Build Thread 1986 CJ7 Build

[KRUPP]

It has the original rubber seal. Glazier said it was still in great shape and pliable.

 

[N9VIW]

I have to paint my new frame Chestnut Brown and have the glass installed... I've read a dozen tutorials on how to replace windshield glass in a car, but for some reason I can't bring myself to do it. At least if the glazier breaks my windshield, he's responsible for a new one, not me.

I've had several frames rot from the inside out over the years, so this one I used Eastwood's frame coating (the green stuff) and sprayed it inside the frame. From what I could tell, the frame was already painted with gloss black inside, at least as far as a flashlight and looking through access holes allowed me to see. Has Omix stepped up their game, or did I get a one-off decent frame? I coated it anyway.

 

[adjective]

Great thread, wish I had read through it earlier. Ordered those stronghold combo boots for myself. Also hadn't thought about those collector plates. I have an appointment next week to get my 83 registered and I may go that route. I somehow passed emissions yesterday but it would be nice to not have to deal with that as often

 

[Scottyp1134]

Scotty,

Thanks for the compliment.
As far as the tachometer goes, it’s been a couple years, but I seem to remember that I put in a wired connector at distributor. On my HEI distributor (Summit Racing), there's a plug at the cap with the power wire and the tach wire. I simply hooked the tach up to this wire and it worked fine. I have Howell TBI and there is a tach wire from it's ECM, so that might be the difference though.
Did you do something similar?
View attachment 103609

I just finished adding on the Howell TBI as well. Now to revisit this pesky tach issue. I did connect the Howell computer to the tach signal wire on the HEI as instructed. Should I also incorporate that wire to the stock tach somehow? The stock tach has two wires and seems to be originally wired in series with the fat red wire with white tracer. There are even opposing connectors to it so I could eliminate the tach and keep the wires connected. I just don’t understand how the tach is supposed to pick up a signal off this setup.

 

[KRUPP]

Hey Scotty.
Sorry I haven’t been active on this. Been in Spain for a couple weeks on vacation with the esposa. I’ll get back to you when I get settled in.

 

[KRUPP]

Scotty,

Sorry for the delay in responding. The wife and I were in Spain for a couple weeks and now I'm getting my feet back under me.

I believe if you follow the instructions in the attached thread (same one I posted above), starting at post #22, you'll be fine. That is what I did & it works.

Original Tach with HEI

Getting parts ready for the swap to HEI (thinking DUI). One of my goals is to clean up the engine compartment. I am planning on powering the HEI form the large red wire that is currently feeding the factory ignition model. What will I have to do to get the factory tach to continue to work...

www.jeepforum.com

The Howell computer needs the tach signal from the HEI (using the pigtail connector), but you don't run your factory tach off of it.

 

[KRUPP]

July 24, ‘25
-Spending a few days with my youngest at Mile High Jeep Club’s
All 4 Fun Jeep week, which is in Leadville, CO this year. Good times so far. Lotsa rain, which makes things interesting.
I’ve only seen 3 other CJs & one was a built CJ8 today from KS.

 

[KRUPP]

Kinda funny side note: 2 weeks ago, I did a training run with a burro (Alice) in prep for an upcoming burro race. I know. What the He#l is a burro race? Trust me, it’s a thing in Colorado, I’ve done several and it’s frikin’ crazy and fun.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago, I ran up Mosquito with Alice, then back down.


Today, we drove the CJ over. Much easier, but not quite the same

 

[Belizean]

Something to do with gold mines back in the day with packing in the supplies and hopefully something of value on the way back ? There is a Scrambler event going on right now in Colorado so you might see a few of them.

 

[KRUPP]

Some more great wheeling in the Leadville area.
Did Holy Cross City yesterday and boy, has that trail changed! Pretty difficult in several spots now. Most of the group, including the trail leader, had to be yanked up over the first obstacle - a sheer rock wall, slicked up by the mud from all the recent rain.
Not much carnage though. Busted the wife’s step though because it was low hanging fruit for boulders.


One of the top trails in CO, in my opinion.



View attachment 101921.mov

NOTE: CJ embedded the video.

 

[Belizean]

Nice pictures and video.

 

[KRUPP]

8/2/25:
Had some time to assess the status of the CJ after All 4 Fun week in Leadville, CO this year.
Couple things…
-Gas tank “Skid Plate” took a couple big hits.
-Rear Shock Mounts both took major hits.



I dropped the gas tank to fix/pound out the indentations from the rock kisses. Separating the tank from the “skid/box” was interesting! FYI, nasty 40-years worth of crud between the tank and skid “box”. This is an absolutely horrible design by AMC! There was probably 2pounds of mud and crud between the “skid box” and the gas tank. Geesh! Got it cleaned, scrubbed, painted.



Then, I’ll relocate the rear shock mounts to a more appropriate location. Shorter shocks are coming. Sucks, but that’s a compromise.

 

[Belizean]

Wow that’s the first time they’ve been separated ?

 

[KRUPP]

Wow that’s the first time they’ve been separated ?

Yup. As far as I can tell. I dropped the tank before, but never separated.
Pretty difficult too.
To separate, it took 2 people and a gentle persuasion with a pry bar around the perimeter. So much crud/mud packed in between there.

 

[KRUPP]

August 16, 25:
-Had a few free hours to relocate the rear shock mounts to a safer location. Meant slightly shorter stroke shocks, but there’s no limiting to the travel. Should work fine.

Old location…


Old stud mounts. A bit hammered…


New mounts and installation…

 

[KRUPP]

Needed some acoustic enhancement for the audio system. Installed the sound wedge speaker enclosures and some marine-grade Polk speakers.

(Link)-> Amazon.com: G-PLUS Speaker Sound Wedges Compatible with Jeep Wrangler YJ CJ 1976-1995 Black 2 Pcs : Electronics -<

Stuffed a bit of poly fill in ‘em and they sound pretty good.

 

[Jeep Soup]

Now tune selections.....
In the Rendezvous Area at the start of a Rallye, I play two songs;
Darth Vader's Entrance Theme,
And later "Muddy Bottom Blues"
by Tab Boinet.
Just to get in the Right Mind Set