Jeeps have always been popular for restoration or custom projects, and especially so the CJ 5.

Produced in two time frames (1954-71 and 1972-83, with varying specifications), the CJ 5’s basically simple design has always made it a favourite target for customisers.

The Americans of course have all the really trick parts and accessories for the model, although a number of specialist dealers in Australia can source many parts.

Still, we doubt many would go to the same lengths as Jim in Perth to achieve CJ 5 satisfaction.

Instructions not included
It’s true that his CJ 5 was brought into Australia directly from the USA as a semi finished project, but don’t go thinking that all Jim had to do was assemble the bits with a socket set and some spanners before cruising off into the West Australian sunset !

It was Jim’s neighbour and Jeep connoisseur, Brian Pollitt, who actually brought the CJ 5 in from Mission Viejo in California, but as it turned out, Brian was too busy on other projects and the American classic just sat in his garage until one day Jim made an offer.

Incredibly, Jim had never been into 4WDs let alone Jeeps and reckons that he simply, "Just felt like building something."

It’s probably worth mentioning that although Jim had never before performed a vehicle restoration of any description, a lifetime of working for a major oil company on remote islands taught him plenty of engineering skills the hard way. If you’re stuck on an atoll in the Indian Ocean and something breaks, you’ve got to make it rather than buy it!

The CJ 5 did arrive in Perth with boxes containing everything from gauges to anodised fittings and a multitude of parts - plus the V6 Chevy engine was bolted to the chassis - but that was about it.

Plumbing and wiring were virtually non existent and it soon became clear that extensive engineering would be required to custom make numerous parts and keep the WA licensing authorities happy too.

Some of it’s actually original
Although based on a 1971 model CJ 5, about the only thing that’s original now is the chassis.

Yet even here there are some major changes, particularly with regards to the suspension set up.

The rear leaf springs now sit out from the chassis rails (as per CJ 7 specification) thanks to custom extensions, while the front leaf shackles have been reversed.

These mods aid stability and smooth the ride somewhat, although a total of 13 Rancho shock absorbers no doubt help a lot too. In case you’re wondering, that’s three shocks per wheel and one for the steering!

No CJ 5 build up would be complete either without a decent body lift and some huge wheels.

The 3" lift kit on this Jeep isn’t radical and is achieved by a total of eight spacers. The fibreglass body that sits on top of the spacers is an AJs De Luxe two-piece body from Jersey Shore in Pennsylvania.

Amazingly, some parts include sections of balsa wood for re-inforcement and the bodywork also includes the bonnet.

One aspect to the bodywork that isn’t from AJs however, is the 5" flares.

These were obtained from Eddie Villanova at 4WD USA in Perth and were the widest that could be found to cover those awesome 15 / 36 R15LT Dick Cepek tyres.

The rubber wraps around 15" X 10" Alcoa rims, and together, the wheels and tyres add a certain amount of height to the vehicle all by themselves.

The wheels are spun by fully floating Dana axles that exit from an ARB diff’ lock equipped 44 Dana diff’ at the rear and a Dana 30 diff’ up front.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here…

A good start under the hood
Motive power is provided in the first place by a nicely warmed 4.3 litre V6 Chevy engine.

Much of the work on the motor was done Stateside and it includes a fully balanced bottom end with flat top pistons.

A decent cam, some mild headwork, oversize valves and roller rockers ensure plenty of power too, as does a Holley Projection system which sits on top of an Edelbrock intake manifold and uses two injectors to squirt in the fuel.

A Holley fuel controller and RPM mixture controller ensure reliability and efficiency.

On the exhaust front, Jim had Exhaust Torque in Myaree make up a fully custom exhaust system.

Outright control of the engine comes down to a re-graphed MSD distributor, an MSD Blaster coil and MSD booster module.

There are a few other interesting aspects to this engine too, including a dry cell battery which lies horizontally in the back tray and a twin oil filter arrangement to help with cooling. Speaking of which, the radiator is in fact from a V8 Holden Commodore.

The transmission meanwhile is a Turbo 350 automatic, equipped with a slight hi-stall and a stage 3 shift kit, while a B & M Pro Stick in the cabin acts as the human interface.

The 350 transfers the ponies through to a T 18 transfer case and then those Dana diffs.

As indicated right at the top of the story, building this CJ 5 wasn’t simply a case of bolting all the parts together.

Correcting the oddities
There were numerous problems and custom parts to be manufactured, not to mention rectifying mistakes made by whoever had started the project in the USA…

For example, Jim couldn’t figure out why the brakes couldn’t be bled properly - until it was discovered that the vehicle had come from the USA with the front brake calipers on upside down!

Jim had to make up numerous hinges and brackets himself too, including the hinging mechanism for the bonnet.

Then the roll cage had to be re-made and fitted through the fibreglass body before being bolted to the chassis.

Why the project’s American originator would be content with simply bolting the roll cage to the fibreglass body is anyone’s guess – but WA’s licensing people certainly weren’t amused on that score!

The positioning of the mounting points for the shoulder straps on the race harnesses also had to be changed from overhead to behind, the spare wheel carrier had to go through the body and bolt to the chassis, brackets for this, linkages for that, a custom dashboard with eight Autometer gauges, mounts for the radiator…

Changing sides
Perhaps the single biggest task with this CJ 5 however, was the conversion from left hand drive to right hand drive, which involved quite a bit of intricate work with the steering.

At least the above mentioned and experienced Brian Pollitt came to the rescue here, welding up a steering box bracket and re-engineering as required.

In a curious blend of componentry, the steering now consists of a Chev Camaro tilt steering column, an HQ Holden steering shaft and a steering box from a Chev truck!

With his radical CJ 5 complete (and fully street legal, with a four-page engineer’s report), Jim and his two sons, Brendan and Alastair, now enjoying cruising the west coast in their unique machine