So I Bought this Jeep
...
I learned to drive in 1949, in a WWII surplus jeep. My
dad turned me loose in the hills above Wenatchee, Washington and said, "Go
for it." (or words to that effect). I fell in love with that machine.
We explored those hills all summer, and as long as I stayed off the road
I was legal. Haven't had one since, until February of 1998. Not that I didn't
want one, but other things kept coming along... a wife, a house, a child,
a series of "practical" cars, a sailboat, and so on. But a few
years ago the expenses from those things (and most of the things themselves)
dropped away, and I got to yearning for a jeep again. Oh yeah, now it's
a brand name, so I guess I have to capitalize it.
| Last January I saw one advertised on the net - a '74 CJ5 -
for a price that seemed reasonable and a close-by location. I took a look
at it and learned from its owner that until recently it had been sitting
in a field for five years. I promptly offered him half his asking price,
on the grounds that brakes, bearings and other things would have atrophied
during that time. |
Here it is, overlooking the Columbia
River near Longview, Washington on August 1, 1998. The seller's "new"
top is at home, waiting for winter. Instead, I have a "Bikini"
top installed. |
"No way," he said. "That top's only a year
old. I have too much money tied up in it." So I gave him my card and
told him to give me a call if he changed his mind, but in the meantime I'd
be looking for another. A month later he called, and we made a deal.
I was right. $1,000 later the Jeep had new brakes, new
wheel bearings, a new windshield frame and some other things. Oh well, I
bought it so I'd have something to do besides watch television. I got lots
of practice signing checks, using wrenches and getting dirty. And there's
more of the same to come.
For instance, it won't stay in reverse. A transmission
rebuild is going to cost me a bundle, and when I do that probably I should
do the transfer case as well. And who knows what shape the differentials
are in? Hopefully that will all wait until next year.
Same Jeep, different view. This
thing is FUN! |
In the meantime, am I having fun yet? You
bet! That machine's taken me into some back roads
I wouldn't have dared take my Ford van. It's opened the doors for back road
fishing and camping spots I've dreamed of for years. And now I'm getting
ready to join a club of off- roaders whose main purpose (it seems) is to
find out just what their 4x4s can and cannot go through. |
| Once I have a couple of trail rides under my belt, I'll add
some of those experiences to this page. In the meantime, here's the specs
on my "new baby." |
- '74 CJ-5, made by AMC:
- 304 V-8
- 3-speed manual transmission
- Oversize tires and slightly "lifted"
Here are some of the less expensive things I've had to
do on it:
- Rebuild the heater system, including replacement of blower
motor and defroster ductwork. (It's summer now, but going over the Cascades
come deer and elk season, I'll need that stuff.)
- Replace driver-side muffler. It was blown, and making
a racket you wouldn't believe, and leaking exhaust into the cab.
- Rebuild the windshield wiper motor. It sort of worked
at first, single-speed with the wipers stopping wherever they were when
it was switched off. Then it quit altogether. Turned out the copper contacts
for the brushes were oxidized. A little work with a wire brush on a Dremel
tool fixed it up fine. Now it works as a selectable two-speed motor, and
the wipers go to a home position when switched off. Sounds "ho-hum,"
but it was a major triumph for a repair dunce like me.
- Reseat and repair the radiator. It had broken from its
housing, and was in danger of hitting the fan. I had this brazed back together
by a radiator repair shop, for about $30.
- Repair horn. A previous owner installed a "racing"
steering wheel - why, God only knows. It's too darn small. But in doing
so he did a number on the horn wiring inside the steering column. It took
a while to figure that out, but it didn't cost anything. One of the few
repairs with my kind of price!
- Straighten out the wiring. Now here's something I could
do! For 20-some years, people had been putting on and taking off electrical
gizmos, and this thing had a tangle of wires that went nowhere - some hot
and some not. I must have removed 30 feet of wire that no longer had a
purpose, dressed up what remained, cleaned and replaced connectors, and
so forth. Now all things electrical actually work! Another major triumph
for our side.
- And here are some of the things I know I'll have to do:
- Remove the rust from the floorboards, front and rear.
In some places, it's rusted through, so I'll have to patch those spots.
- Fiberglass the floorboards. Once I have the rust stopped,
this will keep it stopped! Also, it will quiet the rig down.
- Add tow hooks, front and rear. If I go on trail rides
as planned, these will come in handy. A previous owner evidently had to
be pulled out of somewhere, and he did a number on the front bumper.
- Add a second battery, with automatic selection. I run
a lot of electrical stuff in the car - CB, ham radio, laptop computer,
power tools, etc. - and this would be nice to have.
- Add fog lights. Right now, there's only one fog light,
and it's dead. Gottahave fog lights!
- Add a winch. Kind of spendy, and low on the priority
list.
Luckily, the tires probably are good for another year or
so. They will be expensive to replace.
My first trail ride (and
my first broken Jeep)
