80 CJ7 Rebuild

[MrBeast]

I am cross posting this, figured you all would enjoy.

Bought a Jeep this morning, paid 800 bucks for it and agreed to weld a hitch on a trailer for the PO.

These are the pics from the Craigs List add.









I drug it home, cleaned it out, bolted the seat back in.





The motor wasn't wanting to turn over, so I hooked it back up to my friends dodge, drug it down the street popped the clutch and it started turning over.

I changed the oil, threw a new Optima Yellow Top in it, and it lit right off. Got to drive it up and down the street a couple of times. Now I just need to make it street legal.

I ordered a whole bunch of goodies, got a new pair of hood hinges, latches, head lights and buckets, tail lights, and a few other goodies.

Should have it road ready next week some time.

[MrBeast]

Figured I should post a few pics of the CJ5 that I am robbing a lot of stuff for this Jeep off of.





Next week I am going to swap the lift tires and axles over to the CJ7, I traded a wire feed welder for the CJ5, it is a nice enough jeep, but the problem is I am 6'1" and 265 lbs, I just don't fit in the CJ5.

As well I am moving the whole front clip over and the rear flares.

The cool thing is the tires on the CJ5 are brand new, and by brand new I mean they still have the stubbies on them.



And I also got a spare.



I am really looking forward to getting everything moved over and getting the Jeep painted.

[MrBeast]

Well haven't done much for a while now, just been saving money and collecting parts.

I just picked up a hard top and doors, the hard top is from a YJ need to see if I can find a CJ back hatch for it.

I just ordered a bunch of goodies too, got some Rancho 2.5" lift YJ springs for the front, A More Shackle reversal, some RS-5000's, some 88 F-350 front shock hangers, and a set of Old Man Emu greaseable shackles.

Hopefully this weekend I am getting a 78 Waggy for the Dana 44's right now they have 3.07's in em, but it will actually be better for mileage until I get the NV4500 in it.

As soon as Brown Santana shows up with it, I am going to get to work on it, trying to have it ready by November 1st so I can hit the road for the big move to Alaska.

[MrBeast]

Well time for an update. I have been collecting more stuff for the jeep.



I picked up this 79 waggy, it has Dana 44's with 3.54's a recently rebuilt 304 that is pretty healthy, and a T-18 trans with a Dana 20.

I am going to install it all in my CJ for now, and later the Dana 300 will go back in attached to a NV4500.



Here is a shot of all the jeep stuff, my welding rig, and my 72 Chevy Cummins project.

Funny thing is, everything runs and drives except for the 72 which is a work in progress.

I also really love the wheels that came on the Waggy, I have always been a fan of the old turbines, I am going to get them cleaned up and put the 33's off of the green jeep on them. I think it is going to look pretty sharp.

[MrBeast]

Ride height before:



After!



Been working my butt off this weekend. I don't have the front suspension all the way back together yet, but it is getting closer.

All I have left is hooking up the power steering hoses, installing the new shock towers, sway bar disconnects, steering shaft and brake lines, and I can move on to the rear.

Hoping by the end of the week to be driving it!

Oh yeah, doing this in a driveway in the Texas heat sucks! I cant wait to hit the road to Alaska!

[MrBeast]

Well ran into a bit snag today, rear shackle is not compatible with the CJ lift springs I was using. Nor was it compatible with the shackle eye I ordered, so I will order a new shackle eye, and I wound up using the waggy front springs since they had a similar lift.

A small mod is going to have to be made to correct the shackle angle, but it wont be a bad deal at all.

Here are pics of it sitting on 3 wheels for a test of the ride height.





I really want to see it on the ground all the way, then I can get to work getting the 304 transplanted in.

[MrBeast]

Got to drive it tonight for the first time with the new front suspension in, it rides like a dream, all the death wobble is gone, it goes down the road straight and true, ride is amazing. I am so in love with my Jeep.





I still have some things to do to the suspension, I have to put my Currie u-bolt plate on the drivers side, I still have to get the rear brake line in and get the rear brakes bled, and lower the E-brake lines. Also have to get the right shackle hangers for the rear. As soon as I go this thing is going to be really coming together fast.

Next I need to get the transmission built so I can get new drive-shafts made, the front drive-shaft is now too short, and I suspect so is the rear.

So as soon as the transmission is built I will be stabbing it and the 304 and getting the front clip switched over.

Then it is a matter of fixing some rust, swapping the good heater out of the other jeep over, and with that I should be pretty close to having it on the road, going to be a lot of work, but it will be well worth the while.

[MrBeast]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaxdA0z7T8

[MrBeast]

I don't have a lot to report on the jeep right now, I am up in Montana, been here the last 2 months and the jeep is in Texas.

When I get back in a couple of weeks the plan is to do the few things it needs to make it road worthy then sell my truck. Going to just rebuild the SR4 for right now, I am starting a new business, once I have it up and running I am going to turn around and buy a TDK frame, build a Chevy 350 for it, NV4500, and the Dana 44 front and a Dana 60 rear.

Right now I am mostly concerned with getting it to where I can use it as a daily driver for a while.

[MrBeast]

Well the big news is today, I got my bell housing ordered from Advance Adapters, as well as a new center force clutch. And I ordered the kit from Novak Conversions to hook the Dana 300 to the NV4500, Next on the list is a set of M.O.R.E. engine mounts for the 304, and I will be pretty close to having it together. Hopefully this stuff will start arriving about the time I get back to Texas.

Also on my short list is a new wiring harness from painless and a 140 amp power master. If I have the funds remaining I am going to get a 2nd optima yellow top, and do the dual battery conversion.

When I can get to this point, I think I will be doing really good.

Also on the way back Ia m stopping at Collins brothers in Dallas, going to get all the control cables for the heater, going to yank the dash, pull the heater box, and clean it thoroughly and install the new controls.

Also need to find a good passenger door, mine has issues. Also contemplating doing a YJ tailgate conversion.

[MrBeast]

Well I have been ordering parts like crazy, Leaving Sunday for Texas, Friday I will be back in Corpus to finish knocking it out. I am really looking forward to getting this thing on the road where I can drive it, hopefully 2 weeks time I will be driving it with a 304 between the fenders and the NV4500 in the tunnel.

Once I have it running and driving and all shook down, I will start worrying about axles, going to narrow the Waggy Dana 44 for the front, going to see if I can find a dana 60 for the rear, also might go with a high pinion 9 from currie. We will see how the money situation is when I get there.

One thing I am dead set on is getting the ARB air lockers and 4.10 gears in the axles.

It is going to be a bit odd having a 27% overdrive, 33" tires and 3.07 gears. I may not be able to use overdrive much until I get this remedied. If the 304 will pull it, I should get some pretty bad *** gas mileage.

[MrBeast]

Well, I am back in Texas, but it is going to be a week or maybe 3 or 4 before we see any progress, the issue is that I was in a car accident in Nebraska on the way down, totaled my truck, so in the mean time I had to buy a driver, and that ate up my jeep funds.

All I am waiting on is the title for my truck, so I can get it sent off to the insurance company and they can get me paid out for totaled truck and I can get some cash back in the bank.

It is tough because right now I am living solely on my VA retirement so I am subject to living on a fairly tight budget. I can't do anything until I pay the other 800 for the transmission, as soon as I do that I can start sticking it back together. I think all I have left parts wise to order is the Electric Fan control, and the rear shocks. I about have everything else knocked out.

I will keep you all posted as I get closer.

[MrBeast]

Well today has been a productive day, Got back into corpus last night, this morning took my friend to the airport, when I got back to the house I did some cleaning up around the driveway, then got the jeep fired up. Much to my amazement after sitting for 3 months it fired right up after a little cranking, I was worried it would be dead.

Then I got it backed up to my M105 trailer.



The tire on the drivers side of the trailer is flat, so you can see about how high it will ride when I get rid of the ton and a half running gear and stuff a 3500 lb axle in it with a set of 33x12.50's on there with the same bolt pattern as the jeep.

I know a lot of folks are going to say this is a lot of trailer for the CJ7 to pull, and they are right. I am upgrading my CJ to bigger axles with bigger brakes, I am running Waggy springs in the back, and I will be running upgraded brakes with a hydraboost. As well I am cutting a lot of weight out of the trailer, and if I can not get it light enough by ditching the axle and heavy springs, I am going to build a new frame out of 2x4" 3/16" wall box tube.

As far as the body of the trailer goes, it is close in size to the Jeep its self, I am confident with the upgrades and changes I am making that it will be able to tow it just fine.



I have another m101 that I am fixing up for my buddy Kirk, it is going to get a standard trailer axle, and it will get cleaned up and painted as well I am throwing some standard 6" oval trailer lights on it.



Going to be a busy couple of months, tomorrow I am going to get the rear suspension on the Jeep finished up, then maybe get to tackle a few of the last things on the front suspension finished up. Hopefully next week I will get to drive it some before I pull the engine to stuff the 304 & NV4500 in.

[MrBeast]

Today's update, Got my suspension pretty well buttoned up. Going to be driving it tomorrow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjdQjOqaQdo

[MrBeast]

Tonight was awesome, I finally got to take my Jeep out, Ran down Leopard to see how the suspension would be on a ****ty road, ran great, handled good, everything felt nice and tight, no issues. I ran over to a couple of friends places and got to drop in and say hi, then came back on the interstate, I ran it up to 60mph indicated when I got home I did the math, it turns out that is now 73 MPH! and the Jeep was riding like it was on rails! I can not believe how good the suspension feels.

I have a lot of time and money buried in the suspension but tonight I got to see that it was totally worth it. I am totally floored with how well it rides because if anyone has ever driven an old CJ you know they don't ride worth a damn! After tonight once I get the new engine and transmission in I will have no quams about taking this thing up on the interstate to 75mph all day long. It is going to be great! :thumbsup:

[MrBeast]

Yesterday I got the CJ up to 82 mph, it was actually comfortable at that speed, it was everything the 258 had to give because the carb is all messed up, really looking forward to stuffing the 304 this weekend.

[MrBeast]

Today was a busy day, I started out at the machine shop, picked up my flywheel. They surfaced it and put a new ring gear on it for me.



Then I picked up my NV4500 from the transmission shop.



and headed over to my buddy's house to get the garage cleaned out.

Then I got all my tools and the jeep packed over there.



It couldn't happen a moment too soon, because on the way down it sprung a massive oil leak I guess it wanted to go out with a bang.





The motor is still good, it is just throwing oil, don't know where from. I think it is at the front cover somewhere.

Also got the 304 up on the stand, yanked the headers and carb, drained the oil, tomorrow I am going to take the wire wheel to it and get it all cleaned up and painted, it will be tan like everything else on the jeep.





As well here is a pic of the MORE engine mounts I bought, they are pretty!



I am excited, this thing is really starting to shape up. I am hoping to have it back together in about a week and a half. Already chomping a the bit to drive it.

[MrBeast]

Today was a busy day, did a bunch more cleaning up on the engine. Got all the accessory drive stripped off of the front of it. Cleaned up quite a bit of it with the wire wheel. Tomorrow I am going to get some small wire brushes and simple green and attack the rest.







Then I got busy getting the engine pulled. I was amazed at how easily it came out.

This is my first Jeep project and I am really beginning to appreciate what a well built rig Jeep's are, they are simple by design, and AMC did one hell of a job designing that 304 V8. I like how the oil pump is part of the front cover, it is simple effective and easy to work on. I also like how the oil filter is on its side, this will make changing it less of a mess.

What was real fun was trying to get the engine high enough to clear the grille.



If you notice the end of the boom on the picker is up in the rafters.



Got it high enough and rolled the Jeep back out from under it.



It was a damn good feeling having the motor out and on the floor. Tomorrow morning I will get after the transmission. It isn't going to take much to get it sitting on the floor. Then the long process of cleaning up the engine bay begins. Going to be all that much more fun because the 258 started throwing oil, everything is covered in it.

I would have stayed later tonight, but by the time I shut down I was toast, my back was absolutely killing me so it was time to hang it up.

[MrBeast]

Well didnt get anything done yesterday, I was hurting way too bad.

Today I ripped the front clip off, scrubbed, scrubbed, and scrubbed some more, the seam sealer on the fire wall is all shot. Here are some pics.







Also finally got the trans dropped, and I painted a test patch on the firewall, I think the Rust Oleum is going to look great!







Tomorrow I am going to do some more scrubbing down and cleaning up, then going to treat all the rust with ossfoa that will have to dry over night, then I will paint it, then do the seam sealer, then paint the sealer.

In the mean time going to finish getting the engine cleaned up and painted. As well need to patch the bullet hole in the floor, tomorrow I will be getting my new welder so I can get crackin on that.

I am going to go take a nap now. Catch up with you all tomorrow.

[MrBeast]

Today I ordered up a ton of stuff, got a passenger side fender on the way, ordered a dual battery tray.



Also got some stock style fender flares and ordered new wheels.



I needed new wheels because the Wagoneer Axles are 6 lug. It is actually cheaper to go 6 lug than it is to convert the axles to 5's.

Still waiting on my new welder. It "should" be here tomorrow. I am kind of stuck until it shows up.

Today I did get all the old seam sealer cleaned out, sprayed everything down with rust converter. Tomorrow morning I am going to get the seam sealer in, then assuming my welder is here get the bullet hole patched.

Then Thursday I should be able to paint the frame and firewall. Then if everything goes right Friday or Saturday the engine will go back in. Then I can get the front put back on. and hook everything up, then start worrying about getting it drivable!

[MrBeast]

Today was a busy day, I picked up my new Lincoln PowerMig 256, got it all put together, then I wiped down the fire wall and squirted seam sealer in it and had to call it a night because they were having a party.

Tomorrow I have another seam to seal, then I will patch the bullet hole. Once that is wrapped up I will roll the jeep outside and let it sit in the sun to let the sealer harden, then I will get down and dirty getting the engine cleaned up the rest of the way, and the transfer case.

Friday I will paint the frame and firewall then Saturday I will hopefully be stuffing the engine and transmission back in it. Then it is just a matter of getting it all hooked up and the sheet metal hung back on it. Getting really close to having it running again now.

[MrBeast]

Today got more done, got the necessary plug to get the welder plugged in and fired up. it is absolutely awesome, it has digital gauges this is going to come in real handy.

I was able to get the bullet hole welded up, got the rest of the seam sealer in, tomorrow I am going to clean the frame and firewall again, then I am going to start priming and painting. I should be stuffing the motor Sunday if everything goes right.

Also when I got home Brown Santa had left me some more goodies.

There were 5 of these:



and one of these:



Ordered it from Collins brothers, paid a pretty penny for it, but it was worth it.

has a small crack on the back by the lowest bolt hole.



But that will be really easy to fix.

Should be getting more deliveries in the next couple of days. I am getting really close to having everything I need to get it on the road, I am pretty happy about this. I have a video I will post a bit later.

[MrBeast]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQvZrs8q1l8

[MrBeast]

Time for todays update.

Got the firewall primed.



And painted!



Tomorrow I am going to work on getting the frame cleaned and painted, and try to finish getting the engine transmission and transfer case cleaned up and painted. Then either Sunday or Monday they will be going back in!

[nuke1]

Wow, this is gonna be one sweet ride for you! And. Or a whole lot of investment. What were you doin in montana, come a little more north and we could of had a cold one! I have always been a big fan of jeeps, to me they arer one of the funnest wheeling machines out there.
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