Build Thread Frame off restoration of 1981 CJ7 complete

[rcoles871]

Just finishing a frame-off of a 1981 CJ7 Laredo . Bought it late June and putting finishing touches on it. I will post details and pics. Glad to provide any help while my memory is fresh. Here are a few details:
- Blasted and painted frame with epoxy paint
- Rebuilt axles with 4.10 gears (narrow with 1.25" spacers)
- Rebuilt Dana 300
- Wrangler springs (OME 2.5" lift with 1" shackle lift)
- General Red Letter Grabber 33" x 12.5" R15 on new alloy 8" wide rims
- HD Steering box bracket
- Tie rod flip (great steering geometry)
- Skyjacker shocks and stabilizer
- Dakota Digital VHX gauges (look like OEM) with Logan Dash
- Reman AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l with 4.0 Head swap (Clearwater)
- Fast EZ-EFI system for Jeep AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l
- Borla Exhaust and Banks Torque Tube Header
- NAP Under dash Heat/AC System
- 2001 TJ Family Roll Bar
- Rugged Ridge XHD Front and Rear bumpers with tire carrier
- Warn X8000i winch
- Rugged Ridge front and rear black denim seats
- Fusion Marine stereo with ipod, Sirius, Fusion DAS1600 Marine D class amp
- Polk Audio MM Series marine speakers
etc

Plenty of spare parts for sale including hard top and 2 sets of doors

 

[73CJ]

So which OME springs (light, med , hvy) did you go with?

Need pics when you can

And a big CJ welcome.

 

[rcoles871]

I went with medium. I have a hardtop but may never use it. I was told that I needed medium with the hard top. Even though I didn't plan on using it I stayed with medium since I put on the XHD heavy bumpers, winch and spare tire carrier. They ride extremely smooth and I'm happy with the choice. I will post pics tomorrow.

 

[rcoles871]

Picture of the day I bought it as well as later the same day with the drive train removed.

Final pictures attached as well. The build took +/- 7 weeks.

 

[Tin Medic]

That looks real nice. Any close-up pics of the dash? The Renegade decals look sharp.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rcoles871]

I can take some. Are you looking for something in particular? It's a Logan's Metal Products stainless dash with custom speaker grille cut-outs and gauges moved up a little. The radio opening is a little narrow also to accommodate the Fusion marine stereo which is only 5-1/8" wide (if I remember correctly).

 

[Kane]

Very very nice. My kind of build. Can you tell me more about those bumpers and that nice looking gage set up you have there?

 

[Project86]

Very nice work, way above my wrench skills. The hood graphix are the shinizzle.

 

[Niedhogg]

Love those guages! Need some details on those, and really overall nice job!

 

[rcoles871]

Gauges are a new item from Dakota Digital called VHX series made specifically for CJ's. The main (speedo) has fuel, tach speed, emerg brake, headlights, signal, 4x4, odometer, as well as customizable digital outputs. Best thing is they are waterproof - I just tested them for Hurricane Isaac here in New Orleans. The bumpers are Rugged Ridge XHD series. The jeep is actually a Laredo but when I saw the old style decals (I think from a '72 or '73 CJ5 Renegade ), I fell in love with them. I had every intention of keeping the jeep original but when I found out it was going to cost +/- $250 per wheel to get re-chromed I bought new wheels and it went downhill from there.

 

[sponge]

killer Jeep and what has to be record time for a rebuild. More Pics! Congrats and enjoy it

 

[bluekeysreef]

That jeep is so well done. Really tasteful. So many of the restorations are all hacked up and the tires are too big or the lift is too big. That is so clean.

Let me know if you want to sell it and do another, lol.

J

 

[TroyaCantrell]

Wow, very nice. Well done.

 

[Cooltrev578]

I was thinking about adding the Fast EZ EFI kit on my AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l . How hard was it to install and how do you like it so far?

I don't want to mess with Howell's EEPROM reprogramming. Send it to them, they reprogram it, ship it back to me, I retry it again, etc. This is especially true since I have a Clifford 264 cam that Clifford says won't work with the Howell kit, but they can "sell me a 264 efi cam." That and the fact that I have many other engine mods, has caused me look for another solution. I like the Fast EZ efi kit instead of replacing the cam.

I would also like your opinion on your gauges from Dakota Digital. I'm getting ready to order set and wanted to hear how you like them thus far. What color LED did you get? Did you see the black ones in person? Just curious why you went with white instead of the factory looking black. Don't get me wrong your dash is PIMP!!

Oh, and by the way your CJ looks awesome!!

Thanks in advance for your time and assistance

 

[rcoles871]

The FAST install was not that hard and as far as time goes it's hard to say because I jumped around a lot during reconstruction since everything was totally disassembled. If I had to guess, I'd say a solid weekend for a novice. I like the system and it gets better each time I drive it. I like the Dakota gages and they are the black carbon fiber face with blue LED.

 

[jesseb]

Did you have any trouble fitting the TJ cage into the CJ? Do you have a hoop going to the floor or are the top bars just bolted to the stock CJ windshield? Did you reinforce the windshield. Jeep looks great I am exploring roll cage options for my 81 CJ7 .

 

[rcoles871]

It was not very hard installing TJ roll bar. I drilled holes through the floor pan which was double walled with a +/- 1/2" gap between the layers of sheet metal. I then welded in 3/4" long bushings inside the drilled holes and this kept me from pinching the 2 layers together when I bolted it down tight. I did not reinforce the windshield. If I were planning on doing any serious off-roading I would have built a complete cage and tied it into the frame but I'm not, so I didn't. I used nutserts in the windshield. The Family style bar was mainly for rear shoulder belt attachment.

 

[rcoles871]

I'm actually considering a CJ8 project and if so would probably sell this CJ7 due to garage space

 

[Cooltrev578]

Still thinking about selling this? Got an idea what you'd be asking for it?

You no longer use the push pull cables for the heater right? They are just there for looks correct? What about the fan switch, is it still needed?

 

[rcoles871]

I use one of the push/pulls for the heater valve as it opens flow from the cooling system to the new core in the new all-in-one unit. I use another to direct air flow to the defrost ducts. The fan switch is not used. I thought of wiring it in to control AC fan but decided against it. Everything on this jeep is new or better. I have around $40k in it and know I will never get that out of it but it was fun to build and a blast to drive. Make me an offer.