Build Thread 1979 Jeep CJ7

Build Thread 1979 Jeep CJ7
Good news today. Green light is shining bright! I plan on getting with a friend to get a price on the np435 rebuild and may even go ahead and order my 4:1 reduction gear set for the Dana 300 and seal kit with dual shift levers. Then it's on to either Novak or Advance adapt for the adapter kit. After getting that done, looking into some quality driveshafts. I am also actively looking for a running amc 360 engine.
 
Sounds like a good plan - keeps us posted!!


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Wow that will be a great combo


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Looking at Tom Woods for the drivelines. Considering the lo max. They are suppose to be better than the tera flex gears. Lo max set is 650 where a tera flex is north of 700. Having some issue of locating an amc 360 locally. Been looking for a few months now. I may just stay with my AMC 304 . It only has around 25k on it. Would like to switch to an aluminum 4bbl. intake though.
 
I have everything that jb conversions sells on my Dana 300 and am very satisfied, their instructions are awesome and their parts are art, I wanted to put my gears on my mantle to show them off lol


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Shum, what was that? I didn't get to it in time. Been busy figuring things out.

I know where a running 401 is. Problem one is it's in a 78 wagoneer. Problem two it the Wagoneer is in good enough shape that it would be a shame taking the engine. Problem three is I have a feeling the seller is solid on asking price, I think was 3700. I found a place I can get a remanufactured 401 for a little over 2k. That would be the better way to go. If so, that would be a few years down the road.

Oh and that seems to be my biggest problem. There is stuff out there, just not close.
 
gert said:
I have everything that jb conversions sells on my Dana 300 and am very satisfied, their instructions are awesome and their parts are art, I wanted to put my gears on my mantle to show them off lol


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Click to expand...

Glad to hear that. I read up on the 4:1 vear sets awhile back. The LoMax gears are said to be stronger in the way they cut the gears. I'm sure both sets are quapity stuff, but that kind of sold me on the LoMax gears over the Terra Flex.

What all did you put into or onto your Dana 300 ?
 
So. Decided to go with Novak. Also decided to do the 435 rebuild myself as well as the Dana 300 gear install. So I'll order my adapter kit and both rebuild kits this week. Then go with JB conversions for the LoMax gear set and detent spring and ball kit for the twin sticks I already ordered. That should get the ball rolling down hill.

I had bought this 435 from a kid out in the country last summer. He had already popped the top off before I got there and had it in gear whem he did. Needless to say, that was a learning experience getting it back into neutral. The bearings and gears all look to be in really good shape. I think I remeber him saying something about 2nd gear synchro problems. But that comes in the rebuild kit. So it looks like a straight forward rebuild really. The Dana 300 , is a little different. Things are a little tighter in there. I have found a good video I've watched several times on yourube. But it seems to be pretty straight forward as well.

So after all is done, this will be my combo. NP435, Dana 300 with 4:1 gearing and stock 3.54 axle gearing. According to Novaks calculator this should land me in the area of a 95:1 crawl ratio which is pretty good unless I'm overlooking something which is totally possible.
 
jafo said:
Glad to hear that. I read up on the 4:1 vear sets awhile back. The LoMax gears are said to be stronger in the way they cut the gears. I'm sure both sets are quapity stuff, but that kind of sold me on the LoMax gears over the Terra Flex.



What all did you put into or onto your Dana 300 ?
Click to expand...



lomax 4 to 1 gears 32 spline outputs, rebuild kit, 1350 yokes, extended 23 spline input with rotation ring, and slider rings all from jb conversions and stainless twin sticks from jb customs


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That’s gonna be a sweet combo


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jafo said:
Shum, what was that? I didn't get to it in time. Been busy figuring things out.
Click to expand...


Was a running 360 with an auto tranny to go with........ he’d had it for sale for a good while.....



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Just ordered the adapter kit and Transmission rebuild kit. I'll order the Dana 300 stuff together, rebuild kit, detent kit and geat kit. Then order the install parts, clutch, pilot bushing etc.

Hopefully I'll get it by Saturday.
 
Got my adapter kit yesterday and finally got around to reading the rebuild manual they include.

Only suprise was with the input shaft bearing retainer. The race is incredibly difficult to remove without damaging then retainer. They suggested to just by a new one and install the race into that one. Luckily they're not to expensive. I guess I'll jusy order ome and go that route unless someone has a proven method of removing the race out of the retainer.
 
I got to tear down the np435 this weekend. Seems very straight forward and not to complicated as long as you pay attention to the order of gears, shims and keepers. Ran into a small problem that brought things to a screeching hault. Got to the output shaft and taking thd gears off in order until I got to the 1st/reverse gear on the backend of the shaft. It came off but was missing one of the two spring keepers that go between the shaft and gear. According to Novak, there main purpose is anit vibration. So I had to order a couple from Allstate Gear. A little over $2 a piece. The kicker? The friggin shipping was $11! Something is wrong when the shipping cost again as much as the parts. These are small enough to slip into an envelope with regular postage. Go figure. Got to have them either way. So a bit of a delay for that. It appears there has been a rebuild on this Transmission before. Bearimgs and races were really clean almost new like. Synchros looked decent also. But just not taking the chance. It gets a rebuild anyway. Too many moving wear parts.

Had a hell of a time cleaning the case. Got it pretty clean. Hi pressure washer wouldn't cut this stuff after soaking with degreaser. Just glad the Dana 300 is no where as gummed up. It's actually pretty clean. So, next couple weeks and I'll be ordering the lomax kit and just going with a gasket kit. I don't think it needs a total rebuild. It's pretty tight. I'll check the endplay etc. when time comes.
So we'll see.
 
Got my parts this week. I wound up forking over some dough to get a decent shop press. Had to have it for the input bearing and race install. Lucked out and caught one on sale. Anyways, got that out of the way. Only issue was getting the input shaft end play set. Wound up using three gaskets on the retainer to get .007. That sucker was pretty tight no matter which of the three gaskets I used. Gonna throw this in the tech section to get some feedback. But it seems good to go. Everything else went right together.

It shifts into all four fwd gears and reverse. It's a long throw to first but 2nd to 4th all seem short and shallow. But all gears engage fine. Now it's on the the Dana 300 .

I'm still throwing around if I really need the 4to1 low gear set or not. With such a low first gear in this Transmission , I just don't knownif I'll really need it or not. Advice anyone?
 
jafo said:
I'm still throwing around if I really need the 4to1 low gear set or not. With such a low first gear in this Transmission , I just don't knownif I'll really need it or not. Advice anyone?
Click to expand...

Still planning on 3.54s with 33s? A lot is going to depend on your terrain and type of driving. But I'm running a T-18 (6.32), Dana 20 (2.02), and 4.10 axles with 35s for a crawl ratio of 52.6. I do east coast trail riding with some hills/rocks, but not real rock crawling like out west. I haven't really felt a need for a lower crawl ratio in 1st/low. What I have found is that I would like a gear ratio between 1st/low and 1st/high. Currently, my 1st/high is basically identical to my 2nd/low. I also find that 3rd/low is too high and 2nd/low is too low. My solution was a 2.46 gearset in the Dana 20 . I haven't installed the re-geared tcase yet (still have to finish the T-18 rebuild), but it should fill in the gaps nicely and i'll go from 6 effective gears to 8. My advice would be to look at the gear splits with the stock Dana 300 vs the 4:1 and see what the total effect will be.

And if the Dana 300 can be bolted on and ran as is, it might we worthwhile to run it stock and then evaluate the need for the 4:1
 
Jp360, if you're at a 52.6 CR with your setup, and you're doing fine on trails and hills with mild rock, that's great info. That's kind of what I'm looking for. Plus with your 6.32 T-18 vs this 6.69 np435, the np435 has a lower 1st. With a 6.69 1st, 2.62 low range Dana 300 and 3.54 gears puts me at a 62 CR. So to answer your question, yes I'm still planning on running the 3.54 gears with 33's. This Transmission and tranfer case selection was aimed just for that. I wouldn't have minded going to maybe 3.73 but I being 4th gear is always a 1:1, I like being at around 2800 rpm at 65mph. I'm trying to find a happy medium and I think this might give that to me. The 4:1 gear reduction would be neat and handy at times, but I don't plan on severe rock crawling any time. I'm more into camping and trail riding.
 
I lost my dial indicator and mount duting my move years ago. I couldn't find it. Went up and got a new dial indicator and flex mount to set my endplay. All I can say is what a pain in the butt. I worked on it witb different gaskets for at least an hour as I don't like to button things up unless I feal confident that it's right. Well, it was a pain but I am confident I have it set within specs. Same for the shims on the 3rd 4th gear synchros. I went with the shims that came out of the Transmission . I got a .040 gap and wound up with between .007 and .010 end play. It feels right. I hope it works out. Forst one I ever rebuilt. But like the first clutch, I feel good about doing another down the road if need be.

So I got the Dana 300 on the engine stand today and degreased it and high pressure washed it off. Looks good. Wasn't to gooped up like the Transmission was. I drained the fluid and it was really clean and the magnetic drain plug was really clean. It might have had a couple small shavings. That's it. I am really happy with this find. I'm ordering my detent ball and spring set from JB conv and also a seal and gasket set to re-seal every thing this week. If all goes well, I can get that done this weekend.

Then it's figuring out how to fit this into the cj and measuring for new drive shafts from Tom Woods.

I painted the Transmission ford blue. Looks sharp. I don't know if I want to paint the Dana 300 blue or black.
 
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