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jafo

Old Time Jeeper
Posts
1,305
Thanks
5
Location
Blue Springs, Missouri
Vehicle(s)
1979 CJ7. 304 V8 3 speed.
Hi all. Never owned a Jeep. Have always been interested but never got around to really looking into one until now. Currently looking at CJ7 's from 78-83. Going to look at a 1983 model 4 speed 350 CJ7 model tonight. This will be the third one I've looked at since the search started. I've looked at a 1980 and 1979. Both were pretty rough and body mounts were gone. So I left them.

I have one more 1979 inline six 4 speed I may go look at but it's actually a 1000 higher and firm price at 6500. It's a decent Jeep but I'll know more after I look at this '83 tonight. That will help me decide which one I go with.

Not planning on anything major as far as Jeep builds. Just a solid off road vehicle to drive and maintain. Nothing special. :D

Any pointers on identifying this '83? I think it's a Laredo . It has a chrome grill. That be correct?
 
Welcome to the forum, buying a used CJ can be a pretty much a gamble. I would suggest a complete check out, rust being a major consideration. Another would be how well it has been maintained and would it be worth your hard earned money. When you buy one make sure you know just what you want to do to the thing. I do recommend Jeep Clubs also. When I bought mine in Jan. '89 it was in pretty good shape, now it is a beater would be hard to get rid of. Pics on this forum really help a lot to describe whatever issues you might have, plus show some of the crazy places you take that thing.
 
I always liked these posts:

http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f99/what-do-after-getting-cj-home-10146/

(can't find the other one but it was a nice laundry list of things to check when looking to buy a CJ - I'll try to find and post it.)

Here is some helpful threads to identifying the stock components, though the vin plates can be changed pretty easily, and body / frame swaps are pretty common in a jeeps life to this point...

http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f99/jeep-cj-trim-codes-1981-1986-jeeps-26780/

http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f99/jeep-cj-vin-decoder-26720/

- Jeep CJ Comprehensive Database at Jeep-CJ.com

:chug: and :ww:
 
:ww: :dbanana:

J=Just
E=Empty
E=Every
P=Pocket
:laugh:

If you have a friend who know CJ's. Take him with you!
Do you have any SMOG test issues you should be concerned about?
Post the VIN# and we can tell you how it was built.
Post up pictures of the engine, axles, tranny and t'case, we can confirm the driveline for you.
Make sure the VIN matches the 'pink-slip'. Vin is on the driver side of the firewall in the engine bay, and the windshield wiper cover housing.
Do you, do your own 'wrenching'?
LG
 
Check out the inside of the frame. Seriously. My frame had issues that I knew about and this made the price better. But the thing literally rusted from the inside out. I just got done with a frame swap. But it was the best thing I could have done. I now know EVERY piece of this Jeep. And I love it. Just have a skeptical eye when looking. Don't just fall in love immediately (like I did).
 
Mods: You need to move this to a more relative forum.
 
jafo said:
I have one more 1979 inline six 4 speed I may go look at but it's actually a 1000 higher and firm price at 6500. It's a decent Jeep but I'll know more after I look at this '83 tonight. That will help me decide which one I go with.

Not planning on anything major as far as Jeep builds. Just a solid off road vehicle to drive and maintain. Nothing special. :D
Click to expand...

If the condition of both the 79 and 83 is similar and the 79 was a $1000 more I would strongly recommend the 79. In gearing alone the 79 is head and shoulders above the 83. The 79 has a 1 ton truck 4 speed Transmission and 3:54 axle gearing. The 83 has a passenger car like Transmission and axle gearing. Although the 83 has a better Transfer Case and wider axles the 79 will far out perform the 83 in the mountains. Again, both being stock rigs.
 
Thanks for the input. I just went and looked at the '83. It's not too rsuted but had some issues. It was converted to a 350 chevy and it looked like the engine was crooked in the engine compartment. Threw up a red flag there. It had a short so he tried to put a painless wiring harnes in and it was half done wires dangling etc. They cut the stock rear tire carrier off. I hate electricaln I'd rather had started it myself. So I decided to pass.

The '79 had sold Friday. Would have liked to seen that one.

Search goes on.
 
jafo said:
Thanks for the input. I just went and looked at the '83. It's not too rsuted but had some issues. It was converted to a 350 chevy and it looked like the engine was crooked in the engine compartment. Threw up a red flag there. It had a short so he tried to put a painless wiring harnes in and it was half done wires dangling etc. They cut the stock rear tire carrier off. I hate electricaln I'd rather had started it myself. So I decided to pass.

The '79 had sold Friday. Would have liked to seen that one.

Search goes on.
Click to expand...

Sometimes special engine mods require locating them in a different than normal location. Also depends on what Transmission was used.

As for the wiring - I really don't understand the Painless thing. With a good colored wiring diagram, one can rebuild a existing harness for next to nothing. It would also be more OEM than the Painless. Starting all over with a new harness is not for the faint of heart.
 
Thanks for the relocation. I'd like to keep this going. Learning some stuff here.

I prefer the '79 also. My bad for losing out on it. I let the seller kind of get under my skin a little and clouded over my better judgement. By the time I figured it out it really may have been a decent deal it was gone.

I have been watching an '80 CJ7 also. It's a bit steeper in price. It looks clean. The body is solid and it sports a chevy 350 also. It doesn't looked diced up like the '83 was. The '80 is on an older resto also.

The '83 just had too much hacking up on it. I just have gotten to the point anymore where I'm becoming more of a purist when it comes to vintage vehicles. I would rather figure out a way to hang a radio or gauges than cut holes in the dash. Just me.

There are other CJ's around, but dang they're two to three hours drives, and they are turning into hack jobs or they are over what I want to pay. I've thought about flying down to Phoenix and shop for one then take my time and drive it back during a vacation period. That has crossed my mind if the well runs dry around home.
 
Oh and I don't think I mention in my introduction. I'm not new to automotive mechanics. I have built a few engines, worked on all of my own vehicles. I bought a 1970 Monte Carlo about 10 years ago. I showed up, the entire front clip was off the car. I bought it, put it back together with the sellers help and drove the car home on ratted out old weathered tires at 70mph. Yeh I know, dumb. I made it with the wife in tow. It was a 3 hr. drive. My younger days. About two days after getting home two of the tires radial belts split apart and bulged, one tire went flat. I took that car apart, built it from the ground up and raced it in a heads up street racing and won a few. Just a little back ground. Jeeps will be a new learning curve for me, and I'm all ears. I think I found the right place. Thanks to everyone replying. Keep it coming, I'm like a sponge right now.
 
Peanut Butter said:
<snip> Starting all over with a new harness is not for the faint of heart.
Click to expand...

True that. Mine was done in the great outdoors (I don't have a garage, I have a gravel driveway).

I wouldn't do it again unless I stripped out everything - seats, top, doors, steering wheel, everything else that needs to be "worked around" to get the job done - and I'd only do it if I could do it in a building where I wouldn't be scrambling because of a predicted change in the weather.

Even if I had ideal conditions, I'd think twice about it.

-Jon
 
jafo said:
<snip> I bought a 1970 Monte Carlo about 10 years ago. I showed up, the entire front clip was off the car. <snip>
Click to expand...

That's a great story, and it speaks to your being a great CJ owner someday in the future.

The only thing I'd say is that a CJ is not exactly "an old technology car."

It's a miniature (1/4 ton) truck with mechanical complications that can, at times, rival a mechanical watch; I mean rival a true Swiss chronograph with complications like a perpetual calendar, good to go for more than a lifetime.

While the CJ technology is older than your that of your Monte Carlo, more than a few people have been surprised at how much bringing neglected car to "acceptable" (let alone "awesome") is different from t-shooting - and wrenching on - a CJ.

Jeeps get stressed in places cars don't... so a deeper understanding of things "not car" but more "like truck" need to be understood.

I'm not saying that - say suspensions and steering concerns - aren't ever an issue with a car, but they can become issues on steroids for Jeeps.


-Jon
 
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