Any CJ mechanics near Wilmington ?

    Greetings! I'm hoping someone can recommend a good mechanic in the northern Delaware / southern PA area that can help me with my 1979 CJ5. It's pretty stripped down, but has a Chevy 350 small block engine, Borg Warner 5-speed trans, and full fiberglass tub. Having serious electrical problems that I can't seem to trace. I would love to have it re-wired if I could find someone to do it. It should be pretty simple since the only electronics I have are lights, a couple of gauges, and a horn! I think the fiberglass body creates ground issues.


    She needs a few other things, too, but the electrical problem is the most immediate need.


    Any referrals for a mechanic that likes old CJ's would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!



    Craig - Wilmington, DE

    Hello Craig, that jeep sounds like fun. My first jeep was a CJ-5 with a glass body I installed. I wired it myself no problem. The issue is that on a steel body a lot of things are grounded to the body, which is bonded to the motor which is bonded to the frame. Some have a wire to the body for ground, others ground through their housings where they clamp into the metal. (Gauges, for example.).
    With the fiberglass body you have to ground all that stuff back to the battery or frame. You just run a suitable size wire back to the ground for each item and you are done. Switches and gauges that ground through their housing require a little more work. These should be assessed individually for custom grounding. If the dash is metal, then it should be grounded heavily to the block or frame, and all grounds brought to the dash somewhere. The wire should be big enough to handle all accessories being on at once and then some. You can't just daisy chain with small wire and act like its only ground and doesn't matter, it will burn up. If you have a tilt column it may need grounding also.
    There are some real nice harnesses available now, maybe some have provisions for fiberglass. I would probably search that and find a product that suits your needs if you can.
    I would be happy to look at it if I could help.
    I'm not trying to step on any toes, there are a couple of often recommended pro mechanics on here, I have no idea if they like or do electrical work, hopefully they will respond if interested.

    I second this. I retired my CJ5 with an EZ universal harness and it was fairly simple. I also had a glass body installed and I mounted a few (3 I think) grounding blocks. 1 in the rear. 1 in the engine bay, and 1 behind the dash. Make sure you have a good solid ground to each block and then you can ground things to those blocks. Something along these lines:


    I'd also be happy to help you with it although free time is not something I have an abundance of these days.

    Now that's a ground block! I've been using grounding bars meant for house electrical panel boxes lately. They have several holes with pinch screws. You just strip the wire, put it in the hole, and tighten the screw. They will accept a lot of wires. Saves on all the special sized ring eye terminals.

    [size=2]I really appreciate the responses! This is excellent feedback that further confirms my suspicion that my problem is rooted in poor ground connections. While there are grounding wires to the battery, frame, metal dash, and lights, many of these wires are vey thin and "daisy chained". From your responses, it sounds like I need to install much heavier grounding cables, and I need get my hands on a couple of solid grounding blocks.


    Being respectful of everyone's time, I would be happy to drive my CJ over to have someone take a quick look and offer an opinion. I would sure appreciate 20 minutes or so of your time. I'm in no rush. Send me a PM if you would like to set up a time.


    Thanks again for the great responses![/size]

    Here is info for a few local DEJA guys as well...


    Aaron S. - Astape on the board.. northern DE off Naaman's Rd


    Luke S. - Shadyluke.. Pennsyltucky somewhere.. not far


    Joe D. - Dugan.. New Castle close to the DE Memorial Bridge & owner of MidKnight Fabrication


    I can PM you contact info for Aaron and Joe if you'd like. Luke will have to respond as I don't have his number.

    Your life is made up of 2 dates and a dash... make the most of the dash!

    [size=2]Great! Thanks for the referrals. I made a note of each one and looked them up. You're right, they are all real close to me.[/size]


    [size=2]Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know how I make out.[/size]

    [size=1.35em]I realize this is probably real basic stuff, but I want to make sure I've got the right idea here: I take a heavy gauge wire and attach one end to the ground wire off my negative battery terminal that is connected at the engine block. The other end I attach to a grounding block (buss bar) and mount it somewhere on the body or frame (perhaps a couple places fore and aft) to which I can then attach any ground wires from lights, gauges, accessories, or whatever requires a solid ground connection. Right?[/size]

    Pretty much. But you don't need a ground block on the frame, it should already be grounded to the engine block. You should be able to bolt to the frame anywhere already and have ground. It's not the best ground, but it usually will work.
    You can add ground blocks anywhere like you said, as long as the wire from the ground block to the engine can handle the maximum amps that are on it.
    I like to have it under the dash in one place where it's easier to troubleshoot, and less likely to be exposed to water, which causes corrosion, the enemy of the ground system. Even though my jeep is all steel I still brought back several ground wires from the lights and such to this central point for this reason.

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