Build Thread CJ7 restoration in progress- Advice please

[BajaEdition]

they are chinese made, want better panels?
Classic Enterprises - Restoration, Reproduction Parts for Studebaker, Jeep & Ford

 

[BajaEdition]

I can't speak for every one but for me the Jeep is the toy that gives me an excuse to play with the rest of my toys!! And to buy more of them!!:grinjeep:

yehaw, I have to agree with that. I really love to work on my CJs, If I wanted the biggest baddest Jeep in town it would be a built up TJ using a lot of toy book parts, but I get 3 ptimes the pride out of running one of the Jeeps I have built with sweat and blood. Pouring over old parts seeing how to fix them, welding in stuff here, upgrading to modern there. And having the tools to do it is a thing you just aquire.
Owning a classic CJ is a thing to be proud of.
After all in about 2 years each and every year they were made will qualify as Antique.

 

[DHugg]

Bullseye, I learned long ago a saying that seems true universally; if it flies, floats, or (paraphrasing) is 'friendly', RENT IT!

Rent a MIG Welder, buy or scrounge some scrap, and just work with it until you can do what you think you need done, then NAIL IT!

I have to do the same, but with acetylene gas rig since that is what my Dad left to me.

When I pull up the roll bar foot on my '80 CJ7 , bet it is uglier than yours!

DHugg
Gulfport, MS

 

[IOPort51]

Bullseye, I learned long ago a saying that seems true universally; if it flies, floats, or (paraphrasing) is 'friendly', RENT IT!

Rent a MIG Welder, buy or scrounge some scrap, and just work with it until you can do what you think you need done, then NAIL IT!

I have to do the same, but with acetylene gas rig since that is what my Dad left to me.

When I pull up the roll bar foot on my '80 CJ-7, bet it is uglier than yours!

DHugg
Gulfport, MS

The last body welding I had to do was to replace the floor boards in My J-10 pickup, it was getting real close to being a "Flintstone mobile". A buddy of mine had asked me if the 110V flux core wire machines from Harbor freight were worth owning, I did not have a good answer so I caught it on sale for $100 and gave it a try. As a welder with a fair bit of experience I can say truthfully that it is a piece of and I would not give it shelf space in my shop. The biggest problem I had with it was that the trigger only controls the wire feed and the current is hot all the time, if you touch the wire to ground you get an arc,you can adapt to this if you don’t know how a wire feed machine is supposed to work but I kept setting the end of the wire on the spot I wanted to start before I dropped my hood, FLASH.. I did use it to stitch weld the floors into the truck and it did a pretty good job.
I would not even think of using it on metal heavier than 10 ga. If I didn't know how a good machine worked and I needed to do a Limited amount of light work, I would give this machine serious consideration. You won’t be handing it down to your grand kids but it will put your tub back together. As soon as I was through with the floor boards I made a gift of it to my buddy. As far as I know he hasn’t used it and that was about 8 months ago but he quit asking me to teach him to weld. That is a win, win situation if I ever heard one.

 

[CJ MAN]

I have a few questions about POR-15. I did not plan on putting the UV coat on because i AM putting a new carpet in and I don't plan on exposing the floor. Is this a bad idea?

How perfect does the surface need to be? I have the degreaser and etching product. But I am talking about original paint. I got 99% of it off the surface, but it's impossible to get every single spec that is still solidly on the metal. Of course any loose paint, but does it have to be near perfect?

When painting near/around threaded bolt holes, like the seat mounting brackets, should I put the bolt in the hole and paint then remove immediately so as not to get POR 15 in the threads?

Also, thank you for the suggestion to paint the roll bar pads and let each coat cure for 24 hours. I'll be sure to do that.

If your gonna put carpet in you should be fine with several coats. Your surface prep in your pics is very good, POR 15 is designed to be painted on very rusty sufaces, which you have none, I wouldnt worry about getting the paint in the threads, just be careful not to get to much, POR 15 thickens with each coat, you can run a tap through them easily, wouldnt hurt the threads to get a thin coat anyway.
It takes at least 24 hrs for that paint to cure fully and thats in pretty warm weather, if its cold when you do it, it may take longer for it to dry, slowest drying paint I ever used, but also the best.
Your doing a heck of a job on your jeep, keep us posted with pics.....

 

[bullseye]

If your gonna put carpet in you should be fine with several coats. Your surface prep in your pics is very good, POR 15 is designed to be painted on very rusty sufaces, which you have none, I wouldnt worry about getting the paint in the threads, just be careful not to get to much, POR 15 thickens with each coat, you can run a tap through them easily, wouldnt hurt the threads to get a thin coat anyway.
It takes at least 24 hrs for that paint to cure fully and thats in pretty warm weather, if its cold when you do it, it may take longer for it to dry, slowest drying paint I ever used, but also the best.
Your doing a heck of a job on your jeep, keep us posted with pics.....

I'm still here. Thanks for the advice. I have decided to hire out the job to some local welders... Been on the phone with a couple and will make an offer after meeting them.

Unfortunately, I have some other commitments for a while so will have to take a break until 2010.

 

[wilurb63]

Bullseye, Like IO said, there are a lot better products out there than WD 40. Besides WD 40 is a Water Displacement. I remember my Granddad tell me is was used for the distributor to remove moisture. That was around 1960 something. lol
I just Stripped my Tub Dash, Steering Column, Wiring Harness, Air/Heater Box, Seats and Liquid Wrench is my Friend.
Good Luck...Wilurb

 

[wilurb63]

Thanks BajaEdition. I am restoring a 1979 CJ7 and I've been looking for these parts.
You just stopped my head ache. lol
Many Thanks...Wilurb

 

[IOPort51]

carpet? in a CJ? I never thought of that.

 

[LongHorn]

carpet? in a CJ? I never thought of that.

The carpet acts like sieve, to keep the water from washing any thing important out of the drain holes in the floor.

 

[CoreyYoungCj577]

The last body welding I had to do was to replace the floor boards in My J-10 pickup, it was getting real close to being a "Flintstone mobile". A buddy of mine had asked me if the 110V flux core wire machines from Harbor freight were worth owning, I did not have a good answer so I caught it on sale for $100 and gave it a try. As a welder with a fair bit of experience I can say truthfully that it is a piece of and I would not give it shelf space in my shop. The biggest problem I had with it was that the trigger only controls the wire feed and the current is hot all the time, if you touch the wire to ground you get an arc,you can adapt to this if you don’t know how a wire feed machine is supposed to work but I kept setting the end of the wire on the spot I wanted to start before I dropped my hood, FLASH.. I did use it to stitch weld the floors into the truck and it did a pretty good job.
I would not even think of using it on metal heavier than 10 ga. If I didn't know how a good machine worked and I needed to do a limited amount of light work, I would give this machine serious consideration. You won’t be handing it down to your grand kids but it will put your tub back together. As soon as I was through with the floor boards I made a gift of it to my buddy. As far as I know he hasn’t used it and that was about 8 months ago but he quit asking me to teach him to weld. That is a win, win situation if I ever heard one.

That kinda bums me out i was going to buy a harbor freight welder but i was going to get the 230V one so i could weld 18 ga. steel for the body and frame and such now this is kinda swading me...

 

[bullseye]

Had a little free time today so installed some of the stainless pieces I got in.

Kentrol Polished Stainless Steel Interior Windshield Hinge Brackets
Kentrol Polished Stainless Steel Windshield Knob Set

Both sets are highly polished stainless steel. The knobs are heavy and solid. Very happy with the quality and weight of them both.

 

[bullseye]

Installation was very simple. Removed bolts for 1 plate and replaced with new plate and bolts. Then replaced the other. Used loc-tite (?) to make sure they don't come back out.

About 20 minutes, if that. They look good.

 

[bullseye]

Kentrol Polished Stainless Steel Hood Prop Rod

Nothing too fancy, an exact factory stock match.

 

[bullseye]

This too would have taken roughly 20 minutes, but after removing old hardware, I had some surface rust to sand and repaint under the hood.

Easy fix, just took a while for paint to dry.

I also added some clear silicon under the stainless brackets between the metal and the paint. Also used loc-tite on all the bolts.

Still have to remove and sand down the bracket where the prop inserts in first pic. I'll use the Por-15 for that.

 

[bullseye]

Upcoming parts to install:

Steering wheel cover
Door paddles (2)
Door strap brackets (2)
Door window cranks (2)

 

[bullseye]

I bought the Nifty Pro-Line Deluxe Massback Molded Carpet Kit for $310 and change. I will have pics and a more in depth review, but when I opened the box, I felt cheap and used. A total piece of that will be returned.

 

[bullseye]

Got some more goodies from UPS today. Threw a couple more pieces on...

Kentrol Polished Stainless Steel Strut Rod Kit
Kentrol Stainless Steel Tailgate Latches
Kentrol Stainless Steel Seat Brackets
Omix-Ada interior Transmission boots

 

[bullseye]

Stainless steel tailgate latches. 5 minutes to replace. No problems.

 

[bullseye]

Th strut rods were also pretty easy to put in. Had some surface rust issues to deal with before I installed, but took about 1hr.

There was also a stainless hood prop bracket that came with it, so I do not have to sand and repaint the original.

Tip: Keep your washer sizes in check. It really sucked to have to disassemble the ss rods because I used the wrong size washer.

Use a thread locker on all stainless if possible.