What a nice clean CJ5 from the Kaiser Willys era of Jeeps. The F-Head 134 is a reliable engine that made 75 hp stock. This era of early CJs were only good for 60 mph on the road mostly due to lack of hp and low gearing. The hot road option for a Kaiser Willys CJ 5 was the Buick sourced 225 over fire V6 (67-71) with 160 go and 235 ft lbs of torque. The CJ-5 didn’t get the 304 until AMC bought jeep. AMC had to lengthen the CJ chassis yo make the new drivetrains fit, mostly inline sixes and 4 cylinders, and the 304 v8. I say keep it as it is, put lockrite lockers front and rear with 7.50-16 bias ply mud tires.
@Frugal Family Living I am currently rebuilding a 1949 Willys Overland 4x4 wagon. I have a 225 v6 from an early CJ5 that will be going in the wagon really soon. It should be quite a bit better than the 60 hp flathead 134 that came in the wagon originally. Can't wain to see what they do with the old CJ.
I daily drove a CJ5 for about a year. Loved it. You could park almost anywhere. Not to mention, I couldn't go anywhere without someone giving me a compliment on it.
This model CJ5 never came with a V8. This is a short wheelbase CJ5. It came with the i4, or a Buick V6. The AMC 304 (Along with the 258) was available in the long wheelbase CJ5's that started in '74. Putting a V8 in the shorter CJ's is tough, and it really needs to be a Ford or an AMC V8 to fit. This is a really clean CJ, and that top is very rare. I would NOT do a V8 swap on this. The i4 is a great engine, and this thing is never going to go fast. If you want more, find an odd-fire Buick V6 for it. Oh, and when it comes time for tires, stick with skinny tires. You will hate driving it with wider tires and manual steering.
V8 was an option in 1972 when the wheelbase was slightly stretched and the engine compartment could accommodate a longer engine. I had a 1972 CJ5 with the 304 and a three speed on the floor. Great little jeep I kept for many years.
I had a cj5 with a v8 and I would say the 258 was the best motor for these old jeeps. Mine topped out at 53mph. Heat was none-existent. If it was -20 outside it was -30 inside the Jeep. If it was snowing I'd have to stop and shovel out of the foot well so I could work the pedals. No brakes on rainy days or if I drove through a puddle cuz the brake drums would fill with water. All you needed was a screwdriver to start it and all my friends knew it. Fortunately, it was so miserable to drive it was never missing for too long. I rolled it with my best friends dad in the passenger seat and ended up with my head in a pile of dirt with the passenger seat on top of me and my friends dad hanging upside down by the seat belt. Four of us were able to flip it back on its wheels, bend the front fender off the tire and drive it home. Story doesn't end there but this comment is already too long. Have fun with your new cj5!!
PTO's were convenient back in the day. You could use them for so many different ways. My dad would use the pto on the old C-60 to run a sickle bar mower on the farm. High rev in granny gear it worked great.
These are great old Jeeps. A buddy and I are building a war time replica for his cousin. It's a 50's French (Hotchkiss) built tub, on a repro Ford GPW frame with Ford GPW fenders hood windshield etc. and war time jeep running gear. It will be painted in British war time colors. We also have a second tub, this is a repro built I think in the Philippines, again front end is Ford GPW but this one we are dropping onto a Suzuki Jimny frame and running gears. Same wheelbase etc. Not sure if we'll do a war time theme or go with a vintage off road theme. We do have a set of repro steel wheels which are made to resemble 50's banded rims with 33 T/a's.
@@collinbooker He's saying there was no factory V-8 option in THAT Jeep. V-8 wasn't an option in CJs until 1972 after AMC took over. And the Buick V-6 wasn't available until 1965.
I remember choosing between a Suzuki Samurai or a CJ5, but went with the Samurai out of availability and price. I still own it and really love it, but I wouldn't mind owning an old classic CJ Jeep someday.
Hey Andre, Just a FYI about the hump in the door openings! When the Jeep was first designed as a military vehicle they included some unique features due to shortages in the military industrial complex buildup. Ie toilet paper. The acronym was TPRBC ( toilet paper roll butt cleaner ) and the civilian name was just “ the crack scraper “. Have fun with that cool old Jeep. As always stay safe and healthy! Ron
My rural delivery mailman used to drive one of these when I was growing up in the 80s. He then switched to an AMC eagle when the local post office stopped supplying the drivers with vehicles.
The 304 V8 was in the later AMC CJ’s that have a longer front end, for the 258 straight 6. Mine is a 78. The earlier CJ -5’s will fit a V8 but are better off with a V6.
I love watching these old Jeeps doing trails at Moab that everyone thinks they can't do. These old Jeeps are way more capable than they appear. Put lunchbox lockers in it and run the largest tire you can without a lift. You will be amazed where it will take you.
Thanks, what a classic vehicle. Toby should have his own channel. Love the early Jeeps (by the 80s they were overblown), Toyota FJ/Landcruisers, and Mitsubishi Jeeps.
I had a 1979 AMC CJ5 with the 304 cid V8, only transmission was 3spd manual. I bought it brand new and had it 2 years. Rag top, I kept it stock it had Firestone Town & Country mud and snows H78 15 tires. Even with a heater here in NE Ohio it wasn't too warm but alot of fun. Thank goodness it came with a factory roll bar, by the way it worked!
if your worried about the distributor hitting the firewall if you 350 swap it then 302 swap it! the distributor is at the front, no cutting of the firewall needed.
Another commenter said it first but I think they may be right. I believe it was a 304. I don't remember them being that rare but I could be wrong. Thanks guys. I am really looking forward to this series
I know the 304 was an option in the AMC designed CJ-7 but given that Willys overland likely didn’t have money for designing their own engine it’s entirely possible they were buying V8s off of AMC prior to getting bought out by AMC
Looking good ... I must say, I have a '65 CJ with the same Meyers steel top + steel doors w/ roll up windows ... So it was a pleasure to see another set up like mine ... Regards from central Calif. mountains ...
The popular engine upgrade for the CJ-5 in the 60s however was the “Dauntless” V6, Kaiser Jeep in 65 bought the rights to the first generation Buick 3.8L V6 to put in the CJ
I love these old CJs. Test drove one looking to buy it, guy had it up on 35s canvas top, I think it was the I6. Paint was primarily yellow, but red, black and blue speckles shown through where rocks and sticks had hit suggesting it had quite a history. Loved the way it drove, didnt quite love the tap coming from one lf the cylinders nor the price being asked alongside the tap. I could do one or the other, not both.
In the 70s they had the option for a 304 V8. I'd go with a straight 6 all day long though. The V8 is heavier and honestly not that much more powerful. The 258 straight 6 makes a ton of torque and is good bang for your buck. The real power move would be swapping in a 4.0 but that would require a bunch of mods. Would totally be worth it though.
Hey guys if i'm not mistaken jeep came out with a straight six called the tornado that might fit also. Cant wait to see what andre and nate pick It's gonna be awesome ❤
This era Jeep will not fit a straight six. American Motors lengthened the front end to fit their straight sixes in the chassis after they bought Jeep. From 1965-71, an option on the CJ-5, CJ-6, and Jeepster Commando was the 225 CID "Dauntless" Buick V6. Even with that, they were slow on the highway, due to the low gearing. That is why so many of this era of CJ-5's were equipped with an aftermarket auxiliary 2-speed overdrive transmission. That would get them up to 70-75 mph, but that was an extremely dangerous speed in the short wheelbase CJ-5. I lived in those days when these CJ's were common, and lots of them got wrecked in highway rollovers due to their squirrely handling at highway speeds. Drivers and occupants usually did not fare well in such rollovers, either. That was one reason that Jeep eventually came out with the CJ-7 and not long thereafter dropped the CJ-5 from the lineup. These Jeeps were good for off-roading and not much else--many of them spent most of their lives being towed behind a pickup to where they would be 4-wheeled.
@@rockymountainjazzfan1822 I can attest to the power of that V6. Had one swapped int my 1950 CJ3A. Yes, I could get up to 75 going down Wilkerson Pass. I DON’T recommend it! No OD, just the stock drivetrain. That OF was on my wishlist before I sold her.
I had a 72 with a 304 v8 with a few engine mods and she was a tire burner!!!😂 biggest problem was when you let off the power it would dart all over the place!!!🤠
PTO is a classic, but you have to cheese between the PTO or an overdrive unit. I think I would rather have the overdrive and an electric winch for drivability beyond 45 MPH.
The CJ-5 was reknown for its roll over issues. It was tall, top heavy and boxy. All ingredients for a very twitchy vehicle. The V8 Roman speaks of is the AMC 304 V8 which was an option in most of the eagle line. They’re actually quite difficult to find. The 4cyl in this CJ-5 is not the hurricane, that name was reserved for the 4.2 inline 6 which was optional in this jeep. Later the CJ-7 emerged which was again longer, lower and heavier in an attempt to finally deal with the stability issues. The CJ-7 has the 4.2 as its standard engine with the AMC 304 as an option. The stability issues continued until the first YJ or Wrangler debuted. The wrangler mounted the axles on top of the springs to lower the vehicle farther and end the rolling over. The YJ never featured a V8 as an option with a 4 cyl version being standard abd Jeeps new high output 4.0 I6 as the optional engine
Not true. The F134 4-cylinder was called the Hurricane. It replaced the flathead 134 Go Devil. The 258/4.2 I6 was never called a Hurricane. The 232 was the standard engine for both the CJ5 and CJ7, 258 was optional. Wrangler axles mounted on top of the springs is not new, the CJ had the exact same setup. You are full of really bad incorrect information. Please fact check before typing.
Back in the 1960s and into the mid 1970s there was an AMC dealer in Charlotte, NC that sold the heck out of AMC's small cars (Hornets and Gremlins being sales leaders). His other big sellers were Jeep CJs (I purchased a 1972 Gremlin from him and STILL think it was the best car I've owned to date!). I have no idea how he did it, but the 232 and 258cid inline, single barrel carburetor, six-cylinder engines were in about half the Gremlins, Hornets, and CJs on the lot while the other half of those vehicle's engines were divided between 304 and, and yes there was such a beast because I looked at, test drove, and seriously considered purchasing one of the 401cid V-8, FOUR-barrel carbureted units! I can only assume that the V-8 units were special ordered by the dealership as the vast majority of AMC small cars and CJs that I have ever encountered with factory original engines were inline sixes. I think the 304 and 401cid engines were primarily found in the Javelin/Javelin AMX, Matador, and Ambassador sedans but AMC apparently was not averse to cramming V-8s into their smaller production vehicles to include CJs.
The 304 would have been the factory option in the AMC built Jeeps. The 360 and 401 were the same block so it was a drop-in upgrade. I bought a retired police Matador in the 80's for it's high performance 360 to put in a CJ7. It was a ton of fun!
@@1guyin10 Thanks for the kind reply. I strongly suspect that my Old Goober brain forgot about seeing any of the CJs with the 360cid engine especially since, thanks to my then Teenage Brain being blown that ANY V-8 was being offered in the CJ!
For those of you who are Off-gridders and Preppers, this is the IDEAL JEEP to buy! Completely mechanical and safe from any EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) and ready for almost all SHTF (Sheisse Hits The Fan!) scenarios! So if you want to survive the Zombie Apolocalypse and maybe have to use wood alcohol as your fuel in a future Mad Max dystopia then THIS is the vehicle to get! This would ALSO be great for your lakeside cabin trensport for those off-grid grocery runs during offroad winter conditions where mechanical simplicity and fixability/reliability is more important than looks and driving speed! I like it a lot! I'd DEFINITELY buy one of these! V
I’d keep the 4 cyl. 50 or 60 is about as fast as that can safely go with drum brakes. Once you put in a v8 you have to up grade everything. Brakes, suspension, trans, and clutch. The single digit speedo is x10. What a great Jeep!
Buick 225 v6 or biuck 231 v6 should bolt up to t90 transmission, 225 was close to 304 v8 in performance and gets 2-3 mpg better use the heavy flywheel of 225 and great low end torque.
Keep it original! I'm tired of these V8 swapped jeeps. They did perfectly fine bone stock through the Rubicon and across the Americas back in the day. Preserve automotive history 👍
Love these series, buying cheap vehicles. But the jeeps of today will never last as long as this old jeep but on the same hand this jeep will never do what jeeps of today is capable of doing. Can't wait to watch.
When I was a lot younger family friend had a CJ five with the factory V8. 304 in.³ v8. She, yes she, put headers on it. It would not break any acceleration records but it could get out of its own way. Did I mention it was a manual transmission?
I don't have an old Jeep V8 but I do have a built Buick V6 Turbo from a GNX that was in my friends Sandrail. 300 plus hp and around 400 torque. Lol would be more than enough for that.
the amc V8 the 304. At least in the latter model CJ 5 and 7. That specific year of CJ 5 not shure. They also came with the Buick odd fire V6 in some years. There again I Had a friend that had a old CJ 5 and it came from the factory with the ford 289 V8 in it.Obviously your jeep pre amc area being a Willy's CJ not the amc CJ
This is a Kaiser-Willys era CJ. These NEVER had a factory V8, that didn’t happen until the AMC era (1970) when the CJ-5/6 got the AMC 304. The Kaiser era CJs got the Buick 225 dauntless V6 as an option around 1963. My pop’s ‘69 CJ-5 plow rig had one. And a T-14 3-spd which were apparently made of cheese and bologna… My advice: ditch that hardtop. It’s rare and interesting but ugly as a bag of buttholes. Wheels…Ansen style slot mags, RWL all terrains. Trust me, that’s THE look for a vintage CJ.
