will be CJ/YJ/TJ shopping soon

[animus_divinus]

to 54cj3b.. so with the hurricane engine.. a jeep can go 65?.. if so, that could be useful.. i think a vehicle should atleast be able to do 55 or 60 if you ever had to go from one city to another... and does that raised hood tend to grow on you?.. im starting to really like that look

and to superj, you just said your buddies jeep... is his a CJ3B, MB, CJ5?

 

[superj]

its that one in the pic. i don;t know the exact model but its a cj3 something. its old is the main thing i know but it never quits running

 

[flatie46]

I started out looking for a CJ-7 because I'm a pretty big guy. I've always liked the inline 6 because they last really well and are tough. Ended up buying a CJ-5, with a 304. I cut a small piece out of the wheel well so I could get the seat to go back a bit more and put the smallest grant steering wheel on it I could find. Fits me like a glove now. I really like the 304, It doesn't seem too bad on gas but I haven't figured the mileage yet. I've still got some tuneing to do. I have a boat gas tank in the back for now, I've had to do alot of welding and grinding and I can pull it out to work on it pretty quick. I've made several trips here and there. With a 6gal tank it seems to do ok. My Jeep's got 3.54 gears and 31-10.50's with a 4speed and I know gearing has alot to do with fuel mileage so what ever you get may differ. I know you mentioned the rust factor. Mines pretty rusty, I replaced the back 16" of the frame. I'm getting ready to replace the quarters but hey the quarters were 60 bucks a piece. Now all that being said, I LOVE IT! It's the most fun vehicle I've ever owned. One trip down the road or trail with the sun shineing and the top off, your hooked. I bought a rough Jeep because I didn't want to worry about a scratch, dent or if it was raining and the top was down. I'm very happy with what I've got and couldn't care less whether anyone else likes it or not. A guy I work with has an '87 model and we've talked about how after you buy one you can't understand why everybody doesn't own one! I didn't buy exactly what I was looking for but I got exactly what I wanted. Good Luck in your search for one.

 

[superj]

no doubt on one line you said. it sums up the whole wrangler deal.

"and we've talked about how after you buy one you can't understand why everybody doesn't own one!"

that is exactly right. i have owned tons of jeeps from grand cherokee to cherokees to comanches to the liberty. i thought oh well, whats a wrangler but a cherokee with no room in the back and no top. boy, was i wrong. one drive in the 93 i bought my wife last year and i wanted my own and i thought the exact same way. i bet if every person drove a wrangler for a few hours when they were in their teens, everyone would own one

 

[animus_divinus]

superj, its a CJ3B in that photo, the one with the taller hood to make room for the hurricane engine

and as it stands im really starting to focus in on the MB or CJ3B.. i would sand off and remove all the rust from the frame and body... por 15 the entire thing most likely, then top coat it all in olive drab... not neccessarily a military thing, oddly enough its actually my favorite color too

from there i would fabricate a soft top, soft doors to be used in the winter... and bend my own tube steel for the rollbar.. in the summer ill probably still have the soft top on for shade

probably put in some more comfortable seats.. quite possibly neoprene covers so theyre water proof... and either a good indoor/outdoor paint on the inside, or maybe even an indoor/outdoor carpet... i would rebuild the axles as they are, buy a master rebuild kit for the engine with a metal gasket, maybe a weber carb (they make them for vintage jeeps), waterpoof all wire connections, probably brass or copper hoses for fuel delivery, since a few years down the road i intend to start harvesting my own sugar beets for ethanol..

and if i were to put any on this jeep that didnt come with it, or is more than a mere accessory.. id probably go with a power takeoff unit that could power an air compressor so that i could power a set of pneumatic tools wherever im at

i think with a new carb, its not really going to matter if its a go devil, or a hurricane engine if theres really not much more difference than power output and torque being a little higher in the hurricane..

the hurricane engine has a higher compression ratio though.. im not sure what the maximum possible compression ratio of the go devil or hurricane engines are.. that would be great to know, but i do know at the aproximately 6.5:1 compression ratio of the go-devil engine, its low enough to crank start by hand like a model T or a volkswagen should you have a crank to do so.. it would be absolutely amazing if i could actually do this, because then i could replace the alternator with a generator and remove the battery.. being way out somewhere and having a dead battery sounds like a pretty bad day to me

since you cant run a vehicle on ethanol while still having a compression ratio low enough to hand crank.. im curious, can a go devil or hurricane engine even achieve the compression ratio neccessary?.. 6.48:1 is very bad for ethanol, 8:1 or 9:1 is basically a minimum.. 12:1 is about where youd want to be

 

[animus_divinus]

seems to me the small changes made in the CJ3B were really good ones, and though ive heard it called an "ugly duckling", i rather like the aesthetics of it, and it seems like a comfortable compromise between vintage jeeps, and later ones... i think this is the route ill go

 

[superj]

sounds good

 

[animus_divinus]

i tried another jeep forum.. all i got was a bunch of guys that wouldnt think twice to ruin a vintage jeep, sad as it is

 

[animus_divinus]

does anyone know a place where i can find people that own, restore, and drive vintage jeeps? ive tried two forums so far and all i can find are people that buy these classic beauties only to mutilate and molest with silly modifications and rather annoying engine swaps.... and if youre willing to do that to a jeep, it means you do not appreciate it for what it is, and therefor are not a fan of it afterall.. merely like the way it looks...

i need to find some people that think differently than that

 

[superj]

No, I can't think of a forum specifically for that.

Google classic jeep forum or something. Probably going to take a while to find one though

 

[animus_divinus]

only classic or vintage jeep forums ive found have been full of people talking about putting chevy 350s in them.. utter blasphemy for anyone who claims to be a real fan of them

 

[jfrabat]

i heard wranglers have a galvonized body, does this make a wrangler body better than an un-galvonized CJ body?.. has anyone put any kind of coating or finish on their CJ bodies to prevent rust?

The YJs were E coated from the factory and to a better job at rust prevention than the CJs. In 95 the TJ's frame and tub were galvanized. I'm not sure if they continued to galvanize both the frame and tub though. As to a coating or finish to prevent rust, the standard answer is a paint called POR15. It's UV sensitive, but works wonders on rusty metal.

I think Terry already answered this one pretty well, so no comments here...

to me it seems the coil suspension of a wrangler is good for people who want to do competition rock crawling, but for general off and on-road use including dirt, some rocks, mud, etc... the stronger, simpler, more reliable leaf spring suspension will be better, so that leads me towards the CJ/YJ debate more than a YJ/TJ debate

under 4", eaither leafs or coils are easy to lift. Over 4", coils get a bit more complicated (long arms and what not), so if you are planning on +4", then defenetly leaf springs is the way to go because of simplicity.

TJs are a bit more than i want to pay, as i do want to leave some money for working on the vehicle, cleaning it up, maybe adding some accessories here and there too.. so the TJ can be crossed off

This also leads more to a CJ or YJ... They will generally be cheaper than a TJ, but keep in mind that they will also generally be also in worse shape and have more miles. Just something to keep in mind...

that all being said, it comes down to the engine.. i like simplicity, and reliability, so normally id lean towards carburated.. but a properly done fuel injection setup is good as well, as long as i can avoid all the OBD sensors, and go with a simpler, no frills EFI system, does the YJ offer this?

which engine is easier to work on, easier to fix, and be most reliable? a CJs 4.2 I6, or a YJs 4.0 I6? (im aware i can get a YJ with a 4.2 as well)

Here, I have to say that the high output 4.0L is hard to beat... I have heard and seen nightmares adjusting carbs on older engines. Plus, if you plan on off camber situations, EFI will beat carb any day of the week. And dont think the sensors get damaged too easily; yes, they can break down, but mine have held up fairly well, and I do quite a bit of river fording here in Costa Rica...

i kind of like the appearance of modern wranglers, because of the padded sport cage, half doors... should i go CJ, does anyone make a decent padded sport cage for them similar to what wranglers have?

That you can retrofit into a CJ...

i think ive decided to get a close to stock and clean CJ7 i can find.. strip it down to nothing, clean up and rebuild all the components.. using por 15 on the frame, underside of the body, axle housings, and possibly the high heat stuff for engine components to hopefully prevent rust from occuring in the future... it would be nice if it didnt cost too much to have the frame, body, and axle housings galvonized, but hopefully the por 15 will be suitable to prevent rust for a decade or two

So are you planning on using the 2.5" springs instead of the 2" ones? Also, which engine are you planning on getting? And again, make sure you find one without rust!

with the money i save getting a CJ, i can rebuild it, and do some things with it that id like to do... more comfortable seats, some styling components like nicer fender flares, interior indoor/outdoor carpeting, a simple sound system, quite possibly just two, maybe four speaker that can play MP3s from an SD card... might even go with a double din unit that does that and GPS... also, half doors and at leats a soft top for winter.. bikini top for the summer, and ill set up the suspension for all-around occasional off-road use

That's really not a bad idea, especially if you go with the YJ lift kit to use wider springs. As for the speakers, you can use tons of available speaker boxes. Some mount under the door, some mount in the wedge between the rear fender and the seat, some mount in the front under the dash, and, of course, we have the sound bars... My only advice would be to make it as simple as possible, as you are planning on running a bikini top (which makes stealing it quite easy!).

 

[animus_divinus]

I think Terry already answered this one pretty well, so no comments here...



under 4", eaither leafs or coils are easy to lift. Over 4", coils get a bit more complicated (long arms and what not), so if you are planning on +4", then defenetly leaf springs is the way to go because of simplicity.



This also leads more to a CJ or YJ... They will generally be cheaper than a TJ, but keep in mind that they will also generally be also in worse shape and have more miles. Just something to keep in mind...



Here, I have to say that the high output 4.0L is hard to beat... I have heard and seen nightmares adjusting carbs on older engines. Plus, if you plan on off camber situations, EFI will beat carb any day of the week. And dont think the sensors get damaged too easily; yes, they can break down, but mine have held up fairly well, and I do quite a bit of river fording here in Costa Rica...



That you can retrofit into a CJ...



So are you planning on using the 2.5" springs instead of the 2" ones? Also, which engine are you planning on getting? And again, make sure you find one without rust!



That's really not a bad idea, especially if you go with the YJ lift kit to use wider springs. As for the speakers, you can use tons of available speaker boxes. Some mount under the door, some mount in the wedge between the rear fender and the seat, some mount in the front under the dash, and, of course, we have the sound bars... My only advice would be to make it as simple as possible, as you are planning on running a bikini top (which makes stealing it quite easy!).

ive already decided im going to have a pretty close to stock CJ3B or willys though, so YJs are out of it... im looking for more of a project.. so im going to stick with a pretty military style vehicle, olive drab, axe and shovel on the side origional willys