67 Cj5 Build Thread By A Rookie

I checked out the u joints and I do t think I made any changes. Also, it does t look to me like there are any options as the sequence is steering column (spline) u joint 1 (D) u joint 2 (D) gearbox. Am I missing something?

I wonder if the bearing or bushing aren’t lubed properly.

 

I had to do a few things to build up my confidence. Seat belts, passenger seat, glove box, side view mirrors.


Then I tackled the better of the two fenders (drivers side). Knocked out the dents and welded in a piece of 14ga to take the stress off the repaired crack.



Next up is passenger fender. I ordered a sand bag and teardrop mallet to make the panel to replace the torn up part of the passenger fender. I really need an English wheel, but the tool fund got used for a MaxJax that I’m going to bolt in after I finish with my paint booth!

 

Passenger side fender is a lot worse. I made a template out of 14 ga based on the shape of the drivers side fender. Torch and hammer. Contoured the template to fit the fender and welded it in place. I’m not sure if I’m going to cut out the damaged 18ga parts or tack them together.

 

Today, I essentially finished the rear wiring. I’m waiting on clarification from Kaiserwillys about the black and red tail light leads - which one is stop/turn and which is tail. I also installed my rear shocks. I’m still figuring out the front - one of the last steps.

I started working on the windshield and found a treasure. The brackets were painted over chrome. I used acetone to take the paint off and there is some rust that looks mostly on the surface. There is one small place where the chrome is coming off, but it is where it contacts the windshield, so it won’t show. I don’t think it is bad enough to get them rechromed.

I need to figure out how to remove surface rust without damaging the chrome. Maybe rust converter? Here is a before and after.

 

Removing rust on chrome, try Nevr-Dull.

 

Nevr-Dull is ordered.
Today seemed like a waste of a day. I was going to install my MaxJax and then finish up some odds and ends, maybe prime my fenders, but the first MaxJax expansion socket didn’t seat well in the concrete. They say that 4.25” concrete is ok (I’m somewhere between 4 and 4.25) but I think the bottom of the slab splintered while drilling, so I’m going to call them tomorrow and most likely order the epoxy drop-in anchor kit.

 

Tail light update: The KW replicas look like a quality product, but the red and black wires don’t mean anything. On one side, red is tail and the other side red is signal. You can check resistance and the higher resistance lead is signal or just plug them in and test.

 

I have a tailgate! I’m painting the front fenders today.


How do I fully clench down these, or is this as good as it gets?

 

Do those chains hold the tailgate level or do you have them swapped side for side?

 

I haven’t checked whether they hold the TG level. What do you mean by swapped side for side?

 

The chains are left and right handed. it's common to get them swapped. They should not pry sideways on the tailgate. It's hard to explain but common to see at shows... I've never owned tailgate chains myself (cables and locks) so I can't show the "right" one from "left" but the hooks should work from the outside in and not inside out like you have them.

 

This is fully open. It goes past 90 degrees. If anybody has open and closed pics, I would love to see them.

 

I need to sand and paint or powder coat the rear bumper. I like the look of it and don’t want to remake it unless I have a good reason. I would only use the hitch for light duty since it is effectively attached to the rear cross member and not the frame where I put the rear gas tank.

The only (minor?) problem is that the place where the license plate naturally sits isn’t under the driver tail light where it has a clear lens at the bottom to illuminate the plate. I will rarely drive this at night. My plan is to roll with this and if I get grief, I can add an illuminated license plate frame. Sound reasonable?

 

I don't have any license plate light and over the summer I took hour-long drives in the dark weekly and never got pulled over. I also have a '67 plate that doesn't reflect like a modern plate. Of course, I don't know how strict California police are compared to Idaho police.

If you do get trouble, it wouldn't be hard at all to add a small light to it. I'd say run it with no light.

 

When I started my JEEP a month or so ago, I couldn’t drop my idle below 1500 without stalling the engine. The cool thing is that one of the reasons I got the JEEP is to learn how to fix car problems. I started the “tune up” procedure today and found a place in the positive battery cable where the insulation melted off down to the wire, and the cable attachment to the started engine was loose. Hopefully, a new cable will solve some problems!

 

I use something like these

https://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-C...lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1CISE7JIL6LYK&th=1

 

You are supposed to hook the chains like this. Then the tailgate is flat:


Not like this:

 

Those are very cool. Thanks.

Thanks a bunch. Really helpful.

 

Now I feel stupid! Looks like I've been doing it wrong for years!!!! I love that random stuff I learn from this forum

 

I learned it from Pete L. on the forum. I have an owners manual and it says nothing about it.