Build Thread First cj7 build 1985

[85Renegade]

Nothing earth shattering.....

Center console in place...



Shift boot in place... It's real stiff and keeps pulling out of second gear... Sprayed it with silicone spray and it loosened it up a bit, the heating lamp also helped...



Plugged up the holes...





I don't know if you remember way back when this started the cardboard glove compartment was eaten by some animal... I installed a nice plastic unit.

 

[Petescj]

Nothing earth shattering...

Progress is progress no matter how small it is. Your leaps and bounds ahead of me these days. Nice work.

 

[cj7inthetwigs]

Progress is progress no matter how small it is. Your leaps and bounds ahead of me these days. Nice work.

Very true, at the end of the day consider it done.. Wow, thats a RED console… looking good .

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[85Renegade]

Yes it sure is people have already offered me money for it... Just want to keep everything together...

 

[85Renegade]

It seems I'm never able to get as much done as I plan on, no matter how much time I set aside.

I dropped the Transmission skid plate, and while it's off I'll have my buddy come over and weld up the exhaust. I also plan on changing out the Transmission mounts and cleaning and painting the skid plate while I'm there...

I took a poopie ton of pictures so that way I don't forget how to button it back up....

This is basically where we started notice the Transmission Arm there mounted to the skid plate those are two bushings that will be replaced...



Looks like a fair debris here maybe this was that chipmunk's front porch...



Bolts in the skid plate.... Going to switch them to grade 8..



Two bolts that a fix the mount to skid plate..



Supported the Transmission before I started unbolting things...



Skid plate removed.... The mount all feel like play dough...







Plate off never seen grease like this has to be 1/4" thick.... I'll get this all cleaned up and put a nice coat of paint on it..






Sprayed it down with this, really cut through alot of it, but still a bit of work there....



To be continued on that part of the project...

I wanted to get the whole interior in but you guys will have to settle for just the back seat...
I used grade 8 hardware...





And here it is after it was cleaned up...



Stay tuned more to come...

 

[85Renegade]

I was able to get the front seats in place... There was just one detail I wanted to show....

When the drivers seat was in, it had a lean to the left. I found this extremely uncomfortable, and was concerned I'd be mistaken for some sort of "gangsta".... I remedied the situation by cutting 2"x2" 1/4 steel squares, I hit them with the grinding stone to square them up. I drilled a hole in the center and now everything sits level...









Back in place...

 

[mtnwhlr]

Looks good same interior thats in mine

 

[85Renegade]

I'm actually looking at maybe selling the red

 

[moranda]

Very nice write up and very nice jeep. Cant wait to see more pictures of what's to come.

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[85Renegade]

A bit of an update..

I picked up some Oem yj springs they have aprox 40k miles on them and are in Excellent condition. After doing some reading they are a huge improvement for a cj but will provide a very minimal lift 3/4-1 inch. However this is really all I'm looking for I'm going to move up to 33's eventually, and between this and the body lift I think it will be enough to get them in there if not I'll get something that provides more lift.





I'm sure you remember the dirty skid plate... I attacked it with the usual nylon brush, gasoline, and a few rags.... Came out great, I plan on painting it up tomorrow.



Result..



Lastly, while I had the skid plate off I needed to have the exhaust welded up. You may remember earlier in this thread that there was a temporary setup in place. I'd like to thank a buddy of mine Mark also known as 06MONEYPIT, he really came through with a great welding job of the pipes..

Just a bit of cutting and grinding to prep the pipes..





Mark welding..





The end result...







More to come....

 

[jeremy5780]

With a 85 CJ7 myself I really enjoy reading your write up's, as well as the amount of pictures you supply? Keep up the good fight.

 

[85Renegade]

A bit of cleaning up...

Painted the skid plate up... I hit it with the MEK to really clean it well... Then used the chassis saver and will spray it with a black Gloss tomorrow.





Chassis saver...





Then I took some advise and painted up the seat rails..



Painted...



Underneath the car where the floor pans are you can see some rust... I didn't get pictures after I painted it but it touched up everything...




Lastly I put this bolt in the cleaning dip well see how it looks in the morning...

 

[jeremy5780]

I love that chassis saver. I use it on all kinds of stuff on the jeep it is amazing. Just DON'T get it on your skin or you will be wearing it for at least a week guaranteed

 

[85Renegade]

Yeah I usually use mek and it comes off.. Idk how great that is to get on ur skin but.. What doesn't kill ya.. I think the fact it's so hard to get off really speaks to how durable it is....

 

[85Renegade]

Really happy with the way things turned out... I finished connecting up the exhaust, and got the Transmission mount all back into place....

When I last left off I had just threw this bolt into the carb cleaning dip....



It came out pretty good..



Here is the old mount.. Look how beat up and tired..



Notice the difference in height between the old and new one... This will allow the Transmission to sit just a bit higher.. And intresting enough by second gear engages alot smoother now....





Belly pan all painted up ready for install...



Transmission Arm mount all clean... I went polyurethane bushings in everything...



New mount in place..



Before the belly pan could Goin place I wanted to finish up the exhaust so I would have some room to work..

This here is a guillotine style clamp really pinches the pipes together...



Tail pipe mounting bracket...






Lastly I'd like to bring something to light... I tried to attach the skid plate and it was impossible to line up the bolt holes on the passenger side if the drivers side bolts where in and vice versa it was as if it was too long. Now obviously this is impossible because it came off few days ago... So after some thought I came to the conclusion it was almost like a leaf spring in the sense weight needs to be applied to the center in order to bring the ends closer together.... But alas impossible because the sides could not be bolted.. So i bolted the drivers side up then used a Jack to bring up the passenger side, and then it hit me... What those extra elongated holes are for. I put a long screw driver in those holes pryed like hell got the venter screw in. From there I allowed the Transmission to rest on the pan, and the rest of the holes lined up... Long winded I apologize but hopefully this helps someone...











More to come....

Teaser.

 

[85Renegade]

Today was a great day in the life of this cj.... I took it for a drive and let me say, it feels like an entirely different jeep. It runs so much smoother, handles 100x better and shifts like butter... On top of that it sounds much better now that it has an actual exhaust setup.... Here are two videos it's hard to capture an exhaust note on a video but here is the idea.... The video shows how much quieter it is inside the jeep as compared to the rear...

Click picture

 

[85Renegade]

Here is one for you.... Today me and my better half decided to enjoy the nice weather with a cruise around the country roads... This was the longest ride this jeep has been on since I've owned it about an hour and half. The trip was winding down and I pulled into the local wawa to fill up. I hop out to take the fuel cap off, when I hear it.... Pop and a rush of water.... I see a large puddle quickly develop. I open the hood and there it is, the lower radiator hose popped off. The dumb founded petroleum transfer engineers stood there clueless. Luckily there was a guy fixing a fuel pump nearby, and I borrowed a slotted screw driver tightened her back up and I was good to go.. However there was no water avaliable believe it or not... I limped home stopping once to let it cool off so not to hit critical mass. I had an extra gallon of pure split it topped it off and hood to go.... Really put a damper on the drive.... The lesson learned check ur hoses... Lol

 

[85Renegade]

Found some time and I threw on the soft half doors I picked up last fall.... While I was at it I also installed the Bikini top I was given from the previous owner... Everything went fine except the snap.... I think I need to move it or add another one... Thoughts?



How do you guys think it looks..

 

[mtnwhlr]

I have never seen a snap where yours is at you need to put one on the side where you can snap your top to it.

 

[85Renegade]

I'll see if I can move it