Build Thread 1979 CJ7 Rapid restore - 1 Year build from tired and rusty to all go and some show..

[Belizean]

Nice find. They are usually pretty worn out.

 

[DconZ]

See if this will give you what you need. View attachment 79645

This came in really handy thanks! I dont have a lathe but I didnt have a perfect piece of steel tubing and a few washers that were just right!



The idea was to take that pile of parts above and make it look like this >



A little 80grit flapper disk later >



Bit more finish and a shot of paint



I welded the larger retainer washer from the inside, its a little hard and takes a steady hand not to hit the sides, it reminded me of playing the game Operation as a kid I ended up with a lot of slag and dirty welds on the inside but you dont see them and the pipe is large enough the buildup didnt interfere with the rod passing through.

I didnt get a chance to test the fit with the top on, but hoping this tightens things up. The temp fix I was using with rubber stoppers wasnt cutting it. The drivers door keeps popping open randomly on the highway at speed.. People seem to get very concerned when this happens

 

[CJ]

That looks good.

 

[DconZ]

Managed a little shop time yesterday despite the 35' heat (95F)... almost makes me want AC in my garage, until I remember my previous power bills.

I needed something for a rear bumper and have been back and fourth on a couple higher end ones vs building my own. Since I couldnt decide on a direction I found the cheapest one I could find to give me some functionality until I decide on a permanent one.

I found a "Hooke Road" bolt on with a receiver and some DRing mounts. Its pretty close to if not the cheapest one out there at $390CAD. First impressions is good enough for under $400! The Drings are super cheap steel and those will likely go on a quad. The coating on it is totally useless and I lost a bit during the install by bumping it on the floor. It is painted semi-gloss black under that so at least it doesnt expose raw metal.

The good thing is that the mounting holes were bang on and it fit properly.. minus a little grinding and pounding on my end to clean up the bumper plate so it sat flush.

Install was pretty boring so no along the way photos.. it bolts to the 4 bumper plate holes and on each rear spring shackle bolt.

BTW Looks like it will fit up to a 35" spare






I also replaced the hing on the storage box I found. I search around and found stainless steel piano hinges. I couldnt find one nice continous piece. they were either 30" or 48" long. the 48 is too long so I used 2 of the shorter ones at 1.2" wide.

 

[Petescj]

Love that storage box , bumper looks functional as well. A 35" tire on the stock tire carrier is a bit much though. Hope you have some reinforcement plate behind the sheet metal.

 

[Belizean]

Yeah I was wondering how you have the box mounted ? Also my stock tire carrier cracked my body with only a 30” tire. I have a bumper mounted carrier now I like very much.

 

[gert]

Lookin good


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DconZ]

Love that storage box , bumper looks functional as well. A 35" tire on the stock tire carrier is a bit much though. Hope you have some reinforcement plate behind the sheet metal.

I didn't really know what I was going to think about the box but its a cool addition!

As for the bumper, no plans for 35's, that comment was for anyone wondering if it would fit their setup if running a 35 as I didnt see anything stating what would fit over these designs. For this build, even with a 33 on my spare carrier I am planning to adding some strength to be sure as things will get rough back there. I have a history of getting all 4 wheels off the ground with my previous CJ, I was only 18 and like to think I have matured.. ... whoa I almost said that with a straight face

 

[DconZ]

I have been back and forth on going thicker bedliner spray in the tub then back to carpet at one point and now I have settled on this 1/4' checker plate rubber. I wanted some sound deadening and didnt think I was going to get that with another coat of rubber spray and we all know how carpet tends to end up in a Jeep.

I contemplated using boat decking rubber, high UV resistance and made for the elements but price was higher than this basic black roll and the boat decking material is generally only 3mm thick. This rubber was 8.99/foot CAD (on sale reg 12.99/ft) so by far the cheapest of any material I looked at of this quality. I am using press in retainers I picked up on Amazon for around $15-30 and have a nice selection of plastics press in locking retainers. You of course need to drill a small hole through your tub but beats gluing this down and well my tub already has a few holes in it!!




I have the fender wells cut in also but haven't grabbed any pictures of that and the retainers yet, will post some updated ones later. There will be a couple spots where I will need to glue the seams to make the finish better but it wont be anything that will make removal difficult or messy later.

 

[Crusty CJ]

You could consider some double sided Velcro tape if you have to attach the rubber mat, but also have it removable. Lots of options,

3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener 250 Black, 1 in x 4 Ft https://a.co/d/9VgaXGr

Either way, looks good

 

[Crusty CJ]

You could consider some double sided Velcro tape if you have to attach the rubber mat, but also have it removable. Lots of options,

3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener 250 Black, 1 in x 4 Ft https://a.co/d/9VgaXGr

Either way, looks good

 

[DconZ]

You could consider some double sided Velcro tape if you have to attach the rubber mat, but also have it removable. Lots of options,

3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener 250 Black, 1 in x 4 Ft https://a.co/d/9VgaXGr

Either way, looks good

I read another members post here a little while ago, might have been your post talking about using Velcro backer rather than gluing down carpet and I thought that was a great idea. I had a box of these interior fasteners laying around from an old Chevy project so figured I would give them a try but if they don't hold up the Velcro option is up for consideration next!

 

[Crusty CJ]

You could consider some double sided Velcro tape if you have to attach the rubber mat, but also have it removable. Lots of options,

3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener 250 Black, 1 in x 4 Ft https://a.co/d/9VgaXGr

Either way, looks good

 

[Crusty CJ]

You could consider some double sided Velcro tape if you have to attach the rubber mat, but also have it removable. Lots of options,

3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener 250 Black, 1 in x 4 Ft https://a.co/d/9VgaXGr

Either way, looks good

 

[DconZ]

Here is a mid-finish picture. I am gluing the seams along the fender wells to give that a better finish. Its curing now and we will see how it shows and holds up.



One thing I learned from trying to cut this rubber where it butts up against each other is to only cut once, the more you try to trim the worse it gets!

 

[Belizean]

Looks good. My only concern would be any moisture getting under it could and would cause rust. Even on metal painted.

 

[DconZ]

Looks good. My only concern would be any moisture getting under it could and would cause rust. Even on metal painted.

Its definitely a valid concern. I live in a super dry climate so banking on that coupled with my usage plus its always garaged.. famous last words.. it will eventually get wet or need hosed out which is why I didn't glue it down. I did have to remove some of those fasteners and they are single use so there is a cost of about $20-25 to remove and replace it for cleaning or drying purposes.

Most of the things I am doing on this tub are trials in preparation for a full replacement I am planning in a couple years so I don't mind drilling holes and trying things on this one so I don't do dumb things with the nice new one.

 

[DconZ]

Here are some in progress pictures of the front. I worked as a flooring laborer back when I was a kid and was trying desperately to remember some of the tricks the guy I worked with used. about the only thing I did recall was how to fold the piece such that I could handle it and start it off on a straight edge! The cutting on pressure points where I couldn't mold it to the contours is not great but it was not an overly expensive piece of material and as I mentioned this is a learning pass, overall however I am pretty happy with the outcome.

By the way in case anyone is chuckling, when I mentioned I wanted some sound deadening I didn't mean I wanted a quiet interior ride because that isn't going to happen with these Swampers! I live surrounded by miles of gravel road in every direction and just want to keep the loud banging of the rocks off the undercarriage down a little.



This 1/4 rubber lays down nice, I used a slightly different style retainer for this part, there is no glue on any of this right now. I might glue down the drivers pan just to make sure there are no chance of getting a pedal jam!



My Heeler has been riding with me every time I go out and she knows her seat!

I had to flip my seats around, when I installed them I put the recline handle on the inside as I hate when things get caught on the handle and also that way you can reach both from either seat. What I didnt account for was a center console at the time and while there is room for them to be on the inside, you cant get your hand in to operate them.






I used slightly different retainers this time. These ones are re-useable unlike the others I used in the back which bust when you take them out.

 

[Belizean]

What model seats do you have ? Was just reading about them a few days ago, that you could get the handle on either side and I was wondering about the center console. I want to install one in the near future and was wondering if that would be a problem. The reclining handle is not a problem with interference on the door sides ?

 

[DconZ]

The seats are Corbeau A4 Wide Reclining Racing Seat. I got the from justjeeps.com. they were advertised as direct fit and they are not. They tried to sell me their adapters after the fact which went over as you can imagine. After fighting a little with them I just kept them and cut them off from future purchases. I figured whatever I have the seats and I can make my own adapters. In hindsight I would not choose this material again, once these ones start to show damage I am going to have them reupholstered in something more function for dirt and dust. The seats themselves for comfort are really nice. They really hug your sides and hold you in place. I'm 6' 220lbs and I fit nice and snug.

This is them flipped around so the recliner handle is outward. It has lots of clearance to the side of the tub. Here is a shot of the console I am using and the fit between the seats.

I would much prefer a nice oem hard plastic console but this one will do until I can make my own or stumble across an original. This one is very cheaply made and will not hold up if it gets wet more than a few times. Cup holders are functional. The Smitty built one seemed like the cup holders were way to shallow.