Getting my 78 CJ-5 trail ready by May 24th for 4WD-101 (Picture Heavy)

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Hey Guys,

So far I have have failed miserably at getting a CJ ready for the road much less a trail . Honestly you would think I would have learned by now but I haven't!

Here is the goal. Get my 78 CJ5 ready to go on Uwharrie by May 24th, two months from today. This will be full of long nights and several pounds of coffee I imagine. First pictures of the CJ5:

I posted this in another tread but here is me picking the CJ5 up on Saturday:

Let me start off by saying the CJ5 starts and the front brakes work but it has some collapsed lifters and the rear brakes don't work, and a slew of the electrical wiring needs to be looked at.

CJ-5 Specs
AMC 304 5.0L V8
3-Speed Manual (I don't know the model)
Transfer case is ?!?!?
Power Steering
Front Disc Brakes
Edlebrock intake
Holley 4 barrel Carburetor
Headers and new mufflers

Needless to say this is not stock. Also the dash is not original either.

The first thing I did was take the 33" wheel and tire off and put my 31" BF Goodrich tires and wheels on, I like the stance of the smaller tire and I don't have the tires rubbing the frame and full lock anymore which is a plus.

So anyway here are the list of problems I have to fix before I can go off-roading

Brakes:
Replace Master Cylinder
Bleed Front Brakes
Replace Rear Wheel Cylinders
Fix Parking Brake

Engine
Replace Hydraulic lifters
Replace Push Rods
Replace Head Gasket (Discovered this last night)
Oil Change
Tuning

Cooling
Replace Radiator (Just because my 73 CJ5 came with a new one)
Replace Thermostat
Install new hoses (I have them from the 73 CJ5)

Electrical
Wire up rear tail lights
Replace plastic headlights (done, I hated those things, it looked . . . cheap)
Get turn signals workings
Figure out none workings gauges

Interior
Install drive side seat belt
Install passenger side seat belt
Move passenger seat to driver seat (Getting driver's seat fixed right now)
Get Bikini Top
Take apart doors, clean and paint

Suspension
Check front end alignment, looks off to me
Check bushings
Replace shocks and steering stabilizers

Exhaust
Clamp mufflers correctly
Possible clean and paint headers, not sure yet

Typing up all of this I realize I have a heck of a lot to do before I can get this Jeep on the road again. It might be a stretch to get this done before May 24th honestly.

Finally some pictures of what I got done last night

-Grant

 

[rodney eppes]

Hope you don't get Sick of working on it! It will be a Ton of Fun, once it's done!

 

[amcjeepman]

If you replace the lifters I strongly suggest you replace the cam.
The holley if not a Truck Avenger style 4BBL is not a off road friendly carb.

 

[drkelly]

Ditch the carb and go with a junkyard TBI setup. Carbs SUCK offroad.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Hope you don't get Sick of working on it! It will be a Ton of Fun, once it's done!

Yeah I've done some more work on it, but I got strep throat earlier this week and I've been out of it, I haven't had a chance to wrench on it at all, which trust me is killing me.

If you replace the lifters I strongly suggest you replace the cam.
The holley if not a Truck Avenger style 4BBL is not a off road friendly carb.

Yeah I heard that but I did a little research and I took the lifters to a buddy who is really good with motors and cams, and he said because the old lifters didn't have real wear in them, just that 6 were colapsed, I could use the same cam as long as I do a new cam break in procedure on them, however I've been sick so no work has been done on it.

Ditch the carb and go with a junkyard TBI setup. Carbs SUCK offroad.

Ultimately that will be the goal if I keep the 304. Honestly I would love to find an early 80's Mercedes and do a OM617 diesel swap into this CJ-5, but I want to mess around with the AMC 304 V8 a little first. Trust me I'm considering doing the junkyard EFI, I know it will help improve gas mileage as well!

-Grant

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Worked all weekend on the CJ5. Been trying to get the AMC 304 V8 running right. When I tore it down, I had 6 collapsed lifters in the motor. Also I took the radiator out of the Jeep as well because I had a new one. Finally got it all back together on Saturday, and because I replaced the lifters I had to do a cam break in procedure, yeah your suppose to replace the cam, but it had minimal wear and I didn't want to do it, mostly because funds are really tight and I'm worried I'm not going to have this CJ5 done in time.

Got it back together, and for 20 minutes my backyard looks like a battlefield with the blue smoke that was rolling out of my V8. Yeah I needed valve stem seals something horrible. I did a compression check on the motor all the way around and every cylinder was either 119 or 120 PSI of compression. I also checked the spark plugs and they were really dirty so I took them to my bench grinder and cleaned them and re-gapped them. I got the driver side replaced yesterday after going through 3 different over head valve compressor tools, note the one from Autozone is freaking awesome, the ones from Harbor Freight/Advance Auto/Oriellys are GARBAGE.

Good one from Autozone:

Garage style ones from everywhere else :

Anyway finally got the driver side done, and the V8 runs much better, tonight I will be doing the passenger side, and then I will be working on getting the brakes connected back up and then I have to tighten the exhaust up.

All I have left after that is get the electrical sorted and fix the parking brake . . . I should have it done by the end of the week . . . hahaha yeah that would be nice.

Also I didn't realize it until just now I didn't take any pictures of anything this weekend, so I will be taking so pictures of all of this stuff tonight and posting it.

-Grant

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Pictures update!

 

[rodney eppes]

Is that front BUMPER, a direct replacement for the Master Cylinder? Seriously though, I hope those pics are from when you first got it. Btw, I'll be in class with you!

 

[MichaelT]

Subscribed! I like this, I was crunching to get my 73 cj5 done by last weekend for URE. Drove it for the first time Thursday and had it on the trail Saturday. Still have some issues to deal with but it's coming along. Good luck on yours

 

[MichaelT]

Oh and are you replacing the parking brake cables? If so where did you get them? I have had no luck finding any

 

[grapehead]

this jeep looks like a much better starting point than the other one you had!

check rockauto for the parking brake cables, they have just about everything, usually 2-3 days shipping...

 

[lockedup5]

Just read over this thread quick but was wondering if you were locking it. If so I have the same axles w ARBs in them for sale if your interested.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Is that front BUMPER, a direct replacement for the Master Cylinder? Seriously though, I hope those pics are from when you first got it. Btw, I'll be in class with you!

No unfortunately that is how the Cj-5 looked yesterday, I made the mistake of trying to do too much at once, so I've kind of back tracked and am fixing one thing at a time. Need to get the engine sorted out. When I was tuning on the carb last night I heard a bad sound like metal hitting something, I think its exhaust though, I will be double checking this afternoon when I get home from work. I haven't paid for the class yet, I know I should but I still don't know if I will get everything done in time!

Subscribed! I like this, I was crunching to get my 73 cj5 done by last weekend for URE. Drove it for the first time Thursday and had it on the trail Saturday. Still have some issues to deal with but it's coming along. Good luck on yours

Oh and are you replacing the parking brake cables? If so where did you get them? I have had no luck finding any

Yeah I'm having to get through a ton of problems and stuff that I need to look at, but I'm trying to work on it every night to get one step further on the project. I need to look at the driver side exhaust, I think its hitting something on the frame. Also I have WAY to much carb for my engine, I need to look into that as well.

this jeep looks like a much better starting point than the other one you had!

check rockauto for the parking brake cables, they have just about everything, usually 2-3 days shipping...

Thank you so much! I need to sell some stuff first and then I'll probably just replace the entire assembly.

Just read over this thread quick but was wondering if you were locking it. If so I have the same axles w ARBs in them for sale if your interested.

Yeah actually I would be interested in that, depends on cost though, I need to address some other issues on the CJ-5 first at the moment!

-Grant

 

[lockedup5]

I may have all kinds of parts you can use including a roll cage

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

I may have all kinds of parts you can use including a roll cage

Yeah I would very interested in hearing what you have! Shoot me a PM!

Thanks
Grant

 

[rodney eppes]

I'll give you 6 weeks, ! Then we go to Class. I'm leaving out tomorrow for the CTB Ride; just got my rebuilt-Again, carb on Last Friday night. Driving it some & playing with the timing. I need to fill up with non-eth-premium! I guess I let the regular ethanol set too long. I'll pick up some side marker light bulbs tomorrow, as I'm out, & need one. Glanced under my CJ, & saw something shinny; oil line at engine is starting to leak. Keeping my fingers crossed = Always something!
About that carb, [never trust a Holly] my Brother rebuilt my Motocraft deuce; he was surprised how Small the jets are [#47 I think]. I told him that is probably due to the Small intake valves. But it helps low end torque.
With your stock ignition, you can't burn much fuel.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

I'll give you 6 weeks, ! Then we go to Class. I'm leaving out tomorrow for the CTB Ride; just got my rebuilt-Again, carb on Last Friday night. Driving it some & playing with the timing. I need to fill up with non-eth-premium! I guess I let the regular ethanol set too long. I'll pick up some side marker light bulbs tomorrow, as I'm out, & need one. Glanced under my CJ, & saw something shinny; oil line at engine is starting to leak. Keeping my fingers crossed = Always something!
About that carb, [never trust a Holly] my Brother rebuilt my Motocraft deuce; he was surprised how Small the jets are [#47 I think]. I told him that is probably due to the Small intake valves. But it helps low end torque.
With your stock ignition, you can't burn much fuel.

Yeah I'm going to do everything I can to get it done in time. I have a ton of work to do still, I still haven't gotten all the brakes working yet so that is the next priority. I have a ton of work left to do honestly.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Unfortunately no pictures yet but I have updates! First I got my driver seats back and re-installed! I then started working on the brakes this weekend. I got the master cylinder installed and bleed properly and then I started looking at the rest of the braking system. I ended up having to replace every single brake house because they were all dry rioting and one broke in half in my hands. Still working on the rear drums at the moment . . . which I have to admit I had drum brakes, always have, and probably always will, they are just a pain to get correct. Also I'm keeping them apart at the moment because I'm also looking at getting the park brake to work as well. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have the brakes working!

-Grant