My 1958 Cj5 "work In Progress" - Updated 12/10/2024 Roll Bar Fab On Pg.3

Hello All,


Only been on the forums for a few days. Mostly been trying to searches for a bunch of info on my recent purchase. Unfortunately keep coming across old links or dead-end threads. Thought I would just post updates here in hopes I can get some feedback and opinions from you all.


I'll start off with some background. For years, I had a '47 CJ-2a with 231 Buick V6 and T350. Eventually swapped front axle to Dana30 with disc and fully rewired the whole thing. It had good lift on it and 5.38 gear ratio, so eventually fit 35" tires under it and sourced an overdrive for the Spicer 18. This was more a trail/rock rig than anything else and naturally was parked more than driven. Sold it off in 2011 and wished I hadn't.


(its an older pic, sir... but checks out)




Fast forward after 10+years and four kids (three moved out so far), I have picked up a new garage hobby and willing to start another project after finishing reconditioning my first car as a teenager.








I was shopping for another Flat-Fender roller/donor to build a frame up and stumbled across a listing for a 1958 Willys CJ-5. In brutal honesty, the five series was never on my shopping list of cars to recondition. This one called to me and now I have SOOOOOO many questions.









...to be continued...


edited: adjusted pic sizes


*edited 1/10/2024 to fix pictures

 

It appears to be "mostly" stock. F-134 motor has casting number 806279 on the motor. Looks like a rats nest of wires and one-wire alternator swapped. The motor was seized, but with a little bit of love, I was able to persuade it to turn again. I'm pretty sure the starter solenoid is toast, however I've been trying to figure out what the heck has happened with all the wiring and ignition switch. I'm getting power to the distributor and ignition coil. I'm thinking the regulator? or whatever that thing is isn't fully connected or used. Guessing due to the one-wire alternator conversion. I've done a bunch of searches on wiring, but with my specific application, I wouldn't really know what to look at.


I plan to pick up all new electronics: Starter (Toyota 16224 thx to thread I found), Cap, Rotor, Condenser, Points, Spark Plugs, Spark Plug wires. Holding on new Distributor and Ignition Coil at the moment, but haven't ruled it out. I'm to the point I'm just going to rewire the whole vehicle from scratch one wire at a time.


I'd like to find a replacement carburetor with electronic choke, so have no clue where to start looking. I'm not familiar with the trustworthy brands yet. I did my bug, so Solex is what i'm running on that. Please school me someone?


I welcome opinions, since I'm still formulating a full build plan. Since this is near complete, I think I'm going to keep it mostly as-is with the moderate lift and stock drivetrain. I have already planned to do a front disc conversion on the Dana 25/27. Hoping to find an inexpensive way to upgrade rear to 11". It appears to have power brakes??!! Also plan to break the whole rig down to frame and clean/repaint. Color TBD. This doesn't appear to be the original factory paint but can't for the life of me see any other coats or reference to what it was. Haven't gotten that far yet. Still trying to get spark.


I'd like to try to save this motor. I've read this thing is nearly bulletproof and would be fun to drive on the trails and to the local store for beer runs. I'm not too concerned of FWY speeds at the moment.












edited: adjusted pic sizes


edited 1/10/2024 to fix pictures

 

Solex is a good replacement carb. Or rebuild the stock one on it. Pertronix is a good update to the distributor to eliminate points. Clean up the wiring and it should run . Look in the tech section there are wiring diagrams posted in it.

 

IMHO, Solex is what you run if you can't find a Carter YF. But lots of people do have them. Personally I'd rather NOT have an electronic choke. My stock YF/F-head starts easy and only needs choke for a half a minute at most.

The engine and accessories seem remarkably unmolested. I would recommend taking care to preserve things in-situ as long as possible.

If you are not familiar with CJ5 you may be surprised what they can do without any lift. Maybe just 31" tires will do what you need, although the side steps are a hazard off-road.

Nice to have that winch. Good looking jeep.

 

I used a starter for a 91 Toyota land cruiser it is a gear reduction and it spins it over good.

 

Thanks all for the replies. Very much appreciated!

I did a little more research on the Carter YF carburetor and willing to give it a go on rebuilding it. Every cable pull on this Jeep is rusted solid and won’t budge, so will be adding those to the list of parts to search for.

Added Pertronix dist to my research list. Thank you, jeep peep69.

@PeteL. The Rancho spring lift was already on this thing and hoping to not need to change much there. I was wondering if those side steps were aftermarket or options. Good eye on the PTO winch. It’s also rusted solid. I was able to get the drive gear loosened. This is my first time owning a PTO winch and really want to get it going. Im quite impressed how it’s all set up.

@Timothy Bierley. I’m planning to give that Toyota starter a try mostly out of curiosity.

 

A PTO winch will move anything that is loose on both ends, and do it all day. If it's not loose, it will just rip your jeep in half...

The winch can be easily lubed up, even dismantled if necessary. Depending on the make, the clutch handle and friction brake are often destroyed by loose cable getting around them, but Herm The Overdrive Guy makes replacement parts.

Steps were an OEM option, but hard to find original ones that haven't served as rock sliders.

 

Mouse92im. All you have to do is in large the mounting bolt holes. I in large the bolts on my drill press with a 1/2 drill bit. And go get allen bolt for the top hole makes it easier.

 

7/20/2022 UPDATE:


Its been warm here and haven't had much time to tinker. Since last post, I had the motor spinning and was thinking there was a wiring issue or starter solenoid failure. I was able to get the original starter to turn over and had power to ignition coil and distributor. I ended up fully replacing the starter with a 16224 found on Amazon for $56.93. Figured it was worth a try after some helpful people here provided pointers. Installation was pretty straight forward and greatly appreciate Tim's recommendation. That allen bolt was a savior!!! I actually had to drill out the mount holes slightly larger than 1/2" to get it to align easily. Holes already were 1/2" upon receiving it. Its probably closer to 17/32" or 9/16". I used a rat tail file since I didn't have a bit larger than 1/2" on-hand. The lip of the starter slipped in quite snug. I traced and and tested a few wires I was thinking were going to the switch and such.






Got the thing to start! WOOOOHOOO!!!! MAN... It already sounds and idles smooth!!! Just need to go through the fuel system and clean it up before letting it idle longer than a few seconds. Plus as you can probably see in the pic, I have a bad oil leak coming from the oil filter canister. I had pulled that off when I first picked the Jeep up and hand tightened it, then forgot. OOPS. Easy fix.


I have a bunch of parts coming. Mostly tune-up related. I found an article from Motortrend that took an F head and converted to electronic ignition, so wanted to try that out as well.


article link: https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1...willys-f-134-from-points-electronic-ignition/


Here is a pic of the two starters side-by-side comparison. Yes, the gear on the OG was toast. I probably caused most of that while trying to get the motor unseized. Also, some parts piling up... I'll likely hold off installing the electronic ignition and coil for now. I have more tune-up stuff coming like plug wires, cap/rotor, carb rebuild kit, cables and such.









*edited 1/10/2024 to fix pictures

 

I am glad it worked out for you. It spins over a lot faster.

 

Much appreciated again Tim! Yes. It sounds 1000x better.




On a separate topic. I have been trying to determine whether this jeep has been repainted or not. I'm near certain it has based on the shoddy overspray, however cannot for the life of me identify what the original color could have been. I have done hours of searches trying to pin down where this paint came from and beginning to think this tub was either stripped to metal and painted sometime in the 70s/80s OR this tub has been replaced at some point.


There is no additional layers of paint I can find anywhere. The exterior paint is cracked and oxidized. Unable to even verify if there was a primer coat it seems so thin. Almost certain its lacquer based and will be testing soon to confirm. The engine compartment appears to have been repainted black and the undercarriage has coating on it. Inside the tub under the dash I see grey and also under the tool lid. However, this particular grey isn't found on any of the 1958 paint color charts. So what the heck??



Here are some samples. I'm stumped honestly.














*edited 1/10/2024 to fix pictures

 

Good. Pertronix ignition. That yota starer is great. Have one on mine. Turns over wayyy faster.

now, Weber 32/36 DGEV carb

you’ll need to rejet it or it will run too rich. You can get jets online. I’m at 5k feet or I’d tell you what jets to run. But it’s fully adjustable.


Do a Google search f-134 Weber carb and knowledge will come up for you to read.

 

A lot has happened both in the garage and personal in the last year since my last post. I’ll try to summarize and get my build thread up to date. I think I’ll break up the post into two 2022 and 2023 so far.


AUG/SEPT 2022 UPDATE:

Found an early front window frame with glass locally on Craigslist. (SCORE!) Ordered up some simple tune-up parts such as fuel lines, cap, gaskets, etc. All in hopes I can get this baby going by and of September for a week-long cabin trip up in Lake Tahoe. Started digging into the fuel system, cables, wiring and such. Cleaned up and primer the original fuel tank. Inside was still in decent shape after I dumped the nasty old yellowed fuel left in it. One sender screw broke off, but not too worried about that, I’ll hit it with the extractor and should be fine.











All was looking promising. Had plenty items to check until….








Yeah. The discovery of all the gunk in my radiator (was missing a cap) and intake kinda was it for my chances to have this ready by my trip. I still had to check/fix the brake system, source and install seats and a bunch of smaller stuff. Was too much for me to scramble within the few weeks of its discovery. I pulled the plug of my hopes to drive it on those trails.









OCT/NOV/DEC 2022 and JAN 2023 UPDATE:


The next four months was all family events, vacations, and other honey-doos which kept me from tinkering on my new “money sponge”. No progress occurred.


*edited 1/10/2024 to fix pictures

 

FEB/MAR 2023 UPDATE:


By early February, all my other obligations lessened and I was able to find much more garage time to get this project going. Poured myself a rum and coke and grabbed some tools. At first, I thought I could simply scrub away at the frame and get this cleaned up.





It quickly escalated to a giant “F” it… I’m doing a frame up. Oh well! I get to teach myself A LOT of new stuff I’ve never done before.








Axles out, Motor out…





Bare frame. Now what? UGH.





By early March, I had it all stripped down to the frame and back from having it sand blasted. That evening I began to throw a grinder to the bumper. Note to self: Make sure to wear protective footwear and use paddle/trigger type grinders. Grinder launched straight out of my hands and onto my foot. I’m forever grateful my big toe remained intact. Long term thought, I probably should have gotten stitches. Lesson learned.









MAR 2023 UPDATE:


Life is full of surprised. Only a couple days after my toe incident, my wife ended up in the hospital. Everything in my world stopped during that time. I am eternally grateful she is still alive and healthy now. I’ll leave it at that.


*edited 1/10/2024 to fix pictures

 

APR 2023 UPDATE:


By mid-April, I started using my garage time to decompress. I had the frame epoxy-primered and top coated. Decided to move the fuel tank from under the seat to the rear and was mocking that up. I picked up a Herm dual master cylinder kit as I was sourcing other parts.








Back on Craigslist, I found a Warn Overdrive and roll cage. It came to me with some extra parts (the orange parts jeep). Not sure what I’m going to do it yet. No paperwork or title unfortunately. I did run the serial number through the CHP to confirm it wasn’t stolen.








Also got a 2 for 1 price deal on a couple odd-fire V6s. I had a 231 even-fire in my old 2a, so one of these might go into that parts jeep, the other will be a V6 backup if the F-134 fails on me. Otherwise, it’ll go to the next project next year or so. I have been doing a crash course on learning all I can on these old 225/231 odd-fires and slightly nervous on sourcing the needed parts. Left casting number is a ‘64-67 225 block, Right casting is a ‘75/6 231 block. I have been trying to pin down the intakes. Both appear to be the larger 2GC bolt pattern from ‘75/6. The carb I got with it and its bolt pattern is smaller and won’t fit. Guessing its for the original 225 Dauntless intake I don’t have.






MAY 2023 UPDATE:


I feel May was where I got the most garage time. I got into a decent groove YouTubing everything I needed to know about whatever current part I was working on. I got the front and rear axles and leaf springs all cleaned up and repainted. New bushings (what a royal PITA)!











I finally centralized all my parts and began assembling my 11” rear brakes, new seals, and a few other things. Picked up backing plates a few months ago off eBay.














JUNE 2023 UPDATE:


June, I kept plugging away and enjoying the weather. We typically would have 100+, but was strangely 70/80s the whole month. It allowed me to button up the rear end and start installing the front disc brakes. Had to order new rear seal before putting the shield and rear hub on. On the front axles, I hit a snag and had noticed I had a cracked wheel hub and stripped spindle bolt hole, so lost a weekend ordering new studs to convert the knuckles to reinforce and new front wheel hub to come.











While I was waiting for the front hub and knuckle studs to show, I got back to mounting the rear fuel tank and started tackling the drivetrain. Transmission gears were in great shape. After cleaning up, I ordered up a small parts kit to replace the main shaft needle bearings, synchro springs and seals. Painted it up. So far so good IMO.

















That puts me up to this month, where every weekend has been 100-110, so garage time has been placed on hold for limited after work evenings. I’ll try to keep this thread up to date as often as I can.


*edited 1/10/2024 to fix pictures

 

Good update. Welcome back.

 

Good work, lots of progress!

Make sure the knuckle studs (turned button head bolts) are long enough for the added thickness of the caliper bracket. Drum backing plates are not as thick.

 

Love the thread and pictures. Mine is the same year and I am starting to understand from the pictures where some stuff is supposed to go. Kind of wish I would have painted mine cast iron color now.

 

Have a tote full of parts to go on too. But never seem to have a free weekend. Reading your updates makes me a little jelly

 

Hello yes. They were just right. I’ll try to share pics. Bought parts from McMaster-carr and have enough to do another front axle. Very pleased on how they turned out.