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69 Jeepster “rebuild” By A Guy Who Now Knows A Tiny Little Bit!

Fresbone

Fresbone

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Picked up a new (for me) Jeep yesterday. This 69 Jeepster was living about 3 blocks away from me in Pismo Beach. The story is that it was originally purchased from R&R Auto in Blythe, CA and has lived in California all its life other than a short stint in Oregon.
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I’m still getting to know it. 91k miles on the speedo. Looks stock except for some stickers, a CB and antenna, an iPhone holder, and a cup holder.

I cut down my paint booth to make room indoors so it doesn’t croak in the Fresno heat!
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The main problems i have found center around the electrical system. Most importantly, if I drive a distance and then park (like filling up my gas tank), it won’t restart until about a 15-30 minute break. No click, no noise, nothing. I had a friend jump me and it turned right over. Before the jump, the battery was reading 12.0V.

I plugged a volt meter into the cigar lighter and drove it around the block after work. It didn’t go above 11.9V.

Oh, and the amp idiot light doesn’t illuminate when I start. At first, I thought it was a bad bulb!

So tomorrow after work, I’m going to dig in a little deeper. I’m assuming it is alternator, regulator, and/or battery, and since it didn’t read above 11.9V when running, im assuming alternator. We’ll see!

Other electrical problems:

Turn signal wire has the wrong terminal at the flasher and keeps falling off when driving.

Instrument lights don’t work at all. Bad dimmer? Not connected at the ignition switch?
 
The other pressing problem is that the way I tell if the gas tank is full is by having gas burp out all over the outside of the Jeep. I’m hoping it is something simple like a kinked vent hose.

My goal is to get it running and have fun. It has the same Dauntless engine and other guys as my 67 CJ5, so that should help me as I am working on my wiring and other miscellaneous things where I wasn’t really sure where they belong, like the temp sensor, brake return spring bracket, and guts for rear drum e brake.

FSM and Parts book are in the mail.
 
I realized that I still have the fully functional (at least previously functional) alternator from my 67 CJ5 (upgraded it to 100A 10SI). I think my electrical diagnostics is going to go as follows:

Buy a new group 24 battery on the way home.
Check all electrical connections.
If the connections look good, install CJ5 alternator and new battery.

Am I missing anything? This is my old CJ5 alternator.
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Jw60 said:
Hold up... first, check your Amp bulb is not burnt out. Is the wire carrying power all the way through or is it broken or disconnected somewhere?
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My in dash voltmeter is reading 11.9 when driving. Doesn’t that mean there is more to it than a burnt out bulb?
 
Fresbone said:
My in dash voltmeter is reading 11.9 when driving. Doesn’t that mean there is more to it than a burnt out bulb?
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Sure does. I would take a real meter and put it on the alternator output terminal while its running to narrow the problem down. Then work from there... Could be a field issue?
HellaSlow said:
Glad to see someone on here scooped it up! I think thats the same one we've been chatting about in another thread.
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So I don't have to ask what it cost... But in the seller's ad; didn't he go on about it had all been rebuilt? Hmmm.... once again, "caveat emptor".
 
I think I overpaid a bit, but it was in a range I was comfortable with and it was three blocks away from me. He had receipts showing he put some money into it - engine rebuild, rear diff, new radiator, new ignition switch.

It was tough to find good comps for it. They ranged from 8k for a parts Jeepster to 41K for a dolled out, lifted model.
 
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Fresbone said:
25K. I think I overpaid a bit, but it was in a range I was comfortable with and it was three blocks away from me. He had receipts showing he put some money into it - engine rebuild, rear diff, new radiator, new ignition switch.

It was tough to find good comps for it. They ranged from 8k for a parts Jeepster to 41K for a dolled out, lifted model.
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A Hurst version sold for 85k on BaT recently. I would have paid 25, because that's what they go for here in SoCal. The one you got looks very nice, hope I can talk you into meeting up some day.
 
The dimmer for my console is not working. This is what it looks like. This is from a Ford restoration website. Can anyone tell me if this looks like the original Jeepster dashboard dimmer? It looks very different from the aftermarket ones offered from the websites.
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Latest update is that I drove the jeepster to work last Wednesday. On the way home, it became more and more difficult to shift. By the end, I couldn’t get it out of first. I made it home, and then headed to the beach where it was 75 degrees instead of 115! I’ll crawl under the jeepster and figure out what came loose this week!
 
Here’s the culprit. Time to order a cable.
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And here’s what’s wrong with it dash lights. The broken pin is “to headlight switch or dimmer rheostat.” Time to order a circuit board.
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The cable was a common problem on the J/C 101, many have gone to hydraulic actuated system.

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Fresbone said:
Here’s the culprit. Time to order a cable.
View attachment 93682

And here’s what’s wrong with it dash lights. The broken pin is “to headlight switch or dimmer rheostat.” Time to order a circuit board.
View attachment 93683
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That board can be saved, clean it up and sleeve the inside with a thin copper tube. Electronics flux and solder. Heat the pin side until the solder flows into the tube and board.
 
OzFin said:
The cable was a common problem on the J/C 101, many have gone to hydraulic actuated system.

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I like that idea a lot, but right now I’m trying to keep the Jeepster as stock as possible, so, while I may do a hydraulic conversion in the future, Partsdude has a cable that is “reinforced,” so I’m going to give Sam a call and see what he says.
 
The sheet metal around that thru-the-floor cable bracket will weaken over time.
The "oil can" effect takes hold and creates more problems.
Jeep sold a re-inforcement floor plate kit that bolted in and also replaced that clutch cable bracket.
They were very problematic as mentioned above.
 
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