CJ5 Resto-Mod Project

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Tailgate installation. Had to be careful with the new paint. It gets tricky when bolt heads are painted to match the body color.







With new chains from Walck's and a tailgate from Omix-ada, I think it really came out great. Turns out, the tailgate was the only item we sourced through Omix that was worth a $%^&*.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

One more shot of the dash, mostly complete.



And then some random as-it-sits-now pics. It drives as nicely as it looks.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Did I mention this Jeep is FOR SALE?

 

[Flyfishjeep]

Looks great. Very impressed with your attention to detail. If I didn't have two jeeps in my garage right now I would be asking you for a price right now! Are you going to throw a soft top on it?

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Thank you.

I am not going to put a top on it. I can't bring myself to drill holes in the beautiful body tub. But, if I do install a top, I want it to be as close to original as possible and very simple. No zip out windows or extra doo-dads. I found a Bestop that might be the right one, I think it is the Tiger Top (?), but until I can confirm the actual installation process with some actual pics, I'm just going to leave it an open air cruiser.

Price is going reflect the level of detail and finish. I am pretty confident that the quality of the job will convince whomever is actually interested in owning it that the value is there. I've got a few hundred hours into it so far, so I won't be making wages on this one.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Wow. You have done an incredible job here, but I won't buy it unless you paint the wheels body color.

That, and I win the lotto, but I think whoever can afford it will be getting their money's worth. Nicely done. You have displayed incredible skill.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Yes, body colored wheels would look great, I played around with wheel colors and white also looks great. I do like the look of the black wheels too, but it almost seems like a matte finish would work better in black.

OEM wheels don't fit with the new disc brakes, or I would have used them. I did find a wheel from Wheel Vintiques that looks almost perfectly stock, and they even have a hub cap that looks appropriate too. If I didn't have so much money tied up in this project, I would buy them nd paint them to match.

Thank you ad let me know when you win the lottery.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Quick update. In his retirement, my dad picked up a used powder coating operation and he's basically perfected the process, turning out a very nice finish. So I have been having him do the coating on this project, even though he's 120 miles away. This week he will be coming up to my place and removing all the remaining pieces that need coating and will, hopefully, have them ready for final install the next week.

Items left on the to do list:
- cut custom rubber floor mats
- install remaining powder coated pieces (seat frames, shifter boot bezel, rear bumper, license plate holder, side view mirror bracket, steering wheel hub bezel, etc)
- install new front bumper (from Omix and actually very nice)
- clean and install headlight buckets
- modify air cleaner and paint to match engine (it hits the brake booster)
- install seat belts
- plug all un-used factory bolt holes in floor (not sure why there are so many. Must have been a lot of factory optional equipment). I bought some black plastic plugs that look just like the OEM plugs.
- windshield frame needs to be fit, welded, seam sealed, painted
- install new window glass
- refurbish and install rear view mirror (bought a replacement from Omix and it is cheap plastic, so I'll be throwing that away...)

That's basically it. I'll post up more pics when the coating is done. And I need to start thinking of how to sell this Jeep. Anybody know of any vintage truck or classic Jeep shows or events coming up? I thought about bringing it to King of the Hammers, but all that sand...not good for paint...

 

[Heading Out]

Nice job.... But then again I am biased, love old Jeeps...

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Who can't say that their first love was an old Jeep? Even the most die-hard Toyota guys probably got into the sport because of a Jeep.

Thanks.

Did I mention it's for sale?

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

The final batch of powder coating is done and the parts installed. So final assembly is almost comlete.

Here's the front bumper, which I bought from Omix. Actually a good quality part.





Finding floor mats for a classic CJ is not easy. I actually couldn't find any that I would use, so I decided to make some. A roll of ribbed rubber was purchased and then templates made from chip board.







Here's the finished product. I even made on for the inside of the toolbox under the passenger seat. They are a bit curled up at the edges, but they will lay down as they sit.



The rear floor also got a rubber floor mat, which I was able to purchase so I didn't have to make that. Before I lay in the rear floor mat, I plugged all the factory holes, just like Jeep did.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

There are only a small handful of items on this CJ5 that remain in their factory finish, and the headlight buckets and trim rings are among them. They were in good enough shape to give a good cleaning and install.



After the headlights were installed, I needed beer, so the Jeep got it's first trip into town. Turned a few heads while I was there, as I still don't have a windshield...







This is my favorite pic.



Back home, safe and sound.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Let's try a full size image of my favorite pic. Did I mention this Jeep is for sale?

 

[SheepnJeep]

I would really steer away from a tiger top. I don't know, they just require a lot of snaps and stuff. Not cool. Beach wood canvas makes a nice canvas top. New Life canvas used to make them in MN, not sure if they are still in business? In any case a canvas top only requires the framework and footman loops to be added.

Nice jeep, my favorite part is the floor mats for some reason. I would like floor mats in my Willys

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

That's great advice. Ideally, I would like to have an OEM top, but I don't even know where to look for one. As a matter of fact, I don't even know what a stock top looks like. How do they mount to the body? The last thing I want is to drill a bunch of holes in the tub for those snaps.

The floor mats were not even an option, as far as I can tell, but I hated the idea of stepping on the nice painted floor. Plus, the sound deadening of the rubber mats is more noticeable than you would think.

Thanks.