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Post your offroad vehicle

I picked up a Jeep CJ-5 around a year ago, knowing it needed some attention, and was well into the rehab when I had to turn my attention to my buildings after being burglarized after someone breeched a temporary wall. Then summer hit and it was off to other 'good weather' projects and hobbies. Got back on the Jeep once the weather warmed up a bit again this winter (Washington State). Right now, in mid-May, it's still getting down to low 30's/high 20's at night. Damn. My work area was holding a steady 38* until recently.

We actually have a 6x6 Polaris Ranger that serves our challenging needs, underpowered but will go anywhere, and Anne had been begging me for a quad 4x4 so I picked one up from a friend who'd just lost her husband and needed to clean up his discarded projects. I believe it's a Honda Foreman fulltime 4x4. Basically replaced everything but the motor and trans on that one due to it having sat for ten years out in the weather. Lots of rust and abuse due to being used on commercial projects up in Alaska.

I'm putting EFI in the CJ but it's having its issues. Photos of the Jeep don't show latest upgrades but it's generally the same. It was red when I bought it. 225 Buick V-6 Dauntless Odd-fire with tons of upgrades. Strong little motor! 4 speed manual tranny with Toyota Landcruiser axles from around 1980. Dana 19 or 20 transfer case (I don't remember). 35's. Onboard air compressor, Warn winch, racing seats with new harnesses, fuel cell, rear platform rather than a passenger seat. Full heavy cage. New shocks, fully rebuilt and upgraded steering, quick release removable steering wheel, Bluetooth stereo, welded or spooled rear axle (fulltime locked). Need to add lockers up front, has locking Warn hubs.

It's a true hybrid, so finding parts can be super challenging since I have no history on a lot of it. Lots of custom made parts.

I've had three Toyota 4Runners in the past and loved them, and the only reason I don't have one now is because I got tired of them. True. Hadn't had a good 4wd for 10+ years and really missed the offroad. Always wanted a short wheel based CJ due to their flexibility, but I think the 7 is the better choice, especially if rock crawling. Can't complain though! If I don't keep this I'll go to a coil-over Jeep with a bigger engine and turbo-400 trans rather than manual. Been watching videos and getting an education. Might even build something from the frame-up.

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We use the Ranger primarily for work projects, but took it out in heavy snow while looking for a Christmas tree and it was unbelievable. Flip a switch and it's full six-wheel drive. I got it stuck in about four feet of snow that the county plows had blocked our driveway with up at our cabin. The dump bed gets a lot of use. We were told it was Area 51 surplus that was used to rescue downed pilots.

The quad doesn't get much use yet, bought it last fall and then upgraded and painted it and such, but it did rescue me a couple of times when my Jeep shut down while testing just outside of town. Had to walk home and drive my tools back, then tow it home behind the Jeep.

My buddy has 200 acres on the edge of our small town that has some challenging rock bluffs and the like, so I'd run the Jeep over for testing at times. It was 'new to me' so I really didn't know how offroad worthy it was. I was having electrical issues with the HEI ignition, as well as float issues with the carb at steep angles, so I had to diagnose that and dial it in. Upgraded all of the electronics in the HEI distributor.

While testing, I ran it over to climb out of that little wash that you see. It was mid-winter, around 20*, and even what would normally be soft ground was frozen solid, rock hard. I'd never experienced that before. I ran though a small drainage before climbing the bank, figuring my hitch might drag a bit but figured it would just claw through the dirt.

No such thing. It was like plowing across concrete, and lifted my rear tires off the ground before stalling where you see it in the pics. Couldn't dig out, ground was too hard, so had to jack it up and fill under the rear tires. I wasn't too impressed! Not only was it hung on the hitch, but on the spare tire as well.

I've since removed the bumper hitch and raised the spare tire. I'll build a custom hitch up under the frame.

The red pic is the day I brought it home last winter.

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The previous owner had put a fuel cell where the rear passenger seat used to be, leaving not-much-use for the very small rear area. Our dog needs to travel with us when we leave home for more than a few hours, so I had to build a deck for her, she being a 90 lb. Rottweiler. Designing it took some time, and it's designed to lift out without tools.

Once I decided to go with fuel injection, I had to run new fuel lines to the engine and back, so I had to reconfigure the tank. In the pics you can see the tank under the rear hatch, in it's original location. It was leaking through the seals of the fill cap area. The biggest problem was that the fuel lines ran from the bottom front of the tank. On a steep hill, with less than half a tank, the fuel runs to the rear and wouldn't even reach the front outlet lines! So I had to spin the tank around while also running a new location for the return line. Now on a steep hill, all the fuel flows to the rear of the tank over the outlet line, assuring there will always be fuel to the new high-pressure pump supplying the EFI up front.

I moved the tank forward and to the right, allowing it to offset my weight when riding solo, moving it forward to balance the center of gravity when climbing, but most importantly, making a larger storage space for cargo. I also mounted the spare tank above the right rear wheel for similar reasons. As it stands, I have 20 gallons on board, with room for extra tanks if needed.

I have a 1/2" rubber sheet to go over the wood deck when completed. The prior owner built the ammo speaker boxes but I pointed them forward rather than from the sides as they were originally mounted. Sounds pretty good.

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howbobert said:
Nice looking Jeep. Was the V6 in it when you bought it?
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Yes it was. They offered a 134 4-cylinder and this motor. One of my mechanics thinks the mounts were added, indicating this started life with a 4-cylinder, and another mechanic, who's a Jeep CJ-7 owner and buff himself, says the mounts are original. In fact, the first mechanic owns a CJ-7 as well!

This is the 225, rated stock at 160 HP and around 225 lb. ft. of torque IIRC. I added a new set of headers and glasspacks, but it came with the HEI ignition system, an Edelbrock dual port 360 intake manifold, electric radiator fans, and a Holley 4160 390 cfm double pumper carb. Not sure if the cam's been upgraded. If I have to go back to the Holley I'll probably downsize the jets to lean it out a bit.
 
Ron_O said:
Yes it was. They offered a 134 4-cylinder and this motor. One of my mechanics thinks the mounts were added, indicating this started life with a 4-cylinder, and another mechanic, who's a Jeep CJ-7 owner and buff himself, says the mounts are original. In fact, the first mechanic owns a CJ-7 as well!

This is the 225, rated stock at 160 HP and around 225 lb. ft. of torque IIRC. I added a new set of headers and glasspacks, but it came with the HEI ignition system, an Edelbrock dual port 360 intake manifold, electric radiator fans, and a Holley 4160 390 cfm double pumper carb. Not sure if the cam's been upgraded. If I have to go back to the Holley I'll probably downsize the jets to lean it out a bit.
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The reason I am asking, is that my Jeep also has the little 4 banger and would like to change it out to a V-6 and was curious abut the motor mounts.
 
howbobert said:
The reason I am asking, is that my Jeep also has the little 4 banger and would like to change it out to a V-6 and was curious abut the motor mounts.
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I haven't run a search, but I'm guessing one of the Jeep aftermarket suppliers may offer some mounts. Someone like Quadratech, who I'm sure you're familiar with.

https://www.quadratec.com/vehicle/1945-1986-jeep-cj

These guys can probably answer your questions:

http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php

The big difference between the 225 Oddfire and the later Buick version, the 231, is the 225 has a much heavier flywheel which allows it to have much more torque than the others. Folks love idling along in 4-low. But most guys today are going to the 231 even-fire so they can get factory fuel injection. That's probably what I would go with if I were doing a conversion. The EFI I picked up from FiTech to replace my carb is a bit of a nightmare at this point in time. It'll run, but I've yet to even get it out for a test run around the block. About to send it back in favor of a possible Holley Sniper EFI.
 
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