed to have lost almost all power.

After being on the phone with my Uncle who is a Mechanic for a few hours, we were going through everything in the vehicle to try to determine what was wrong. I cleaned the fuel filter and checked fuel pump. They both worked flawlessly. After that, I inspected the carburetor. It seemed to be doing okay, however I did not do any specific tuning rather than resetting to the factory defaults. I then removed and replaced the spark plugs with new NGK's set at .030.

Upon removal, I found that the Spark Plugs were actually fouled quite badly, which convinced me to buy some new ones at my FLAPS. After replacing, the Jeep started to run fantastic, and seemed to have every bit of power it was lacking beforehand. Roughly a half mile later around the block, It started to have some of the symptoms it had earlier return. I removed the plugs, and sure enough I had the same problem. Furthermore, upon removing the coil from the distributor, I seemed to have a reasonably solid spark arcing to the engine block, even though I could not get an arc over a half inch away from the block.

Now this is where I am stumped. What would cause my Spark Plugs to carbon foul in this situation? I am getting no black smoke, and generally speaking I believe that is what indicates a carburetor being out of adjustment. It runs fantastic when it has new plugs, however the plugs foul shortly afterwards. I'd take it to my Uncle's shop but unfortunately he will be away for the next week, so until then I believe I am stuck. Any suggestions would be fantastic!
Thanks

Dan

 

"What would cause my Spark Plugs to carbon foul in this situation?"

Again, a broad question. Electrical problem causing misfiring could do it - have you cleaned (or replaced) and set the points? New condenser? Good to do once a year anyway.

 

Points, Condensor have not been replaced in 4 years. Are these types of parts readily available at my local FLAPS or must I order them online from a specialty retailer?

 

On top of that, is it possible that I could replace these in a single day? Does anybody have any instructions on how to set points and condensers?

 

Available easily at FLAPS. Take an hour or less.

You would be smart to get a manual, and follow that, for all kinds of stuff. Searching this site, or the interwebs, will usually help,too.

 

You could also go with an electronic ignition replacement distributor, which is a worthy upgrade that does not distract from the originality. Most of the specialized distributors like Walcks and Kaiser Willys carry them.

 

Stout,

I probably would have went this route if I read about this earlier. I have already purchased all of the parts to rebuild my distributor at the local auto parts store. I am currently wondering how exactly to replace the parts in the distributor without damaging anything. I have also ordered a Hayes repair manual for the CJ5, hopefully this will help me with the install.

I tried searching the forums for tips, howeverI always have lots of trouble using the ECJ5 search tools so I have practically given up on that one!
Thanks

Dan

 

Replacing the points and condensor is pretty straight forward, basically one screw each. Not really much to mess up, pretty straight forward. This is one of the best investments I ever made, a copy of the original mechanic's manual for the early Jeeps -- http://www.kaiserwillys.com/product/1679/willys-jeep-literature-mechanics-manuals-parts-accessories

 

Yes, get the original reprint. Much more specific and accurate than the modern manuals.

 

The Haynes manuals and Chiltons leave tons to be desired, often for anything that isnt super basic, I'm left lost and coming here for answers.

 

I just ordered a Factory Service Manual, a Master Carb rebuild kit, and some plug wires from Kaiser Willys. On top of that, I have a distributor cap, 4 Champion RC8J's, points, rotor, condenser, oil filter, fuel filter, and a coil on the workbench. I plan on tuning up the distributor first, and if that does not fix the problem, I will then attack the carb. If I don't need these parts then I figure they all are something that is worth having around as spares. Thanks for the help to all the members here recommending the Factory Service Manual, I was looking on google for them under the "FSM" or factory service manual term and found nothing, so I thought that the Hayes was the only thing out there. Overall it should help a lot with my car!
Thanks

Dan