First time caller long time... intrest

[BrianH]

1968 CJ5 Vin number is : 8305C1229215 Engine is : V6 Jeep Dauntless

First I tried alot of vin number decoders and that number dont seem to work for nothing.

Second I have been unable to figure out how I seem to have a orginal v6 when all I see says v8 or inline 6 is all you could get.

Soooo if anyone has some help for me id love to have it. I'm making up my list of things I want (body parts, shocks/ lift kit, brake lines and so on) and before I start buying them like to be sure I truely have what I think I do.

Also if anyone knows alot about this year of cj5 id love to here from ya. I will either have to buy alot of body parts or learn to do body work... or make friends with someone :)

[BrianH]

Oh I paid 800 dollars for it. It runs fine but needs some body work and came with a snow blade and lots of tread on the tires. My thought was to work from bottom up on it new brakes, suspension (via a 2.5 lift kit not that i want the lift so much as its all there in those kits), then head to the body work. If anyone knows of some things I should focus on more then other things this is my first try at redoing a vehicle so I'd love the advise.

Oh and also fiberglass verse metal is there any huge advantage to metal ?

[Tom74'CJ-5]

Hey congrats on the buy. I'm pretty sure that they offered V6's in some of the jeeps. From what I understand they are kind of rare so parts for that engine might be a little harder to find.

As far as the mods and what order.... thats kind of up to what you want to do first. If it's running and drivable, i'd say put the lift on and enjoy it a little before you jump into changing body panels. You might find that the areas that need repair are area's you want to cut out for clearance issues anyways. Of course that would apply to the wheel well areas so any others.. well that all depends on how much of a restoration you plan on doing.

As far as Metal vs. Fiberglass, that debate has been gone over many times on this forum. You should do a search under the CJ sections, i'm sure you'll find plenty of info. Right now I have a fiberglass body. Where I'm from, rust and corrosion from the roads isn't realy an issue so all the fiberglass really did for me was drop a couple hundered pounds off of the over all weight.

Good luck with your jeep. Be sure to post some pictures of it in the Members Rides section (if you all ready havent).

[BrianH]

Ya I live in michigan so rust is a issue. My plans (or at least what i told the wife) was to use this to plow snow and as a back up vehicle. I honestly dont think I will ever go nuts with it for off roading but I would like to fix it up enough to drive it on a more regular basis.

Eventually I would like to redo and replace most all of it wire harness, brake lines and so on. Just need the money to buy all of it :) . The reason I was going to get the 2.5 inch lift kit wasnt so much that I even wanted it lifted it was just because it needs new springs and shocks bad anyhow (the snow blade abused the front a bit I think) so figured that was just as easy and probably the same cost anyhow.

[GoDevilGper]

Check out this web page I think it will answer most of your questions, Its helped me out different times through out the years. http://www.off-road.com/jeep/tech/cj-5.htm

[BrianH]

Great link thanks alot that helps a ton

[Toralf]

Hey Brian, welcome aboard and nice buy... have fun working on it!

[jaybird]

Prior to '75 all ya could get factory was the 225 V-6 or the 4 cyl. Inline 6 and V-8 didn't show until after '75 due to the length of the engine compartment. Yours is a short nose 5.

[BrianH]

thanks for the welcome and info.

So is there any advantage to the v6 other then the increased rarity of the parts (or so it seems its rare).

[brownrc]

Brian , I have a 66 CJ-5 Tuxedo and it has the V6 in it. Check out this forum for early CJ-5 http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/index.php?

[Tom74'CJ-5]

Hey Jaybird, i think you have your years mixed up. My 74' came stock with the 304. I dont exactly know what year they introduced the engine.

[BrianH]

great thanks man going to dig around in there for a few days :) wish me luck.

[mjo79]

Hey Jaybird, i think you have your years mixed up. My 74' came stock with the 304. I dont exactly know what year they introduced the engine.
v8's available staring in '72

[BrianH]

Okay im rdy to make the move to working on this here is my plan tell me if im off.

Firstly my jeep is not meant to be a mud or rock climbing jeep. It came with a snow plow and maybe once in a year I might end up in a spot I need to 4wd for. Mostly it will be used as a back up vehicle and snow plow. Its a 68 cj 5 with dauntless v6 and 3 speed tranny.

I plan to pop off the body first stip down to the frame. The engine and tranny seem fine so dont plan to mess with them other then clean and paint. The frame I plan to check into getting striped and painted. Someone I know told me that you can take them to some place get them diped (strips all the rust) then coated with paint.

Next I plan to put all the stuff back on it replacing what dont work as I do it. From the start I know I will need all new shocks and suspension. I was considering going with a 1" lift kit.... now this is my grey area. On one hand I have seen some 2.5 inch lifts with fair sized tires that look nice but I honestly dont think I need it. So I have to decide if it will hurt me to go with the lifts or not. If lifting it means I have to change alot to get it to run im not sure im up to that.

BODY :( I dont know what I will do there one I have needs alot of work and im not sure I will have 2-3k to buy new before winter (want it runing for winter snow season if possible). If I do get the money... I have seen a new body tailgate window frame the works steel for about 3k. I had planned on going fiber but problem I see there is I have heard it dont hold up well where its bolted to the body (spider webs and such) and I have yet to see one that comes with everything. So I would end up having to buy steel tailgate and window frame and im just not sure about bolting heavy steel to fiber.. maybe some who have done this can tell me if it will stand the test of time. Rust issues are only reason i consider fiber at all (michigan sucks).

Some things Im curious about is, what can I do to help keep the snow plow from destroying my suspension can i get heavy shocks or what should I do to help prolong the life of my ride.

Also If anyone knows more about what can be done to the frame when I get it striped down to help protect it would be great.


PS: mainly what im curious about is what advise can anyone offer me as far as things to do to prevent me from having to tear anything down again.

[Penguin]

Wow, you got a nice jeep.
First, I am also a Michigander and I agree, we have a very small amount of rust up here. I believe it is because the auto manufactures up here. I think they pay to have all the salt dumped on the roads so they can sell more cars.
For the frame- POR-15. Make sure you follow directions carefully. It will hold up well. As for the front end with the blade, helper springs will fix the problem, however when you take off the blade your front end might just be a bit higher.
The V-6 is an unstoppable engine. My parents neighbor in Grand Haven used to have a jeep just like that.
As for glass breaking loose, haven't had the problem but then again I don't plow with mine. I do know that plowing does put a lot of strain on the body when you hit the end hard. I guess if you do that often you might not want a glass body. But if you mainly push snow around you would have no problem. Now if you plow snow like my father you will not want to go glass as your repairs will be to great.(he tends to forget what is around him)

[High5]

Prior to '75 all ya could get factory was the 225 V-6 or the 4 cyl. Inline 6 and V-8 didn't show until after '75 due to the length of the engine compartment. Yours is a short nose 5.


Mine's a 75 and I have the 258. I believe you are meaning to say after 71, as in 72 on up. That is when the fenders were lengthened to house the straight six.

I also have a 2.5 inch lift and 33's. I think it looks great, but I may be biased. I went with the 4wd.com lift and I am very happy with it. Not a tough job to do either.

High5

[Mudslinger73]

Hey Brian that sounds like a nice Jeep, great find ! You might look at buying stock springs for the rear..and check into a local spring shop for the front...some specialize in heavy trucks but they might be able to build you some good springs, they could add the weight of the plow and pump mechanism and build you a spring too match.
Maybe ask some tech guys( 4wd Hardware comes to mind ) about maybe using the front springs off of the V 8 CJ's ( '72 to '75) maybe with a little modification you can use an 'off the shelf ' item...
I would stay away from a lift of any kind ..it might change the blade angle...I've done some plowing...
You might want to check the AMPS of you're charging system...you will be running the plow pump and maybe some extra lights...I don't know what company makes the one on your rig...but if you switch to a old GM style alternator you can get alotta AMPS for little bucks..I'm runnin one on my '73 CJ 5...V 8....spares are cheap....have one around for that late night or weekend electrical disaster.....been there...
As far as body I 'd say either patch up your body....can you weld?...or go with metal....because the repairs in winter will be easier....pound out the dent and go on until warmer weather returns. Glass repairs require a warm shop and alot more time.....
First thing I'd do is get the brakes in top shape..ya gotta be able to stop !!
You didn't say what kinda top you have....if it's a soft top I hope the windows aren't messed up 'cause ya wanna be able to see out when plowing in odd light conditions....dark. night......street lights glare......sun at a low angle....don't want ya to bump into wifey's ride by accident.....
Main thing...drive it alot shake the bugs out ...and HAVE FUN !!!!
..nuff said.

[BrianH]

Hey thanks for the input guys.

Top = old junk one (i think it might even be a cj7 one so im planing on having to replace that.

Brakes seem okay not a stop on the dime system but probably never was.

Just to clear some of what i said up (looks around for wife) I only plow one place and my home. The plow is a excuse to get a cool looking jeep. 800 dollars for a jeep with a plow how can i lose hunny it will pay for itself.

Metal body is sounding tempting more and more each day but im really scared of having to redo alot in 5 years ... but I guess such is life maybe I should not worry so about that.

The other option I was considering was attaching the plow a bit different so it was a bit easier to remove the whole set up. Then the weight would only be a issue for a shorter period of time.

Lift is more my brothers idea I frankly am not that sold on it I was planing 1" just cuz thats the kit I saw and I know I need shocks springs and all that jazz.

Question while I have it all tore down. Should I just rebuild the engine or at least try to find a way to be sure its all okay? If so how would you go about doing that?

[High5]

I would definitely do a tune up on it, but if it aint broke, why fix it????

I have a fiberglass body from 4wd.com and it has held up quite well. I accidently backed into a tree one night and just messed up the paint, but didnt' damage the fender. I think up here in the rust belt, fiberglass is almost a must. It's more work to ground things, but never having to worry about rust is a big plus for me.

High5:beer:

[lynn]

I also run a glass tub. No probs in the past 10 yrs; it all depends on how you mount them.

[BrianH]

You cant get fiber tailgate and window frame tho right?

I have seen packages in metal that include it all front fendors, hood, tube, tailgate, and window frame. Do they have a all fiber version or do you just use fiber for tub and fendors?

Also whats the trick to mounting them to keep them safer then? just getting the special bolt kit?

[lynn]

Use a soft mounting compound, and don't overtighten the bolts. I used a "salami" from 4WDH that you cut-to-length.
Be warrned... it's VERY difficult to cut uniformly.
Also, spread the load. Any place the bolt goes through the body should have a 2" diameter washer (or bigger)on each side of the tub.

Brian... there ia ALOT more info on older rigs like yours... and plenty of expert owners... at the links in my sig. I strongly recommend you go to those forums, spend alot of time reading and searching... most of your questions have been posted and answered there dozens of times by others :)
Introduce yourself there, it's a great group! The questions you do post there will be answered quickly as the group is more familiar with the quirks of the Early rigs than most guys with newer CJs.