66 Cj5 - What Am I Looking At ?

Actually I believe the Dauntless was first offered at the beginning of the 1966 model year, which started production in July of 1965. Here's a link to post showing the very original V6 engine bay of a CJ-5a that, like yours, was manufactured in Oct. 1965: http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/139291/#post-1524606

 

Hey there, AC,
How are you, Sir ? We moved a lot closer to y'all.....about 5 hours SW of here , now.
Any Hoo..... Can you find a # on the Frame ? Top of the Frame rail on the right side, I do believe. That is indeed a 231 Even fire........most likely from a mid to late '70's Buick regal, century, le sabre , or some other Car. Allso there will be a 231 mark on the top rear most of the drivers side block & , if you take the oil pan off you'll see each individual cylinder is offset on the crankpin from its adjacent cylinder. This makes up for the 90 degree block and ensures the cylinders all fire at 120 degrees of crank revolution. However , I also am not an expert on pre Intermediates , so I'm not sure if Jeep installed any of those kid's from the Factory ?


..... Easiest way , that I just remembered , was that 231's had a soft plug on the front of the DS head .....behind possibly the PS unit .

 

Have you checked for the vin number on the frame?

 

I am sure it is a 231 even fire from a Buick, and not an original "Dauntless" engine which were all the 225 odd fire, Jeep never used a V6 even fire.

With the information provided by Maury, I am now thinking this is a first year Dauntless Jeep which had an engine swap later on with a Buick as the donor.

Too much other stuff for a V6 Jeep to make me think it was a conversion from a standard CJ5.

 

I will check for a VIN number on the frame but not until the rain stops. May not be legible as there is a big plate welded across the frame horns and not sure if any welding on the sides.

 

This might be too simple, but any sign of the V6 badge holes?

 

No badges, nor holes for them unless they have been filled in, there is a lot of bondo on this Jeep. That and underneath the layers of paint, the fenders are not the same color as the body so fenders and hood are probably not original to the Jeep.

 

How about the torque reaction arm on the passenger side of the 27 front, and the small ujoint, done on V6 jeeps?

 

The last 6 or 7 digits of the serial number are likely stamped on the top of the frame rail approximately under the battery tray (mounted on the pass. firewall). Yes as Maury stated, the ‘66 model year started in later 1965 ( I’ve heard August). Either way, October ‘65 is clearly a 1966 model year and was most likely an original Dauntless CJ. You engine appears to be a be an even fire 231, but the journal pattern of the crankshaft would confirm this. Either way, nothing wrong with an even or odd 231!
-Donny

 

"How about the torque reaction arm on the passenger side of the 27 front,"

It has a Dana 30 open knuckle front axle. Not sure what to look for as to a torque reaction arm.

 

Most of the original V6 D27 axles had a torque arm on the passenger side of the front axle. There is also a matching landing pad riveted to the side of the frame. The torque arm won't be there with the D30 but the landing pad would likely still be on the frame. On my '69 Dauntless:


As others have noted, the front driveshaft would have had smaller U-joints, but those probably left with the D27.

If it still has Ross steering, the V6s had a larger steering box compared to the 4 cylinders.

 

It does still have Ross steering, but with the header pipes and such I couldn't tell from topside whether it is the larger version. The Jeep is sitting outside the barn, so is in the weather. It has been raining a lot the last few days, so I'll wait until it dries up some before climbing under it.

Yeah probably right that the torque arm would have left with the D27, I'll look to see if the landing pad bracket is there. The Jeep has a later hood, fenders are different color than tub, and the seats in it were later Jeep high backs. I think there were a couple of donor vehicles involved.

 

I might be mistaken, but I don’t think all V6 frames had that same landing pad bracket.
-Donny

 

I believe you are correct. I remember seeing two different styles.

 

71's have this setup on both sides instead:


Not sure about earlier V6s. My sample size is 1968, 1969, and 1971.

 

I don't recall my '71 having the torque arm OR landing pad or any similar device.

 

My 70 had the same landing pad and arm as your 69.

 

My '67 has the one @Fireball showed.

 

Here’s the one from my ‘70

 

65 first year I always thought...even if it was late in the year. One thing I wanted to mention and maybe it has been said but there were a couple different bellhousings for these engines. If I can remember right, the late 71 had a 1 piece aluminum bell housing with no adapter between the transmission and bell. It looks a little odd and I actually have one that came on a tranny/transfer I bought 30 years ago.