Our first goal after purchasing the Jeep CJ5 is to get the engine and drivetrain running before we remove the body and get started restoring the chassis, suspension, steering and brakes.
Our initial checks indicate the engine has good compression, no spark and no fuel.
Whilst the original wiring will allow us to turn the engine over, the wiring is a tangled mess of rotten connectors and broken wires. Once the engine fires up, we will start from scratch and re-wire the whole Jeep.
First we need spark. With no spark coming from the coil, we removed the coil and found it was full of liquid (likely water). We would prefer an electronic ignition over points system so we ordered an aftermarket HEI distributor (with inbuilt coil), a set of NGK GR4-2635 Plugs and 8mm MSD Street Fire spark plug wires. Rather than just trusting the old distributor was installed correctly, we made sure the engine was at TDC (Top Dead Centre) with the rotor pointing at the No.1 spark plug. We now have spark.
This is where we take pause and work what parts we are going to need for this jeep and put in a big order to RockAuto from the USA. Our order includes a mechanical fuel pump, set of intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gasket and breather, set of motor mounts, fuel filter, oil filter, new oil filler cap and drain plug, V belt, thermostat, engine earth cable, carburettor gasket and voltage regulator.
With an oil change complete, engine and components freshly painted, new gaskets and all the other gear installed, it's time to give it some fuel. Remember the Jeep was missing the carburettor when we purchased it so we managed to chase down a brand new NOS (New Old Stock) Carter BBD (double barrel) carburettor, we installed the new fuel pump, bent up and flared an aluminium hard fuel line to go between the pump to the carburettor. The fuel tank has some very old fuel in it with no apparent leaks. We dont trust the tank/fuel or fuel lines so we have temporarily rigged up a jerry can just to get it running.
After we remembered to block up all the open vacuum ports on the carburettor, the AMC 232 fired right up. We made a minor timing adjustment and it idled smoothly. Success!!!
Do you know the model of the intake manifold you used? Been looking forever and can't seem to find one