Roll Bar Color?

A few years ago I found reference to dealer installed roll bars being painted black, while factory equipped bars were body color.

What year did factory equipped bars begin?

I have a '74 bar that I'm going to install on my '73 CJ5. Was a roll bar a factory option that year? Was it even available as a dealer installed option that year?

 

First year for factory-installed roll bars was 1974. These came painted body color. Prior to that, they were dealer installed and black.

JMO - paint it body color if you like that. Only a handful of people will know it's not original.

Roll bar year ID

Learning to search with Google or Bing or whatever will help you:
site:earlyCJ5.com whitco roll bar - Bing

 

Thanks Tim, I knew you'd have the info I wanted.

I wasn't aware that Jeep was selling and installing aftermarket bars, I thought they were produced by AMC.
I tried a search here for year of introduction and color and got overwhelmed by the returns, I should have saved the info the first time I found it.

 

So what you said is the roll bar on my 1971 cj5 reng. II was dealer installed . I wonder how much other ren II equipment was installed at the dealer.This could open a whole can of worms. I assumed the promo picture with the three Renegade II's was the way they left the factory.WOW their could be a million different versions of the renegade package if left up to the dealership.mike

 

No, the Renegade package was the exception. It's a package, not a roll bar by itself. If you want a roll bar from the regular option list, 1974 was the first year. Mike, you should know there were several features of the early Renegades that were only available with the package.

 

I do know that Tim.I was just worried that I had it all wrong on the Renegade II package.Thanks for the information.Allways an exception on these jeeps.

 

Even though '74 was the first factory equipped roll bar, I'm not sure I have ever seen an intermediate that didn't have a roll bar installed. Nearly all had "Jeep Approved" bars when they drove off the dealers lot, and yes, they were typically black.
-Donny

 

Tim, If I may add. I was working for our local jeep dealer 1973 thru 1975. My job there was installing aftermarket accessories and pre sale prep. You are correct AFAIR the regular cj5 and renegade in 73 and earlier both got the aftermarket black dealer installed roll bar and also had a black windshield frame. New for 74 the renegade package included a factory roll bar and windshield frame painted the same color as the jeep. however the regular cj5 still got the dealer installed black roll bar but the windshield frame was no longer black it got the body color paint standard. My 74 in the picture was bought at the dealer where I worked. I installed the black roll bar, spare tire carrier, ramsey winch, and the warn lock-o-matic hubs myself at the dealer. Ah the good ol days, I was in hog heaven working there,

 

This thread discusses the earliest OEM Jeep roll bars that were marketed from 1969 through late 1973:

Earliest Cj5 O E M Roll Bar Designs

 

The exception

 

An interesting side note. While working at the jeep dealer in Dec 1973 we received a box of new CJ jeep sales brochures from AMC. They were for the new 74 model year. They were 3 or 4 pages with several photos of the new cj5's but the photos were of 1973 jeeps with black windshield frames, rectangular side mirrors and v-8 emblem on the side of the front fenders. The new 74's we had already had on the lot all had body color windshield frames, square side mirrors and no v-8 emblems. We all got a good laugh.

 

I know that Jeep recycled plenty of old pictures in the TSMs and parts books, but this is the first I've heard in sales literature. But clearly yes, the V8 badge and black windshield or roll bar did not make it to the 1974 model year. Maybe Jeep had not settled on the final configuration in time to update the publicity shots?

Jeep used the black-and-silver "CJ-5" badge on the lower cowl starting in '74, more or less where the V8 badge went. Surprisingly, the '74-80 parts catalog shows both the CJ-5 and V8 badges on the side of the 74/75 model 83. I don't recall ever seeing that, but maybe...

Before the factory option, Chuchua nearly always sold a black Whitco roll bar with all the non-Renegade Jeeps that left his lot. That's what my '73 got when I bought it new in late '72. That dealership would not normally add anything to the new Jeeps that they could install, both because it limited the point-of-sale customization possible, and because the factory did a lousy job of installing the Jeep special equipment. Plus stuff like winches would get stolen in transit, so it was unwise to order them from the factory. However, in '74-75 I recall Chuchua routinely ordered the factory roll bar that was painted, presumably because the customers liked getting a matching roll bar.

 

Any idea why the windshield frame was painted black prior to '74?

Here's my '73 (Aug. '72 build date) the day I picked it up to bring it home:



After getting it home I learned on here that the windshield frame color was stock. That and the non-body color dash bolts lead me to believe it's the original paint.

 

I suspect it's because of the way they were assembled, and Kaiser was cheap and Jeep development was underfunded before AMC. To have the body color on the windshield, it needs to be painted with the body before the glass goes in. Logistically this seems a lot harder. With the windshield black, they could paint the body way up the line and install a generic windshield later.

What's your paint code? Available 1973, code 515 Trans Am Red, a great color.

 

Probably so the assembly line only had to be supplied with windshield part number as different color jeeps went down the line.

 

X2 on all your comments. That is why we ordered most all new units for stock all most bare bones. We kept a large inventory of all the optional accessories. I had a very busy job installing the whitco tops, hubs and spare tire carriers. The new jeeps would sometimes arrive at the dealer with parts missing like spare tires, passenger seats, mirrors ect. We even heard a special order jeep we were waiting for had arrived by train in Atlanta minus the 4 speed trans. The thieves would hop the train and remove parts in transit.
You are quite likely correct that the non renegades could be ordered with a factory body color roll bar in 74, I just don't remember seeing one.

 

That explanation for the black windshield frame makes sense, I hadn't considered it from that angle.

The paint code is 515, I started a thread about looking for touch up paint back when I first got it home.
There's a paint supplier in town that I'll hit up for a quart when I'm ready for paint.

I prefer to touch up the rust repairs and leave the factory paint as is, if I spend the time re-painting the whole jeep I won't want to drive it off-road or leave it in parking lots.