Build Thread The '80 FrankenJeep frame off reassembly
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- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
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Build Thread The '80 FrankenJeep frame off reassembly
- Thread starter shum8
- Start date Start date:
- Last post Last post:
- Posts
- 7,316
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- 5
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- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Well, got to welding, and grinding, and welding, and body fillering, and never stopped to take any pics. I suck. I took JAE's advice and cut 7" inner sleeves and 6 plug welds either side of the butt weld. By the way - 7" sleeves were WAY more fun to shove in there than the shorter ones..... had it not made a lot more sense to use the longer ones I would have bet he was just screwing with me 
Here's the final product after priming...
I'm trying desperately to get everything ready for primer and paint by spring break - I have three weeks...... still gotta get the stupid grille straightened out.....
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Here's the final product after priming...
I'm trying desperately to get everything ready for primer and paint by spring break - I have three weeks...... still gotta get the stupid grille straightened out.....
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- Posts
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- Featured
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- 278
- Location
- Rockwall,TX
- Vehicle(s)
- 1983 cj7, 1971 Dart, 1942 Willys slat grill
Looks great
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- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Oh - all this time I thought I was the suckiest welder out there - now I know there's two of us LOL must have a rough day that day
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daddyusmaximus
Senior Jeeper
- Posts
- 609
- Thanks
- 27
- Location
- Remington
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ7, Just a rolling frame right now... will have Mopar 360, Torqueflite 727, D20, full size D44, Chrysler 9.25 with 4 wheel discs. SOA on Rubicon Express 1.5" YJ springs.
News flash... these at least 3 of us...
- Posts
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- Featured
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- 2
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- 278
- Location
- Rockwall,TX
- Vehicle(s)
- 1983 cj7, 1971 Dart, 1942 Willys slat grill
Lol
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- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
And I thought I was special..... LMAO
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- Posts
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- 57
- Location
- Springfield, Missouri-U.S.A. Earth
- Vehicle(s)
- '85 CJ-7, 258/4.2L 6cyl. Bought new in 1985. Full cage, Warn 8274 winch, Ford 9" rear, front/rear Detroit Lockers w/4:88 R&P. T-5 tranny and 4:1 t'case. 33X12.50-15 BFG/AT, MSD ign, on board air---
Add me to that 'club' also........
LG
LG
JAE
Jeeper
- Posts
- 152
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- 0
- Location
- Austin, tx
- Vehicle(s)
- 77 CJ7 with304/th400/ q-trac. READ 4.5 lift and lots of rust
Came out nice, looks like it was meant to be that way.
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- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Thanky - kinda kills the recline feature of the seats, but I don't ever recall having ever reclined in any of my previous CJ's..... doubt I will miss it.
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daddyusmaximus
Senior Jeeper
- Posts
- 609
- Thanks
- 27
- Location
- Remington
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ7, Just a rolling frame right now... will have Mopar 360, Torqueflite 727, D20, full size D44, Chrysler 9.25 with 4 wheel discs. SOA on Rubicon Express 1.5" YJ springs.
I'll be getting a reclining seat for mine, but I'll only use it to get a comfy setting then leave it alone.
JAE
Jeeper
- Posts
- 152
- Thanks
- 0
- Location
- Austin, tx
- Vehicle(s)
- 77 CJ7 with304/th400/ q-trac. READ 4.5 lift and lots of rust
When I get to that point on mine I'm thinking about using a removeable spreader/ harness bar so I can have reclining seats but install and use full harnesses when I'm feeling like doing something stupid.
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- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Alrighty - Started on the grille this afternoon..... dang thing was deformed a bit more than I thought. I've been mulling this over in my head and couldn't come up with an easy / cheap way to straighten it out. The grille that was on the Jeep was nice and straight, but had rust in the bottom....
Here's the flat one......
Here's the mashed one...
Here's the rust.....
Then it hit me - can't believe it took this long... cut out the bad part, replace with sections cut from the bent one, and viola! Tonight I got all the cutting done, and the pieces to be splice in need just a bit more grinding to get the fit just right!!
Man, I wish I had thought of this a long time ago....
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Here's the flat one......
Here's the mashed one...
Here's the rust.....
Then it hit me - can't believe it took this long... cut out the bad part, replace with sections cut from the bent one, and viola! Tonight I got all the cutting done, and the pieces to be splice in need just a bit more grinding to get the fit just right!!
Man, I wish I had thought of this a long time ago....
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- Posts
- 12,369
- Featured
- 3
- Media
- 71
- Resources
- 2
- Thanks
- 278
- Location
- Rockwall,TX
- Vehicle(s)
- 1983 cj7, 1971 Dart, 1942 Willys slat grill
lol it's good that you had the two to work with now you have the best of both worlds
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- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Absolutely - I was NOT looking forward to trying to work the sucker back to flat. I'm really good at making things not flat, but this would have required more patience than I have available. I am a little bummed that I had to cut up the extra one.... was gonna add lights and hang it on the wall.....
- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Got the grille splicing finished up today. Well, except for final sanding. Still have a few spots of body filler that need attention. Also need to work on the old paint on the sides, back, and inside the grille. Then it's done.
Here's the pics from where I left off yesterday...
Also enlarged a few mounting holes on the roll bar - funny how a Wrangler bar wouldn't line up with a Wrangler tub.... also found out they needed to be enlarged to center the bar - which I had to do. Being off center would have bugged me forever.
And for some reason the rear bars need some serious spreading to fit - and it wasn't the welding - they were like that all along.
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Here's the pics from where I left off yesterday...
Also enlarged a few mounting holes on the roll bar - funny how a Wrangler bar wouldn't line up with a Wrangler tub.... also found out they needed to be enlarged to center the bar - which I had to do. Being off center would have bugged me forever.
And for some reason the rear bars need some serious spreading to fit - and it wasn't the welding - they were like that all along.
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gr8dain
Full Time Jeeper
Wow. That roll bar was a little off. Great work
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- Location
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- Vehicle(s)
- 84 CJ7 4 banger-owned since new in 1984 bought off truck at dealership - rebuilding 258, T176 with Sniper EFI D300 4:1 Lomax gears Twin Sticked 1 piece axels with locker
Nice job on the grill !
- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
I figure for the rear legs - once I get the front bolted down, I'll use a jack and tweak em out so the holes line up. But yeah, even the hole pattern wasn't the same. This wasn't the bar that came with mine - it was rotten on the bottom said and was used for the new cross member. Now that I think about it, the one that came with the Jeep was a CJ bar, and it fit better than the Wrangler bar. Who knows.....
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