Build Thread Down South 1985 CJ7

[Helomedic1171]

Hey everyone. I've been a long time lurker but decided to join when I started working on our '85 CJ7 . so far, I've hauled the thing home as a basket case, and then stored the stuff that wasn't bolted down. here's what it looks as I dragged it home:



I told everyone it followed me home (Dad knew the truth, he found it, and we decided to add it to the stable)

here's how it looks now:



I've removed the front turn signals because they were badly corroded and I don't want them to rust out the grill shell. I also replaced the headlights, bypassed the horribly corroded dimmer switch, and ripped out all of the vacuum/emissions lines (there weren't many left connected). I then went through all of them with a diagram and patience, and reconnected every one with new hose. She seems to run better now.

OH yeah, that reminds me - I got her home, spent about 30 minutes reconnecting fuel lines to the poly tank, hooking up a battery, and doing a quick check for stuff that might catch fire/kill me. passing that, I turned the key, and voila - she purred to life. the oil was clean and the distributor, plugs, and wires look new or very recently replaced, so I took a chance and cranked it. I've actually driven the thing around the yard a handful of times riding on a 5 gallon bucket.

I noticed a coolant leak, which led me to a radiator with about 7 different leaks in it - to include a pair of pinholes that squirt water if I squeeze the top hose. so I got a new rad, new lower hose (upper seems serviceable, and the springy hose that O'reilly's tried to sell me didn't fit anyway) and I also replaced a heater hose, thermostat, gasket, and the water pump. the water pump pulley wobbled BADLY which I assume is why the fan dug into the radiator and left this:



thereby causing the leaks and making a mess of that radiator. so, now with a new cooling system, and then headlights and a headlight switch and a bypassed dimmer, I tackled the emissions lines, and now I'm ordering a pile of sheet metal parts and some sheet metal stock to prepare for body repairs.

Plans include an MPFI swap with a 4.0 head and a harness from ThatGuy, and an electric fan. that's about it. maybe a radio, some doors, and a top, but we'll see. I really just want to fix the body, paint her to where she's pretty enough to be seen around town, and drive the wheels off her. maybe take my twin 3.5 yr olds to get ice cream in it on the weekends. but nothing crazy. I like jeeps, they always need fixing, but I have a big Chevy if I need to pull something heavy or get sunk in the mud. I figure this thing will get me to and from the beach easily and be fun to drive with my feet hanging in the breeze or wherever I wanna go. we'll see.

after the body and paint, I need a rear seat, rear seat belts, and then I can get to driving her, methinks. I'll update as I can.

 

[Helomedic1171]

Ordered the sheet metal parts. also have a small pile of little things to install, like wiper switch, a blower switch, stuff like that. haven't gotten to it yet since the inside is still exposed to the rain. Going to Orlando this week; my Dad wants to take his granddaughters to go see Shamu and possibly that mouse that lives in the castle. updates next week.

 

[Helomedic1171]

Finally got the Jeep back from sheet metal repairs. I'll skip the drama, but the short version is, it took two different guys to get it done, and took WAAAY longer than it should have. I drove it home at about 1030 at night, with nothing. It headlights, and a 2 gal can bungee'd to the front passenger fender. (The fuel tank wasn't getting it done). With the pump sucking out of the fuel can, I couldn't strap down the hood, so I had to keep it under 25mph. Good thing we live only 2 miles away. (I got cocky, got up to 30mph, and BANG, right in the face.) Got it in the garage, and put it up for the night.

Since then, I added a clutch and fan blade, since ours was missing, and replaced the belts, the valve cover gasket, did a compression test, (water in the oil, pretty sure it's old condensation or something) and I've changed the oil 3 times now to remove the watery mess. Since the compression test was good, I'm dropping the pan and replacing the oil pan gasket, and the oil pump while I'm at it. Why? Because the dipstick broke off, and this is the easiest way to get it out, so, in for a penny....

Most of that wasn't in order, I'm just trying to remember what all I've done. I've also traced down the reverse lights, replaced the stoplight switch, and am also looking at improving all of my friends and replacing the gauges. After using a new sender and a multimeter, I have no response from the fuel gauge, and also nothing from the coolant temp gauge, so thanks to the DARS chart in the FSM, going to replace both. Also, the ol pressure gauge goes from 0 to 20 or 20 to 40 or sometimes back to 0 if I tap on it. So yeah, it's going too.

So currently, I need to take some photos, diagnose my inop read turn signals and brake lights, fix some grounds, and install my gauges. And the oil pan stuff. And then, paint. Glorious paint.