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My 77 CJ7 - Project sleeping beauty

23K views 138 replies 17 participants last post by  Alex77cj7 
#1 ·
Okay, so i know I'm starting this thread a little late but I just haven't had time or energy to make one of these yet. But, here I go.

I got this jeep back in March 2012 from a family friend who had it sitting under a cover in his back yard.

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b503/Alex77cj7/My%2077%20CJ7/070
[IMG]http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b503/Alex77cj7/My%2077%20CJ7/074-1.jpgjpg[/IMG]







It wasn't running because the gas in the tank was bad and the carb had rotted. It had a factory amc 304 with a 3-speed transmission and dana 20 t-case. Dana 30 front axle and amc 20 rear. Suspension was stock with 33" tires. PO gave me a 4" lift with the jeep and another set of 31" tires mounted on black d-ring rims. The seats weren't in it when I first got it and the inside was full of stuff that the family had thrown in it as a kind of storage.

None of the tail lights worked and it barely ran because the tuning was way off but after some tuning it ran amazing. The po had just finished completely rebuilding the engine and transmission with all performance parts. The engine has aftermarket pistons and rods, camshaft, heads, and intake manifold. He also gave me a brand new carb and brand new optima battery to help me get it running. The hard top had a big chunk missing out of the passenger front corner that he had started to repair but never finished.

Finally got the seats in, bumper on, and engine running well enough to take it for my first test drive! Ran amazing and almost got stuck in a ditch! lol




That night i brought it home, parked it in the carport and instantly started my work on it.






I washed it that night.



Next day I removed the fenders and dashpad.







Next day I started and finished the front end lift and started on the rear. Got around to finishing the rear lift the next day.







Went ahead and made some diamond plate rocker panel guards and rear corner guards from scratch.. Came out a lot better than I expected.






Went out and bought myself a new edelbrock chrome air cleaner and istalled it. Looks much better.


 
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#2 ·
Finally got to drive it to work and park it next to my bronco that was now for sale. I'm gonna miss that thing.



Me and my parents decided to take me and my moms jeeps out to holly beach. Brought along my girlfriend and the dogs just to make things a little more fun.




















Figured while I have the top off id fix the top and repaint it.







The jeep line up at work. (my cj7, my dads yj, my friends tj, and my moms jk)





Brought it to the mud pits for the first time and had a blast! Didn't get stuck at all!


 
#3 ·
Tinted the front windshield with a 5" 5% brow.




Figured my light guards would look a lot better without the headlight guards on so I cut them off!




Installed a breather filter on the oil cap and washed the engine bay.. looks a lot better now




Finally finished installing both sets of corner guards after waiting a week or so.




Saw a bunch of pictures of jeeps with the front fenders cut so I decided I'd do it and see how it came out. I absolutely love the look of them cut. Looks so much better.









Installed a new digital cb




Finally ordered a new smittybilt bumper and got it installed. Looks sooooo much better than that big home made bumper. Also installed my kc's that night.









Got some wheel spacers on the rear to make those narrow track axles look a little wider.


 
#4 ·
Next day i made a matching set of diamond plate door panels and dash pad at the shop. Also got a new shift handle on the way to work.







That weekend we made another trip to the mud pits and had an amazing time. It did so much better this time than ever before.




Decided do convert to round led tail lights so I went out and bought the lights at pepboys. Bought a hole saw from a local lowes and got started cutting. Also went back and bought a different set of revers lights. After several hours I got it all installed and looking great. Also made a diamond plate whip mount.







Ordered a new rebel flag bikini top and front wheel spacers and got them installed.




Installed a new tach and plug wires. Also I removed my valve covers and repainted them to say AMC 304.





Me and my parents and friends started a new jeep club that quickly grew to more members than we had expected.



Decided to make my own winch plate in shop a few weeks later and did some mock up. Went to harbor freight and bought one of their 9000# winches and installed it.






A few months ago I decided to do my own custom set of twin stick shifters for my dana 20 t-case. also bought a new shift boot to replace the one that had fallen apart.





Had our first two club jeep rides two weekends in a row. Kind of sad that i'm the only cj in the club. lol




 
#5 ·
Used our sticker machine and made some custom camo jeep stickers.





Ordered all of my stuff for my team rush upgrade and got it done.






Turned out the used msd 6al I ordered was bad so I went back and ordered a brand new one and installed it.




Decided to make my own set of home made rock sliders while I was on break from school. They came out amazing. I made two sets, one for my jeep and one for my dads.







Installed some stainless steel braided hose covers the day before our local jeep jaunt to give the jeep that final touch. Next day I went to the jeep jaunt and it got so many views and amazing comments. I was surprised at how many people were taking pics of my jeep! Almost our whole club made it and had an amazing turn out.




 
#9 ·
Alex77cj7 said:
Hahaha working on it! You beat me to it! I was debating with myself whether towait till its done or do it now..
Gotta put in the details. Haha
 
#15 ·
Okay well today I got bored and decided to make my rear bumper. Cut off that ghetto rigged toe hitch first and ended up selling It to a friend for $25! Haha he wanted it to weld It to his tractor.

Here's after cutting off the hitch.

Automotive parking light Tire Land vehicle Wheel Vehicle


And here's after welding together the bumper to make it match my front.

Tire Wheel Land vehicle Vehicle Car


Tomorrow I plan on finishing a few small welds and then grinding the whole bumper down and painting it with bed liner.
 
#21 ·
Alex77cj7 said:
Thank y'all so much! It really feels so amazing and is so inspiring to hear people talk about your jeep like that!
No it feels super terrible I like it when people talk **** on my stuff. Haha kidding no problem man your jeep is amazing.
 
#28 ·
Sorry it's been so long guys. Been so busy with work and school. Well last month I made my roll cage mounts, cut some tubing and welded in a roll cage. I don't have a finished pic yet because its not painted and I still have to weld in handles but ill get them to y'all soon. Here's some pics.

Tire Wheel Plant Automotive tire Vehicle


Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive tire Car Hood


Wheel Motor vehicle Vehicle Automotive tire Hood


Car Hood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Vehicle


Since then I've angled the center bar a little to make it look line eyebrows and added a middle bar between the old cage and new ad on..
 
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