Glamour Shots

A few more exterior pics.  I own a few other Jeeps (one each in the backgrounds of each of these pictures), but all from the EFI era.  This jeep reminds me more of my first car -- a 1977 Ford van -- everything is very simple and there's lots of space to work under the hood. 

The Drive Home

Learned a lot on the 10 mile drive from the PO's (previous owner's) place to my home.

• The 4-cylinder F-134 "Hurricane" engine would have been more aptly named "Light Breeze". With the pedal to the metal, it took about 1/2 a mile to get up to 50 MPH.  Had to drop into first gear and floor it in order to get up the steep hill leading to my house.  (If I had previously tested the transfer case low range, I would have done that...) Hopefully will not need to do a complete engine rebuild to improve the power to a useful level.  
• She reeks of gasoline when the engine is running.  There are holes in the tub between the front kick panel and the engine compartment, but the odor is really strong and makes me wonder if there is a gas leak.
• The brakes are really weak.  I expected to have to replace most of the replaceable brake system parts anyway, so no big deal.  However not currently safe to drive IMO.
• The suspension seems intact, but is completely worn out.  The leaf springs have no bounce, and she seems to lean to the right when empty.
• The fuel gauge doesn't work, so I didn't know it was empty when I pulled away from the PO's house.  Ran out of gas half way home.  The PO was kind enough to bring out some gas, but even after fueling up, I couldn't get her started again.  Evidently, if you run this engine completely empty, the only way to get her started again is to manually prime the carburator by pouring gas into it.  So, thanks to the PO for teaching me about that.

The New Jeep

Here she is: A 1964 Jeep (Kaiser Willys) CJ5.  Found her for sale at a local car show.  I had been thinking for a while about getting a topless CJ-era model and doing a light restoration for local cruising and light wheeling.  This one was very close to stock, with rust-free frame rails(!) and new tires, and was moving under its own power.  So, seemed like a reasonable (= a few months in my garage) project.  Purchased October 2011.