Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

My Dream Vehicle

21K views 111 replies 37 participants last post by  dayriesw 
#1 ·
I bought my CJ on June 19,2009. :cheers2: After looking for a CJ for about a year, I found one 2 states away. I kept looking for jeeps from other states because everyone I found locally were halfway rusted through.
The CJ that I found was in New Mexico, over 1000 miles away!

So, my friend and I thought it would be a great weekend road trip- to drive over in my Saturn (car) and Drive the Cj and the car back. In retrospect, it was not my most thoughtout plan.

After about 2.5 hours of driving the 2 vehicles back, the jeep over heated leaving us and the CJ almost standed in the Texas desert over 800 miles from home. We spent the better part of a day in front a Napa store. None of the things we changes seamed to help.
After a really long day, we left the CJ at a gas station and drove to get a uhaul and towed it the rest of the way home the following day. Thank goodness it had a tow bar!

After a really long weekend (about 2700 miles between the 2 vehicles), I could not wipe the grin off my face because this is my dream vehicle.


So this is what I bought:

85 CJ-7 Renegade:2thumbsup:
no rust on the frame or body
258 I6
T5
D300
D30 with hub lockers
AMC 20 with a moser one piece and detroit
4:10 gears
31" x terrains
approx. 2-4" of lift
"custom" rear swing arm w/ to jerry can mounts
33" tall spare

plans:
rebuild the 258 I6
twin stick the D300
redo dash and gauges
35"
keep the cool looks and proportions of the CJ-7

and a few more pics


 
See less See more
5
#4 ·
After driving the Jeep around town for a week, I replaced the Battery and starter. I also filled the trans, xcase, and difs with fluid and found out the right seal on the amc 20 leaked and the from output on the D300 leaked.

I also added the over sized spare because I think a Jeep looks better with a spare


I tested the 4 wheel drive out in one hole (which turned out to be much deeper than I thought)



The jeep ended up overheating in the mud hole and got out. After that, a friend's dad (whos a mechanic) came to check out the CJ, turns out the radiator was plugged up pretty bad. It was pulled and boiled soon after. When it was reinstalled, I put a fan shroud in too that I got off of ebay. And from the mud picture, you can see I was high centered, so


I learned a few things that day...
Dont go wheeling a lone
Dont take the top and doors off if there is any chance of MUD


I broke the interior of the jeep down soon after that and remove the carpet and seats to get rid of the mud


 
#5 ·


I then bought a hijack and installed a little trunk to keep my tools and supplys in the Jeep.

Also the tumble seat had ripped and I thought of a "fix" for after seeing peoples broken flares.


I like how it looks and it seems to have stopped the rip
 
#6 ·
Next, my dad and I twin sticked the D300 which was easy compared to my previous luck with the CJ

I put the 8 and 5 ball on afterwards.
We also put the center caps back on the rear tires

and one more for fun
 
#7 ·
Drove it, drive it, drove it

next weekend dad and I greased a lot of the underside and replace some of the bushings. We also learned how to "burp" a radiator. We hooked up the radio too. The PO said that why the battery was always going bad, so we put an inline switch on the dash in an existing hole. And added a new jerry can for gas and a used one for something later on...

The next weekend we attacked the rear seals.

I had been checking the dif and xcase every couple of days and adding when its needed, but that was getting old. So



My friend's dad, him and I did all the work. But after breaking one puller and bending the bolt on another, we brought the axles to a local shop to be pressed on. The next day we finished the install and drove the CJ home (about 20 miles from friend's shop)
 
#8 ·
After letting the CJ sit for a week (out of town), I went to fire it up and the battery is dead, so I had to jump it off of my car

After about 4 blocks of driving, the transfer case slipped into neutral (I tought). Being that the tow bar was still on the jeep and it was getting dark, I called a friend to tow me to the shop. About 15 block later going about 45 mph, we see the left axle and tires pass roll past up. Yeah they came out

we pulled over and called a tow truck:(

the back plate had groud down as it was dragged. The lock right and bearings had come off and it was not a good night.


It was towed to a local shop
 
#10 ·
The next few mods were things I got of JF site, write ups and random pictures. Removed the stock rectangular tail lights for some round ones. I still need to put a reverse light back on, which will be round. And we relocated the license plate to the tire carrier by just bending the lp holder.







Got my co pilot to test the new light for me


After all the work, I figured the CJ would like to go camping so we loaded up.





And we needed to move a chair closer to the fire (the jeep way)











A few weeks later, I decided to get the front aux lights working and make my CJ a little bit safer. Put in another fuse box and routed the radio, cb, and lights thru it.


(not finished when picture was taken)

Found out the PO used some duct tape to secure some of the wire ends along with some other various types of tape.



The lights work great now and are really bright :cool: The only problem is now I want rear aux lights..... man this Jeep thing cost money:)
 
#13 ·
Those look like snaps, he probably had an older soft top that use those to snap it into place. It looks like the top that is on there now is an aftermarket besttop brand soft top.

Great looking CJ, can you post a good picture of the front tow bar. Especially how it is connected to the front bumper. I want to get that same setup for my jeep.

Thanks Kevin
 
#17 ·
I like them a lot and plan on getting the same ones but bigger whne these get bald. They seems to have good traction on the side too but I havent fully air down yet.
 
#18 ·
Can someone help me with my steering setup. Is there something I am missing that I need? The steering feel fine and drives strait, but I have changes the gaskets because of leaking problems once and it is leaking again. I am worried that the steering box may be on it's last leg and dont want it to go out while I am driving. Right now I just try to keep it at the recommended levels since it is a slow leak.



 
#19 ·
Did some work on the Jeep this weekend that (I think) was well needed.
This is how the dash started out at the begining of the weekend.

this is how it is now

None of the gauges are new, just moved.
I will be remounting the switches just to the left of the gauges and I still need to cut a plate to cover the radio hole and glove box hole.

I still have two gas gauges and neither work, MUST BE A CJ!
 
#44 ·
Nice find on the Jeep. I like how you are going with an older winch to go with the older Jeep.

I don't know if you know many other off-roaders in Alex but there is an offroad park in Sicily Island that our club goes to often (Catahoula Recreation) and has been helping to build trails at. You might want to check it out since it isn't too far for you. We also have other rides planned throughout the year; some closer and some further away. We also have a forum where we post information on trail rides, get togethers, etc... at Louisiana Offroaders.
 
#22 ·
I knew that those last few pics looked familiar! I was born and raised in Monroe but had quite a few friends in the Pineville/Alexandria area. My friends own Auto Tech salvage yard off of HWY 28. Sorry to threadjack, I just knew the scenery looked familiar. :thumbsup:
 
#23 ·
I changed the AMC 20 oil last night and found two things:
appearently the stock cover rubs a little bit on the gas skid because there is a little paint missing (about a dime size or smaller)
I need to plan more time for anything jeep

Also I just ordered one of these from jegs for my slight battery leak
 
#24 ·
Well I fixed the battery leak this weekend and drove it for about 100 total miles doing errands and such...

I get in monday morning and the beast wont start. It spins, has spark and the battery is good.... I am going to check tonight or when I get free time (hahaha)
 
#28 · (Edited)
So after checking the engine over yesterday evening, found out no fuel was getting to the carb.


So I think this weekend will involve:

new fuel pump
new fuel filter
new plugs and wires
3/8" fuel line

and hopefully a running CJ :cheers:
 
#29 ·
So I just finished putting the new fuel pump in. The CJ is running pretty well now.

You can almost see the battery disconnec that is mounted on the fender wall too.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top