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

Build Thread 1979 CJ7 Rapid restore - 1 Year build from tired and rusty to all go and some show..
Had the CJ out for a nice drive yesterday, all good until this rebuilt Cardone steering box blew the input seal and I lost all my fluid and steering... I probably ran the brand-new PSC pump dry for about 5 mins before I was able to pull over off the highway.. hopefully I didnt cook the pump!!!

No more rebuilt parts for me, done with poor workmanship.. sourcing a new PSC gear box.. Looks like Summit may have one.
 
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Always amazing how some things last extremely long, and others don’t. Rebuilt water pump from AZ for my wife’s Cherokee years ago. 5 minutes. Lasting effect for 10 years causing overheating problems. For my CJ7 it was probably 20 radiators for a 4 cylinder over 30 years. Lifetime warranty For my 6 cylinder I went with a Summit. So far works great.
 
Had the CJ out for a nice drive yesterday, all good until this rebuilt Cardone steering box blew the input seal and I lost all my fluid and steering... I probably ran the brand-new PSC pump dry for about 5 mins before I was able to pull over off the highway.. hopefully I didnt cook the pump!!!

No more rebuilt parts for me, done with poor workmanship.. sourcing a new PSC gear box.. Looks like Summit may have one.
How about rebuilding the gearbox yourself? It is actually quite easy...
 
Still waiting on new lines.. Hopefully I can put this steering to rest with this final upgrade!! The OEM standard male fittings that were used up to '79 do not work with this gearbox.. Had to order lines for a 1980-86 to get the m16x1.5 and m18x1.5 Male o-ring style fittings.

PXL_20240803_003248332.webpPXL_20240803_004257088.webp



Side note. I tried reaching out to Cardone for the rebuilt I bought but they simply said go back to the re-seller.. Which in my case was Amazon and they only have their 30 day return. I bought that gear box back in Oct 2023 so well past the 30days but its seen about 250 miles of very light use. Amazon indicates in the listing that issues are covered by the manufacturer Cardone with a link to their site and phone number. So.... I called Amazon out on this, and they without any resistance offered me a replacement no charge and no charge to ship this one back.. Weirdly surprised by the interaction...
 
:welcome: @Raccoon. I'm guessing parts for our old CJs are especially hard to get in Thailand. ;)
Yes, CJ7 in Thailand is small and expensive. Will be used in the navy But now it's all discharged. I like CJ7 , but I only have CJ6 . I'm making it back on the road after 30 years of parking. It used to be my father's best friend. I will make my father's friends come back.Once again
 
Yes, CJ7 in Thailand is small and expensive. Will be used in the navy But now it's all discharged. I like CJ7 , but I only have CJ6 . I'm making it back on the road after 30 years of parking. It used to be my father's best friend. I will make my father's friends come back.Once again
If you would, can you start a thread in our build forum? It would be great to watch and help. You could list any parts you are looking for as well as any advice you need.

Start a thread HERE.
 
If you would, can you start a thread in our build forum? It would be great to watch and help. You could list any parts you are looking for as well as any advice you need.

Start a thread HERE.
Thx. Q Very Much Sir. And I apologize to the owner of the post too.
 
Thx. Q Very Much Sir. And I apologize to the owner of the post too.
No apologies needed. We are here to help.
@DconZ may have the speedometer you need or maybe someone else.
 
Thx. Q Very Much Sir. And I apologize to the owner of the post too.
All good, no need to apologize. My original speedo works, and I only put in a new one because I wasn't sure what was causing my needle to bounce at low speeds. I am going to be putting the original back in next time the dash comes off. I might have another old original one but don't know if it works, it was left outside exposed to the weather for many years outside of the original jeep, I need to find it and test it out.
 
Been a bit busy with work and other projects..

Did have some time to build a new intake, the open filter while great for the test and tune phase is brutal in dusty conditions. Also snuck in some Bilstein 5125's in the rear and a the 21gallon tank :)

Spectre cone filter and carb hat.
IMG_20250124_142226006_HDR.webp

Rear only for now, the old rancho's had zero life left in them. I am curious to see the difference in the ride! IMG_20250207_153526424_HDR.webp

I needed this extra capacity..

IMG_20250201_112629055_HDR.webp
 
Do anything to the axles or shocks?
I just did Billstein shocks front and rear, huge difference in the ride and wander I still had The old Rancho's I pulled off were beyond expired :) I likely could have took the old shocks off and ran without and never noticed haha

Nothing to diffs or axles yet, I am planning a Dana 489 for the rear but I need to regear my front Dana 30 at the same time as the 489 only comes starting @ 3.73 ratio and I am running 3.43's at the moment. I will end up doing the full front end Hub to axle replacement while I am in there doing the gear swap.
 
A couple things on the upgraded fuel tank:

1: The pickup tube and the fuel level float they include does not reach the bottom of this tank, its about 2" too short which equals almost 5gallons sitting on the bottom you wont reach
2: I was able to bend the pickup straight and get it down to the bottom and pickup a full 20.5 gallons, always a toenail left
3: I carefully bent the float arm and was able to tweak this and program my Holley EFI based on the resistance sweep ok, not great and maybe later I am going to look for a better sending unit. There are nice vertical sending units avail in all lengths and desired resistance ranges out there but none I have found that also have a pickup tube so I need to figure that part out to avoid cutting a new hole in the tank
4: Most important tip, do this on the ground first. Get yourself a cheap fuel transfer pump for $40 and test it out from empty to full and back the other way!
 
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I am in the middle of a brake upgrade as well. I went with the leads 8" duel diaphragm, new master cyl, dorman rear slaves and new shoes on the back, front disks and pads were pretty new when I bought the chassis. I tried to find pre-fabbed hard lines but that seemed to be more difficult than it should be so I bought a decent flaring tool, watched a couple you tube videos and after a bit of practice think I have the flaring figured out. had everything back together, bleeding the first rear cylinder to find that one had a defective seal and ended up pouring fluid straight through it into the new drum and shoes.. waiting on replacements :( I will update with some pictures when I get a few mins
 
Funny story on the rear brake shoes... Apparently somewhere over the years, 11" x 2" brake shoes were listed as fitting the AMC20 ,maybe 11" drums were an option, either way if you are not paying attention like I wasnt the first go around ordering a new set you might find yourself sitting on the garage floor wondering why you cant force the new shoes into place properly for around 30 mins before realizing where you have gone wrong. Also could be avoided by comparing the old shoes or simply checking the new shoes fit the new drums :LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
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Inlinetube will modify a set of their SS lines per your application.
But, using a double flair is not so bad. Just be sure your tube is NOT seamed wether it's SS or steel.

 
Strange how we can have a frustrating situation, but look back and say it's funny.
But, I do the same and that's how I've learned best - by making mistakes and going forward from there.

Rear brake shoes were a major reason why I went with discs. The Scout II drums are a bastard size (11x2.25) and I was informed that the shoes were getting difficult to find.

Looking 👍
 

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