My 1972 Jeep CJ5 Renegade

by Pete
( Oregon)

Here's a picture of my '72 CJ5 Jeep Renegade. I had wanted a Jeep as long as I could remember and found this one as a basket case project when I was twenty.

It had been used and abused like most Jeeps of its vintage. Once it was thoroughly thrashed and no longer running the previous owners parked it on the side of their barn, and there it sat for over ten years. I stumbled upon it and luckily they were willing to part with it.

I stripped it down to the bare frame and brought it back up from there. It was originally the Renegade Plum color, but not being a fan of purple I opted to paint it the Mopar Sublime color. It's actually fairly close to the Renegade yellow offered at the time.

It was my goal to keep it looking as close to factory as possible (with the exception of the diamond plate) and was even fortunate enough to find the factory "slot" wheels that came with the Renegade package.

It's powered by the 304 V8 with a T15 3-speed behind it (seems to be the weak link, don't ask). Over all it took me just under two years and most all of my weekly pay checks to restore it. I did 95% of the work myself including the fabrication of the roll cage and the front/rear bumpers, wiring etc. I did some necessary upgrades including a front disc brake conversion and a front shackle reversal.

The Jeep drives great! I'm happy to say I'm not afraid to use it and have put over 10,000 miles on it, both on and off road, all during the first year it was done. I believe it's very possible to take something off road without trashing it.

I love my Jeep. I've had it for over 5 years and never intend to part with it. Shortly after completing it I was offered $15K for my CJ5 and quickly turned it down.


Larry's Comment: Nice CJ5 Pete! I love those old Renegades.