Cleanup for a worn out 73cj5

Rebuild for a 73cj5

So everyone here knows I had a run in with a 17 year old and my old 74cj5 was totaled. Well mid december I finally got the Ok from the salvage yard it went to come and part her out. I went down there and virtually gutted the vehicle. All the parts I nabbed are now going on my 73cj5 and I figured I would post a build thread with pics.

The biggest reason for installing these things is that the wiring currently in the jeep is original and in poor condition, I have no heater, the starter is shot, no turn signals, no windshield wipers, no running lights, no tail gate, and the gas guage does not work ect. The jeep looks nice now but there is alot the guy who fixed it up 20 years ago covered up with bondo, electrical tape and yellow paint. Also there are certail exterior asthetics that I want to change.

Here is what I am installing:
new battery tray
Painless wiring harness
All new dash
All new instruments in dash
Original backup lights
new left and right fenders
Round brake lights
Manual choke
Swing away rear tire carrier
tail gate
Bestop softop
starter
coil
battery cables
starter solinoid
sparkplug wires
Front seats
Sparten turn signal
wheels/tires
leaf springs
Jerry cans and mounts

Brand new paint job, red tub, black windshield, white hardtop

Ill post some pics on monday of what I have finished so far, she is really comming together.

 

Here are the before pics of the outside, engine compartment, and interior.

 

i like you turn signal JC Whitney specail?

 

Well I did some work on her last night. Not much got done but I was able to put the new wheels on. Last week I sent out one of the wheels to be rebuilt as it got hit in the crash. It took $200 to fix but its sure cheaper than buying 4 new rims and tires to match lol.

Next up for today is installing the tail gate, pulling the old tail lights off and putting on the spare tire carrier.

 

:?

Looks like a Signal Stat 900 to me. The most common replacement for the original Sparton unit that is not longer obtainable. Maybe JC Whitney sells Signal Stats, but I wouldn't exactly call them a JC Whitney special.

 

The turn signal came with my jeep when I bought it, honestly I have no idea where it came from.

Anyway I NEED HELP. So I am wrestling with getting my windshield wipers to work. I have no idea what color wires go to which prongs on the back of the wiper switch. I have a yellow power wire (connected to the ignition switch for power), red wire, black wire, and green wire (these go to the wiper motor) and then my ground wire.

Which wire goes on what prong on the wiper switch (factory original switch).

Im trying to complete my jeep before the storm hits us out here in northern Illinois.

 

I remember you talking about that. Glad you were able to save it.

 

Yeah Im happy my bodywork guy was able to fix the rim. Even had him put a new black finish on it

Anyway I have gotten alot done. I have installed the new battery tray, Painless wiring harness, All new dash, All new instruments in dash, Swing away rear tire carrier, tail gate, starter, coil, battery cables, starter solinoid, sparkplug wires, Front seats, Sparten turn signal, wheels/tires


I still have alot to do but she is comming along and as soon as I remeber to charge the camera battery I will post pics!

 

So I got the jeep to the point where I can take her out for a spin. I decided to drive her is the snow we have here out in Illinois........and I ran into a problem.

I killed the battery last night while trying to get the windshield wiper and tail lights to work. So I had to jump the jeep before I took her out. I jumped it and let it run for several min. The volt meter was reading 12 volts as I puleld out of the driveway. However after 20 min of driving I looked down at the volt meter and it was reading 8 volts, and the windshield wipers were going very slow. I managed to get the jeep back but I cant figure out why the system lost power.

The alternator is hooked up correct I think?

 

What should the volt meter be reading then? I thought it should be reading between 12 and 14 volts.

Also I am looking at new alternators. Im just looking to replace with a new equal to the factory original.

Any suggestions on what I should buy?

 

For future reference, quick way to check that the alternator's working is to touch it with something made of ferrous metal. If it's generating current, it should be magnetized.

 

Here are some pics of her in the parking lot of an apartment complex I helped pull cars out of today. Ill have the interior pictures soon and some pics of the wiring harness.

 

My new alternator came in today, cant work on it till tomorrow night though!

Looking at a guy near me who owns a set of new reproduction fenders that he is selling. Im trying to get him to sell the pair for $200 instead of each one for $125. Turns out my fenders have quite a bit of bondo work, and I would like to avoid any more cracking from bondo than I already have.

 

Now I understand why heaters are so important to some of you.

 

I would love to have a working heater.

Anyway I replaced my alternator today and she is running strong now! However I seem to have run into an interesting problem. At random points the engine simply shuts off. It has happened 3 times tonight after I was lettign the jeep run to charge up the battery. Once seconds after it started and the other two times about 5 min after I started it up and let it run.

The volt meter is reading between 13-14 volts and my test light lights up when I touch it to the alternator wires so I know the new alternator is charging the system.

It has never just cut out and stopped running before, what could be the cause?

 

Ive run into this with dirty battery posts. A 3 dollar battery post brush may just cure the problem. The other issue I just had was the end of the main power wire into my fuse box was corroded and exposed, so I bought some contact cleaner, unplugged the battery, and spent about a week spraying the wire a few times a day, and haven't had the problem since. I think thats probably not a common problem, just issues from previous owners hack job.
But clean up and ensure tightness to the battery posts, and that may just cure the problem.

 

The wiring harness and all subsiquent connections are brand new. The terminals also were cleaned tonight before I reconnected them.

 

Where did you get the tire carrier from?