Build Thread 1977 CJ7 Rebuild and Conversion

[shum8]

Jeff,

Thanks for putting this thread up........Others on this forum have inconsiderately neared completion of their builds... to the point of driving them, albeit very slowly, down the street.

HAHAHAHAHA



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[Jimbocker]

In the last couple of weeks, I have:
- Cleaned the inside of the frame
- Removed extra brackets and power steering pump
- Painted frame internals
- Fabricated a stronger locking system for my shed
- Bought front seats from a 1976 CJ7

Coming soon:
- Build a frame rotisserie (maybe?)
- Remove Axles
- Strip, Prime, Paint frame

In the meantime, I'm constantly thinking of the next several steps. Anybody consider any of the following and have any tips?
- SBC->SM465->NP205 Motor/Transmission mounts/positioning
- AMC20 Disc brake conversion
- Bedliner on the firewall
- Power Steering brackets/braces

Also included in the pictures is a sweet Jeep Grand Wagoneer that I parked next to this weekend. Enjoy!

 

[Jimbocker]

Tonight, I built a dolly for the tub. It's been happily perched on a pallet for the last several months, but it's been brought to my attention that it needs to be more portable (the boss said so). So, some 330lb casters and some 2x4s later and we have a dolly, ready for jeep tub placement. Unfortunately, it got late, so the transplant will have to wait.

Jeff

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[Jimbocker]

Some more good work got done this weekend! I put the tub on its dolly, so now I can get it out of the way whenever necessary. I also removed the axles and put the frame on jack stands. It's ready for stripping/priming!

I was messing with the front axle and decided to pop the cover again to take a closer look at the diff while I have easy access. Looking inside, I noticed that it looks like a pretty conventional diff on the inside. I had been told it may be a torsen, but upon closer inspection there are no worm gears to be found. It looks like there are just 4 bevel gears. The thing is, it behaves like a locker. When you spin one shaft, the other spins the same way. Any ideas on what this might be? I've included a picture with the casting numbers on it.

I've also included a picture of the front shackle. This angle looks wrong, but the spring is completely un-loaded. I assume when the engine/tub/Transmission /etc are in place the shackle angle will look more normal. There is a lift (unknown height) on this CJ, but these appear to be the stock shackles. I'll have to do some research about shackles to decide what (if anything) I want to change there.

I'm still undecided about the rotisserie... It might be more trouble than it's worth, at least for the frame...

 

[Jimbocker]

A little bit of Google reveals: It's a Dana Power Lok Differential.
diff_lsd_volvo_dana

At least, that's what it looks like! Hopefully I won't have to trash it... There's only about 1/4" of backlash in the current setup...

 

[Jimbocker]

Progress continues! Bought a soda blaster and some stripper discs and started on the frame stripping. Two days of work later, it's mostly clean! After each day I'm giving it a good rub down with some Phosphoric acid to keep the rust at bay. Hopefully it'll be time for primer/paint next weekend! The goal is to get the rest of the stripping done in the two good days of weather this week, but this is Colorado, so the forecast is never right!

Also, I uncovered a pair of small cracks in two welds attaching the front crossmember (the grille attaches to it?) to the frame. All of the other welds look solid. Think this is worth the trouble of getting welded up?

Jeff

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[gert]

Your already there it shouldn’t take 10 minutes to weld and that would stop it from spreading, Do you know what other chemicals they are adding in your phos acid? Or is it 100%


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[Jimbocker]

While I agree, it would be reasonably quick to do the welds, getting the frame over to the 220V outlet is a chore. Unfortunately I don't have 220 near where I'm working, and I only have a 220V welder... It's probably worth doing anyway. It's pretty surprising how bad some of the original welds are on this frame. There looks to be a couple of arc strikes, some porous welds, and some spots where they punched through when boxing the frame. There was also welding wire stuck to a number of places. I guess they were moving fast in the factory?

The chemical I'm using is Krud Kutter Metal Clean and Etch, as well as Krud Kutter Must for Rust. The MSDS for both of them show nothing but water and Phosphoric Acid, albeit in different concentrations. They are different colors and have slightly different odors though. So far, it seems to hold off the rust on bare metal well enough (at least well enough to give me time to get it ready for paint). It's kinda fun to watch the acid drip into the soda below the frame and see the bubbles!

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[Jimbocker]

I went ahead and welded the cracks. I'm a bit of a hack with a stick welder, but the spots look easy enough to get to if the welds don't hold up. If it cracks again, I'll take it to my buddy who's a pro welder and get it done right, but I'm not too worried about that.

The frame stripping was helped along by the use of a soda blaster. I went for the harbor freight 15lb one, and it works acceptably well... When you hold it upside down. This was critical to removing the paint from the hardest to reach places. It didn't do anything to rust except expose it for the converters.

In the last week, the frame stripping was completed and now the frame has two coats of primer! The first coat was 3 different rust converting primers: rust encapsulator, rust reformer, and rusty metal primer, hence the Jackson Pollock look... While I removed most of the rust, the metal flash rusted before I could get it painted, and there were some hard to de-rust places, so the base is intended to knock out rust. The frame was prepped with 220 grit and Phosphoric Etch & Prep by Kleen Strip. Then it was rinsed and wiped dry, followed by a pass with Eastwood Pre. Then the primer went on. As far as rattle cans go, the Eastwood stuff is pretty great. It has a nice fan pattern to it. The rustoleum works about like you expect - by the end of the day your finger is sore.
Tonight I put the real primer on: Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black primer. Using my harbor freight sprayer I got some nice results, but it was too dark for pictures by the time I got cleaned up and took the respirator and gloves off. Pictures of the frame to come tomorrow! Between the two coats of primer I scuffed it with red Scotch Brite, blew it off with compressed air, then wiped it down with a microfiber rag. I'm excited to see how well it all holds up... I hope the work is worth it!

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[daddyusmaximus]

In the last couple of weeks, I have:
- Cleaned the inside of the frame
- Removed extra brackets and power steering pump
- Painted frame internals
- Fabricated a stronger locking system for my shed
- Bought front seats from a 1976 CJ7

Nice work. I'm also down to the frame right now, mocking up the front suspension, but I haven't got to cleaning or painting it yet.

I have a question... How did you do the inside of the frame?

 

[Jimbocker]

Nice work. I'm also down to the frame right now, mocking up the front suspension, but I haven't got to cleaning or painting it yet.

I have a question... How did you do the inside of the frame?

I started with a sewer jetter attachment on my pressure washer. I had to finagle an adapter for it, but it was like $30 on Amazon. After I was confident that the inside was clean, I used Eastwood Internal Frame Coating. It's about $20/can and I used two to coat the inside. It comes in green and black, and it has a spray nozzle on a hose that you feed into the frame. It helps to work on the hoses to straighten them out some before you use them. I gave them a couple of days to unwind.

Since flipping the frame over and getting a good look at the inside of the frame, the spray didn't quite get the top of the frame, so I've ordered two more cans to spray the "top" now that the frame is upside down.

Be warned, the stuff drips out of the frame, so don't do it over things that you don't want paint on.

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[Postal13]

I'm not sure about CO. but here is Texas you could acquire a bonded title. and there are a bunch of company's that do the work for a nominal fee. I know this late but I thought it could be of use to you.

 

[Jimbocker]

As promised, the primed frame (plus a little spraying action)!

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[Jimbocker]

The frame has been painted! It's waiting on some dry weather for more internal coating and maybe another coat of the topcoat, but it's all sealed up! Hopefully the coating lasts a long time (provided I don't knock it into too many rocks).

Next on the list: Dana 30 refresh!
- Inspect/rebuild brake calipers
- Install new brake discs
- Clean mud out of diff
- Clean axle tubes
- Inspect diff and axles
- Check for excessive backlash
- Replace Tie Rod Ends
- Replace Ball Joints
- Disassemble/Clean/Paint Spring Packs
- Fabricate U-Bolt Skids
- De-Rust, Prime, Paint

 

[shum8]

.......Hopefully the coating lasts a long time

Probly 10 time’s longer than what the factory applied....... which was minimal at best.

- Clean mud out of diff

ALWAYS a good thing to do..... [emoji15]



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[Jimbocker]

ALWAYS a good thing to do..... [emoji15]

I have to agree! This is what happens when a Diff goes through a flood without a breather tube...

Just put another coat of the internal frame coating on the Jeep. I made sure to tape all of the possible leak locations this time so I didn't get the coating on the new topcoat. I'll probably stick another layer of topcoat on if we stop getting rain here.

I have started to tear into the front axle. I'm looking at new ball joints and tie rod ends at the very least on this. I'm thinking about going with the Moog stock replacements. They're greasable and solid, so they should hold up well. In top of that, I think I'll keep the stock linkage for now. If like to upgrade, but I'm going to be dumping more money into this axle than I had planned. I'll have plenty of time to upgrade the linkage before I get it off road.

I made an interesting discovery yesterday. In an effort to determine what lift the springs I have provide, I decided to compare them to what I thought were the stock springs. I then discovered that the 4 extra springs I have are all 2.5" wide. I looked up the number stamped on the bottom and discovered I have a set of 4 YJ springs! Looks like PO was planning a YJ spring over. Something to consider down the road.

Oh, and I bought a welder. 180A Lincoln, $440 with gas cylinder on Craigslist! Now I don't have to use my coworkers buzz box for everything.

Steady progress!

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[shum8]

Just put another coat of the internal frame coating on the Jeep. I made sure to tape all of the possible leak locations this time so I didn't get the coating on the new topcoat.

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When I did my frame, I used SEM's inside panel sealer - sorta like a snot spray. I too thought I had all holes taped up.... my neighbor was helping, and as I pulled the spray wand out, it passed a hole we forgot to tape up. Ruined two pairs of sunglasses LOL. You obviously did better than we did [emoji106]



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[Jimbocker]

When I did my frame, I used SEM's inside panel sealer - sorta like a snot spray. I too thought I had all holes taped up.... my neighbor was helping, and as I pulled the spray wand out, it passed a hole we forgot to tape up. Ruined two pairs of sunglasses LOL. You obviously did better than we did [emoji106]



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The first coat I did dripped like a river out of the frame, coating the concrete below in nice green paint. My coworker (partial owner of the property) was not too happy...

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[shum8]

That makes me feel better. I used an aerosol so it went EVERYWHERE..... It’s good stuff, but we felt tarred and feathered


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[Jimbocker]

This weekend was somewhat productive. I sold the old motor to a gentleman from Fort Collins who owns several CJ6s. He's a nice guy, and he gave me some tips for later down the road. Turns out he just needed the power steering bracket, but he knows some people who can use the rest of it. He also provided some cinnamon rolls from a place called Vern's. Those things are amazing!

In other news, I started tearing down the Dana 30 . Pretty much anything replaceable is shot. Bearings, seals, tie rod ends, ball joints (these might actually be OK, but I'm changing them anyway), and the locking hubs. I figured out why the driver side wheel didn't lock... It was missing the part of the hub that engages the axle splines! The hub internals are all pretty rusted. I'm worried about the condition of the outer axle shaft on one side. That's an expensive fix.

The brake calipers seem like they are in decent shape, but it's hard to tell what's old brake fluid and what's rust. It doesn't look like there's much in the way of pitting though, so maybe they're salvageable? I'd love some second opinions on this.

I have also drafted my shackle hangers. They should be stronger than stock by a long shot. I'm going to run the design by a machinist friend and my welder friend to see what I might change.

I've officially hit the part of the project where I'm being Limited by cash flow and not time. While I wait for money for replacement parts, I have a lot of parts cleaning to do. Hopefully I can clean up everything and have it ready to go when the money is ready for the replacement parts!


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