1969 Plastic Cj5 V6

or get another jeep...

 

I like the idea of 2 but the wife might not agree. 3.73 in low gear but for the rocky stuff we have in the northeast it is still pretty quick.

 

you need a convincing argument, and a cheap jeep for sale.

 

hahaha that's always my argument. I have really been dreaming up an electric motor conversion in an ECJ so maybe that will be the next one for a street Jeep.

 

ECJ as in Electric?

 

how do you like the fiberglass body?

 

The fiberglas tub is sweet. I would prefer rust free steal but thats not happening in the north east on a 50 year old Jeep. It's pretty easy to work with. The draw back is it doesn't have a tailgate and you can't weld to it. Upside is epoxy is pretty easy to work with and if you don't mind sanding a lot you can get great results.

E(electric)ECJ5 will be sweet. I was in reach of the end of the internet a few weeks ago and really went down the electric conversion rabbit whole. Now to find a donor with a blown motor.

 

yeah, mine lived in NY since the 90s... rusted pretty bad

 

what are the advantages to electric? (in other words, a new roommate in the rabbits den)

 

I just think it would be neat. A perfect quiet grocery getter that wouldn't smell like gas and would be a fun project you can pick up a fork lift motor for next to nothing or a complete totaled Nisan Leaf for not much more. With a dirt simple and lite weight chassis and tub like a CJ5 I think it would be pretty doable. That will be a next year project though.

 

I totally agree with this. I wouldn't use it for my off-roading Jeep (only because of range anxiety), but I think for a Tux or Surrey, "goin' to get ice cream on a nice day" type Jeep, electric would be perfect!

 

i like a noisy jeep that smells like gas.
and some forklifts run off propane, hassling through rebuilding one currently

 

I have 4.88's with OD and the Dauntless and I love it. It has no problem with 65 on freeway. I have 30 x 9.5 tires and the combo worked very well at the Epic Colorado trip in August.
No plans on changes there, now a brake upgrade that's another story.

 

Great to know. I think I have decided on the 4.88s and will try to find an overdrive. In my last flatty I had that combo behind a dauntless and it was okay. Definatly screaming at 65 to 70 but I am hoping the "newer" big hole d18 and t14 will be a little quieter. In my flatty it sounded like the transmission tunnel was going to take off at highway speed.

If anyone has a handle on an overdrive for a good price please let me know.

I pulled the front axle mostly apart. I haven't rebuilt a closed knuckle axle before everything inside was tight and right.



Question:

How much grease should be in the knuckle One side had just enough to cover the joints and the other was caked I am guessing with how greasy most of them are it should be pretty full.

 

I fill closed knuckles until just running out of the filler hole with "00" cotton picker spindle grease (ag stores and Tractor Supply has it).

 

4.10s are what I run with 33s and no overdrive. The CJ6 runs the highway alone or towing campers up to around 4000lb. The Dauntless is fine at highway speeds with this setup and seems happiest (best mileage) around 60mph. My Jeep is a few hundred pounds shy of 5000# at this point. Yours should be really nice with 3.73s and a transfer case regear, or swap in a T18 4 speed. I had 4.88s in my 1 ton IH truck and it was slow on the highway for sure.

 

4.27 one piece axle is going to be the most rugged

 

I know the one piece is strongest but with the minimal weight of the Jeep and relatively small tires I think the 2 piece shafts should be fine. Plus using a limited slip instead of a locker should help the strength. 4.27 is probably perfect gearing but I need to match the front and dana 27 4.27 gears seem to be hard to find and I am trying to keep the budget down. I'll put it in the classifieds and see if anyone has a set around otherwise I'll probably go with the 4;88s as they are already set up.

Is that a brand new dana 27? I did the knuckles in red because why not. It should add 10HP New seals are next then I need to decide what to do on the rear.

 

Found a New Old Stock Trak Loc for the 30 spline Dana 44. So I have decided to go that direction. That axles is rusted the most so it will take some work to clean it up but internals look good. Just need to order up a master instal kit and switch the gears from the other axle.

 

Same configuration I have and yes, works well. I have 31-10.5's on the CJ5.