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1981 CJ5 Frame-up

108K views 513 replies 67 participants last post by  cjoffroad 
#1 ·
Hey everyone. So a few months ago I pulled the trigger and finally bought my first Jeep. Its a 1981 CJ5 with a 258. I have some pretty big plans for this build, and I'm hoping that along the way I can get some input from everyone on here as I'm sure much of what I'm going to do many of you have already been through.

So here's the problems that I have found so far. Pretty much the entire drive train leaks from one point or another. The transmission is extremely sloppy and will grind occasionally when going into first. The transfer case is extremely difficult to shift unless it is rolling slightly. The interior is trash. The sheetmetal below the doors are pretty well rusted, as well as some of the panels near the roll bar.

Now here's what I plan on doing in the next couple of months (these may change). I'm going to buy new seals for the engine. Rebuild kits for both the transmission and transfer case. I will buy some new seats for the front, and use a liner throughout the interior. Wherever I see rust I will patch it up. I'm a very good welder, but this will be my first time actually doing body work.

As for suspension I think I'm going to get a kit from Old Man Emu. Of all the research I have done I haven't heard anything bad about them. This should allow me to slap some 33's on.

I have found a company in Denver that will dip the frame in acid and then galvanize it for about $350 and I think I'm going to go that route.

All I've done so far is start stripping everything off to get it down to the frame. I'm hoping this weekend I can get the body off the frame, and start sanding. The only thing I've done to it mechanically is fix the carb. When I got it, it ran like a pig. I believe it was the idler tubes were clogged. I should have taken pictures but when I rebuilt it I was pulling chunks of dried up fuel out of the bowls.

So this will probably take me a while, I dont get much time to work on it other then the weekends.

At any rate I hope you guys can give me some pointers.


 
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#185 ·
I agree, there were a few that made me laugh, but at the moment I can't really remember any of them. We actually have a few of these racks, they've been really handy to lay out parts that I'm working on.

Sweet build
Thanks :wave:

Jered glad to see you've gotten things going the way you want them now. Thanks for the kind words too, I'm always glad to do what I can. :thumbsup:
After that awesome customer service, it's the least I can do
 
#186 ·
So the shims that I purchased for the front axle weren't painted. When they arrived they had what I thought was paint on them so I didn't worry about them. Well as I was pushing the frame into the shop earlier, I noticed that there was already rust forming on them. We had one snow storm that lasted maybe a day and they were already rusting. I thought about just letting it go and dealing with it later, but decided that the easiest solution was dealing with it before I got further.



So I unbolted it, threw the shims in the blast cabinet and painted them. Not a long process but waiting for the paint to dry took up a good bit of time. I put everything back together and was about to start working on the engine and transmission. The forecast was right about snow, but they missed it by a day, we got a good couple inches. I went ahead and put the pedal assembly back together.



Here's what it looked like when I pushed the frame back outside.

 
#189 ·
Well I've been sick the last couple of days, but it's still been pretty crummy outside so I didn't lose much. The forecast doesn't look too promising, but once I feel better I'll just bite the bullet and brave the cold. I talked to a local powder coating shop about sandblasting my tub, they gave me an estimate of $50 :eyebulge:. I'm 99% sure there was a communication break down at some point. Once it warms up a little I think I'll just load the parts up, take it down there and see what they say.
 
#190 ·
WOOHOO!! Even though I've been moving along at a decent pace, it sure is nice hitting a big milestone when everything comes together. Started yesterday by putting my new Crabtree shackle hangers on.



I was going to do a lot more, but when I jumped in my engine hoist, all I could get out of it was "click". I knew the battery was bad but I didn't even think about it. So I left it on the charger overnight and it started up with no problem this afternoon. I chained the engine up and got it off the stand.


The first thing I had to do was pull the old pilot bearing out. I was quite surprised when the old pilot bearing was actually roller bearings, the new one that came with my kit was a brass bushing. Doesn't seem to me like a roller bearing would fair that well, since it's all but impossible to keep greased. I had to use a screw driver and a hammer to knock the pins out of the bearing, so that I could get the pilot bearing tool in. There was actually the bearing, and then a spacer that I had to pull out.

Old and new:


Installed:


I bolted up the flywheel, my new clutch, and made my cousin come out to help me get the transmission mounted. It was no problem getting the transmission lined up, and in far enough to get a bolt through the top of the bellhousing and into the transmission. From there it was all wiggling and swearing until the transmission and engine met. Bolted that together, repositioned the chain and hauled it around to the frame.

I used the bobcat to lower the engine and transmission into the frame, and left it so it was about an inch above the mounts. I used a floor jack to lift the frame to the engine, and bolted the mounts, and then lifted the back end up to meet the transmission.



It actually worked out really smoothly, and it was easier to move the frame to the engine then the other way around. Had the whole thing bolted down in no time. I had a new stabilizer mount, and the new rubber bushings left a lot of slack on the arm. So I sanded down the ends of the bushings, and filled the space with some washers. Sorry for the crappy picture, forgot about it until it was already mounted.



So now its actually sitting under its own weight. The front shackles didn't settle quite as much as I was hoping for, but we'll see what happens further on down the road.



On a side note, the guy that is going to be helping me with my bodywork stopped by and took a look at what I had. Said that fixing it up should be quick and easy :2thumbsup:
 
#191 ·
How is everyone's weather been? It's been cold here, but I'm thankful for it. The basin that feeds our river is only sitting around 80% snow pack, last year about the same time I believe we were about 110%. I'm hoping that it starts dumping in the high country. Went snowboarding for the first time of the season, there wasn't much powder but it was a blast.

I started looking around for all the brackets and such that I need to bolt onto the engine, and had a sandblasting party. When I started the blasting cabinet wasn't working so well, but after inspecting it real quick, I decided it was time to change the media. I don't have a sifting screen, but I'm not sure if it would be worth the effort. There was a lot of dust in the media, so the only way to remove that would to have two sifters, one to filter out the larger junk, and one to remove the dust. At $17 for 100 lbs of media, its worth it to just replace the media. I also had some larger junk stuck in the gun, but once I got it cleaned out it was working great.



I need to get some more high heat paint for the brackets that mount to the engine, and then hopefully I remember where everything goes. While going through all the parts I realized that the power steering pump and steering box appeared like they had leaked in the past. So a quick search online and I found seal kits for both. I think I'm going to get a re manufactured pump, its only $30 more then the seal kit, and it will save me the time and effort of fixing the old one. I'll also order a rebuild kit for the steering box, which is only $25 on rockauto.

Schedule for tomorrow is snow, but the weekend looks alright. I need to start looking through my brake and gas lines, and see which i need to replace. If I recall correctly the fuel lines were alright, but I had to cut the rear brake line. Would like to get the gas tank back on, and the plumbing back in, as well as the parts I blasted painted.
 
#192 ·
Congrats, Jared. A milestone certainly DOES make one feel good! Your Bobcat still cracks me up though. I think it should be illegal to have a Bobcat to use on a Jeep! :rofl:
 
#193 ·
I don't appreciate that comment, that bobcat saves me a ton of time and effort :laugh:

I started today by running to the store to get bolts for the manifolds. I figured that it would only take me a couple of minutes to get them mounted on, but as usual I was wrong. I could get 3 of 4 bolts on the exhaust manifold on no problem, but the last one just didn't line up quite right. I was about ready to give up, but on my last effort I was able to persuade it enough to get the bolt on. I mounted the intake on to make sure there were no other problems, but nothing is tightened down yet. The wiring for the manifold heater needs to be replaced, and I need to track down a couple of the bowl shaped washers for the manifolds. It looks like the PO ripped the wiring off the heater, and used regular washers in place of the bowl shaped ones. I was bummed when I noticed the wiring on the heater, but after drilling out the rivets, the solution couldn't be simpler.




I painted most of the parts I had stripped and moved on to the steering box. There are a couple of excellent threads on here for reference, so I didn't take too many photos. The whole process seems daunting, but so long as all the parts are kept in line, it's not all that bad. The only problem I ran into was that I didn't have a spanning wrench, so I took a piece of 2x4, drove in some nails, then cut them down with a dremel.




It worked great for what I needed. I'll probably just make my own spanning wrench when I go to put it all back together.

I sandblasted the box, and while doing so some of the tape came off and I ended up with a bunch of blasting media in it. I sprayed it down with brake cleaner, and tomorrow I will wipe it out really well, and use the compressor to make sure its all out. So here's how it sits now.



I'm just about to order some parts from rock auto, and I will paint the box and several other parts in the same paint I used on the chassis. I'm hoping that once I have the parts it wont take me more then an hour or so to get back together. I just need to find an inch/pounds torque wrench so that I can set the preload.
 
#195 ·
Thanks! There will probably be a lot more updates coming quickly. I was just informed that my uncle is thinking about putting his house up for sale in a couple months. Generally the houses that my uncle builds don't stay on the market very long, so I think I have roughly a couple of months. I have a lot left to do, but my goal is to be done with it by then. Time to kick this project into overdrive!

I got all the parts that I ordered from Rock Auto, so I reassembled the steering box. I decided a while back that I would go ahead and get it assembled before I painted it, so I dont have to worry about getting any paint on important surfaces.

For anyone that's interested in what went into the rebuild, I used this thread: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f13/how-rebuild-your-saginaw-zj-steering-gear-1287958/

The process is nearly identical with a few exceptions along the way. But overall it made the rebuild all the easier. Before I got started on the rebuild I had to find an inch lbs torque wrench. I called Oreilly's and they said had a loaner that they could get in 24 hours. When I went to pick it up today, I was informed that its not a loaner. Well I dont really feel the need to buy one, especially one at $70. Luckily the local equipment rental business had one that I could rent.


In my last update I said I didn't have a spanner wrench, so I made my own:



In the link I posted above, the guy used a bolt with the head cut off to keep the ball bearings in place while putting things back together. Well if anyone decides to do this, I found that a piece of copper pipe (I'll have to check the diameter) works perfect for this.


Here you can see the ball bearings riding inside


It took a lot longer then I expected (as does everything) but I got it all back together, and seems like I have the preload just right. Tomorrow I'll give it and the sway bar, links, and mounts paint. Probably try and get some of the plumbing done as well :cheers2:

 
#197 ·
Steering box and sway bar parts painted





Drug the brake lines out and got the front installed. I was going to replace them all, but this is a good spot to save some time and money. The back will need replaced since I had to cut it when I took it off. I cleaned up the gas tank and have it half painted, then I can get it bolted on tomorrow. There was still a little gas in the tank, and oddly it was green like antifreeze, never seen anything quite like it before.

 
#200 ·
Thanks Jim!! Make a trip to Colorado in the summer, those couple of pictures don't even scratch the surface

What kind of paint did you use for the steering box?

Everything looks good. Keep up the good work.
Thanks! I used the chassis paint on the steering box, and all the other brackets. Same paint I used on the frame and axles. It looks decent on the frame but looks great on rough surfaces like the steering box. All of it was done with a brush. But I got the paint at carquest. I only know it as chassis paint, but I can get an actual name for you if you want.
 
#207 ·
Interesting about the caves. It would be cool to find out about their history. How far are they from your house?

Your work is looking very good. Regarding the tank strap... I think you should put something between there. I used an old vinyl floor mat. I cut a strip and sandwiched it. I feel like the strap will rub a hole in the tank over time.
 
#209 ·
They aren't that far, maybe 20 miles. The area is called "The Bank", you can imagine the search results of that one. Most of the tank is covered with the factory rubber

There was a two piece plastic mat between the tank and skid but I think I see it in your pic? I believe that was the only isolator from the factory.
Sharp eye. Indeed I have the two piece plastic mat, but it still leaves a good portion of the tank bare. The best idea I have so far is getting a piece of this http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...&langId=-1&keyword=shower liner&storeId=10051. They sell it at home depot by the foot. I've used it in the past and its a good, thick material that wouldn't cost much
 
#210 ·
I ran to the junk yard today to find some washers for the manifolds. Found plenty of them, and they even let me have them for free. Pretty sweet considering the one shop online I found wants $5 a piece. So I went ahead and rewired the manifold heater so I can get it bolted on tomorrow.



I wanted to get the sending unit back into the tank, so I pulled my speedo off the dash so I could make sure that both the sending unit and the gauge were good to go. It seems as though the voltage regulator got stuck, and fried the sending unit, so I need a new sending unit. The good news is that I was able to pop the cover off of the fuel gauge, clean it up, and it started to work correctly.



Here's how I was testing the gauge :rofl:


I was reminded that my gauges aren't in such great shape, in this photo you can see where the paint in some areas has faded to the point that you can see the metal backing through it:


I definitely don't want to have to order new gauges, especially since it sounds like most of them are junk. I think I'll end up ordering new overlays like this http://www.whitegauges.net/products/1980%2d1986-Jeep-CJ-White-Face-Gauges.html. Then I'll repaint the needles, and probably paint the bezels black since they are beat up pretty badly. I didn't get a whole lot done, but I feel pretty good at least figuring out a few different things that need done.
 
#211 ·
Wanted to get my new rear brake line installed, so I borrowed a double flare tool from Auto Zone (parts store didn't have a single line that was long enough). Well I decided to practice a few times so I didn't screw it up. So I did two practice runs, and one of the actual flares I needed, and managed to strip the tool out. I honestly think that this tool was brand new, and it didn't withstand 3 flares. My opinion, don't bother borrowing this tool from AZ.



I also loaned a power steering pump remover, but had to go to Oreillys to get that. I never realized before this project that the power steering pulleys are a press fit, guess I never really looked at it. I took some pictures of the process because I thought that the tool is pretty nifty, and makes it incredible easy.






I've been doing a lot of reading on upgrading to a Motorcraft 2100/2150, so I went to the junkyard to see what I could scavenge. The guy that runs the yard told me I needed the 2100 for a Jeep, but I know better from reading on this forum. I managed to find 4 or 5 2150's with the 1.08 venturi. One is missing the airhorn, one is cracked at the throttle, one seems to be frozen, but perhaps just needs some persuasion, and the last seems like it should be in good working order. Of course the one tool I needed to pull these I didn't have, so I'll go back tomorrow and snag them. It's a shame that the 1.21, or even 1.14 aren't well suited for the 4.2, as there were dozens of those laying around. I guess I should be thankful I found any at all, as it seems the 1.08 usually comes out of cars, and this yard has nothing but trucks. We'll see. Now I need to return the tools, and try the flaring tool from Oreillys
 
#212 ·
It's only ignorance on my part that I even mention this, but I am running the 1.21 on my 258, and it runs like a scalded cat! I got it by "accident", as I didn't know what I SHOULD have been looking for. I rebuilt it and installed it. I can't say anything about mileage, as it mostly sits in the barn, but I have had no tuning issues. FWIW, I am not suggesting you get one of them. Just sayin'...
 
#213 ·
One of these days if you get the chance, would you mind checking to see what jets and power valve you have on it? Granted your at a much lower altitude than me but at least it would give me a ballpark. I can pick them up for $25 a piece, so maybe I'll buy one of each and I can see which one runs better.

I got the flaring tool from Oreillys, its probably the exact same tool that AZ carries with a different brand name on it. But it did work 10x smoother then the first one. Finished the brake lines up no problem. I have to work for a while tomorrow, but I want to try and squeeze in a few Jeep things too. I'll try to update if I do, but I need to start getting ready for my trip. Heading to Florida on Monday :2thumbsup:
 
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