1980 Jeep CJ5; Back to the beginning

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
Story Time...

Around 1995-96 I was introduced to 'rockcrawling' & Jeeps... I had a few local friends that were building their CJ's and I got interested. At the time my DD was my '71 SS Camaro with a full roller 355, making around 400 HP. I decided to look for a Jeep to buy so I could wheel with my friends and ended up finding a 1980 CJ5 that a surveyor has used for much of his career. It had something crazy like 220k miles on it, was pretty rough with the soft top falling apart, seats were beat up, had some rust in the rear quarters, etc. I made a deal to buy it, having no clue where this purchase would lead years later. It was Grey with a white soft top and blue seats.

It had a 4 cyl engine, which was quite anemic even on tiny 30" tires. I didn't know at the time of buying it, but it was assembled with a GM Iron Duke 151 engine, SR4 4 speed manual transmission and Dana 300 t-case with a factory short output shaft. The Iron Duke was only used for 2 years, so they're somewhat rare. What's neat about them is the bellhousing is a standard Chevy bolt pattern!! These CJ's had 4.10 gears from the factory to help spin the little 151.

After I got the CJ5 home, I tore the soft top off, added a Bestop bikini top and drove it as my DD... the Camaro was having transmission issues. Working at a tire shop, I was able to pick up a set of old-school Goodyear bias ply tires... I think they called them 31x14.5x15's? They were mounted on hideous Yellow wagon wheels, which I quickly painted Black. The tires were awesome, but really strained the little Iron Duke. After a few trips up AF Canyon and less than 3 months into my ownership, the Iron Duke expired and wouldn't run anymore.

After some research, I decided to put the 355 Camaro engine into the CJ5. I had to use a 10.5" clutch assembly from an 80's Camaro and fenderwell headers that ran under the rocker panel and turned out before the rear tires. I swapped the cam for more of a torque curve friendly one, but it's RPM range was still 1500-6000 RPM. I upgraded the radiator to a heavy duty 4 core as well.

The CJ ran incredible with the built SBC, it could pull the driver front tire off the ground in every gear and was faster than the Camaro was! I ended up painting it Military Green with Zolatone. It wasn't great on the freeway, not having OD and equipped with 4.10 gears, so I never took the CJ5 to Moab... just tore around the hills of Utah County.

i-gZDggbW.jpg



I ended up selling the Jeep, but not before pulling the built 355 and selling it separate and stabbing in a stock SBC 350. I even tried finding my old CJ5 again, but didn't haven any luck.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
A few days ago I ran across a 1980 CJ5 for sale locally.... with a GM Iron Duke drivetrain. :eek:

I had to go check it out, it doesn't currently run but it's in pretty good shape for a 43 year old Jeep. It has a hard top with hard doors. After chatting with the owner and getting the low down, I paid his asking price. I have another CJ5! I took a few pics of the CJ on the side of his house, will be picking it up later today.

It looks to have a 2.5" lift, the springs are "newer" and it has some kind of aftermarket shocks. I'll see if I can figure out what springs it has.

i-gLsVwjJ-X2.jpg

i-HXfGqdv-X3.jpg

i-PNzqM79-X4.jpg
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
So, what's the plan?

I'd love to get it running and driving again with the factory drivetrain. Long term, I'm considering swapping in a GM 4.3, possibly a SM465 (that I pulled out of my '70 C10!) for it's compound low gear. Keep the Dana 300, possibly look into Scout Dana 44's and set the CJ up to run 33-35" tires while keeping it as low as possible. Make it capable of fun Moab trails like my old CJ2A was, but a little more reliable.
 

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Marnie says Catherine must truly love you :rofl:. She also mentioned something about an intervention....


JT Gladiator
'67 Gladiator
1980 CJ5
GoatBilt TJ buggy
Pontiac Bonneville/Catalina
K20 pickup
C10 pickup (?)

(you're making me look good so I appreciate it :D----although I REALLY have a hankering for '70s-80s Chev shortbed or K5---bonus points for a stepside pickup with old school multitube rollbar and 3 shocks on each corner)
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
CJ5!! That’s WAY less wiring than was/is in Britney. Any idea what the original color was?

Go for the V8. It’s cheaper and easier and you know you want to pull wheels off the ground again. Plus, V8.

Funny enough, it has wiring issues and that's why it doesn't currently run. There's a aftermarket toggle switch on the dash that apparently controls the ignition power...???

I love the idea of a V8, but it's overkill and breaks parts. I think a Vortec 4.3 with a Motorcraft 2300 carb would be fine. I'd run the heaviest flywheel I can find, so it will just chug over obstacles. I've got the TJ for mean V8 power. ;)



Marnie says Catherine must truly love you :rofl:. She also mentioned something about an intervention....


JT Gladiator
'67 Gladiator
1980 CJ5
GoatBilt TJ buggy
Pontiac Bonneville/Catalina
K20 pickup
C10 pickup (?)

(you're making me look good so I appreciate it :D----although I REALLY have a hankering for '70s-80s Chev shortbed or K5---bonus points for a stepside pickup with old school multitube rollbar and 3 shocks on each corner)

Yes, but the K20 and '67 Gladiator are up for sale.... I need to make some room and free up my time for the priority projects. Plus, you forgot Catherine's Chevy II's! I wish the TJ was an actual GoatBuilt chassis! It's just a TJ, built by Goat. :rofl:


I always loved how CJ5's with a hard top looked.

I'm not a fan, but I understand why you'd like it. I preferred my Bikini top and Bestop soft top. My plan is to get a set of soft half doors and another bikini top and rock that 98% of the time.


Team cj!

Don't do scout axles. Find waggy axles or maybe some Rubicon takeoffs. I've had quite the battle with my scout 44s. And by "I" of course I mean @bryson

Interesting, I know you've had some problems with yours.... is it all steering related? My issue is the width and Scout axles are pretty ideal. Narrow track CJ's are 53" WMS and wide track are 56"... I don't want to go wider than 58", which Scout II Dana 44's are. Super wide axles look silly on CJ5's.

I could run a Isuzu Rodeo Dana 44 rear, they're 58" wide... just redrill the bolt pattern for 5x5.5". Maybe I'll find a high pinion Ford D44, retube it for passenger drop and make it 58" wide?
 

Cody

Random Quote Generator
Supporting Member
Location
East Stabbington
I don't know everything about them, but they have no caster and the passenger side has the ubolt mounting points cast into the housing, which was a pita.

If even consider an 8.8 rear.. Plenty strong plus disc brakes.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
It's hard to have my exquisite automotive taste. So it's understandable that you'd default to such plebeian aesthetics.😉

Despite my plebeain taste, the whole point of this CJ5 is to rekindle fond memories of my first Jeep, which I couldn't even afford a new soft top for in my first year of ownership. A hardtop wasn't even a possibility with my young age and barely above minimum wage job at the time.
 

The_Lobbster

Well-Known Member
I have a 2.0 BHW TDI that would go great in this 😉

Just saying! Nate at Dirt lifestyle is trying to build a 400hp BHW right now. You could get some good power without going over the top.
 

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
I don't know everything about them, but they have no caster and the passenger side has the ubolt mounting points cast into the housing, which was a pita.

If even consider an 8.8 rear.. Plenty strong plus disc brakes.
The 8.8 is definitely a strong axle after the Yukon shafts and C-clip kit are installed. I’m not sure if that’s old enough to rekindle your ancient youth, though. 😁

Narrowing a GM full width Dana 44 might be nice. You could get it to the right width and run off the shelf shafts, plus adjust caster and pinion angle while you’re at it.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
If you do decide to do a soft top I have a friend that could use the hard top.

I planned on putting it up for sale soon, it has the rear lift gate as well. I looked briefly and found another used one in worse shape than mine for $500. Does that sound reasonable?
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
Narrowing a GM full width Dana 44 might be nice. You could get it to the right width and run off the shelf shafts, plus adjust caster and pinion angle while you’re at it.

I've narrowed a GM D44 before, no reason I couldn't do it again. I'm not sure what length long side inner shaft I'd need to get to 58" wide, but I can do some research.
 

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
I built a set of Scout 44's for my CJ. Ran flat top knuckles and high steer. I did turn the C's back a bit and had a really funky shaped U-bolt, ie custom bent, on the passenger side to work with the diff housing. One finger steering down the highway at 75. Was really happy with it. The rear was easy with just a disc brake swap and new spring perches and shock mounts.
 

Cody

Random Quote Generator
Supporting Member
Location
East Stabbington
I built a set of Scout 44's for my CJ. Ran flat top knuckles and high steer. I did turn the C's back a bit and had a really funky shaped U-bolt, ie custom bent, on the passenger side to work with the diff housing. One finger steering down the highway at 75. Was really happy with it. The rear was easy with just a disc brake swap and new spring perches and shock mounts.
I'm curious what you did for the rear discs. I think that's my next project.
 

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
I don't remember specifics, but I want to say it was some shops kit. It was a bolt on caliper mount with a Cadi park brake caliper. I used an early corvette MC with an adjustable proportioning valve. I was real happy with the set up.
 
Top