1978 Jeep CJ5

Chronology of Events continued. Page 5

10/13/04

Fabricated nut plates to use with a pair of tow hooks that my friend Clyde gave me. Each tow hook has holes for two bolts; front and rear. The hook sits on top of the front bumper and the front bolt goes through the hook, bumper and frame. The rear bolt goes through the hook, a spacer and the frame. The nut plate is a piece of 3/16 inch metal about one inch wide and three inches long on which two holes have been drilled and two nuts have been welded on. The two hook mounting bolts screw into the nuts on the plate which sits underneath of the frame rail. Had quite a bit of trouble with the hook mounting bolts and the nut plate. Had to throw one plate away and make a replacement. Also, the 7/16 grade 8 bolts that I first bought may not have actually been grade 8. They had the proper markings but I was able to strip the threads on them quite easily. I bought other bolts and was able to get everything torqued down properly. I guess I spent about $20 on the various bolts, nuts and washers. Oh yes, while I had the bumper apart, I welded in a length of metal to box in the frame around the where the tow hook mounted. The frame rails are in a 'C' shape when viewed end-on and the length of metal connects the ends of the 'C' so that it looks more like an 'O'. Bottom line: all of this hassle is to make what the tow hooks connect to strong enough to survive towing the Jeep out of trouble.

I had bought an air horn and an electronic sound making device from JC Whitney some two or three years ago. I was thinking (don't ask me where I get these ideas) that I would install these on my 2001 Dodge truck camper unit. I couldn't figure out how to do that without drilling lots of holes and cutting into lots of wires so these things have been sitting. I have decided that since the Jeep is pretty much a toy, that these noise makers should go onto it. So, drilled some holes into the passenger side fender (inside the engine compartment) and installed the speaker for the electronic unit. The air horns required the fabrication of a bracket. I used some 20 gauge sheet metal and cut it, bent it, and drilled it to fit so that the air horns lay on the inside of the passenger fender and point down towards the ground. Maybe not the ultimate position, but it should be alright. Drilled another hole in the fender and installed the air horn compressor. Used some jumper wires to make a quick test on the air horn and it worked alright. Man is that thing LOUD! The electronic unit box needs to be installed under the dash so that I can use the control and selector switches to make the various noised that the unit can make. Things like various sirens and animal sounds. It also came with a (cheap) microphone so that it can be a PA. I need to fabricate a mounting bracket for the box and install it and wire it up. I also need to wire a relay for the air horn. Stay tuned (no pun intended)

10/23/04

Found a bracket from an old CB and used it to install the noise maker control box. Installed air horn relay. Purchased a momentary contact switch and wired it to the air horn relay. Noise maker and air horn installation complete.

10/30/04

Bought sway bar with all components off of ebay. Paid too much. $80.00. Included prothane bushings. Real nice unit. All parts are sand blasted and painted black. Didn't need all of the components. Oh well. Installed the sway bar and the Mountain off-road enterprises quick disconnects. Everything fitted perfectly.

11/3/04

Bought some aluminum knobs off of ebay and installed them on the heater/defrost controls on the dash panel. Improves the look a great deal, plus the knobs don't pull off when pulled. Scrubbed off the RTV adhesive from the dash. Big improvement. Installed engine temperature gauge sending unit. Dash temperature gauge now functional.

11/4/04

Designed and built a battery hold down strap out of 3/4 inch wide 12 gauge metal strip. Goes from firewall across top of battery, down side of battery to existing battery hold down clamp. Used two pieces of metal strip. Could have used one piece which would have looked better.

11/5/04

Bought a 54 inch piece of 3 inch by 3 inch by 3/16 angle iron and some other metal pieces from Rochester Steel and Surplus for $20.00. Going to design and install a rear "bumper"/tow hook mount similar to a design I saw on the internet.

11/6/04

Bought a used brown soft top and all metal bows and brackets for $40.00.

11/8/04

Bought a pair of tow hooks from Advance Auto Part on East Ridge Road in Irondiquoit. One hook package was missing a bolt so I got them for $1 off or $8.98 each. Going to put them on the rear "bumper".

Jeep build specifications:

CJ5
6-258, 1V
T18, 4 speed transmission
Spicer 20, Transfer case
3.54 Axle Ratio, front & rear
Dana 30 Front Axle
AMC 20 Rear Axle
11.7 inch Disc Front Brakes
11 inch Drum Rear Brakes
Power Steering
Tilt Steering Wheel

Original Color:  Mocha Brown Metallic

Identifying numbers from the Jeep body and engine

VIN J8M83AA138201

J 8 M 83 A A 138201
| | | |  | | |
| | | |  | | +--------------> Serial #
| | | |  | +----------------> 258, 1V
| | | |  +------------------> 3750 GVW
| | | +---------------------> CJ5
| | +-----------------------> 4 speed
| +-------------------------> 1978
+---------------------------> Jeep

Engine build date 205A31

2 05 A 31
| |  | |
| |  | +--------------------> Day 31
| |  +----------------------> 258, 1V
| +-------------------------> Month 5
+---------------------------> 1978

12/15/04

Bought a used Jeep AM radio off ebay. Paid about $20. Works OK. Installed. Need speaker.

3/5/05

Rear bumper so far. Going to use clevis loops instead of tow hooks.