Build Thread CJ7 restoration
McSyd
Jeeper
Picked up an 85 Ch7 back in late August of 2018. It’s a little rough.
Plan is to build a reliable hobby Jeep. On road only, won’t see any dirt. I run back and forth between PA and the Delaware beaches very often during the fishing seasons. So this will be a second car/beach buggy.
Years ago I owned a 2000 TJ that I did 318 swap from a Durango, along with other countless stuff. That was a DD turned trail rig. I also had a ‘67 CJ5 for awhile I did lots of work on in high school.
So the CJ7 was owned by somebody who got the poops of fixing it. During the motor project phase, I discovered it had 2 spun main bearings and a broken piston. That guy sold it when it blew up to another guy who parked it in a barn for 5-6 years and there it sat until I got it.
I got it home and stripped it down to nothing. I’m starting all over and cleaning everything and fixing or replacing everything, and I mean everything! I want this to be as nice as possible but it definitely won’t be a “show” car. I’m going for reliability and longevity. I want my daughter to have this when she’s in high school (another 12 years)
Frame was pretty bad. Spent almost 6 weeks blasting, patching and painting. Then I tore in to the rear Dana 20 . Redid the seals and brakes and suspension. Then it was on to the Dana 30 front. Both axles will be keeping the stock 3.31’s so long as I can get away with it. I’ll be running 33’s I believe with a 4” lift.
After it was back to a somewhat rolling chassis, I went over the stock T-4 Transmission and Dana 300 tcase. All was well internally so they got cleaned up reassembled with new seals and gaskets and got a few coats of clear enamel.
Somewhere in here I decided the body was too far gone to fool around with. So I found a used 4wd glass tub about an hour away and picked it up. It’s a little rough and needs work, but much less than the metal tub the Jeep came with.
Then it was on to the motor. The Jeep came with the blown AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l that was installed. He also included a “working” AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l to drop in. I tore both motors apart with the intention of rebuilding the better one and doing a head swap from a 4.0. I ended up sourcing an entire 4.0 for $50 with a 7120 head. After talking with the machinist we decided I might as well build a stroker since I had most of what I needed. Turns out neither of my AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l cranks were good. One had already been ground and needed it again. The second one was twisted and also needed a regrind. The price of that along with some unexpected bills made me decide to do a basic stock 4.0 rebuild and plop it in the Jeep. This allowed me to keep moving in the project. My goal of having this complete by June 1st isn’t going to happen. But it’s coming along nicely.
I’m currently assembling the motor. Just waiting for a few misc parts before I finish it up and drop it in. I’m hoping to be able to get the motor running and do a cam break in at this point as well. I’ll get the entire drivetrain installed and working then start mocking up the tub and the rest of the body. Then it’ll be a lot of body work and misc things to get it all back in one piece.
So that’s where I’m at now. Photos below
Plan is to build a reliable hobby Jeep. On road only, won’t see any dirt. I run back and forth between PA and the Delaware beaches very often during the fishing seasons. So this will be a second car/beach buggy.
Years ago I owned a 2000 TJ that I did 318 swap from a Durango, along with other countless stuff. That was a DD turned trail rig. I also had a ‘67 CJ5 for awhile I did lots of work on in high school.
So the CJ7 was owned by somebody who got the poops of fixing it. During the motor project phase, I discovered it had 2 spun main bearings and a broken piston. That guy sold it when it blew up to another guy who parked it in a barn for 5-6 years and there it sat until I got it.
I got it home and stripped it down to nothing. I’m starting all over and cleaning everything and fixing or replacing everything, and I mean everything! I want this to be as nice as possible but it definitely won’t be a “show” car. I’m going for reliability and longevity. I want my daughter to have this when she’s in high school (another 12 years)
Frame was pretty bad. Spent almost 6 weeks blasting, patching and painting. Then I tore in to the rear Dana 20 . Redid the seals and brakes and suspension. Then it was on to the Dana 30 front. Both axles will be keeping the stock 3.31’s so long as I can get away with it. I’ll be running 33’s I believe with a 4” lift.
After it was back to a somewhat rolling chassis, I went over the stock T-4 Transmission and Dana 300 tcase. All was well internally so they got cleaned up reassembled with new seals and gaskets and got a few coats of clear enamel.
Somewhere in here I decided the body was too far gone to fool around with. So I found a used 4wd glass tub about an hour away and picked it up. It’s a little rough and needs work, but much less than the metal tub the Jeep came with.
Then it was on to the motor. The Jeep came with the blown AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l that was installed. He also included a “working” AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l to drop in. I tore both motors apart with the intention of rebuilding the better one and doing a head swap from a 4.0. I ended up sourcing an entire 4.0 for $50 with a 7120 head. After talking with the machinist we decided I might as well build a stroker since I had most of what I needed. Turns out neither of my AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l cranks were good. One had already been ground and needed it again. The second one was twisted and also needed a regrind. The price of that along with some unexpected bills made me decide to do a basic stock 4.0 rebuild and plop it in the Jeep. This allowed me to keep moving in the project. My goal of having this complete by June 1st isn’t going to happen. But it’s coming along nicely.
I’m currently assembling the motor. Just waiting for a few misc parts before I finish it up and drop it in. I’m hoping to be able to get the motor running and do a cam break in at this point as well. I’ll get the entire drivetrain installed and working then start mocking up the tub and the rest of the body. Then it’ll be a lot of body work and misc things to get it all back in one piece.
So that’s where I’m at now. Photos below
