Build Thread 79 CJ-7 Renagade

[jeepboy45]

So, I was going to keep this to myself, but then I figured it could be a learning experience for everyone and that we can learn and grow together, and to not judge one's mistake no matter how stupid...
In my defense, I was just really excited that I'm able to drive my CJ, and one can overlook the simple things...

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HOLY S*** !!!!
Niedhogg....!!! That sucks bad... Did it happen on the trailer on the way to IOWA or after you got there? If you were actually driving it, it must have been quite a scare when it blew up and struck the windshield frame, blocking your vision...

I am having a flashback from the movie "tommy boy" when chris farley didnt shut the hood on david spades Plymouth GTX !!! Remember that scene!! LOL..

BE SAFE MAN!!!

 

[CJ]

Sorry for that, but seen it many times.... Um, CJ,s have hood latches for a reason...

Glad you were not hurt!

 

[Niedhogg]

HOLY S*** !!!!
Niedhogg....!!! That sucks bad... Did it happen on the trailer on the way to IOWA or after you got there? If you were actually driving it, it must have been quite a scare when it blew up and struck the windshield frame, blocking your vision...

I am having a flashback from the movie "tommy boy" when chris farley didnt shut the hood on david spades Plymouth GTX !!! Remember that scene!! LOL..

BE SAFE MAN!!!

Thing is, I've been home for a few weeks now, and the safety latch on the hood is good and stiff. It made it all the way home, 1000+ miles, without any problems, made the 60 mile round trip to the exhaust shop on the trailer, and then I had put almost 200 miles on it since I've started driving it..

It had become extremely windy here a week ago Sunday, and I had been thinking I was pushing my luck and went to my shop on Monday (30 miles) to gather some parts (hood latches) and stuff to start finishing some small things at the house, and as I said the wind was pretty bad and I was actually going to put them on before I went home that day, but I couldn't find them anywhere.. the trip back to the house was against the wind, and I'm talking a steady 40-50 mph wind w/gusts higher than that, I was about 15 miles from the house going around a long sweeping curve, going 55 mph myself, when WHAP!! up it came... if you've ever sat in your driver's seat with the hood up, well then you know there's no looking around that thing..lol.. I just looked down out my driver's window at the lines on the road and slowly pulled over off the road... disgusted with myself, I slammed it back down, it actually held better, and took gravel roads the rest of the way home..

My latches are still MIA, new ones have been ordered, and two bungee cords are now holding my bent hood securely in place. I pulled the hood the other day and stomped most of the dent back out, so it doesn't look so bad, and tuesday, we are heading to Des Moines to check out a local Jeep club and hopefully meeting a guy near there from CL, who has 3 hoods to choose from for 25 bucks, so it will soon be back to normal..

 

[Niedhogg]

Sorry for that, but seen it many times.... Um, CJ,s have hood latches for a reason...

Glad you were not hurt!

Thanks CJ, this is a classic example of getting comfortable with your own stupidity...

 

[Niedhogg]

New hood latches arrived today... highly recommended that you make sure you always have these in place, and latched!

 

[jeepboy45]

Nice job keeping it under control when she let go!! I bet the "pucker factor" was about 90% !!!

 

[GoldenEagle36]

the top alright? haha but i bet that was so sketchy glad everything is alright and that you weren't injured!

 

[Niedhogg]

the top alright? haha but i bet that was so sketchy glad everything is alright and that you weren't injured!

You wouldn't believe it, but it didn't even scratch that top, LOL, and since I had really been half expecting it to happen, after the initial flintch, I calmly looked down at the stripe on the highway and pulled over.. it was pretty crazy! Think I showed this, but here it is again..

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[Niedhogg]

I did get my hood latches on the other day, and have put another hundred or so miles on the CJ, man is it a gas guzzler... I think I'll have time tomorrow to adjust the floats, last time I had the carb off, the whole area around the back side of the secondaries was wet with gas, so I figure I'll start there, it runs very rich. I haven't touched the carb since I've had it running so it's still set with the factory settings.

 

[Niedhogg]

So today I finally got a chance to work on the CJ, and here's what I got done:

1. I made a driver's floor board out of some old license plates I had laying around, I have new floor pans for it but I'd like to get a new rocker panel before I install them.
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2. I got my oil pressure gauge working today, I wasn't getting 12V from the wire I had plugged into it, so I pulled the power lead off the cigarette lighter and I am happy to announce that I have 50 psi at idle... nice.
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3. I tracked down a cylinder that has been missing since I had it running in Dec. Number 5 wasn't firing, and I'm not sure why... I pulled the plug and it looked like it had barely ever fired, pulled another and checked it and it looked about the same, so I checked the resistance on both and they were nearly identicle, so I swapped them, made sure they were good and tight, and it seems to have helped... maybe I didn't have tight enough the first time and was just loosing compression, but I'm really not sure what the deal was, it never sounded like compression was escaping through the plug hole..
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4. Went wheeling on a beautiful winters day in north dentral Iowa! This ditch is a class 3 obsticle... well, around here anyway...
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[Niedhogg]

Been driving the CJ a lot lately, think I'll be replacing the front rotors this week.. I'll post up some pics when I start on it.

 

[Niedhogg]

Well I still haven't got to those rotors yet, lol... started a new job and have been getting myself settled in back at home, and being home has been reeeally nice these last few months. But now, it's time to get busy with the CJ again...

I've been driving it everyday, it's awesome, it rides rough, smells really bad, it's loud, and did I mention it's awesome?! And now I want more... picking up an '87 suburban tomorrow with a TBI350/SM465/NP208 factory drivetrain in it that runs and drives for 400 bucks, and scrapping the body for some return on the investment, so nearly free!

This, my friends, is the beginning of the next step in my CJ's evolution.. Another member has me looking into an XJ rear spring conversion, and that has me looking at building tube fenders and bobbing the rear fenders, as well as boat sides since I still have a little rust in the rockers anyway. I need to look over the axles on the 'burb, as I'm unsure of which ones they are, so I don't know if I'll be using them yet or not... I'm excited..

 

[madmax087]

I've been driving it everyday, it's awesome, it rides rough, smells really bad, it's loud, and did I mention it's awesome?!

I know exactly how you feel man!! (I drive mine daily, unless it rains!)

 

[Niedhogg]

Re: 79 CJ7 Renegade

Well it finally happened... it wasn't supposed to happen, in fact I had it in writing from the company, or so I thought, that it wouldn't happen... my Pro-Tech HEI distributor ate my cam gear. It took 15 months and about 2000 miles, but the cam in my AMC 304 is toast. I advise to anyone who buys one of these cheap aftermarket dizzys is, no matter what they tell you when you buy it, please change the gear out from your old dizzy to the new dizzy and save yourself a headache. I have no complaints about the performance, it works very well, but change out that gear.

On a brighter note, I will be doing a step by step write on swapping my AMC 304 out for the 360 from my J-truck. This swap is really a no brainer, but for anyone who's interested in watching then check back in and you'll see just how easy it is!

 

[Petescj]

Re: 79 CJ7 Renegade

On a brighter note, I will be doing a step by step write on swapping my AMC 304 out for the 360 from my J-truck. This swap is really a no brainer, but for anyone who's interested in watching then check back in and you'll see just how easy it is!

Nice. Im sure there will be some guys that are interested in the write up. The 360 was the best upgrade I put into my CJ5 .

 

[JAG811]

Would LOVE lots of pics !!!!

 

[Niedhogg]

Ok then, let's get this going , I have my ducks in a row, and we are going to get started on this 360 swap....

We recently went to where my J20 is currently resting and finished pulling out the 360, and since then, rain has kept me from moving forward much more than getting the driver's fender off my CJ... But I did go ahead and order a new flex plate today and it will be in tomorrow...

For those that do not know, (and for all that do, please chime in anytime if I make a mistake as this is my first 360 swap) the 360 is almost a direct swap for the AMC 304 . The difference is that the AMC 304 is balanced differently than the 360, and the other thing in my case, is that my AMC 304 is backed by a GM Turbo 400 and the 360 was backed by the TF727...in short, to make this happen I had to order a new flexplate for a 360 that's backed by a GM Turbo 400 , which you can find behind many full size jeep Cherokees and Grand Wagoneers, prior to Chryslers' buy out of Jeep in 1986(?), I used what my son drives, and ordered one from a 1979 Cherokee Chief S... Going to be a nice next several days in a row!

 

[Niedhogg]

Boy, it's funny how Mother's day can throw a kink into your Jeep rebuild time, "All I want for Mother's day" she says, "is to have new decking on my kitchen porch this year..." I said, "Ummm, ok!" Well I thought I was being sly, this will be a piece of cake...this is where I tell you my house is 109 years old, and when you pull the old decking off, well... 4 days later and I have 2/3rds of the new decking down now, on top of a completely new frame and joists and everything else replaced that was rotted out, and I would be done with the decking by now, but I somehow lost my ability to do math and that's as far as what I bought went, LOL!

But for the next few days it's me time, (CJ time), and the swap will be starting tomorrow night. All parts are bought, one fender is off the Jeep and I am chomping at the bit to drive my Jeep again! We got a hot, topless date to a cruise in Saturday night, and I expect me and my lady to be there... I might even bring my wife!

 

[Niedhogg]

Ok, Mother's day came and went, and I'm still not done with my porch but I've gained on it today, running out of material, , and finally finding some time to get busy on my engine swap ! We've had sooo much rain here this spring and since I have no garage, well, you can understand these delays I've had to deal with , but now I'm getting back on track!

I removed and disconnected all the minor stuff up on the engine like wire harness, distributor and plug wires, power steering pump, headers and fenders are off... now I need to drain coolant, pull the grill and radiator and disconnect the tranny. I should have the AMC 304 out tomorrow night!

Oh, and my son stops by last night with a set of rotors and pads he found in his pickup this weekend... turns out they are ones I've been missing for this CJ! I had started to write up the swap last year, when things kind of got crazy and they disappeared... so now it will be getting the new brakes this week as well!
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[Niedhogg]

Moved the Jeep to my son's garage across town yesterday, it seems to rain about every other day lately. Most farmers here in Ia., have only just recently got their corn planted, but very few have even started putting in soybeans in... going to be a late harvest around here, and even worse if this moisture cycle continues through the season we could see an early winter complicate things even more...

But enough about the weather, lol, we managed to get the AMC 304 out of the CJ yesterday, and we started to clean up the 360 and change manifolds when I noticed a piece of a lifter laying in the valley, and curiously all the lifters seem to be in place and whole, so we decided to continue with the swap as this motor was running and came out of my J20, assuming a PO had a lifter go bad, replaced it, and just missed a piece in the valley. But, as we continued cleaning we found a hole punched out in the side of the oil pan, so we investigated further, draining the oil, and as we rotated the engine on the stand to pull the pan we heard metal clanking inside, which was not what I wanted to hear, and that's where we found the rest of the destroyed lifter, and a pretty good nick in the rear crank counter weight where it had obviously pinched and exploded the lifter against the side of the bock and punching the hole in the pan... so it looks now, like a PO had done a quick fix, replacing the lifter and then unloading the J20 onto the next guy as a running truck.

I guess now, my only option is to go through the 360 completely, and do it right.