What we have to Work With
Multiple piles of parts and pieces - that's the condition this jeep is in as our work begins. Here's a rundown of what we have to start with.
Vehicle: 1970 Willys Kaiser CJ 5 Jeep
Color: Yellow (not original paint/color)
Price Paid: $1,200.00
What it came with when it was purchased:
Tranny: T14 3-speed
Axles: Dana 44 Rear / Dana 27 Front
Transfer Case: Dana 18
Tires: 31"
Engine: Buick V-6 225
Seats: Buckets, look like they came out of a Camara???
Soft Top
Aftermarket Pushbar
Factory Jeep 6 Point Roll Cage
Rear Bench Seat
Suspension: Leaf Springs
Steering: Manual Steering Box
Brakes: Manual Brakes w/master cylinder under floorboards mounted to frame. 10" Drums, front & rear
Original Chassis, Body Tub, Windshield, Tailgate, Nose Assembly, Fenders, Hood, Grill.
The Plan for this CJ 5 Build
Suspension:
We will be using the coil springs and front stock spring saddles from a 1999 TJ. The rear upper and lower control arms, front lower control arms and rear spring pads will be custom made by us in the shop.
Rubber and Wheels:
A set of 33x13.5x15" Super Swampers (LTB) will be used to replacethe 31" tires now on the CJ. The LTB's are a wider tire, helping to give this jeep a little more stability where it will need it most. This rubber will be mounted on inexpensive (ie: cheap) white steel spoke wheels, 15x10.
Engine:
This CJ will get a 1994 Chevy 4.3 V-6 balance shaft motor stuffed under the hood. We will convert it to a carburetor in the shop because the motor we found was fuel injected. While fuel injection is great when driving on a tilt, it is a computer and can get tempermental when wet. And we all know you are gonna get wet wen you four wheel!
Transmission:
A 1959 Munsy SM420 pulled out of an Apache 2-wheel drive pickup will be used. We will put an adapter on it so it will work with our Dana 300 transfer case.
Transfer Case:
Dana 300 transfer case out of a 1982 CJ-7 will be used.
Axles:
This Jeep will sit on top of Dana 44 axles, front and rear, taken from a Scout. These are beefy and should do te job well. We'll also use a differential located in the center versus the off center one that came on our CJ5. Our front axles will be wider than the rear to give it more stability.
Brakes:
The brakes are being replaced with discs in the front and 11" drums in the back. This will give us more stopping power.
And now you have the lowdown on the Cj-5 budget build up. This is only the first step in the build so you MAY see some changes to our plans as the project progresses. If we change ANYTHING we'll post it and let you know why. I have a feeling there's going to be many changes as we really get into the work. Stick with us and see how it all turns out!
Click here to move on to phase 2 of the jeep build.
Jeep,Willys are trademarks of Daimler/Chrysler Corp. Buick,Camaro,Chevy are trademarks of General Motors Corp. Super Swampers is a trademark of Interco Tire Corp. We are in no way affiliated with these companies and all references made to them and others are for informational purposes only.
