She is only ten but has wanted a Jeep for as long as I can remember. So I asked her one day if she wanted to start a build. She eagerly said yes and well here it goes...
Picked up a '77 CJ7 off of Craigslist for $350. Clean title and VIN plate to boot. Made it to the house and away we went.
Man this thing was rough. The further we took it down the bigger the pile of rust grew. I wish I would have taken a picture. I kid you not it was about two feet in diameter and four inches thick. The frame was rotten all the way from one end to the other. I honestly do not know how it stayed on jack stands.
Some pieces were salvageable and saved all the important "small" pieces. I was told that the engine was locked up but no matter I am going through it all anyways right? To my surprise, when I put a ratchet on it, it spun right over.
Now that is all taken care of it is time to say goodbye to the scrap. It is amazing the information you have to give these days to send a vehicle to the yard. Yea I stole this thing. BUH BYE!!! Just so happened my daughter was rounding the corner walking home from school to see go. Look on her face was priceless. She was telling all her friends that it was hers.
Decided to start with the axles first that way they would be ready to go. Dana 30 Front and an AMC 20. Complete teardown. Disc brake conversion to the front. Single piece axles and some gussets for the back. That is where we are at in our build. Stay tuned.
She is having a heck of a good time with it. For that matter so am I and it is all I can do not to keep buying stuff for it I do not need, at the moment :laugh:
Funny how life and work get in the way. Sorry no updates in a bit for those of you who are following. Between being on the road for more than 260 days last year and the loss of my father not much got done. Good news though the daughter and I are about to get our hands dirty. Ordered the leaf spring and stainless hardware kits yesterday, been told it will be at the house next week. I will be ordering the new frame from Throttle Down Kustoms within the next week and a half. Looks like the daughter will have a rolling chassis by the end of February.
Glad to see you are back and that the project is still in the works. Looking forward to watching your progress! That's awesome that you and your daughter will get to do this together. She'll be 16 before you know it, so don't let the time get away from you
I agree with the rest. GREAT project and want to see this progress. The coveted CJ7... I hear the angels singing.
Anything since six moths ago? Just curious. : ) -EB
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Jeep Enthusiast Forums
18.5M posts
726.8K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to all jeep owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, engine swaps, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!