I'm thinking about buying a CJ-5 project.
This is more or less a frame off rebuild. The lower half of the body was cut off and replaced with what looks like shop fabricated parts. It looks pretty good except at a couple of the welds where a little more grinder could have been used. (That cosmetic detail is unimportant.)
The chassis and body are painted and assembled, on the suspension, and the engine and transmission are installed. I didn't think to ask whether the clutch in installed. The engine needs a rocker arm that was bent in a roll over (!) in another vehicle; even if it needs to be rebuilt, that's not a huge deal. There is a spare engine.
It looks like every part to complete is there, including a new windshield frame and glass, and a fiberglass hood with fenders, new Recaro style seats, and tilt wheel steering column, lights, tires and wheels, brake components, and so on. A new wiring harness for the dash is needed and I might just wire the tail lights from scratch.
About the only change I would like to make is to switch the ignition to a modern high energy setup. Fuel injection would be nice, but that is probably a better project for the future. I think the only tools I need to buy are a new timing light and a tach/dwell meter (lost when I drove off after using it's tool box for a chock one night).
The nice part about this is that I don't have to fabricate anything major, just bolt the parts together, hence there is a prayer that I can get the thing assembled fairly soon, and I can actually get to the engine to work on it - what a novel idea!
I think the price is pretty good, at least it will be if he accepts my offer (<$3000). And that canary yellow body shor is purty.
The questions:
Any suggestions about unseen stuff I should look for?
Is the tilt column conversion a big deal?
Are brackets for the one piece hood and fenders available? (There are probably a set there, I didn't ask.)
Is the power steering pump hookup straight forward?
How aggravating is the linkage adjustment for the clutch and so on.
I think the shifter and selector mount directly to the gearbox - anything special to do or look for there?
I'm just trying to make sure I don't buy an unnecesarily large headache.
I would also appreciate links to parts suppliers - I've found a couple, but most are the type that sell mirrors and KC lamps, it's harder to find the bona fide parts needed to make the thing go.