Hi. This is my second CJ. I had a 1973 CJ5 with a 304. It was a bit of a beater, but lots of fun. I sold it 25 yrs ago and have always regretted it. I picked up this 1962 with a four cylinder recently and love it. Different animal, but it's has been fun to drive.
I am open to tips/pointers. I am debating adding lap belts. It seems fairly debatable whether they help or not.
I have also considered adding an overdrive, as top speed is only a little over 40 mph, but I am thinking that limit might be a built in safety factor!
I kept mine all original, no lap belts, no turn signals and only one rear tail light. I am not real comfortable with this configuration in any kind of traffic. I only drive it to shows that are close or to the ice cream shop a mile away. It only goes out when its nice outside. The original setup is fine for that.
If I were going to drive it around more than a few hundred miles a year I would add seat belts, and a "real" roll bar. You should do some googling about this one it is interesting. Some say it is better to be thrown from a CJ without a roll bar, than to be pinned to the seat when it rolls without a roll bar. I don't know that anyone ever did testing to prove it out. I also think unless you have a 5 point harness on, it will be tough to keep you in the seat in the open cockpit anyway. A seat belt will make it easier to drive as it will help keep you in the seat on rough terrain and hard turns and stops. If your going to drive it around a lot, I would put them in.
If you do drive in traffic faster than 50 then the overdrive will be a welcome shift! Make sure the brakes and suspension are up for it. You already have experience with a CJ and a big motor. I am sure you are aware when they are going fast they can be a handful!
That is a fine looking CJ5. Our 2A is was much like Bmorgil's, in lacking a lot of safety features. I took the roll bar off, just because I didn't like the way it looked. It fit well, but with it being bolted to the upper fender wells, with no support structure going to the frame, it would have served little protection. I did add some racing lap belts that are 3" wide, and are removable when not in use. They mount with a permanent bolt in the floor, but the belts clip onto the bolt for a secure mount. The belts are there for to help keep you in the Heep when off road more than to keep you from being thrown out in a roll over.
Agreed gm, a roll bar not attached to the frame is not a roll bar. We used to call roll bars on the fenders "light" bars. They were for mounting lights. On roll overs it wipes them right off.
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