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Buzzard's '65 Cj5 Patina Build

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by Buzzard, Apr 6, 2022.

  1. Apr 6, 2022
    Buzzard

    Buzzard New Member

    Ventura County, CA
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    Hello Everyone!

    I have been a guest to this site for some time and am thankful for the knowledge and help that is shared here. I have been wanting to create a build thread and figured I finally have some progress to show.

    I bought my CJ several years ago and dragged it out the field it had been sitting in for 10+ years. It is a 1965 with a 283 SBC mated to the stock T-90 and Dana 18. Below is the first day I brought it home:


    The goal is to make it into a reliable driver for around town and to take it wheeling for when we go camping. The body is pretty rough with some bad rust spots but the frame and driveline are all in decent shape.

    Alittle history on work so far:
    When I purchased it, the PO mentioned that the motor was toast and it had a knock. The day after I brought it home, my brother and I were able to get it the ole chevy v8 running after a good carb cleaning, new plugs, and some oil down the cylinders. The PO did not lie about the knock, but further investigation shows that the plug wires for cylinder #1 and #2 were switched. Quick swap of the plug wires and it was much happier.

    From there, I changed all fluids, brake & fuel lines, worn out tie rods, and the windshield. I was also able to get most of the electrical working. I purchased a new Edelbrock air filter for it but the old four barrel Carter WFCB carb has a smaller diameter that required an adapter so I whipped one up:


    Additionally, the shock mount on one of the front leaf springs was broken. So i made a replacement for that as well:


    With this work done, I was able to get take the CJ out for its first outing:


    The death wobble was no joke. I knew the steering was in decent enough shape and that the alignment was good so the last suspect was the old and cracked bias ply tires. I put some new 31" shoes on and the death wobble was eliminated. The next step was body work but life got in the way and the jeep was put away for a year or so.

    This brings us to present day. The jeep was brought into the garage and tear down began. The PO had fastened some aluminum panels with sheet metal screws to cover the entire floor and cover up the underlying rust. I started to peel these off and found some nasty rust as expected.


    I cut all of the floor out and am currently in the process of replacing with new sheet metal:


    The drivetrain:

    Posting this makes me realize I didnt take enough pictures lol. I will try to keep up with this thread and hope you enjoyed my story.
     
    Danefraz, Jw60, 454x and 14 others like this.
  2. Apr 6, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    5,625
    Beautiful job on the floor pan!
     
    Buzzard and ITLKSEZ like this.
  3. Apr 6, 2022
    homersdog

    homersdog Tulsa, Ok 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Tulsa, OK
    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2012
    Messages:
    2,352
    Welcome from Oklahoma. I like this project, keep up the good work!
     
    Buzzard likes this.
  4. Apr 7, 2022
    OzFin

    OzFin Vintage Jeep Guy

    Michigan
    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2007
    Messages:
    936
    Looking good, you appear to have very good fabrication skills (y)
     
    Buzzard likes this.
  5. Apr 7, 2022
    jeepstar

    jeepstar Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Sheboygan
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2006
    Messages:
    2,754
    great job on the body fix! should last another 57 years!keep posting more pics.
     
    Buzzard likes this.
  6. Apr 7, 2022
    sixtyfive5

    sixtyfive5 Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2006
    Messages:
    83
    The patina looks great! Very cool. Congrats on getting the rig road ready.
     
    Buzzard likes this.
  7. Apr 7, 2022
    Buzzard

    Buzzard New Member

    Ventura County, CA
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    Thanks for the comments!

    As you could gather from the title, I do not plan on painting the exterior or dash since it has such an authentic patina to it. When i first got it, it had moss and other things covering/growing on the jeep so I hit the exterior with some soapy water and a scotchbrite pad and it really cleaned up nice.

    Left side was untouched, right is from soapy water and scotchbrite pad:

    For the floor, I used 18 gage sheet for the panels, 1" X 2" X .125" Tube for the braces and center support, and some 0.5" X 1.5" X .0625" around the perimeter of the tub so the sheet has something to sit on. Here are some pictures from earlier in the floor install:



    As for the engine, I want to try to keep the SBC as I like the vintage look. It developed a vacuum leak somewhere before I tore the jeep down as it won't idle and has gotten hard to start when its cold. I ran a compression test and got 100-110 psi across the 8 cylinders. After I did the test though, I was informed the engine should be warm and the throttle should be wide open.... :bash: Regardless of the results, I am going to look into what it will cost to tear down and rebuild this engine. If I keep it, I will go with a new carb, intake, and will update the ignition to an HEI distributor.


     
  8. Apr 7, 2022
    shadetreetim

    shadetreetim Member 2022 Sponsor

    Riverside, Ca -...
    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2019
    Messages:
    199
    Cool project. I like the metal work you've done.
     
  9. Apr 7, 2022
    Buildflycrash

    Buildflycrash More or Less in Line. 2024 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Gulf Breeze FL...
    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2007
    Messages:
    3,559
    Buzzard
    Can you give us details on how you matched the paint on the new medal you added to the Patina? I'm sure the welding burns from the new floor damaged patina as well. Did you somehow match all that ?
     
  10. Apr 7, 2022
    garage gnome

    garage gnome ECJ5 welder

    Western MA
    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2009
    Messages:
    3,083
    Love these kind of builds. People need to do more of this.
     
  11. Apr 7, 2022
    Buzzard

    Buzzard New Member

    Ventura County, CA
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    Yeah so my plan here was to minimize burn through as much as possible. I would backup the weld area with some aluminum blocks clamped to the outside of the tub. They would help suck up some of the heat the steel would see. Seemed to work well in some areas.

    Where the welds do show through, I was planning on just leaving it as is lol
     
  12. Apr 7, 2022
    sixtyfive5

    sixtyfive5 Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2006
    Messages:
    83
    Such an awesome build. Can’t wait to see how you handle the oxidized/lightly rusted areas on the hood for example. I have a similar project underway with a 100% stock and original 1970 CJ5. (Thread forthcoming in the future). My hood looks similar to yours. I too will be doing zero painting on mine.

    The SBC is a cool set up. I have one in my 65 CJ5. It’s been in there for the last 37 years that I’ve owned it. I have a 2 barrel, and HEI. Works well for my set up.

    Thanks for sharing your build!
     
  13. Apr 7, 2022
    timsresort

    timsresort Active Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    South Lake Tahoe CA
    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2014
    Messages:
    1,382
    Great work so far! (I'm kind of partial to the '65's).
     
    Buzzard likes this.
  14. Apr 7, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,625
    My '69 has plenty of patina and that's just the way I like it. It's mechanically 100% but not so perfect you can't use it.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Apr 8, 2022
    Buzzard

    Buzzard New Member

    Ventura County, CA
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    Thanks for bringing up the point about patina preservation. I was actually hoping I could get some insight from here about what other folks have done. I know they sell sprays like this one: https://us.amazon.com/Eastwood-Resistant-Preserver-Corrosion-Protection/dp/B085HZVYSZ but am worried it will make it all shiny and doubt it will truly provide corrosion protection.

    That is good to hear that the rest of the drivetrain has held up to a SBC for that long, I was worried that the driveline is fatigued from the V8.
     
  16. Apr 8, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,625
    I just polished and heavily waxed mine right over the rust and it's held up decently for the last 6 years. But the Jeep parks inside and doesn't get caught in the rain often. You can see the paint is completely burned off the passenger side of the hood in the above picture. It's hard to tell from a distance because the rust and the faded red are a close match.

    Some soft Scotch-Brite might help smooth out the worst rust areas without completely removing it. I know the rat-rod crowd likes to use matte clear paint to preserver the patina. I've heard of people rubbing oil into the rust too. A clear wood working Danish oil might work well.
     
  17. Apr 8, 2022
    NH Charlie

    NH Charlie Member

    New Hampshire
    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2022
    Messages:
    66
    Awesome Fab skill Buzzard, looks really good. You've got yourself a nice little road warrior there. Mine is a 64 CJ5, got lucky when I bought it, had very little rust.
     
    Buzzard likes this.
  18. Apr 8, 2022
    Keys5a

    Keys5a Sponsor

    Florida Keys
    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2014
    Messages:
    4,170
    Nice work on the floor repairs, but keeping the faded look for the rest. Keep a light foot on the throttle with the 283. A T90 will hold up for a while behind that, but don’t plan on replacing it with anything bigger or lots more hardware will go south pretty quickly. Actually, a 283 is a nice engine for our old Jeeps. I like your build!
    -Donny
     
  19. Apr 9, 2022
    Buzzard

    Buzzard New Member

    Ventura County, CA
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    I like the wax idea, your jeep looks great! My jeep was red from the factory so it’s kinda cool to see what it would’ve looked like.

    I think I’ll give the wax a try and see how it looks.
     
    Fireball likes this.
  20. Apr 9, 2022
    Buzzard

    Buzzard New Member

    Ventura County, CA
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    Thanks Donny! I will admit I was having a good time at stop lights because anyone who was behind me would always get over and try to pass when the light turns thinking that this old rusty jeep would barely get rolling again. They sure would get surprised when that light turns green! :D
     
    Fireball likes this.
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