Southern CJ

[CJ_Sally]

Hello friends ... New Guy - Sal - in Georgia. Thanks for adding me to the forum. I've been Jeepin' since the late 80s ... Have not owned a CJ until now. Found her in my own own backyard, literally around the corner from my home. I've placed my first order and awaiting the UPS Jeep Man.

[bmorgil]

Welcome CJ! Order for what? That baby looks perfect.

[TJones]

Welcome CJ.
THAT IS A BEAUTY for sure!!

[CJ_Sally]

General maintenance work! If you can believe it ... I took this old girl out on a test drive with my wife around the lake, went back to the dealer and drove out on a temp tag. It's 1968 again!

If anyone is interested in these wheels and tires please let me know ... I want a set of factory steel wheels which will probable be my next order from Mike :D

[5JeepsAz]

That is great, man! Welcome on in

[LarrBeard]

Hello friends ... New Guy - Sal - in Georgia. Thanks for adding me to the forum. I've been Jeepin' since the late 80s ... Have not owned a CJ until now. Found her in my own own backyard, literally around the corner from my home. I've placed my first order and awaiting the UPS Jeep Man.

That's just about too pretty for a starting place for this bunch. We generally start with a pile of rust and work up from there!

[gmwillys]

Welcome CJ Sally!

Very nice CJ. Southern Keeps are great starting platforms for the most part. Can't wait to see more!

[bmorgil]

You could definitely start with something worse.

[CJ_Sally]

You could definitely start with something worse.

Alright ... so I see a lot of potential. Great rubber ... lots of wires ... and metal. There's metal... and parts. You definitely have parts :rolleyes:

[CJ_Sally]

Welcome CJ Sally!

Very nice CJ. Southern Keeps are great starting platforms for the most part. Can't wait to see more!

My wife has been telling me "The garage smells funny" ... I decided to investigate. As pretty as this CJ5 is, it has some problems... Surprise!

First and foremost I believe a 5 year old may have had a hand in assembly. Looks like the previous owner took apart the entire Jeep and reassembled without tools. Everything ... I mean everything is hand tight. I am literally finding hardware laying on my garage floor and on the floor of the CJ...

The smell? Fuel leak ... there's a new fuel tank and it looks like someone decided to use rubber hose and zip ties instead of a steel line. No big deal except the fuel is leaking on the exhaust :eek:

The electrical ... ah, we don't need no stinking electrical. Couldn't figure out why I had no brake lights. Apparently they are not connected, at all. The entire harness is patched together with pieces of random wire and household wire nuts ... WIRE NUTS!

Not sure if I should just take this thing down to the frame and commit to a nut and bolt restoration OR take this thing down and put it back together correctly and then see what I have :rolleyes:

[bmorgil]

Oh man... the wire nuts would have pushed me over the edge. You may want to dig deeper.

[5JeepsAz]

Apologize if this seems funny, but your description makes me think of you standing in the doorway with some parts in both fists, watchin gas leak out, look of mazement across your whole head, maybe even hair flying. Thanks for taking it so well! Lol. Perhaps the two options are one in the same. Since you have to tighten everything, maybe that actually is a nut and bolt resto!

[CJ_Sally]

Apologize if this seems funny, but your description makes me think of you standing in the doorway with some parts in both fists, watchin gas leak out, look of mazement across your whole head, maybe even hair flying. Thanks for taking it so well! Lol. Perhaps the two options are one in the same. Since you have to tighten everything, maybe that actually is a nut and bolt resto!

My hair, without a doubt was sticking up ... Am I the only one who feels like they're sedated or perhaps breathing in ether when they buy a new toy? I mean I heard angels singing when I bought this CJ... and now that the ether has worn off, there are no angels ... I saw NO WIRE NUTS when I was buying. As a matter of fact I was super impressed the blinkers worked.

So ... it's not all that bad. I have started removing everything that is loose and placing all the parts aside, bolts in little bins ... I removed the rear tire carrier and sold it on Market Place ... I'm going to tear out the electrical and start over. I will provide photos of the wire nuts to anyone who is interested ... AND I will send out wire nut samples upon request -- I can't believe they used wire nuts :eek:

[bmorgil]

So full disclosure, I have definitely seen wire nuts in automotive before. Always brings a tear to your eye. Its hard to take the "Electrician" out of the "Electronics" sometimes! If it works in the house.....

I think your approach is solid. It sounds like the P O has all the parts in all the right places, 90% of the battle. At least you will be disassembling a nice clean vehicle with all the parts, you will know exactly what you have when it goes back together.

[5JeepsAz]

Sounds to me like the 'rubber meets the road' type situation. Love at first site? 2nd date? My gawd it could be like meeting someone in person after you meet virtual. Whatever it is like, it is great to know you have a new project and looking forward to the build progress!

[51 CJ3]

I see lots of wire nuts in cars, boats, trailers and even the occasional airplane. It is pretty crazy when it is so easy to just do the job right.

[gmwillys]

Wire nuts... Try the occasional light switch for an ignition switch.... Seen it twice.

[bmorgil]

and even the occasional airplane

O M G!!!! Now that would be flyin' by the seat of your pants.