Question for all JEEP gurus

[ddkr]

I am looking to buy a Jeep and i am trying pay little as possible. I found a 1980 CJ5 for 1600 and runs good. Sounds great right, thats where my question comes to all of you. It has a 4cyl with a 4 speed tranny. Is it worth it? Is the 4cyl a strong enough engine to get me from point "a" to point "b". And have enough power to do some trail riding. In other words is the 4cyl a good enough engine?

[YJ_Aaron]

What all are you wanting the jeep to do?  Drive weekends on the street and some trails?  How big of a tire do you want to run?  Benefit of CJ's is the ease of which you can put an AMC V8 in them.  However it's only worth what one is willing to pay for it. 

[Jeeper guy]

As far a the 4 banger thing, ive got one and its slow, but my jeep is not meant to be a race car by any means... On the trails it has plenty of power to prolly get you where you need to go. Im running the stock 4.10s and 33 and can reach 65 or so on the highway sometimes faster. Dont doubt the 4 banger it will get you from point a to b, besides with correct gearing and other things you can be quite suprised... this is just my 2 cents though. Hope this helps

Alex

[ddkr]

Thanks for the input. All I am needing this for is to go from here to there. And get off the road some. I dont know if later I would be changing out the motor or not. Im thinking for the price I couldnt go wrong though. But please keep the comments and experiences coming.

[LoneWolf]

I've driven a couple 4 cylinder Jeeps... and have friends who have them. They do awesome on the trail, but leave something to be desired as far as highway driving goes. You'll have NO passing power and it'll take you about 5 minutes to go from 0-60.   Like Jeeperguy said, if you have the correct gearing it might not be so bad. If it were me; I'd try to find a 6 cylinder cause more power is better than less.

[Willysman23]

I have run 4 cyl jeeps and they seem to get me where I want to go and have even managed  some recovery work,they have fewer moving parts,and better(marginally)fuel economy,but if you like power and passing then avoid them.I agree with what Jeeper Guy said as well.I can do level 4's just fine with a four banger in my cherokee at smorr.

[TanYJ]

The 4-cyl dd is talking about is the old one.  I think it's the one used in 70's-early 80's GM cars.  It would be carburated & a lot less HP than the EFI from the YJs & TJs.  I don't know much about how they perform in the Jeeps, but they were decent engines in the cars & very easy to work on.  The 4-speed with no OD is going to put a damper on fuel economy, but should be ok, also.  If you're buying a pile to save on fuel, forget it.  Might send     Lilgrnjeep a PM.  He knows more than the average bear does about 5s.  Good luck.