Build Thread 1986 CJ7 Build

[KRUPP]

It's something that was a popular mod starting 25 or so years ago. The rear YJ flares are a bit wider/longer, from front to back, than the o.e.m. ones.
When you experience tire rubbing at the rear of the opening when wheeling, trimming the sheet metal at the rear is usually the fix. About a 3" wedge of sheet metal removed at the bottom rear is usual, unless you want to start hacking through other sheet metal supports behind the rear fender.
When you do the trimming and try to re-use the o.e.m. rear flares, they tend to "kink" when you force them to be larger/wider radius from front to back.
If you re-use the original holes at the front of the wheel opening, the rear of the o.e.m. flare also pulls up, away from the bottom edge of the sheet metal, because it is now too short to cover the slightly larger wheel opening length. Some people don't like that look, so they go with YJ or even longer TJ rear flares.

 

[Belizean]

I guess i probably won’t need that. Just graduated to 33s soon as I get them mounted.

 

[KRUPP]

Mar 6, 24:
-So, turns out that we have a couple NP435 transmissions (Ford, I think). The T-5 I have now is basically a “car” Transmission and its 1st gear is kinda fast. The NP435 is a bomb-proof “truck” Transmission with a granny low.


Bummer that I couldn’t have thought of this when the Transfer Case was out in December. But, I was reminded when I drove down to our boneyard just recently and saw em. Dangit!
-Is there an issue with height clearance/interference with the tunnel with this Transmission ? I believe a call to Novak or Advance is in order too, to mount the Dana 300 .
-Might have a T-18 down there also. Have to dig some more. I think it’s the same drill for that swap though. But, any advantages for the T-18 over the NP435? Both pretty solid 4-speeds.
-I swapped in a T-18 into my old CJ5 decades ago. Seemed like it was no issue, but I also had a ‘80 Scout Dana 300 , which bolted right up.

 

[gert]

The NP435 is a great Transmission and so is the T-18 , with the T-18 you need to inspect it to see what gear ratios it has one set of gears is not nearly as deep as the other set


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[CJ]

The NP435 is a great transmission and so is the T18, with the T18 you need to inspect it to see what gear ratios it has one set of gears is not nearly as deep as the other set


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Yea, T-18 is great, but Ford T-18 can be cranky. Granny gear is hard to find.

 

[KRUPP]

Apr 2, 24:
-While I’m still waiting for my driver’s seat to be redone at the upholstery shop (says it’ll be done in a week or so), I decided to point some attention to the passenger seat.
-Lever for the catch to enable the forward tumble was bent pretty bad and actually cracked at its narrowest part. Decided to break it off, straighten both sides and weld it back together.
-Cleaned/brushed and repainted the whole bracket assembly before reinstalling seat.

 

[KRUPP]

April 20, 24:
-Brought home an NP435 4-speed I've been eyeing down at our boneyard. There were 3 to choose from. I did some inspecting and gear tooth counting to verify what I was getting.
There were 2 different types down there: The Ford, 4-wheel drive type with a slightly lower 3rd gear at 1.74:1.
And there was a Ford/Dodge/GM, 2-wheel drive type with a higher 3rd gear at 1.66:1. Both have the 6.68:1 granny 1st.

I chose the one in best condition, which happened to be the Ford/Dodge/GM, 2-wheel drive. Other than new seals, gaskets and shift fork pads, I'm not sure it needs anything.
I'll have to replace the output shaft to adapt to my Dana 300 Transfer Case , so I'll see if anything looks bad during that disassembly process.

 

[KRUPP]

May 6, 24:
-Ta-dahhh! After a smoking-fast 4 months, my upholstery guy produced my driver’s seat (re-did bottom only). Great guy and does great work. I just think he was backed-up doing a whole Bell helicopter interior when I dropped my crumb off. Anyway. It looks great and he nailed it. Laredo seats are bad-*** and worth it, I keep telling myself. Ha!

 

[gert]

Man i love NP435s, very strong transmissions, i have one that i have been saving for my 42 willys


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[KRUPP]

May 27, 24:
- Thur - Mon was this year’s Moab trip with the family and my brother and his family. 4 vehicles total.
- Great time for all the cousins to get together. Good weather and no breakages.
- Kept it pretty mellow and scenic, with a few challenges thrown in.
-Wife has family there, and we had breakfast with them. They say that the Razors/Side-by-sides are really tearing stuff up and are starting to become a problem. There are a lot of them! Never saw any Hooliganism though.

 

[KRUPP]

Couple more…

 

[Belizean]

We saw plenty of them. Especially people riding in town with them. On soft trails I can imagine there could be damage. The main thing I noticed was the Jeeps are very slow out there. Dirt bikes and side by sides flying around.. one dirt bike flew by me and had problems right after passing me, he got sideways and stopped. When I passed by I said to the guy, you should be giving me $50 for not running you over. He said thanks.

 

[KRUPP]

June 4, 24:
-After a long time ailing from Alzheimer's/Dementia, my Mother recently passed away.
Tough losing a parent. Dad must be pretty lonely and I feel really bad for him. I'll make efforts to visit more often.

Mom (Judi) loved Jeeping with her family and friends. Rest in peace Mom...

 

[Belizean]

Sorry for your loss. It is hard. I didn’t live to close for a few decades, but me being the baby we were very close and had a lot in common. Alzheimer’s and dementia are very bad. My mother in law had it. Just have fun in the Jeep and know she is looking down with fond memories.

 

[gert]

Sorry for your loss its hard, i definitely recommend spending time with your dad while you have him


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[KRUPP]

June 24, 24:
-Appreciate the thoughts fellas. Headed up to see Dad this weekend.
-Been away from home for a while now for mom’s burial and a long-planned Kauai family vacation. Not much work on the Jeep.
-However, I did run into town the other day and found that my turn signals quit working. Stopped at an auto parts store thinking it’s just a fuse or the flasher.
15a fuse was ok, so I pulled what I thought was the turn signal flasher and went into the store. The nice guy gave me weird looks when I told him this was the signal flasher.
-Well, lesson learned. There are two (2) flasher/relays located within inches of each other on our later CJ7s. I think ‘84-‘86 or so has these hanging from the wires just behind and above the clock in the dash. One is for the horn and the other is for the turn signals. Mine for the turn signals was tucked above the clock a bit where I couldn’t easily see it, at first, which is why I yanked out the one for the horn on accident. The turn signal one only has 2 wires also.
Earlier CJs have both flashers (hazards and signals) at the fuse block.
Maybe I can help someone out in the future with this bit of advice…

 

[TSB8C]

My '84 has two flasher units in the fuse box. One is for the blinkers and one for the flashers. The horn relay is in the harness about behind the headlight switch. And just a note: When I converted to all LED lights and replaced the flasher units with digital ones, I discovered that they are wired differently in the fuse block. With regular lights, the flasher units don't care about polarity. But with LED bulbs and the digital flasher units, the polarity does matter and so one of the flasher units required a polarity reverser to plug it into the fuse box. The two units are identical however.

 

[KRUPP]

Hmm? Maybe they changed in '85 or '86 to my setup with only 1 flasher at the fuse block.
Good to know TSB8C.

 

[Belizean]

Mine is like TSB8C also

 

[KRUPP]

July 27, 24:
-All 4 Fun week in CO. Been about 25 years since we last did this event. Mostly CJs back then. Now, only counted them on one hand.
Still, good people and lots of fun.
-Jeep ran great. Only issue was rear locker didn’t seem to engage like it should on a couple ledges. Not sure what’s going on, so will pull the cover and peek when we get home.