Build Thread 82 CJ7 frame swap & lift build

[rbagley]

windshield frame progression...

even thought the "restored" dash and frame are going to look great, I still love to look at that first picture- I like the character that it shows

 

[rbagley]

Back to work this week as a phys. ed. teacher. I love my job, but that means I have less time to put into the Jeep, especially with a wife, two young girls and being pretty involved in our local church. My buddies have spent a few solid weeks up at Silver Lake already this summer but are up for one last fall run if I am able to get done in time to go before the end of the season.

I'm still able to make a little progress on week nights without changing into grub clothes since most of my parts at this point are either new or have been painted or powder-coated. The worst of it is the anti-seize that I get more of on my fingers than the bolt threads.

The real reason for the update is to share a nice little surprise that was waiting for me when I got home. Not sure which I was most excited to see...the tall stack of chocolate chip cookies :drool:, my custom license plate or my daughter Paige who will turn 1 this weekend :bounce:. All great to come home to!

My neighbor collects license plates from across the country and it started me thinking about coming up with a custom plate for my Jeep. My 2nd option was 82CJEEP but I liked how the JEEP was centered on the plate that I went with.

 

[mtnwhlr]

The real reason for the update is to share a nice little surprise that was waiting for me when I got home. Not sure which I was most excited to see...the tall stack of chocolate chip cookies :drool:, my custom license plate or my daughter Paige who will turn 1 this weekend :bounce:. All great to come home to! .

This is what life is all about.

 

[JBPage76]

Wow! Extremely helpful thread!! Thanks!! Will be re-reading often I am sure!! Just about to start a teardown, so just doing some research now!! Great info here!!

 

[rbagley]

Not much has happened in the last 8 months, up until April. I started putting a little time a few nights a week into the Jeep. Pushing to get it done again.

I will share the pictures that I have, but probably with less of the details. I intent to keep posting for the entertainment value from here on out.

Over spring break, I brought the Jeep back into my 24x32 pole barn, sitting the old and new tub side by side so that I could take some things off the original tub to transfer over finally.

Here is what it looked like mid April, which was about the same it looked before school started in September. Notice my daughter's Jeep in the corner of the picture. She reminds me that daddy has a Jeep and Evie has a Jeep.

 

[rbagley]

I looked back on the last page or two and noticed that I didn't post the picture of the tub sitting on the frame. It sat there for, like I said earlier, about 8 months without being touched.

The body mount brackets on the frame had been patched and the fiberglass tub body mount holes had been filled and Herculined over so I spend hours trying to make sure I had it exactly where it was supposed to be before I drilled any holes.

My tub also didn't sit down on the frame like the original body did, so there are body mounts that are full height (I have the dynastar? 1 additional inch ones) and ones that I had to cut down.

Any how, here are the pics of some of the body panels together sitting on the frame.

 

[rbagley]

After I got 7 of the 9 body mounts on (or 11 depending on how many I go with), I started bolting on the fenders and grille.

I will have to cut 2 of my frame brackets off and move them back 6 inches to hit one of the spots the body mounts go. This is not my original frame or tub, so I shouldn't be surprised that it is not going to just set on there perfectly.

side note- I saw someones Jeep like mine months ago (with a fiberglass tub) and noticed that he didn't use the very back 2 body mount spots either, and he did something pretty creative to make the body mounts in the middle work, since the tub did not sit down on the frame like the original ones did.

I had a chance to buy the fiberglass fenders when I bought this tub used. I wish now that I would have, because the original fenders (even though they turned out great) did not line up without a lot of filing of the mounting holes. The hood is just setting on there to see what it would look like.

As I got the fenders on I was able to start hooking up the gadgets and wires on the fenders inside the engine compartment. I also ordered new gas tank filler and vent hoses because one of the original ones broke off from moving them out of the way as I would put the tub on and off.

 

[rbagley]

One of my pictures in a recent post, showed the stock trailer hitch on the back, but without the bumperettes. I was thinking of making my own rectangle tube bumper with a hitch, but found almost exactly what I was going to build on craigslist for $80. It was about an hour away so I went up to Grand Rapids and got it.

The guy I bought it from just bought a swing out tire carrier from one of the popular manufacturers. He had a nice old CJ7 and I spent about an hour talking to him and checking his out.

While I do not intend on hauling much with my Jeep, I wanted to be able to put my hitch mount bike rack on the back or the small platforms that hold coolers, etc., so I needed a hitch receiver style rather than just a ball.

I also picked up a roll cage (stock 70's bar with front hoop added) for $200 from another guy (or should I say girl) off of craigslist. This was not a necessity at the time, but eventually I was going to make one of these as well. I have no idea who made the cage, but I was very impressed with their work.

The guy I bought it from was working on his daughters CJ (named the pink penguin). The hard top would not mount on all the way with the cage, so he was going to just get the original roll bar or something back in there.

The pictures show the roll cage sitting in the Jeep and the new bumper. I still have to mount the roll cage and I intend on adding my roll bar to the back to make a full cage out of it.

We ride at Silver Lake sand dunes in MI, and without a bar all the way in the back, back seat passengers have to wear a helmet.

I joked with my friends that my 3 year old daughter got to pick the color since it is the family Jeep. It matched her pink Barbi Jeep perfect...but no, I am not keeping it that color. I will weld on it and then sandblast it all, so that when it gets scratched, pink will not come through.

 

[PaRenegade]

Yeah yeah, it's your story you tell it. But theres no shame in meeting the demands of your daughter. She's a female. Her mind is not made up and her color choice will change.

The rest of the Jeep is looking good btw (don't let her change that)!

 

[Petescj]

When I saw that pink roll cage and the little Power Wheels Jeep in the garage I was like " No Way , Hes not really..."

Jeep looks dam good though for sure.

 

[thiswontbetooexpensive]

Yeah yeah, it's your story you tell it. But theres no shame in meeting the demands of your daughter. She's a female. Her mind is not made up and her color choice will change.

The rest of the Jeep is looking good btw (don't let her change that)!

I second these ammendments!

 

[tjmons]

RBAGLEY , love your build. It looks a lot like mine. It must be a Michigan thing. Someday I am heading down to Silver Lake. It would nice to meet up sometime.

 

[rbagley]

RBAGLEY , love your build. It looks a lot like mine. It must be a Michigan thing. Someday I am heading down to Silver Lake. It would nice to meet up sometime.

Thanks tjmons! Glad you attached the picture too- Looks good. I will keep my eye open for you. Making a little progress at a time, so hopefully I will finally get up there in this Jeep.

Tonight I got the drive belts on. I searched the site for pictures that showed where they go, and found something helpful under the Smog Pump Pulley posting. Supertrunk posted a helpful picture.

I thought I would post two pictures from my build as well here in case someone like me was looking for pictures like I was earlier today.

One from the front before I tore it apart, and the other from the top after I put them on tonight.

 

[rbagley]

I have been trying to get out to the barn every night and make some progress, no matter how small. The dozen wires I had no idea where they went to are now down to about six... (in the engine compartment anyway). I got the cooling system all hooked up and filled with about 40% distilled water and 60% Dex-cool. It is a new radiator and all new hoses, so I went with the expensive stuff even though I had at least 2 gallons sitting around of something else.

Just for fun, I mounted the tow hooks to the front bumper as well as my high lift jack. Neither is a priority, but gave me my fix the other day when I needed it. I am not sure if the high lift is there to stay, but I used pre-existing holes, so it's no big deal if I move it later. The bottom foot of the jack rattles around, though, so I took the pin out and am looking to put that somewhere else.

Also, my new toy came in the mail a few days ago. I haven't put it together yet or used it, but hope to soon. It is a Hobart Handler 140. I bought the reconditioned model, which basically means scratch and dent, but could not tell why it was considered re-conditioned. I had been borrowing one from my dad, then from my buddy for a few months to weld up my perches, had the neighbor weld some plates together for me to firm up the body where the front body mounts go, and now I have my own.

The tub I got was used and had been cracked where the front body mounts sit. I made the braces in the picture to bolt into the inside of the pocket for added strength. I also put a couple of coats of fiberglass mesh over where the mounts had cracked through, but that did not seem like enough.

 

[rbagley]

Update- a lot of electrical issues, but Tues 5-22-13 (for the record) I finally got it started and running around the neighborhood! It has been at least 4 years since I tore it apart, so it was very exciting. I love the locker in the rear- it doesn't click as noticeably as I thought it would. It was fun to tear around a little and get a little idea of the articulation and power- or lack there of.

I drove it to the local muffler shop for an alignment and to get my exhaust heading out the back. They looked at the wiring and confirmed what I already knew to be true- lot of wiring & ground issues. No tail lights or side markers on the front or back, different lights on in the dash that shouldn't be lighting up, no blinkers and from time to time the ignition switch acts up.

I have wired up a few sets of trailer lights, but that is the extent to my electrical expertise. I am going to start by grounding everything I can think of and then go from there.

My buddies are planning a trip to Silver Lake June 8th I think, so I need to get this and the roll cage taken care of before then. No actual seat belts till I can hook them off the cage.

 

[rbagley]

A lot of progress in the last few weeks. Every minute I had, so I haven't posted any of what I did. My buddies (and I!) made it to Siver Lake June 7th & 8th so I made a solid push to get everything necessary done to make the trip.

After getting the Jeep running, I was making small trips without a license plate, without seat belts, no brake or turn signals or working temp gauge, so those were on the list to get done for sure.

I fabricated a license plate holder that mounted through the bumper holes, but then curved up and around the body- it took me a number of hours to make, but part of that was hooking up my welder.

My dad was over and I mentioned the temp gauge, so he poked around, finding the threaded nub on/near the head/firewall and the hanging wire so I had that working without too much trouble.

I called a cousin of mine to come over a few days before the trip, so we got the brake, turn and tail lights working. Something was blowing the fuse for the reverse lights as soon as I turned the ignition from off to run, but I wasn't as concerned for the Silver Lake trip to get that done. There was a lot of more important things that needed to get done- like stripping the pink roll cage and putting a cross bar behind my seats to mount my seat belt harnesses to, besides mounting the roll cage to the tub.

More of that to come. Not sure why my pictures wont load tonight. I will try again later.

 

[rbagley]

pics for the last post

 

[rbagley]

I stripped the roll cage down to bare medal (took me about 4 hours with a wire wheel over a few days) and cut and welded up a crossbar a couple of inches below where the shoulder harnesses come out of the seats.

I made up some brackets to mount the seat belts to the floor and picked up some trailer spring hanger brackets to mount the roll cage in the front. I found some pipe just bigger than the cage to slide it down into and bolt together.

I may take these back out to paint, but like I mentioned before, I was pushing to get it done for the Silver Lake trip. Eventually, I want to run the rear tail light wiring through the roll cage to the back and tie the cage to the frame.

By Wed night (for a Friday trip) I had the seat belts all set, taillights, and license plate done. Thursday I had to mount the roll cage to the tub and get my spare tire set and pack for the trip.

The plan was to drive it up, in the dunes and back home for a wedding Saturday night. It is a 2 hr and 15 minute drive regularly, so I was planning 3 hours or more to get there on Friday night.

 

[Old Dog]

Look'n good.
Man you guys are making me want to go to Silver Lake. I use to live in N. Ind. and we went there a lot.
I haven't been there since the early 80's though.

 

[rbagley]

As you can see from the pictures, I made it up to Silver Lake- I have been telling my buddies for the last 2 years that the Jeep would be done in time for the summer trips, but the build became way more than I ever intended.

I am happy with how it turned out and happy to say that I not only made the 2 1/2 hour drive there (my first goal) but in the 1st 5 minutes in the sand I knew it was all I had hoped for.

I only got to play for about half the day (family wedding) before I had to turn back home to keep the wife happy and ensure that there would not be problems the next time I wanted to make the trip. I had to rush the last 3 weeks to get ready, but I made sure to make the 1st trip of the year, even knowing I wouldn't be able to stay long.

The Jeep is geared 2:73 (I think it was) so with the bigger tires in the sand I can't do too much in 4 high. I tooled around most of the time in 3rd gear (4 low) but had some success climbing the taller hills in 2nd then 1st gear (4 high). Without the running start, it seemed when in 4 Lo I could not get the speed, but in 4 high I would lose power almost at the top. Cool thing is that it is mine and I have a lot of practicing to look forward to.

Even knowing that the carb is not quite right yet, it seemed to be great in the dunes. It popped a few times trying to back up the short steep hill in the last picture, but responded well when I stomped it at the bottom of the same hill facing forward.

The guy in the passenger seat in the last picture is the one about 5 years ago I talked into letting me take it over since he didn't have the shop to work on it or the ambition. He was tickled for me that it turned out so well and that I spent the time to make it nice.

I am going to need a new line under my signature- something like...this is my Jeep- it took me 4 years to build and so far the wait has been worth it- I am enjoying every minute of it