(Submitted by Chuck Gajewski) Most gearheads and car enthusiasts can go way back and tell you exactly when and where it all began. For me, it was circa 1977 or 1978. I was a mere toddler in a NY Giants beanie when my mom told me that “Daddy is back, look what he got.” What my dad had brought home was a ’69 Jeep CJ-5; fitted with a Meyer steel hardtop, plow rig and steel slot mags as well as a ragged leaky exhaust, faded paint, a bit of primer and wear offset by flat black trim and yellow pinstripes. The odd-fire 225 Buick “Dauntless” V6 breathed thru shorty glasspack mufflers and to my young ears at first it was a bit scary. But I quickly fell in love!
Dad had picked it up to do the plowing for our apartment complex in Denville, NJ. Here I am, standing proudly beside that old Jeep, in all my late ’70s glory: Plaid pants, something that resembles Chucks, a jacket that has café racer style stripes very strangely reminiscent of my favorite leather jacket now, and the all-important NY Giants Beanie.
This pic must have been taken the same day, just from a different angle. With my undying love of Jeeps, slot mags, and the G-men, some things get ingrained early!
Before picking up the Jeep, Dad had worked out a contract with the landlord, so not only was it his daily driver, but come winter time, it earned him a little chump change on the side. Every time it snowed, I would run and jump shotgun to ride along. The nest of levers for the T-14 three-speed trans and twin stick Spicer transfer case as well as the controls for the plow rig were a mystery to me. I had no clue how they worked, but what I did know was that I was ‘helping’ my dad (somehow) and that cars–especially that Jeep–absolutely fascinated me.
Supposedly, that T-14 trans was the glass jaw of Kaiser-era Jeeps. Why they put such a weak POS on the biggest available engine at the time, I’ll never know. My dad claims to have shattered that thing about a half dozen times in the two or three seasons he had it. The T-98 granny low four-speed was available on the four banger at the time, was worlds stronger, and would have been perfect for plowing. Jeep was a strange beast in those days.
One particular incident stands out to me, and I think a love of Jeeps was literally beat into my head. My mom has had her moments of being “vehicularly-challenged.” I remember Dad trying to teach her how to drive a stick in the Jeep for the first time. It didn’t go too well. There was no rear seat in the Jeep, and I took to sitting side saddle on the rear fenders if we went anywhere. No seat belts, no roll bar…no problem! That is until my mom dumped the clutch and likely hopped all four wheels off the ground a few times! I’m not totally sure but I think my noggin put a dent or two in that ugly-ass Meyer top from all the bucking and slamming around. That was the absolute last time my mom ever attempted a manual. We never had one in our driveway again until Dad bought the ’84 Power Ram…which is another COAL for another time….
Cue to late 1978, and a few trips back and forth to western Tennessee. Turns out Dad was being transferred there, and by March of 1979, I’d been dragged to a completely foreign land. We’d had a late snowfall and Dad went around to a few local businesses and neighbors offering to plow the parking lots and driveways. The way he tells it, the response was something like “sure, knock yourself out!” followed by a dopey grin. I guess the grin got even dopier when my dad tried to explain that where we hailed from, people who drive plows get paid money to remove the frozen nastiness. Tennessee snows are light, it doesn’t last, and the town pretty much shuts down anyway. That, as they say, was that.
It didn’t take long until Dad realized that being a homeowner necessitated having a truck. That Jeep wasn’t in the greatest of condition. It was right at ten years old (an eternity for a working Jeep exposed to road salt) and I hear that the floor pans had rusted out and been completely replaced. Twice. I remember my mom turning on the radio and tuning in to Swap-n-Shop (Ebay in its infancy), a kind of live phone/radio auction where we could hear my dad putting the Jeep up for grabs. I was pretty bummed, since even by the age of five, I’d put two and two together and I knew that when I was old enough to drive, a Jeep is all that would do! Granted, ours was pretty ratty, especially compared to the one owned by the dad of a little blonde girl in my K-garten class.
It was a late ’70s model CJ-5, bright orange with a tan top. It had the 304 V8, chrome spoke wheels and a set of matching chrome side pipes. That exact Jeep was bought by a guy I knew in shop class who was two years older than me! Even if it was a pile, I gave my dad no end of hell for selling it! I just KNEW that with his help, some cash from a part time job and my own effort I could have made that Jeep into the beast of my dreams. Every time I see a Kaiser era CJ–or really ANY Jeep CJ–I’m brought back to those days. I recently spotted one that is the spitting image of what my sixteen year old self would have envisioned in 1990…
I never did get a CJ-5, and to this day I’ve never been able to acquire Ansen style slots on a vehicle. My dad has never been a Jeep fan since then; the bug just never bit him. But we’ve done wrenching together on all five of mine, and shared interest in cars will always be something that binds us.
Great story. We don’t have many snow plows in Houston either but sure remember Living in New England and Canada. Jeep power trains prior to AMC seem to be a puzzle to most of us. For all we complain about change, some things do seem to be a lot better.
One minor correction: The 225 V6 at that time was technically not a Buick; it was wholly owned and produced by Kaiser Corp at the time. They also sold them to Outboard Marine Corp for inboard marine use, and I have seen quite a few. NO GM markings or casting #’s to be found.
Buick sold their 225 engines to Jeep for a few years starting in the mid-1960s and after they stopped using this motor in their own cars (on the 1968 models), the tooling was sold to Kaiser-Jeep who made it for a few more years. At about the same time they acquired the tooling to make the Buick V6, Kaiser-Jeep started buying 350 Buick V8 engines for the Wagoneer and Gladiator.
Then AMC bought Jeep and replaced the V6 with their own inline 6 in the CJ (which required a longer hood to fit it in) and with small 304 V8 engines in the Commando for the 1972 model year. They also replaced the Buick 350 with their own 360 in the full size Wagoneer and Gladiator during the 1971 production.
Kaiser-Jeep and later AMC also used Buick 400 automatic transmissions in their Commando and full size models. The transmissions that Jeep got from GM had the Buick “Nailhead” (264-322-364-401-425) bellhousing which didn’t match with the newer design Buick V6 and Buick 350 that required transmissions with the “BOP” bellhousing. So Jeep had to use adapter plates to fit their Buick engines (and later their AMC engines) to Buick transmissions! Later, they got 400 transmissions to fit the AMC engines and eventually used Chrysler Torqueflite transmssions.
During the fuel crisis, AMC, who no longer produced the V6 motor sold the tooling back to Buick who reinstalled it in the exact same spot it used to be at the Flint engine plant. The engine was slightly modified to become a 231 c.i. and was reintroduced on the Skylark/Century/Regal and on the new SkyHawk for the 1975 model-year debut. For the next two years, it kept the odd-fire design of the previous 198 and 225 V6. In mid-1977, the even-fire version (with split crank pins) replaced it.
OMC also used Buick’s 225 before it was sold to Kaiser. I think they used it since it’s introduction in 1964. In 1966, the V6 gained a two-barrel carburator and 5 horsepower and Buick still used the V6 in the Skylark and Special until the end of the 1967 model production. After that, they sold the tooling to Kaiser-Jeep which had already been offering it in it’s CJ and Jeepster Commando since 1966. Some websites say that the 225 V6 had been produced by Kaiser since 1966, this is incorrect. The production was moved to Kaiser after Buick stopped to use it as standard equipment in the 1967 Special and Skylark.
Great story and pictures.
I like those Meyer cabs, very professionally done. My brother is a CJ fanatic, he’s got a very neat 1977 CJ7 304 in his garage. He put a lot of work in it, bought it in 2000 and about 3 years later it was just perfect. Technically and optically.
About the last picture, “Ansen style slots”. Do Ansen rims always come in that style ? They look pretty much the same as the ones on my Plymouth. It says “Ansen sprint” on the hubcaps.
As far as I know, Ansen was an independent wheel maker, similar to Cragar. Like Cragar–which immediately boots up an image of the S/S–the slot mag is apparently what Ansen was known for.
Although when these pics were taken, I called them ‘pickle wheels’ because of the shape of the slots!
I sure heard of the Cragars, lots of US classics here either have them or get them right after purchase of the car.
I like the Ansens, they look period correct and timeless at the same time. A simple clean design, and also easy to clean.
Man those pants are the original zubaz. The Clan Mara.
Great story! When I was getting ready to buy my first car in early 1977, my father tried to talk me into a Jeep with a snowplow. His reasoning was completely practical – my car would pay for itself with plowing gigs and from pulling stuck motorists out of snowbanks and ditches. But I didn’t want a job, I just wanted a car.
Later, a cousin bought a new CJ-5 with the V8 – I got to drive it once, and what a beast that thing was – I loved it. However, I have never owned a Jeep of my own. If I did though, my tastes would align with yours. I don’t think anything but a CJ-5 would do it for me.
Edit – I must add that I have thanked my parents several times for having me before 1960, so that all of my little-kid pictures came before those horrid 1970s-era styles. 🙂 Of course, maybe it was worse later when I wore them by choice.
You think this is bad? I had pants like these when I was that age!
Ouch, my eyes, my eyes!
No seat belts, noggin denting the top – I can hear Carmine saying, “And he survived – no big deal.” 🙂 Great story, great pics.
Oh I survived alright. Some would say the noggin knockin as a tyke is why Im such a twisted excuse for an adult!
Nice story and pictures. I thought you would now be a dyed in the wool Jeep owner after what I read. You should get a CJ. You deserve it. And it sounds like you have a great Dad.
Great story! The genesis of a gearhead. By now, I imagine that you realize there’s no cure…
@ Conti: Definitely a dyed in the wool Jeep fanatic. Ive owned 5 over the years, and while Im Jeep-less at the moment, Im far from done. Yes, my dad is a great guy. We clashed a lot when I was younger (2 stubborn, dominant personalities under one roof) but he’s a stand up guy and a great father for sure.
@ Mike: No cure, and who would want one? haha!
Te only Jeep I’ve ever owned was a 63 pickup that my daddy bought new and I inherited. My shop caught fire and the truck was burned beyond recognition. I’ve looked for CJ5s a couple go times but they’re harder to find than a friendly rattler.
Both CJ5s and CJ7s seem to be more or less impossible to buy here in road salt country, save for those which are covered in Bondo and/or diamond plate.
What few decent examples remain are usually southern or western imports, modified to the point of ridiculousness, and carrying price tags similar to a king’s ransom.
If they were easy to find, I’d probably have two by now – for summer and winter 🙂
I’m in south Georgia and can’t find any decent CJs. They must be out west.