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82 CJ7 Project: "Rustful Dead!"

20K views 154 replies 19 participants last post by  Project1 
#1 · (Edited)
I have posted a few things on the forum but it looks like it's time to put up more pics of the CJ I have started on. It belonged to one of my brothers for a long time and has been sitting for years now. He sold it to my dad, kinda hoping dad would fix it up and give it back to him, and dad finally sold it to me after a discussion about how much I missed my other jeep. I don't have a lot of time to work on it but I have almost completed a dry workspace for it and I am working on making it mechanically sound first.

So far it has gotten new fluids throughout, a gas tank repair and rebuild, new battery, brakes all around which included a new drums and calipers and media blasted and epoxyed really rusted wheels.

A tranny place swapped my brothers T5 for a 3 speed when his went out telling him it was better for it. It went out 6 months later and they would not warranty it and had sold his T5(go figure) I was able to locate another T5 and had it rebuilt and the transfer case gone through so they are mated back up. When I put thme back in I went ahead and put in a new clutch kit too.

I got a little gas in her and after sitting all that time she started on the 3rd try and ran pretty well. The carb is slightly rough but I'm going to drive it a bit and see what shakes out.

Here are my starting pics for ya'll. After a life in the mountains of TN and then North Carolina Beaches it has made it to it's retirement(active) with me in Florida. I don't think there will be trouble getting fresh air in the cab for a while. :cheers2:
 

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#2 ·
My vote is to keep the dead sticker on her at all costs.

Wow, you got some rust to deal with......good luck and post lots of pics!!!!
 
#3 ·
My vote is to keep the dead sticker on her at all costs.

Wow, you got some rust to deal with......good luck and post lots of pics!!!!
It sucks but the dead stickers didn't make it. That top had been hit by a tree and was cracked pretty badly. I traded some doors and other parts I had and got another top. I also managed to get a pretty decent donor body for the rust issues. It is going to be much easier to fix and then I can just swap them. I got a great deal on the painless harness from Amazon and I plan on doing it at the time of the swap. The frame is amazingly free of rust so that's the good news.

I was planning on doing the nutter bypass and ignition upgrade .... anyone have thoughts on that?
 
#4 ·
Planned on the ignition upgrade for today but 6 to 12 inches of snow has put that off for a few days. Spent about a year working in Ft. Meyers a while ago, I do miss those Fla. winters. A shame about the "Dead" sticker, seems like a good theme for bringing it back to life.
 
#6 ·
Thanks everyone. One thing I've already noticed with the brakes is that I got pads, calipers and drums for the 82 but had to take em back. The ones for the 1980 fit fine. I don't know if I got spare parts in 82 assembly line or if or if they just got swapped out over the last 30 years. My brother says no axle swap when he had it. Got all new ujoints today and should ge tthat back together soon. I've been waiting for stuff for the workshop I'm building and making some progress on the jeep while I saved the money. I start Spring Break this weekend(Haven't had one of those in 25 years) so I plan on getting the entire outside shell of the shop finished, weed and remulch all of the flower beds, and planting 100 trees through out my lot. That should keep me busy .... plus Wed. I have an interview with the NWTF. If all that isn't enough I'm going to harrow, spray and overseed my entire 5 acres if I can find the time. Anyone know anyone who does cloning?
 
#8 ·
Well, rust bucket is an operational and driveable jeep again. The carb is still just a little rough after sitting for so long. I'm taking her to a mechanic friend who is going to try to smooth it out this weekend. I will jus ttake the doors off and start driving it maybe next week. I have to get started on the donor body now and get it ready to swap.
 
#9 ·
Still can't get the jeep to run right. It has a miss and we can't quite get it figured out. I went ahead and did new plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor and coil. Ran better for a brief period it seemed then back to the miss.
The engine compartment is a pure mess and none of the guages are operational. A lot of vacuum lines are plugged and it has an aftermarket valve cover.

I have some pics on the phone and I'm going to post them .... maybe some of you can tell me what to go after first based on the pics.

Any help is very appreciated.

Thanks!
 
#10 ·
If/when you decide to start tackling the rust, make sure you keep the part of the rocker panel shown in your 7th picture or weld it back in place. Because Jeeps seldom came with hard doors, and when they did they were removable, they placed the VIN info normally found on the door jamb inside the rocker.....upside down so you can read it easier. :D

I had cut mine out with the intent of welding it back in but be damned if I can find it. And since the one on the windshield frame went to the scrappers I now only have one VIN tag. :(
 
#11 ·
So if the picture attached you can see the new plugs are burnt but only on one side. All 6 plugs are the same way. I am doing the Team rush and regapping the plugs @ .045 as recommended. I am afraid after researching the accel super stock coil they recommended I upgrade to has fried the ignition module. Something about it not having enough resistance?
 

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#12 ·
Managed to get ignition under control and completed the TeamRush. I went with the MSD coil and took the ACCEL back. I also went with the MSD StreetFire ignition to replace the stock one. I don't ever plan on switching back so I didn't buy any special adapters. I wired it with spade terminals and heat shrunk those connections after testing. It was $140 so it is $40 cheaper than the 6201 and still has 95kJ of spark energy with every fire. It also includes the Rev Limiter if that matters to you.

I badly need to upgrade the carter carb but I rigged it for now. Can't get the idle down but I will have to figure that out later.
 

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#13 ·
Well, I figured out the idle tonight .. DUH!!!! I missed an important step in the CDI install. It comes set up for a V8 motor and you must cut the red loop wire at the box in order to tell it it is for a 6 cylinder. After I did that the idle settled right down after warm up. I went back and wire loomed everything and cleaned it up. I won't road test it until tomorrow when I am taking it in for a new exhaust from the manifold back. I have been soaking the bolts with PB Blaster at the manifold for the last couple of days so hopefully they will come out a little easier for the muffler shop. Wish me luck!
 
#14 ·
I updated the thread name to reflect the name input some others have given this project. I'm going to try to resurrect the "Rustful Dead" and locate another window sticker to go in her back window when it is done. I think my brother will like it!

Sorry for you thread readers that I post my own answers a lot of times before the forum gets to them. I love jeep forum and the people here .... I'm just not a very patient person and I hate not being able to figure something out. Since I never have been a mechanic most of this is new to me so I'm ogin g to post my mistakes as wellas my successes so hopefully someone else can avoid my mistakes!

Let me know if anyone can find one of those stickers in the rear window !!!!!

Paul
 
#15 ·
I have been trying to locate the linkage, choke and rebuild parts for the Carter BBD. I really thought it would be cheaper and still have the jeep run OK. I have no idea why my brother let someone(or him) disconnect the choke linkage and components.
The E-choke itself is $44 for what I could find, so it's $55 with shipping and tax. The rebuild kit is $20-25 and the kicker was the linkage parts, springs etc .... would have been at least another $40. So I would have $125 and time into a 30 yo carb that could have more issues I would find on the rebuild. I decided to part woth some of my saved money and get the Weber kit ordered.

It's amazing how many opinions there are on the carb situation. I ordered the 551 Kit which is more geared to a slight improvement over the OEM. I can't see a reason at this point for me to get the 38 Kit. I hope it's as simple to install and tune as others have made out .... I am a carb rookie 100%.

I've got to stop working on the jeep and get the workshop finished ... but it's like an addiction :2thumbsup:

Look forwar to pics and I'm sure a few laughs as I try to figure this out when it gets here!

Paul
 
#17 ·
It looks like you have a cracked vacuum cap on the metal manifold vacuum port under the carb above the EGR mount.

Those carbs were on every 6 cylinder AMC and jeep made. To look for a 15 dollar carb to take parts off of at a junk yard. But too late.
I wish they were in every junk yard I have looked at. I've been online and traveled all over the area. I even had Pick-n-pull search their North American parts ... they told me Vancouver and somewhere in Washington "may" have it. I even had my dad looking up in East TN to no avail. It seems that they are getting so much for scrap right now that a lot of the places here are crushing way more than they used to. People are clearing out cars etc that have sat for 20 years on their property for the $$$$. Good for them, but sad for those of us looking for old parts.
 
#20 ·
I did find a good way to spend $45 today though! I found a tilt column for the CJ at a kinda local JY. The removal and re-install was very easy .... the only hitch I had was trying to shorten the shaft since the new column is about 2.5 inches longer. The nylon pins on the collapsible shaft are tougher than they look. I didn't want to damage the u joints or terminations so I went to a buddy's house and we heated it with a torch and melted the pins out .... the one good "bang" on a board and the shaft moved down. I had to give it a couple of more taps when I got home to get it to length. It was dark when I finished so I will put up final pics tomorrow.

First pic is the old non tilt column .... second shows the shaft vs column length difference.

I am not certain the year of the column .... it seems to be prior to 82 because it does not have the "key lock" like my 82 does.

Anyone need a non tilt column :)
 
#21 ·
Good news today. I got the jeep over to a local shop for a much needed exhaust system. It was pretty much just straight pipe the muffler was so rusted out. There was a leak at the manifold connection too. We had to heat it up and take out stud and all because the nuts were so rusted they wouldn't budge. Exhaust sounds so much better! The bad .... you can now hear the rest of the exhaust leaks .... from the manifold gasket :facepalm:

I stopped and ordered those on the way home ... It would probably be wise, based on others advice, to replace them when I do the carb anyway. I was looking at those bolts pretty hard though ... I think this is gonna take a lot longer than the carb.
 
#22 ·
I got a bit done over the weekend. Speedo doesn't work so I started to replace the speedo cable .... and wrung the head off the retainer clip bolt. Then once I finally got the speedo gear out the cable had broken off down in the gear. That took some framming and prodding but it finally came out. Pretty frustrating but I got it done and took it for a test drive with the new cable, still no speedo :( I put a $79 cd/speaker combo in it and cleaned up a lot of the wiring and loomed everything out of the way for now. I was installing LEDs for courtesy lights under the dash but the cruddy switch I bought from Pep Boys broke before I even got the back nut tightened. I picked up a new one of a different style today. The 5.25 speakers took some cutting before they would fit in the factory location .... but I got them to work. I also had to install an antenna and rearview mirror.

I guess I'm going to be finding the how to check your gauges thread I saw before and testing all of my gauges. Only the amp meter currently works.

I also went to the local Jeep Dealer to get the reverse indicator switch and 4x4 indicator for the transfer case. First I had to wait forever while the guy sucked on a soda and played on his computer. Sitting at a desk looking at me with no one on the phone or with him. Whne he finally came out I told him what I needed and he looked at me like I was crazy. He sid "our catalogs only go back to 84 I can't find your part number" in a I could care less tone. I asked if someone there would have any knowledge that may be able to help and his answer was that we don't mess with stuff that old. I stopped up front on my way out and had a little chat with the GM and told him I was taking my $1600 needed parts list to the internet since his team members don't want to help anyone. He took my number but I don't expect much. After 22 years in retail as a manager myself I guess I just expect too much.
 
#23 ·
Paul, search out John Strenk for gauge help. He has some links in his sig that might be helpful. I have another speedo (disassembled- don't know the year) if you need it.
They are easy to take apart and inspect. Pry off the ring, remove the two screws in back, separate it. The gears inside are plastic, but they should move
freely when you spin the cable stem. Glad to see you driving your Jeep. You are ahead of me! And let me know if you have any plant questions.
 
#24 ·
Still can't get the jeep to run right. It has a miss and we can't quite get it figured out. I went ahead and did new plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor and coil. Ran better for a brief period it seemed then back to the miss.
The engine compartment is a pure mess and none of the guages are operational. A lot of vacuum lines are plugged and it has an aftermarket valve cover.
I have NEVER heard of a CJ acting like that. It must be the owner...

Just kidding man! enjoy it it sounds like you are making real good progress so far. I wish mine went together this quick.
 
#25 ·
I definately suffer from ESO syndrome. (Equipment Superior to Operator).

The brown Santa showed u pwith the weber today so I'm reading the install guide. I also "slapped some lipstick on the pig" and at least gave the old body a paint scheme instead of rust, primer, white and blue it was. I am torn between a Hunt Club Green and black scheme and going back to the original Blue/White CJ scheme. This is not going to be a 100% OEM resto so it's not critical I keep the OEM paint scheme. I hunt and spend time in the woods so metal flake is not gonna happen either.

We will see how it goes and I'llpost pictures up tomorrow when it stops raining here.

Paul
 
#27 ·
CrankyD said:
Yeah I'm curious to see how the weber and the MSD get along, That sounds like an interesting combination.
I hope there is no issue. A lot of others run the MSD 6 model.

I got it cleaned up and gave it some rust stopper and rustoleum to hold it together until I get started on the body swap. I also got started dismantling and cleaning up the intake and manifolds to put a new gasket set in before I mess with the new weber install. 4 of the intake/manifold bolts were hand loose. Leaks everywhere. The hard line from the EGR is cracked too but I think it can be welded. The PO had clamped off tubes coming from the manifold. I managed to get most of the bolts loose but had to drill and tap out 2 of them. I am going to try to find something to plug the holes with tomorrow. Slow going cleaning up all the grime and crud but I have the block and mating surfaces prepped. Is it worthwhile, or even smart, to blue thread lock the bolts when I put them back?
 

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#29 ·
I was going to go with the new 6A but after not being able to find the parts I needed for the BBD in a short amount of time I saved and few bucks and bought the MSD Streetfire. Looking at the specs it isn't quite as high as the 6 but for $50 less it seems to be a great value!! Only time will tell :)

:thumbsup:
 
#30 ·
And the black hole under the hood deepens. While I had the manifold and intake out I figured I would clean them up and repaint them. I spent all day yesterday on spring yard work so today I started back on the jeep. I have slpiced, wire nutted, loose and capped wires everywhere. I'm trying to sort the rats nest out and going to do a nutter since I have the MSD now. I want to clean up under the hood and get all the unnessesary out of there. I'm just not real sure how deep this rabbit hole goes though :facepalm:

Got pics up. I have untangled everything and now to identify what they were doing. Feel free to pipe in if you see something.
 

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#31 ·
I think the first pic is really, really interesting. It is an electronic, self-activated, vacuum leak detector, or ESVLD. They only made it under the hood for one year model. If you replace the vacuum line,
and properly splice those wires, yours will probably work again! Or just remove it and plug that wire into something else.

The second pic, I think, is the wire for the auto tranny kickdown function, but I may be wrong about that. Harnesses were the same for each vehicle, but some options were left out,
so there are plugs you won't use.

The third pic... much of that wire will go away after you Nutter. Be advised... you need to do a better job of permanently attaching those wires. Maybe they are temp for your purposes
at the moment, and if so, apologies for the lecture!

Your manifolds came out dang fine!

Go back to your giant pics, click edit, and resize them. It is hard to read your posts on this page... scrolling, scrolling, scrolling.... ever scrolling, more scrolling, continued scrolling.... more and more scrolling, left to right scrolling, more scrolling than anyone would ever want to do, in a monotonous sort of way, boring really, and now I am tired. :D
 
#32 ·
Skerr said:
I think the first pic is really, really interesting. It is an electronic, self-activated, vacuum leak detector, or ESVLD. They only made it under the hood for one year model. If you replace the vacuum line,
and properly splice those wires, yours will probably work again! Or just remove it and plug that wire into something else.

The second pic, I think, is the wire for the auto tranny kickdown function, but I may be wrong about that. Harnesses were the same for each vehicle, but some options were left out,
so there are plugs you won't use.

The third pic... much of that wire will go away after you Nutter. Be advised... you need to do a better job of permanently attaching those wires. Maybe they are temp for your purposes
at the moment, and if so, apologies for the lecture!

Your manifolds came out dang fine!

Go back to your giant pics, click edit, and resize them. It is hard to read your posts on this page... scrolling, scrolling, scrolling.... ever scrolling, more scrolling, continued scrolling.... more and more scrolling, left to right scrolling, more scrolling than anyone would ever want to do, in a monotonous sort of way, boring really, and now I am tired. :D
I will go fix the pics. I normally use pixresizer because it is fast and easy. The ones today were from the IPad, were they too big too? I post from phone, iPad and desktop so I think the phone pics are the huge ones.

That ESLVD goes to the factory computer so it is history any way. I traced one of the plugs from the Oem box and deleted it so far. Those wire nuts and duct tape are PO not me! Mine will be solder and heat shrink. I was working on more but my BIL wanted to go scout for hogs and turkey. I had to go :). Thanks on the manifold and intake!
 
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