Another '79 DJ-5G Thread..

Very Nice DJ. Very clean, straight, and looks to be very little rust if any. And you even have the hub caps.  

What a PITA!

Looking for parts for this thing is a pain, and then its 50/50 if they will work with the '79 Spirit parts.
So far, had good results with the plugs, wires, air filter and points. The PCV may work, but the one in there is much larger and the hose is too stretched to hold the newer, streamline one made for the Spirit.

Seems the previous owner didnt like the electronic choke and pulled out the butterfly. Explains the hard start, lol. Looking for those specific parts to rig a temp fix for about two months. Looks like Im going with the 232/a727 conversion kits to turn this into a DJ-5F, so Im not in the market for a whole new carb. Would like to put a 4cyl/tranny combo thats a bit newer for price and availability for parts though. A $50 part for the 232 would be around $10 for the S-10.

Current mission is to keep it running for two months untill I can get the conversion kit, or something similar. Timed it up real good today. Still has major problems in the current engine/tranny config, but it only has to last two months as a daily driver. Im not going to spend more than $20 on anything else unless I can swap it out with the conversion. Im at the feeding it oil/tranny fluid to keep it alive phase, lol.


This weekend, I pulled off the "postal" blue/red tape, unmounted the air horn from the fender and stowed it under the hood, and removed the CB (this thing is about 5lbs, 1' x 8"x 6" and still works!), its mounting bracket, and the mini PA system and speaker the previous owner installed on the roof. Also peeled off the John Deer stickers and the mariners wheel on the pass vent cover. Added a few temp. "Zombie Outbreak Response" labels I printed, to be upgraded by vinyl before all is said and done. Also added a tach which has proved very helpful getting the engine running solid.

Touched up some rust spots and areas that the red/blue tape took the paint off.
Was funny that after searching for white primer at 4 different auto parts store I found it at the grocery store. Almost went ahead and got black primer, but I didnt want the dairy cow look. Im not doing heavy body and paint work now because eventually Im going to strip this thing down to metal, prime it black, and cover it in glossy rhino liner-ish coat, inside and out. Should reduce some noise and solidify the whole body a bit, not to mention look extremely cool! For now, just doing some sand and cover.

The major rusted parts, and there are few, will be replaced by fiberglass if its feasible. I'd like to have new metal welded in but my wrencher has a love affair with fiberglass...


Quick 'shop of the planned turn signal placement..

Any suggestions?

More later!




Edited by THeGAME - May/25/2011 at 9:50pm

Lol.. Maybe I should just PM you Ram, lol..

You wouldnt happen to know the wheel pattern for this thing would you?

Looking to get a "wagon wheel" type wheel set for it.

Craigslist-
"Sport king AT 30x9.50R15 and they're siped for extra traction with about 3/4 tread, they are on Ford lug pattern spoked rim $300 for a set of 4."

Probably wouldnt fit though. (sigh)

I just put a pair of Primewell P205/75R15's on the back about two weeks ago as a quick and dirty because the previous owner still had studs on it (was a fun filled 65mi home when I bought it, let me tell ya) The front tires are pretty bald. But I have one decent spare of the same size.

Instead of buying two more Primewells to match up, I want to get 4 wagon wheels and match the tires on those. However, I dont know jack about rims, and the only info the owners manual gives me is:
Flange type: 5.5" K, safety rim
Size: 1/2-20
Bolt Circle: 5.5

Standard tire is a E78-15 the P205/75R15's were as close as I could get without special order.
Funny though, for the E78-15:
Inflation Pressure-
Front 18psi
Rear  24psi

Im not too worried about them being to wide to open the doors as long as it isnt too wide to make a few adjustments to the door.

BTW, you could get a A727 from postaljeep.net, which is where Im buying my conversion kit. The conversion kit includes everything from the front grill to the drive line, plug n play. Radiator, carb, starter, transmission, water/oil/fuel pumps, manifolds, hoses.. Everything. $1750 + shipping.
 





Edited by THeGAME - May/25/2011 at 9:56pm

Well. Boo..

Took it to work saturday and I cant even guess the amount of (oil/trans fluid?) in the cooling system, or even which it is. Flushed the rad/engine over the course of 4hrs. Ran about 20gal through it to get most of it out. It took about 10gal for it to start coming out clear, but still oily and brownish.

I added some Prestone Super rad flush and will do another flush this saturday and see how much came back. I had hopes it was all old till a few streaks of black came out the last few cycles after a few high revs. Add in some streaks of white and small rust chunks and it looked like a melted mocha almond fudge sundae.

This is two days after, and believe me, its an improvement. No where near as thick.



Oil in pan is not milky and doesnt contain water bubbles, the trans fluid looks ok and Im not losing fluid except very slowly through gaskets, but Ill still have to guess a head problem as the head gasket is less than a year old, assuming they put the right one on and correctly. Still baffled on the source. Just guessing its oil due to the thick nature of the fluid that came out. 

Still planning on buying a trans cooler because Ill still be able to use it with the new set up.

Due to the simple and uncluttered nature of my engine, I may try to put a new head gasket on just pulling off the exhaust manifold, but Id like to know opinions before I spend the money and time. It just needs to last another few months before I replace it.

Ramble..
Those wheels/tires would be 3in wider (205mm/285mm) than my current tires, which I assume means 1.1/2in inside and out. My clearance for the door is right about 1.1/2in. The tires are shorter by 25mm. I was thinking of adding a larger bracket to the rear bottom slider on my doors that would kick them out about an inch. Granted, that would increase the gap on the door, but I dont think his thing will ever be air tight anyway, lol. Was planning the cut out around the wheel wells, but I dont want to do a half and half door cut. Now if I could redo the doors to be swing type..

I would love to be able to use the rims, but Im assuming the tires will fit my 15"s either way. I wanted to lower it a bit and get wider tires anyway due to the high center of gravity. So even if just the tires work with 3/4 tread for $300 all around, plus 25mm lower, its still a plus! Heck, the POS tires I just bought for the back cost me $175 and the front tires are just this side of legal.

Hope they are still available in a few weeks.




Edited by THeGAME - May/30/2011 at 4:27pm

Well, good news -n- bad.

The bad.
First off, Im kinda writing this vehicle off. While I can fix it, the expense to do so is a bit more than I bargained for. There is alot of good in this Jeep, ruined by a bad drive train from rad to rear axle. Pretty much figure ripping it all out and replacing it. When all is said and done, Ill be selling it at a loss.

The good.
Im probably buying another one this weekend, and taking the parts I need off this one.

I test drove the new one last week and it was night and day. It had been used as a rural mail carrier until April of this year, and it already sounds and drives a whole lot better. New tranny, carb (one barrel), brake system, exhaust. and glass, all within my projected overall budget, with a lot of room left over to tweak it to my own particular idiom! Its solid, which is what I was looking for as a base, daily driver.

Ill post more pics this weekend of them side by side, and the part swap.

As far as the one I have, I dont know if its a gasket or the head, but adding pressure to the cooling system made it a heck of a lot worse. Carb is missing parts, i donno if I have a tranny or linkage problem or if the rear end is just bad. Donno how much tinkering has been done to it. But I guess someone else will gain a ice cream truck, ratrod or climber..

It'll be on craigslist in WA as soon as I get the title.

More pics this weekend!