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Jeep Cj5 buying advice


r686st

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I'm looking for information and advice. I'm interested a 1983 with a 6 cylinder and manual transmission. Can you give me common problem areas to look for while inspecting? It doesn't seem to have a top, doors and one tail light. He is asking 3K. What is a price range for a non restored model?

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Make sure the body is solid, and not a Bondo-Buggy with a nice looking coat of paint. Ditto with what MHE9 says. look at the frame all around, paying close attention to where the shackles mount at the rear. CJ frames are boxed, so mud and dirt collects inside and promotes corrosion.

The light duty 4 and 5 speeds tend to jump out of gear when worn out. Test each gear, both under acceleration, and downshifting/ compression braking to see if the transmission holds.

The 258 I-6 is a solid, reliable engine.

Northeast winters were rough on old Jeeps, hopefully you do better finding a solid one down there!

Good luck

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How close was it to the Katrina "high water" ?

"OPERTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK"  Thomas Edison

 “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’

P.T.CHESHIRE

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Rust is the enemy for sure. The frames rot out big time. Look for fresh paint and gobs of weld where patches may have been applied. The front foot wells rot out as do the rear tub corners and the sides below the front corners of the doors and the front fenders appear to be a common place to rot. If it has fresh paint, be afraid as well, unless they have detailed project photos showing the work in detail. $3000 for one in good shape is a good deal in New England...real good if its in decent shape. Get under it with a good light and study it all. If you just kick the tires, you will kick yourself later!

Good luck.

Greg

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As others have stated look for rust, then look for more rust. CJ5s are bad about rusting. I've seen a lot of them that looked really good from the outside but when you crawl up under them, you'd be scared they would break in half before you made it out of the parking lot.

I've got a '74 CJ5 that I love. It was in a local flood we had here back in 2010 but I knew that going in. I got it cheap but have done a ton of work on it to get it like I wanted. Frame has zero rust but I did have to patch some rusty body places.

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258 I6 are THE BEST.....had one in my 88 YJ.....once you got em running they were solid torque monsters....still got a carb rebuild kit in the basement for it.....took me so damn long to find it, and never got to put it in.....

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Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part....

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The jeep wasn't flooded due to Katrina it came from Colorado. I'm interested in CJ5's in general I'm not dead set on this one. Thanks for all the advice.

There are several ways to look at this. Many view the 304 cu.in. V-8-powered CJ-5 as the ultimate version.

But then you have to decide body tub styles, early 1970s (basically the M38A1 tub) versus the later revised (simplified) CJ-7 style tub.

A 4-speed transmission was an available option, making the V-8/4-speed (T18) arguably the ultimate CJ-5.

And again, it all depends on what you feel like. A second generation V-8 powered Jeep Commando (C104) was/is quite a truck.

If comfort is important, the longer wheelbase CJ-7 might be worth consideration. It inherently won't rock as much front to back, so you won't necessarily be looking for a bathroom as often as with a CJ-5.

Fast forwarding to the present, it doesn't get any better than AEV's JK Wrangler and Brute pickup.

http://www.aev-conversions.com/vehicles/jk-wrangler

http://www.aev-conversions.com/vehicles/brute-double-cab

AEV is an OEM supplier to Toledo (FCA), and their factory-like modified Jeep products enjoy a full Jeep factory warranty.

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