Build Thread First Jeep 1984 CJ7 Laredo, Midland, TX

[robandhooch]

Picked up my first Jeep on a whim, maybe midlife crisis my wife thinks, I think I now how a big version of the one I played eith as a kid...

Its obviously far from its days as a proud Laredo , almost all package markings are no longer visible including me booking the horn switch cover. I wasnt able to get it started to drive it, but luckily it came with a tow bar on front which has been fantastic over towing it around. The last time it was attempted to start it fried the previous owners battery jumper, so I figured I would start with some basic electrical diag, and check to see how it barred over.

Engine barred over nicely with no hiccups or sticky spots past the usual signs of decent compression, as well as finding a direct short to ground through the starter. My eldest son(8) is absolutely enamored with the thing and it is the only discussion on our daily trips home from daycare. This has been worth the most value out of the expense of making this vehicle alive.

Electrical- "Painless"
We have stripped all wiring from the vehicle due to age and obvious signs of field fixes, I dont know about you guys but I cannot abide by butt slices and loose cut wires. A painless 10150 harness along with a painless ignition harness are in process of installation. To note, anybody hoping that that is plug and play would ve wrong, at best it seems 50% is plug and play. While a welcome deal, it does leave some to the imagination and frustration when my me panics have managed to walk off with my good electrical crimpers... love them but dammit

Winch- 8274
So it looks like one previous owner really wanted to keep up with the Jones', and installed a Warn 8274 on the front. It was pretty rough looking, so we pulled and tore it down. Warn believes it is a 75 model based on sn and build date code. A friend in town who does Nickel plating helped me disassemble, strip,and rebuild. Check out METAL EFX for all your coating needs if youre in the Permian basin. We took that 8274 from nada to Estrada! Going back together with are marine grade solenoids, proper new wiring, and a synthetic cable.

Shade- very up in the air
This had a soft top of some sort but I cannot seem to place the brand. Im going yo meet up with past owner to pick up all the doors and cover soon. We have a few pieces broken as far as the frame, and due to lack of being able to identify the manufacturer I may just have to model and 3d print replacement bits and bobs.

Body- nip tuck
I wish I had looked it over better, but have since found a driver floor pan rotted out, as well as a cracked out seat mounting position, and clean rotted out passenger rear tub rail... luckily Classic offers new stamped forms for these repairs so I will be cutting them out and welding in new. Still dont know ow what kind of a coating I want to use, so any comme is there would be great.

Well here goes nothing, wishing myself luck, and hopefully I can produce a dependable, fun, weekend breeze catcher.

 

[robandhooch]

The front roll bar shown in my initial pictures was not bolted down, and impeded the windscreen retainer pins. Se we cut it off, much more bueno. Still need to clean it up a bit and then pull, blast, and paint. Thinking we're going to do a gold powder coat job on it.

Steering column- totally faffed off
So the turn signal switch was visibly suffering a case of the cracked and doesn't want to, as well as a lock cylinder the key didnt seem to match to. No problem right?!? Well now i need to rebuild the tilt column, one of the bearings in the upper part of the column decided to try to escape, on top of completely destroying the circlip retaining the steering lock plate.

 

[Belizean]

Looks like a great start. Fix it and have fun with your boy.

 

[robandhooch]

Steering column bearings and lower steering shaft to steer gear are no longer an issue, but i still don't have a horn. I'll have to check voltage out to it, could just be a bad horn. The worst part of that rebuild was the key release(couldn't seem to get a replacement lever), and the damn tilt column spring(came apart easy but was a total bear to put back in). all the joints got a coating of anti seize and went together nicely.

made my first two successful laps around the block to drop off the casualties of this project... our poor awning is destroyed because of being left in the wind, and plenty of little bits and bobs off this old thing.

Next plan is to add a summer top coming in late, finish flushing coolant system, finish the driver seat belt, rear seat belts, and mount the rear seat properly. Then on to fixing the miriad of leaks... at the rear right drum brake that could be rear diff due to full master cylinder reservoir, rear diff cover leak, Transmission leak, possible Transfer Case seepage.

 

[Belizean]

Your horn could be just a little rust inside the horn cap area not making contact.

 

[CJ]

Steering column bearings and lower steering shaft to steer gear are no longer an issue, but i still don't have a horn. I'll have to check voltage out to it, could just be a bad horn. The worst part of that rebuild was the key release(couldn't seem to get a replacement lever), and the damn tilt column spring(came apart easy but was a total bear to put back in). all the joints got a coating of anti seize and went together nicely.

made my first two successful laps around the block to drop off the casualties of this project... our poor awning is destroyed because of being left in the wind, and plenty of little bits and bobs off this old thing.

Next plan is to add a summer top coming in late, finish flushing coolant system, finish the driver seat belt, rear seat belts, and mount the rear seat properly. Then on to fixing the miriad of leaks... at the rear right drum brake that could be rear diff due to full master cylinder reservoir, rear diff cover leak, trans leak, possible transfer case seepage.

Holy . That's a lot of work! Please do not be discharged.

 

[robandhooch]

Your horn could be just a little rust inside the horn cap area not making contact.

When i rebuilt the column, I made sure to take some crokus cloth to the little horn piece that stays under the wheel lock plate, but I didn't replace it... Im kind of kicking myself now for not doing that.

I also put new horn switch parts that mount to the steering wheel its self, but when I took the column to the shop to media blast I forgot the steering wheel at the house, could the rust on the steering wheel its self be the cause? Amateur mistake, I just wanted to see how it drove so badly before going farther.

 

[CJ]

When i rebuilt the column, I made sure to take some crokus cloth to the little horn piece that stays under the wheel lock plate, but I didn't replace it... Im kind of kicking myself now for not doing that.

I also put new horn switch parts that mount to the steering wheel its self, but when I took the column to the shop to media blast I forgot the steering wheel at the house, could the rust on the steering wheel its self be the cause? Amateur mistake, I just wanted to see how it drove so badly before going farther.

Another Good post...highlighted

 

[robandhooch]

Well the saga continues... parts coming in to replace wheel cylinder on the right side, some new drums, shoes, and hardware kit plus park brake lines and rear brake hose.

Really hoping when I get in there I wont have to reseal axle shaft. Unfortunately this thing looks mechanically like a bunch of bandaid and shortcuts(no offense to past owners, I get it).

Rear AMC20 diff cover cork gasket came in, so we'll be dropping that oil, resealing, and refilling.

5 speed is seeping, so im going to drop oil, throw some stop leak in there and top it off. Yes I know its temporary fix if that, but im trying to find a small shop so I can gather all my misfit toys onto one island, and money and time is better suited down the road for a "permanent" fix.

If I can secure a shop by spring im hoping to drop Transmission , reseal it and Transfer Case , probably put a new clutch in it, so it can be a dependable driver.

I would really like to get some half doors for this thing, but at this point every time I think about this jeep my bank account s a couple hundreds, so im about to damage control on budget.

Ill do my bestvto put better pictures in this weekend as I go. Hope you are all having a great week.

 

[robandhooch]

Well, today was a real wake up call. Desperately out of shape, I think my calves feel like they should look like those of a god due to the lack of a lift.

We got the rear diff cover pulled and drained, little sparkles mostly, obvious pitting on back side of the ring gears bits and pieces but it'll be ok for the short term. One curious bit was a piece of steel that fell out but I couldn't place its origin(after googling the Limited slip, it looks like a piece of one of the Limited slip steels that would do the holding it in place....) given both wheels move oposite direction, it looks like we have an open diff, or whats left after a major failure of a Limited slip that now functions as an open. Very curious, just one piece found, no clutch material. Im kind of baffled, but we all know people do what they do, and we figure it out and fix it once its out of their hands.

Right rear is now setup with brand new drum, shoes, hardware kit(which i didn't realize didn't include the spring for the fork that keeps the two shoes centered up), new park brake cable and hardware in the drum, as well as a new wheel cylinder. So one side that was pretty faffed off is now good to go. Tomorrow I will let my mechanic take a stab at the left side while I proceed to drink beer, talk and supervise when needed.

Hope you guys out there in the jeepiverse had a great Saturday. Pics for posterity and if anybody is planning on redoing drum brakes on an AMC20 that doesn't adhere to the take both drums off, but only work on one to completion before getting on with the other side.

 Cheers

 

[KRUPP]

Nice work, so far!
Looks like a spring-over-axle conversion was done. Worth a close inspection on the execution of that too.

 

[robandhooch]

Nice work, so far!
Looks like a spring-over-axle conversion was done. Worth a close inspection on the execution of that too.

Im going to throw some pics up today when I get to the shop, there's a couple things that im really not too sure on. probably just the old posts for the shock before they were flipped?

 

[robandhooch]

We got the brakes replaced on rear. Although the park break cable from the pedal in tub out to the park brake bridge(not sure correct terminology), where the main line meets and splits to both right and left drums, just was an inch short of installable, 3" shy of being properly installed. So im going to have to measure the old and call the manufacturer on that.

That piece of metal i found Saturday 9/13/25, looks to be one of the steels for Limited slip, and looking at what I could see at the spider gears, it sure looks like the diff is Limited slip, just broken. It does drive in 2H but sure as hell is no longer locked. Im still finding it very curious as to how a piece that size could leave the diff, with no other pieces laying in the bottom or clutch pack material. Any thoughts AMC20 owners?

Either way, ill start searching for Limited slip bits, and add it to the project list for future...

 

[Petescj]

Inline tube makes those emergency brake pieces. I'm going to use them on mine. The stainless fuel and brake lines they make are nice so I'm hoping all the ebrake pieces are as well

 

[robandhooch]

Inline tube makes those emergency brake pieces. I'm going to use them on mine. The stainless fuel and brake lines they make are nice so I'm hoping all the ebrake pieces are as well

it was really weird. Work was slammed today so hadn't had time to pull the "new" one out and compare length, but i routed it through the frame and up through the floor just like the one i pulled out... i'll get them side by side and get pictures and lengths. It's a Raysbestos so i figured it was better than getting it from crown or omix, but i guess not.

To add to that thumb in the bum, my rear left brake line going into the wheel cylinder is basically smashed at the wheel cylinder. My hand had a hard time trying to get it off Sunday, so i said no worries, it's not leaking yet, so we'll just keep it on shelf till there's a need, should have looked at it. Now i'm shopping brake lines and might as well just do them all because they're in shape. Debating putting in a residual valve for the rear drums, any thoughts?

 

[Petescj]

I actually have brake lines I'm not going to use if your interested. They're from inline tube but not stainless. I decided on all stainless for mine.

 

[jzak]

Nice work! Were those shocks ever attached to the factory mounts? Those threads look pretty rusted. First thing I would do is get rid of that body lift. Its gunna look better, and improve handling.

 

[robandhooch]

Yeah the tall body higher center of gravity isn't helping anything. It is handy to be able to see stuff though I can get my hands anywhere I need. Im really not sure what this thing looked like factory, theoretically it was red with gray decaling and interior. That perch looks like it could have been the factory mounting spot, I couldnt figure out what it would have been otherwise