Build Thread $600 Salvage Cj-7

[Petescj]

Well Ive found my "new" Cj project. Awhile back I sold my black CJ7 to drum up some cash for the Scrambler I now own. I sold it to a guy at work and as luck would have it its up for sale again. Being that I know whats in it already I decided to buy it back. I had done a build thread on it on another site but thats gone now. I have enough of the info and pics to do a Limited re-creation of it so I thought Id share it with all of you. Heres a pic of when I first brought it home to get the ball rolling. Its not the best pic but my photographic skills get better later.

 

[ColoradoCJ7]

I am anxious to see what you are going to do because mine is in about the same shape and I am just getting started on it as well. It is a 84 CJ7 .

Here we go!

 

[Petescj]

Glad to share it with you.The pics make it actually look a little better than it is. There are holes in the rear quarters and some really bad patch work done to the rockers. The floors have been replaced albiet with any scrap pieces of sheetmetal the p.o. had lying around. I put this one together with the idea of having a Cj capable of running blue rated trails for $2500 or less. I had my work cut out for me with this one for sure.

I am anxious to see what you are going to do because mine is in about the same shape and I am just getting started on it as well. It is a 84 CJ7 .

Here we go!

 

[Old Dog]

I put this one together with the idea of having a Cj capable of running blue rated trails for $250

So are you going to get it ready for the red trails this time around.

 

[BrockGrimes]

Make it Double Black Diamond ready, at least it be good in the snow, LOL.

Not familiar with the color ratings, I'm used to 1 - 10.

 

[Petescj]

Only if I learn how to photochop. Actually though, after I grab it ( Sometime in early Feb.) I'll be finishing a few things , posting a shakedown run and changing up some things for the "new" version. I wanted to have it documented and thought "What better place then here?".

So are you going to get it ready for the red trails this time around.

Im taking it Double Black Diamond would rate out at a 10 on your scale then? Thats Reds for us . Blacks are slightly less hazardous. Then Blues which are basically technical trails with only a slight chance of body damage.

Make it Double Black Diamond ready, at least it be good in the snow, LOL.

Not familiar with the color ratings, I'm used to 1 - 10.

I was messing with my photobucket today. This was the pic from post #1

 

[BrockGrimes]

Double black diamond is considered a suicide trail run on ski's down a mountain.

 

[Petescj]

That makes it 3 shades of RED for me.

Double black diamond is considered a suicide trail run on ski's down a mountain.

 

[Petescj]

Ok lets get a little backround on this Cj. Its Jan. of 2008 and Im Jeepless and pretty broke when I run across a Craigslist ad that reads " 85 CJ7 dana 44s runs good $800. Banter a bit and find out its all stock from what I can tell. No dana 44s but the seller wants a deal.

I run it by Vicki , and knowing I have O.T. coming up start the wheels a turnin' in my little brain. I set up a date 2 weeks later to see it. I get the flu the day before and can barely get off the couch. The seller says he'll bring it by if I wanna check it out. Ok now I am really sick but no Cj guy is gonna turn down a delivered peek at a cheap Cj.

The guy arrives 2 hrs. late and its dark. I get out of my little coffin couch and throw on as much clothes as possible. Armed with a flashlight I venture out to see this black Cj at 7pm in Feb. It seems to be running pretty decsent and I start looking for the worst. No front shocks /homebrew exhaust / filled with , cant see the floor/ 1 paddle style door ,1 rotary / windshield frame junk / no hardtop liftgate /rust / rust/rust.

Take it for a ride up 2 blocks and back and it seems to run fair. Im sick and wont commit. I wait he emails again 2 days later. I got him now. $500 I say. Nope he cant do it. Ok fine. Next day $600 he says. If it comes with the soft top that was under alot of in the back ok. Hes not happy but agrees.

I go to pick it up over the weekend and start it from cold. Oh Boy , what a sputtering piece of doody this is. On the way home the headlights get dim enough for me to pull over. Its running real rich but as it warms up it gets a little less cranky to drive. We stop and get gas cause its a Cj and the gague doesnt work. Some jumper cables run to the battery and we're on our way home again.

We make it home with no more incidents and I have a project to work on. It seemed fairly solid in the dark. I have yet to really take a good look at it in the light , but its $600.

More later

 

[CJ]

Great post!

Settling down to see how it ends!

 

[Old Dog]

:lpopcorn: I'm ready.

 

[Petescj]

Nice , Im glad you guys are enjoying this. Since you are, I'll go into a little more detail. Im pretty hyped up now cause my CJ5 was stolen over a year ago by this time and Ive had nothing Jeep wise. Luckily where I live a boatload of guys go right by my street. So I carpool with a guy for quite awhile. He has vacation coming up in April but I have plenty of time right?

Anyway here I am seeing the Cj in the sunlight for the first time. Now granted like I'll keep saying it was $600. Do not look at a Black Cj in the dark with the flu in the middle of Feb. All jokes aside I see its a bit rougher around the edges than I thought. The small holes that were in the sheetmetal are larger in the daylight. The p.o.'s tub fix is well, less than eyeworthy. Gorilla welds on sheetmetal? He made it happen. It smells terrible in the rear and is covered with various things like , soda cans , Kfc bags , gear oil , mud , wet cardboard and my personal favorite the KFC Chicken Bones somehow uder all this mess. The little wormy things were an added bonus. :barf: Ive seen worse working at a petfood plant but it wouldve made a common person heave.


Now on to the Jeep again. The p.o. said the throwout bearing was bad but it had a new clutch. He also let me know that it was beat on at the Kempton Jeep fair. Kempton is cool , and only a few miles away and it was run through alot of mud. I would find out later that by mud he meant tearing up all sorts of grass and mud everywhere. I took the Jeep to the local d.y.i. wash and thought I had it all. This packed and caked in earth substance plagued me throughout the whole build.

Its still quite cold here in the Northeast so not much work gets done for the next 2 months. One thing that had to be figured out was the drain on the battery. A quick tug on the alternater belt reveals its a bit loose and "tackey" for some reason? I tighten it up and jump the battery. It takes honestly about 80 pumps of the pedal to get it to fire. Im met with what I can only describe as a Banshee from hell consistent squeal. No biggie I grab a new Napa belt. Another 80 pumps and bang she fires right up. Still screaming. Its not coming from the belt but its internal. Seems our p.o. isnt the honest guy he portrayed. Theres oil or wd-40
splashed on the front of the housing. Alternater is bad no big deal , I replace it and no more sqeal. The "tackey" belt I believe was belt dressing applied to hide the scream.

More to come

:lpopcorn: I'm ready.

 

[Petescj]

So now its about a week and a half before my carpool partner takes his vacation for a week. The Cj still has a valid inspection sticker , is registered and I get the grand idea to turn it into my commuter for that week. What could possibly be wrong with this $600 jewel?


I dont even bother turning the key in it until my right foot pumps out a Olivia Newton Jon workout of 80 pumps. Its warm enough out now that it runs a little less than fair. First trip to work lets me know quite a few things , none really good.

It gets me to work and back all week but wow it needs work. The throwout bearing is bad , and the clutch chatters bigtime when it gets warm. The tranny is starting to whine in 1st 2nd and 3rd. The heavy plastic in the rear window of the hardtop makes enough noise jumping out of the Jeep at 60 mph (if it could reach that) seems like a viable option. The power steering box has been leaking and ends up going dry pretty quick when the fluid is warm. I go through a bottle in this week of driving.

I jotted down my odometer reading at the beginning of that week. I cant remember anything other than what my miles per gallon came out to at the end of the week. Im getting 9 mpg!!!! If worked further away I would've run out of gas easily. The week is over and Im carpooling again. Im shopping the internet for Cj parts to get this beast running beter

More to come...

 

[IOPort51]

this is great Pete. I can't wait to see how this story turns out.:lpopcorn:
got the large popcorn and a large draft this may take a while.

So now its about a week and a half before my carpool partner takes his vacation for a week. The Cj still has a valid inspection sticker , is registered and I get the grand idea to turn it into my commuter for that week. What could possibly be wrong with this $600 jewel?


I dont even bother turning the key in it until my right foot pumps out a Olivia Newton Jon workout of 80 pumps. Its warm enough out now that it runs a little less than fair. First trip to work lets me know quite a few things , none really good.

It gets me to work and back all week but wow it needs work. The throwout bearing is bad , and the clutch chatters bigtime when it gets warm. The tranny is starting to whine in 1st 2nd and 3rd. The heavy plastic in the rear window of the hardtop makes enough noise jumping out of the Jeep at 60 mph (if it could reach that) seems like a viable option. The power steering box has been leaking and ends up going dry pretty quick when the fluid is warm. I go through a bottle in this week of driving.

I jotted down my odometer reading at the beginning of that week. I cant remember anything other than what my miles per gallon came out to at the end of the week. Im getting 9 mpg!!!! If worked further away I would've run out of gas easily. The week is over and Im carpooling again. Im shopping the internet for Cj parts to get this beast running beter

More to come...

 

[IOPort51]

:dunno:I may have missed it but can you give me a quick equipment run down. motor,transmision, etc.

 

[Petescj]

I'll throw that all in my next post.

:dunno:I may have missed it but can you give me a quick equipment run down. motor,transmision, etc.

 

[Petescj]

Ok I have to keep IOPort51s interest () so I'll discuss the driveline a bit tonite. The seller had it listed as a 85 CJ7 with dana 44s for $800. I figured someone swapped in some J-truck axles and nothing was connected but I sent an e-mail anyway. He tells me nope its a runner and thats what it has. I ask how far the tires stick out. He replies back their under the flares!! Im thinking ok , maybe Scout axles or narrowed 44s so Im in whichever. Then he sends the pic of the rear axle. AMC20 .

Im disapointed just like any of you guys would be but hey a runner for $800? I'll still take that look. A couple more pics fly through cyberspace. He tells me its an older AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l but rebuilt. The plastic valve cover says different. It has a 4spd manual. Ok , probably a T-4 . Dana 300 and wide trac axles I presume. I try to get him to check the gear ratio to no avail.

What do I think of the driveline? Its the smoothest shifting Jeep Transfer Case Ive had. Some research shows the tranny is actually the stronger T-176 . The whining in the first 3 gears puts a damper on that. Im praying that some vaccum lines and a descent carb will cure the motor ills. A 9 mpg motor though cant be cured that easy can it?


More to come.

 

[Petescj]

Like I said earlier Im scouring the internet for parts but havent had too much luck. I hit on a few things though that I want. I convinced the p.o. to throw in a Bestop softop with it. It didnt have any hardware , just the canvas and windows. I post a want ad on our club board and get 1 reply that it'll cost me $100. I hold out awhile but its the only reply I get. A 2 hr. drive each way nets me the hardware I need , a rear fold n tumble with brackets and my two girls hatred for about 5 hrs. "wasted" for so little. Cost me $125.

Its the next day and I grab the nieghbors help and quickly ditch the bulky hardtop. Earlier I print out the directions for installing the softop from Bestops website. They give you a measurement to use from the windshield to the back of the tub to ensure a good fit. I measure and by luck Im within a 1/2 in. or so from what I remember.

I put on all the rails and bows and its all going smooth. Credit to bestop for having great directions easily printable on their site. All is well and its time to put the canvas on. The top goes into the newly installed windshield channel like butter. Now putting the two rear portions into the rails by the taillights. The first is tight but it goes in like it should. The passenger side is tight for a minute then goes in really easy and loose.

Mind you Im at the back of the Jeep and confused since my measurement came out just about perfect. This I can remember like yesterday. I go in and grab a beer. I come out and look from the front and understand what happened. I knew the windshield frame was rusted but it looks like the hardtop was actually holding it in place on that side. When I applied tension to the top that whole side just gave way like silly putty.

So heres the pic of how far that whole afternoon got me. The framework of a softop. Thats it. Pretty lame and Im dissapointed. I feel like Im really in for it on this one.

 

[Old Dog]

this is great Pete. I can't wait to see how this story turns out.:lpopcorn:
got the large popcorn and a large draft this may take a while.

Hey there IO grab me another cold one while your up.

 

[IOPort51]

Hey there IO grab me another cold one while your up.

Shiner bocks all arround!!
Pete, we feel your pain.
If it was easy, anybody could do it.:rock: