It has arrived...

I had been talking with a guy who had a 75 CJ5 that he was getting ready to part. I wanted the 258 out of it for some donor parts for a stoker. He didn't have the time to part it and he didn't want to deal with people nagging him for parts. One day we were talking and he said he'd let it go for $500. During the course of the conversation, he mentioned he was looking for a 231 to rebuild with a 4:1 kit. This morning for $400 and a transfer case, he dropped this off.

It's your run of the mill CJ5. 258, T15 (or so the PO claims, everyone tells me the T14 was factory), Dana 20, Dana 30 & Dana 44 axles.


My 4 year olds playing on it.


Sitting next to the XJ. The CJ has 33's and the XJ has 31's.


Had been sitting in a barn for the last few years. Somebody went through the effort to put this on.


Free set of doors. They'll probably be up for sale/trade soon.


Picked this up on CL for $50 last night to replace the missing windshield.


New dash and a complete rewire is in the future.


The mighty 258

And so the adventure begins........

 

Oops...that thing has had a CJ7 rear tub grafted on.

 

did he tell you CJ7 , trans would be T15

 

Did 7's have the narrow leaf springs?

I'm really confused what I have.

 

No, CJ-7 never got the T-15. it got the T-150, which is completely different.

Definitely a CJ-7 tub though. The first CJ-7 was built in 1976. What's the VIN? Get a picture of the rear axle and frame from the rear.

CJ-7 springs are 2.5" wide? Definitely wider. A '75 has 1.75" wide springs.

 

Vin on the dash says its a 75 cj5.

i'll go try to snag a pic of the rear end and frame.

 

cj5.5?

Nice grab.

 

The tub may have been shortened at the obvious patch.

It's a '73-75 dash.

The floors changed in '76 to match the new frame - that may explain the poor alignment of the tub with the fenders,

 

That was my next question. I happened to take a closer look at the body mounts in the middle of the floor on both sides.



The passenger one has came up through the floor.

 

Clearly not a 75 or older tub. Check to see if it has a toolbox under the passenger seat. My guess is not. 75 was the last year for the toolbox. 76 on had a flat passenger floor. Also, the trim around the door and back is angled; the 75 and older had more of a 90 degree thing goin on. The area on side right below where the windshield hinge bolts on is indented, indicative of 76/later tub. 75/older was smooth. The doorway doesn't look wide enough for a 7 so It might be a 7 tub shortened to the 5 frame. As was mentioned, 75 front springs were 1.75 wide, 7 fronts were 2" while the 7 rears were 2.5"
The dash and steering column are 75/older but the floor upstream of the shifters suggests 76/later tub.
All in all, a worthwhile project and a steal for $400. Keep us posted.

Mike

 

If you look at picture #4, look at the alignment of the door lip. It appears the sides have been altered. I would assume the front part of the tub, about halfway thought the lowest part of the CJ5 door, was removed from the jeep and the back half of a CJ7 grafted on.

 

I may have an answer here for the CJ7/CJ5/1975 dilema here.

Last December I went to look at a 75 CJ for a friend who's out of town. I went there expecting to find a CJ5 but instead found a CJ7. Wider springs, frame, tub and all. The reason the seller listed it as a 75 was that the build tag on the dash had a build date of October 1975. But when I decoded the vin it confirmed that it was in fact a CJ7. Probably a 1976 year model built in late 1975. It had an inline 6, 3-speed transmission and a D-20.

Picture of said vin tag here
The flash obscured the month, but it was October.
vin: J6F93AA020703

 

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure the frame is a 72 - 75 CJ5. It looks like a CJ7 was poorly grafted on to the frame. I'm going to try to find the vin on the frame and see if it matches the one on the dash. The one on the dash has a build of Feb of 75 and the vin decodes as a 75 CJ5.

 

I'm going to say, the frame and running gear are '75. As are the grille, dash, and windshield hinges. All the red sheet metal is from a CJ7 tub that has been shortened to "fit".

Look for a date of manufacture stamped into the rear crossmember.