1967 CJ5 - First Build

We have started the process of disassembling our Jeep. My two boys, daughter and I have acquired a relatives jeep that was sitting in the woods for 25+ years. The steering had broken and was deemed unsafe to drive, so it sat. The first time I have seen this jeep was when I was invited to my wife's (girlfriend at the time) family's cabin for a weekend. This was in December, 1986 and back then I saw it as a junk. Two years later, is when I married my wife and started seeing this Jeep on a regular basis. The Jeep was used to store the ATV gas and other useful things for hunting. After about ten years of using this Jeep as a tool shed, I decided to inquire about it's history and the possibility of resurrection. That's when I was told about the steering problem. Before my wife's family gave up on the Jeep, they had made sure the radiator had fresh anti-freeze and the engine block had fresh oil in it.

7 years later, I started bringing my two boys with me on my hunting trips, both very involved with AFJROTC. They both fell in love with this Jeep and wanted to get it running. This time I asked my father-in-law about the Jeep ownership. It seems that my wife's uncle was the last owner and he was more than happy to give the Jeep a new home.

 

Very cool! Mine is a 67 also so I'll be anxiously awaiting progress reports........good luck!

 

Looks like a great start and a great project

 

Wow great start...nothing beats working on an old Jeep with your kids.

 

keep the progress reports coming. i'm gonna tear into a Willys project with my kids over the winter as well.. i'm going to have my daughter do all the documentaion and write-ups as if it were a magazine article and might go as far as set up our own website dedicated to it..

 

It is great that the kids are interested in restoring this Jeep. I don't have any (kids; yet), but I readily look forward to the time that I can spend with them on a project similar to this. It is awesome to think of the lessons that they will take away from the time you all spend together on this project. One request: pics or it didn't happen!

 

Tht is a great idea. I will ask my daughter if she would like to take on this role. I'm sure she would still like to get her hands dirty.

 

The progress has been slow. The Jeep is disassembled and the cleaning process is under way. The trans and transfercase still have oil in them. The front axle had oil, but the carrier is wore out at the spider gear pin. One kingpin bearing was missing and I think this was the reason why the Jeep was parked. It was reported that the steering was bad. The read axle had water in it, but there was only minor pitting on the ring gear. I still need to disassemble the rear axle to replace the seals and check the rest of it out.

The frame was over all in fair shape. The rear crossmember was rusted out. I found 5 small cracks. Two by the front crossmember on the bottom side and the other by the shackle mounts.

The engine was very clean on the inside and all bearing surfaces are smooth and clean. All 6 bores have a slight ridge at the top.

The reason this is taking so long is that I am doing this with my kids. School is taking a priority over the Jeep. We made a lot of progress since school let out.

Tim

 

Keep plugging away at it. These are long projects so its OK to walk away for a while.
Is that a winch on the front?

Tom

 

Yes it is a winch. I tried to see if it still works, but the rust was so bad on the terminals I barely got a spark when I connected it directly to a battery. A new motor may bring it to life. Who knows!

 

Where are you located? Those white pines and ubiquitous oak leaves and trees in the background look like west Michiganwhere I live.

Looks like a good starting point. They are all rusty. No way around it.

 

WMI68cj5

I have been kind of out of it for the summer. Sorry for not replying sooner. You are correct on the northern landscape. My jeep was relocated to Kennesaw, Georgia last year. It now sits in my garage with just about every nut and bolt taken apart. Most of it is cleaned and ready for rust removal. I'll post some pictures of the very little forward progress next week when I get the parts back.

Tim

 

Tim,

Holler at me if you ever need any help - I am right down 75 from you in East Cobb.

Troy

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. The next month is going to be a slow month for the Jeep.