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My 1980 CJ-5

Randyzzz

Randyzzz

Blown Budget
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Redmond
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OR
I found a good deal on a 1980 CJ-5. This is going to be a restoration back to mostly stock condition.

The CJ-5 has a 258, T176, D300, and is a base model. There are no mods that I can see save for a poorly placed antenna (but a 2-shaft Motorola radio), some bumpers, and some 10” wide wheels. No extra holes that I can see so far, original paint, no lift and only 94K miles. And- no rust!!!

Came with a soft top and doors, look to be in good shape. Windows in the side will need cleaning/attention.

The engine runs strong and had plenty of power on the drive home. Clutch is new within 1500 miles, operates great but the pedal is low. Powers steering is, well, sloppy and exaggerated by the 10” wide wheels. Sort of like a super responsive go cart. Manual discs stopped great- no need for a power booster. Dribbled a little coolant on the ground once home, but there’s no overflow bottle- yet.

Issues? Well, numerous electrical “bugs”. Turn signal problems, has gas gauge that reads either empty or full, oil pressure gauge that reads 0 or 40. But all easily fixable. Also needs a drivers seat cover (reupholstering). There’s a worn out Bestop cover on there now, and a pretty worn spot underneath.

I’ll be digging into this bit by bit with priority going to finishing Red.

Here’s a couple of pics once I got it home.

C99DB9BB-1447-4A03-B669-20F2ABED27EE.jpegB54DACE5-57EC-477C-98C0-B27199AFD31E.jpeg177A7798-825C-453D-BD9F-206039A1D367.jpegD91D8C26-0519-451D-8FB0-8DF01D7E0713.jpeg3FE680D9-4CCC-4A52-94D4-71B27D80BB7E.jpegEAF63E80-C4EE-404B-AD0F-616AB125D2E4.jpegEA4C2205-CF4B-42F5-8531-27A850905D9B.jpeg
 
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So awesome! Never cared for the look of those winches, whenever they came from. Love your plan!
 
So- went through the paperwork in the glove box. The second owner owned it since 1986, and when he bought it it had about 69k miles on it. The original owner was in Oregon also. Purchased in October 1979.

The Jeep was built at the Brampton plant in Ontario, Canada. Build date was August 1979. I’ll find the month if the tub comes off, but I’m hoping that won’t happen. The engine gas the 2v carburetor, and has had the smog removed.

Gearing is 3.54, and a bit of hidden goodness- rear axle code is N, meaning it has a Trac-Loc differential.

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Most of the original paperwork was in a baggie in the glove box. Not the window sticker, however. Cool instruction sheet for a Whitco SE top and Warn SE hubs.

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Well, this was unexpected. I got a phone call yesterday, a friend mentioned I had this Jeep...the guy came out and looked at it, and we arrived at a price that was good for both of us. So it goes to its new home today- still in Central Oregon, so I’ll see it around I’m sure.

I hate to see it go, but honestly I’m too tall and wide to fit in a -5. I’ll use some of the $ on the Cherokee, and Carol wants to save the rest in case we find another Jeep to buy. Yes, her suggestion! Love that woman!
 
I hear ya on the size issues in a -5. Used to be one on my deer lease. Always bruised my tailbone just getting in and out. To make matters worse, it had plastic “racing seats” rigidly mounted in place for the leprechaun to drive. Busted my chin with my knee every time I let the clutch out. NOT a fun experience.
 
Yeah, there’s no way I’d ever have been comfortable in this -5. Dead on with the tailbone thing. Hurts getting in and hurts getting out. It was just the cleanest most original Jeep I’ve ever had. But, now I’ve got seed money for when the next one shows up.
 
If you have CJ5 or 6 you need to have front cage. That way you can lift your Dead End up and over the hump. It also helps to have nerf bars to step on to help.
 
don87401 said:
If you have CJ5 or 6 you need to have front cage. That way you can lift your Dead End up and over the hump. It also helps to have nerf bars to step on to help.
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I gave the buyer a set of nerf bars that I had laying around-

I think a tilt wheel would have made a big difference too. It was hard to clear the wheel with my “ beer muscle”!🍺
 
Yup it is no small feat to enter or exit the vehicle. Awful fun to drive though...two hands on the wheel and compensated reactions as it feels it's way down the road. Its getting loaded on a hauler to travel to Sanford NC next week. Son's stationed there. Sad to see it go but happy he will enjoy it just as much if not more.
 
Just realized that I still have an 8274...it was going to go on the -5 once I rebuilt it, but didn’t. It won’t look right on my hot rod Scrambler. Guess I need to find another Jeep!
 
certifiablejeep said:
I need to find a nice clean CJ5 tub like this one for my next project...

cb
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I have to say, this was the cleanest tub I have ever seen. It spent its life in Oregon. There wasn’t a spec of rust anywhere- maybe a few spots of flash rust on bare metal on the floors. The driver’s floor paint was worn to the metal from years with gritty shoes and no mats- and the metal was shiny once I scrubbed it! All the stuff in the pics was the reddish dust around here. It’s like moon dust- it sticks to everything. Another first for this Jeep- no leaks! It sat in my shop for a couple months and not a drop!
 
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