What Did I Just Acquire????

The engine compartment looks too scrambled for a 21,000 mile jeep. Maybe the speedo came with the fibrglass tub. It is definately a frankinjeep.

 

My thoughts also. Personally, I like well made glass tubs. They don't rust and are much more dent resistant than steel. The downside is the requirement that everything has to have a ground wire but that is something I do anyway.

Again, I think this Jeep has a lot of potential and some desirable modifications. It just isn't in any way original-something I can relate to

 

Been away from the puter here for a bit... I'll respond to a few of these but first, THANK YOU all!

 

1966 and titled as a 1969? Wow they did strange stuff lol

 

The windshield was a real enigma, but now I know what gasket to get for it.... ty. Jeep reputedly spent its life down here in eastern TN or SW VA.

 

Well, if the SN indicates a production date of 66, then it makes sense. Transmission tag reads 300146-8 over 942237

"...and it has a rear tank that didn't exist in 1969 and a '78 and up gas filler bezel."

The tank is brand new, and was only available from Kaiser Willys... expensive bugger too... KW claimed it was a rare part

 

Yup! "Ribbed for her enjoyment"... some goofy things you see in life just stick with you... anyway, the tub does appear to be decent quality manufacture, just lost all its gel coat

I'll take a close look... see what I can find.

 

The windshield is correct for a '66. Sadly, the story he gave seems to be just a story. Still a nice Jeep worth spending some time and effort on.

 

Well, seeing as how it doesn't appear to be anything I need to preserve "historically", I'll continue with the plan of rhino lining the outside, building a few braces to stiffen the front, and leaving the rest relatively stock. Maybe fenderwell headers as the crazy stock pipes are ridiculously pricey. Turn it into a light use retro trail machine/mall crawler. All in all, I think it's a worthy project for my time.

I guess I'll see what it looks like when I pull the heads to cut the valves and have new seats put in them... transmission shifts like butter, and really, there isn't much grease/oil leakage underneath to indicate high miles. I've had many low mile vehicles with rats nests for wiring as folks try to fix what mice ate over a winter and really mess things up bad. Some electrically challenged people really shouldn't even be allowed to touch anything more difficult than plugging in their kitchen toaster.

 

ALL Kaiser Willys parts are RARE parts, at least they apparently think so. The bezel, perhaps. Those tend to split around the screws with age. I strongly suspect Collins Brothers have the tank also. I believe they are probably the best parts source for the 76+ CJ's.

Yes, being 3 years off between the VIN and the title date is unusual but that could have happened. My 67 CJ5, which I purchased new, was titled as a 69-the year I bought it. That was a common practice. It is also possible the VIN tag could have been switched from another Jeep-again, not an unusual occurrence. There should be sequential VIN numbers stamped on the top of the frame in the vicinity of the right front spring hanger. Originally, those matched the tag.

The moral of this story is there may be honest sellers out there but they probably comprise a minority of that population. Sometimes, the sellers just have no clue what they are selling. The only way to evaluate what you are purchasing is by doing do-diligence research. For early CJ 5/6's, this site is the absolute best place to start that research.

 

If it isn't using oil or have low compression, just run it. I still believe the 225 was the best factory engine ever used in any CJ. Light, and abundant low end torque.

 

Well, I'm not upset with the arrangement I made with the PO... a perfect condition harley that I can't ride anymore was traded for a solid complete project I can fiddle with. Time is the one thing I have an abundance of, so I'm ok with this project. And you guys really have an incredible amount of knowledge. Frame numbers are right where y'all said they'd be, and they match the tub tag. I'll still be around on this site as I'm certain I'll have other questions regarding this project. Win some, lose some, I call this a wash.

I'll do a leakdown on it and see what it shows. Everything I can see on it still indicates it's a lower mileage unit... which in itself, is pretty cool

 

ask away . we probably have the answer . people on site are here to help

 

Regardless of the story you were told, this is simply 55 years of old Jeep parts piled together. Most of that Jeep was made in the 70s.

 

Not so sure I'd be that harsh on it... you can't see this, but under the body, it's all original. Both axles, transfer case, trans, engine... it's all there and untouched for the most part. Of course, the wiring is a nightmare, but that's just a day or 2 messing with a painless universal harness. From what I've seen in other jeeps over the years, this thing isn't quite what I'd hoped for, but it's a VERY long way off of the worst I've seen. Frame is VERY solid, a little rusty, but not rusted. All in all, it'll be fine when I'm done with it.