Golden Burro

[Golden Burro]

Well I got laid off from work and had hernia surgery so I have some time and thought this might be a good time to start a build thread. This rascal showed up in my life in March 2023 and have been picking away at it here and there when I have time and money. I did most of the significant work was done in the spring of 2025, but I didn't have time to post so I will trickle it in along the way until I catch it up to the present. I named it Golden Burro because even when I was a kid I thought the "Golden Eagle" trim was kind of funny. I saw it as a way for AMC to get some traction from the Trans Am Firebird in Smokey and the Bandit. To me, Jeeps are way more like Burros than they are like Eagles and my Jeep is gold so there you have it. It's a '70 and had a Dauntless, an over drive, and PTO. It was barely running and definitely not stopping when I bought it. Someone along the way had done a terrible body job on it who knows when, but it has bondo on every corner and medium rust like you would expect from a rig from the Willamette Valley. I have no interest in making the body look any better. If a pair of nice front fenders comes my way I will switch them out but otherwise I am fine with how it looks. I had open heart surgery in April of 2023 so this was a good project to keep me occupied and off of my mountain bike for that summer. This is what it looked like when I found it.

 

[Fireball]

 

[givemethewillys]

Oh man, sorry to hear you lost your job. I like the golden burro moniker, looking forward to following along!

 

[Golden Burro]

I got it kinda running, the mufflers were rusted out and it had a terrible miss. I think it had been sitting for a while, so I knew it was going to need a good going through. Told myself, if I get it running well, then brakes were going to have to be on the agenda right away. Carb rebuild, ordered a kit from Mike's. All of the stuff I have done so far is from info I gleamed from ECJ5. I have asked dumb questions and that's a great way to get straitened out around here, good answers without all of the the attitude the pirates have. As I tore into the project, the main thing I saw that was a total mess was the electrical. I pulled out every last inch of wire, bought a 12 circuit kit and went to town. The dash needed a refresh so I added a panel to cover some holes put the starter on the left side of the wheel because that's where they are on Porsches Ha Ha.

 

[Beach66Bum]

Nice (and safe) to have the rats nest of wiring gone!

 

[Golden Burro]

So while I was at it with the wiring, I chose to upgrade to a Chevy style 2 wire 12SI alternator and an HEI distributor. I also put a switch on the pedal arm for the brake lights. I added a relay system for the headlights and made a sealed box out of some British Army surplus aluminum mess kit pots. I deleted the heater because it was pretty much rusted out, threw a panel on the hole and mounted up the fuse box in the sealed mess kit box. I thought that would make it easier to chase fuses under the hood instead of under the dash since I am not awesome at yoga. It took a lot of research thanks to this forum to learn how to wire in the turn signal switch, the emergency flasher and the speedo cluster. Got er all wired up and well, most of it worked...
The emergency flashers didn't work (old switch was dead) I think that led to the other anomalies such as when the headlights were on the all of the tail lights were on and no turn signals or brake lights worked. Eventually got most of that straitened out. One thing I've learned is that everything I do on this is not a one-and-done situation. Something always needs some more attention when I think I have it all buttoned up. After all of the wiring and carb rebuild I started up the Burro and it ran pretty dang well SO... if it runs, drove it around the brakes were awful, but I didn't die or kill anyone. That wrapped up the summer of 2023 so the next project would be brakes. Pretty much whenever I had something apart, I put effort into cleaning wire brushing and throwing some paint on it like the dash and the engine compartment. Went into the fall with enthusiasm to get back on my mountain bike and putting in some quality time with my jeep after work on cool fall evenings.

 

[Golden Burro]

Too many dang words, I'll keep it simple. Fall 2023, tore the front end apart to do a disc conversion. Parts dude 4x4 stuff, I like that they are in Carson City, I was a complete no fiddle farting around setup and I was born in Reno so I always have some Nevada bias.Plus it ships to me pretty quick from there. Took it apart, studded the knuckles, gooped it up, put it back together and FINALLY drove it to have coffee with my buddy who has a sweet '64 Cornbinder pickup with my favorite rims ever.

 

[Golden Burro]

Through the fall of 23 through the spring of 24 I just tinkered on and drove the burro as much as reasonable. I deleted the heater but ran it with half doors and a bikini top and warm jackets to sort of stave off the cold. In the spring of 24 I rebuilt the carb AGAIN... I was having a lot of challenges with leaking fuel, inconsistent running characteristics so I found a much newer carb on FBMP, rebuilt that, added a phenolic spacer and that has been great ever since. I pulled out the leaf springs one corner at a time, pulled them apart, removed the second smallest leaf, painted them and slathered them with anti seize between the leafs before replacing them with all new mounting hardware and and u-bolts to improve the ride quality. The project came with 5 stock 15" rims that had ancient dry rotted. "traction" tires. I pulled the tires and had the rims sandblasted. I ordered a case Montana Spray Paint off white graffiti paint and did them up. I was looking for some sweet tires to put on and found 5 Coyote 32 9.5 15 SXS tires on FB and mounted those up. Lookin' good!

 

[fr8dog61]

 

[Dave Deyton]

Looks really Good! Those tires look great.

Great Pic.

Dave

 

[Beach66Bum]

X2 to what Dave mentioned. Those tires look awesome!

 

[Golden Burro]

Looks really Good! Those tires look great.

Great Pic.

Dave

Thanks! My Buddy with the Cornbinder pickup took that picture, he's got a good camera and knows how to use it. The tires seem to work really well too. Our lava rock around here is sharp and tears stuff up, but If I keep them from spinning, they are holding up great.

 

[Golden Burro]

Well the Doc released me from hernia surgery restrictions so the wife has me doing all kinds of projects and I haven't been able to check out ECJ5 at all.
In January of 2025 I pulled the body off of the frame and started with rebuilding an extra Dauntless I had around. ( that's it's own story). The bores were cylinders, not cones, so that was a good start so I didn't need to machine the block, I had the heads re worked did bearings and rings and put everything back together with all new front of engine parts. I have been wondering if I was going to focus on a power steering upgrade, or transmission or lockers, or whatever, but I have just sort of let FBMP guide my process. I was planning out a steering project when an SM465 that already had a Novak D18 adapter kit done. So I got that for a great price and went that route. Built a new cross member, and built a new exhaust system out of a BMW E36 exhaust my son's buddy chucked for a LS swap.

 

[53A1]

You have most of the nice upgrades, v6, flanged rear, granny gear. I think it would be a mistake not to do the power steering. Lockers later if money is tight.

 

[cj2atruck]

After I added a rear lunch box locker to my modified 47, I don’t need to engage the front axle as often. I would rather have a selectable locker to the rear, but couldn’t warrant the cost on a rig that’s not driven a lot.

Agree on the transmission, the SM465 is a good tranny with a nice low first gear.

Power Steering will make your Jeep much more pleasant to drive, but some purists are not a fan. However, since you’ve already moved past stock, might as well make it a better driving rig…

 

[53A1]

Power Steering will make your Jeep much more pleasant to drive

I have both. For off-roading with tight maneuvering it's almost essential. Try turning around in a steep, tight desert wash with 33s or 35s. It can be a really good day or a really bad day where I'm not having fun and stressed out.

 

[Golden Burro]

So far I have resisted the power steering upgrade because of how in-depth it is, especially regarding the exhaust manifold issue, BUT, it is on my radar. I picked up a rear locker in a case at the swap meet a couple years ago, so that's something I just need to jump in and do. House projects have been eating up any time I have to work on the Burro, but the weather is nice so new windows it is.
Returning to spring 2025, here are some pictures of the exhaust I cobbled together from leftovers, and the rest of the shots before I put the body back on. Body back on and since I am 6'2" I cut out the wheel wells. When I bought the Jeep, it had a worn out aftermarket besttop drivers seat and a forklift seat on the passenger side. I found some original CJ lowbacks in really great shape on the facebook so I put them in. Since I am 6'2" the non blown out seats made me lose all leg room so I went for the wheelwell slice and dice. This photo dump gets us through spring of 2025.