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79' CJ7 - Vera - The extended weekend build...

1K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  nothingman274 
#1 ·
Is it possible to combine 2.5 Jeeps that I have collected over the last 15 years into 1 vehicle that resembles a 1979 CJ7? I know what you are thinking, yes, why not? Can we do it over this extended weekend of the 4th while ignoring all of the other projects we should be working on? I would say the answer is a shrug... BUT A MAN CAN DREAM! I was given a 79 CJ7 when i was about 12 that ran, had a good frame and drive line, but there was more of the body missing than remaining.... using my limited knowledge, the jeep was stripped down, the frame cleaned up and painted and everything was bolted back on to make a rolling motor stand. Fast forward several moves and 12 years, I found an offer i could not turn down: a 79 CJ7 with some rust issues and no motor.... BUT IT HAD PAPERS! and it was cheap! That Jeep was purchased and then carefully placed on the edge of the bushes... with the other Jeeps... waiting for the next step... I went to college with some Jeep nuts and we always toyed with the idea of putting a jeep together in 1 weekend just to see if we could do it... Well that time is soon upon us. If all goes well I will set up a time lapse camera to make some videos and I will try to post some progress shots as things progress, but no promises over the weekend.

I have all of the bushings, mounts, suspension components, hoses, drive-lines, panels, bolts exct that I could need and we will be putting this together at a shop that can give junkyard wars a run for their money so strange pieces, tools, and simple items are not in short supply.

currently ordered because I am sure they are bad:

Master cylinder
wheel cylinders
plugs
wires
distributor cap
points


Wish us luck, and any thoughts or pointers specific to CJ7 speed assembly are more than welcome, Cheers!
 
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#7 ·
Here are some photos of the weekend, it DROVE!!! poorly .... but it did and that was all we wanted out of it.

hmmm nothing under here:
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The "other" jeep that has a frame without rust or holes... and a motor ... and a pile of parts....
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Things are coming apart:
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Jeeps can fly with the right motivation:

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hhmmm do we need all this crap?



It doesnt get fuel to the carb..... #1 suspect:

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Also, this transmission is different than the other one.... and they are the same year.... on paper...

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The body landed back on its new frame and everything "connected"

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Custom rear hanger for the gas tank....

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Turns out that none of the local shops have a 2.5" collector for the header I put on... so this 90 I found fit perfectly and worked great as a leaf blower down the driveway.

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I can not thank my friends that helped me enough, it was a fun weekend. I will get more pictures up later as i collect them from people.

Disclaimer: I know this is all rigged together and should in no way be used on the road or trail or by anyone in its current state, we just wanted to get a jeep going in 1 weekend and thats what we did. I now know the motor runs... reluctantly on 1 barrel of the Weber carb, I have a new distributor cap for the 79 blazer distributor that is mounted on it... and all new brake and gas lines routed. time to sort through the parts, scrap the junk and pack in the rest to put the jeep back in hibernation... parts will be ordered and collect now that I know what it really needs to be complete and hopefully one day things will start to go back together properly...
 
#10 ·
We had a pretty good time, everyone gets giddy when a motor comes back to life. I spent all afternoon packing all of the parts back into the Jeep for its trip back into hibernation... I know what parts need to be ordered and I got to sort through all the junk I had. My scrap pile is a bit larger now and I have some things to throw up on craigslist. Next step will be to get the YJ tub I have all ready to plop on the frame and slowly gather parts.... then some day it will get to the top of the list and life will be grand. I will keep the thread going with any updates I get but I am sure it will pass off into oblivion like all of the other attempted projects in the gravesite...
 
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