New Project - slow build

[92XJT]

Well I'm not sure if it was a good deal or not but I traded my mildly build XJ for these gems:

83 CJ7 - 258/5spd/d300
Frame is in great shape - body, yeah not so good:




But this will be replacing the body: 91 YJ tub from Florida - it did suffer a fire under the dash so that's all gutted.


Got a few boxes of parts - ranging from wiring harness, extra carbs, misc nuts/botls, and other parts. CJ dash, steering column, master cylinder, YJ soft top and frame, 4" lift springs (so it appears that aren't installed yet).

Lots of work going to be needed before this one hits the streets - but really I'm in no rush to get it down yet. Taking a small "break" from wheeling - just haven't been in the mood much lately. Building this should get that mind set going again though.

Plans:
Strip old CJ body off of frame - already started

One old body is off I need to go through the drivetrain - tcase seems to shift fine, but the 5 spd don't seem to want to move at all. So with this - if there is something majorly wrong with the tranny - I may just ditch both that and the 258 and do a v8 swap. Either a chevy v8, or maybe a 401 (if I get lucky to find a good affordable one).

Also need to sand down the YJ tub - line the underside, and paint the rest - the cowl area got warped in the fire so I am hoping to be able to salvage the CJ7 one and swap that one in.

I would like to get the tub and frame ready this month and at least have the YJ tub on the frame by then. Along with that I want to install the lift springs too - previous owner is suppose to be shipping the shocks to me since he forgot them at delivery.

Still debating a body lift - 1 or 2" maybe and in combination with the 4" lift - maybe slightly longer shackles. Would like to run either 35s or 36s when all is said and done. Not sure on keeping the rear axle - if I do I will at least upgrade the shafts.

I'm sure plans will change rapidly at first till I get a few things figured out, but it will be a good challenge - lol. Any input / advice always appreciated - be it good or bad.

[92XJT]

Here's some updates - had a good streak of working on the CJ but its slowed down this past week. I will addmit after looking at some of these other builds going on here, this one is not very fancy or high tech.

Gotta love fire damage:


Removing the old CJ tub - well whats left of it - lol:




So much for a complete solid frame - at least is just body mounts, which can easily be made and installed...



Have the rear 4 body mounts to repair, and a few of the ones up front are getting a little soft on top.

[92XJT]

Started sanding down the frame / primered and rattle canned it gloss black.








Fabbed up some new top plates for the body mounts:


Haven't bent this ones to fit yet:


Checked out the tub - finally got it jacked up and jackstand to I could get my big bum underneath to check the condition of the body mount bolts and undercoating. All and all looked pretty good - did hit some areas with the sander, and plan on either POR15ing or bedlining the underneath and firewall.


Also started removing all the burnt up stuff - center counsel, dash, melted seatbelts - yeah, loads of fun there.....







Drilled out the body mount holes at work - nice having a large industrial drill press for stuff like that. Just tacked them on for now, cause a few I wasn't sure of the exact position they need to be in.

[92XJT]

Going to use the old CJ front cowl area since its in good shape to replace the warped YJ cowl area. Can't wait to get all them spot welds off.


The 39 dollar drill bit:


to do this:


guess they didn't want to evenly space spot welds:


so after approx 60 spot welds and a little cutting the old YJ cowl is bye - bye.







Neighbors are probably lovin my back yard corner.

[92XJT]

UPS delivered this so far:
Red poly body mount kit
4" drop pitman arm
U-bolt kit



Got one leaf spring installed - whew what a pain in the arse that was. The previous owner stated it was a 4" lift, but I'm thinking more like 3" at most or 2.5". The front springs on the other hand appear to be 4" with the longer shackles. I'll have to take a look see once they are all on, course planned on doing something different with the rear stock shackles anyways.




Had to put project on back burner these past days off, because my mom had back surgery (6.5hrs of waiting in the ICU isn't that much fun). Though all is well now - she had this done on the 29th, and had her drain tube removed so she can move around now (though very little with the big back brace on).

Fellow co-worker is letting me borrow his sand blaster so hopefully on the old CJ cowl, I can blast of the paint to see the spot welds. Once that is done I want to get the secton on so I can start working on the tub again. Got 13 days of vacation starting Wed, but heading out of state. should have time during a few of those days to work on it - lol. But to add to this, the have mentioned the "L" word at work - "layoffs". May have to hold off on anymore spending till we find out whats going on.

[92XJT]

Well a few updates. The build got put on a slow simmer for short period, due to cut backs / down sizing at work they eliminated 30 positions. It took them a few weeks to let us know, so during that time no money was spent on the jeep. Before that occurred I bought a MIG / fluxcore welder and got the CJ cowl installed, got a proper suspension lift (old one that came with is for a pre 74 CJ5 - found out the hard way), and over the holiday weekend got the tub on the frame. Tub will only be sitting on the frame for a little bit - so I can get the remain body mount plates tacked in, and while its on the frame I am going to mess with some of the body work.

New / better shape cowl"







lol - I made the wife assist with moving the tub out to the frame.






In the last pic - tub is close to the mounts but still has to come foward about 1.5". With the suspension lift (suppose to be approx 5.25"), and tub in place, riding on 28" tall tires, the bottom of the door opening is at 34". I plan on installing a 1" body lift, and 36" tires, so in theory that should give me 39" to bottom of door opening.

[Dislsmoke]

Looks Like it's coming along pretty well. Good luck on the build.

[92XJT]

Well more progress:

1 - herculined the tub: both interior and underneath
2 - repainted the frame again from motor back. Used TSC farm implement paint with enamel hardner added. Came out pretty good for being brushed on.
3 - solved my motor problem. Picking up an 82 wagoneer with a 360/727 combo. Motor has a reported 25xxx miles on it, and tranny has 15xxx.
4 - bought a front hoop for my rollcage -- still need to make frame tie ins

Also going to use the front waggy springs for mock up on my rear stretch. Probably will go with the Rancho 44044 springs, but want to check a few things first.

[92XJT]

Got the rollbar painted:


Going with this for a body color: Allis Chalmer orange




lol - tub is in "storage mode" till I get the new motor / tranny and all fuel and brake lines ran along the frame..

[92XJT]

Donor rig:


I'm pulling the amc 360 out that supposedly been rebuilt with 25k on the clock. Looks like the rear main may be leaking now though

Also taking the 727 which was rebuilt with 15k on the clock.

[justjeeps]

Your build is looking pretty good so far.

[92XJT]

Well got the 360 and 727 pulled the past few days. Sucks when you need to keep the donor rig in somewhat good shape when stripping. Hopefully the buyer comes and picks up the remainds this weekend, and that will give me some more jeep spending money.

[92XJT]

Those of you die hard waggy fans - you may want to look away for a few pics

Tearing apart the waggy:




Now the fun part - finding room in the garage to keep the 360/727, and also my old 258/T5.




Getting cramped in the back on this side:


Just a little space left in front and still need to put some more lawn furniture and mower on this side - lol.


Pulling the old motor / tranny:


Front rollcage hoop - to be installed later:


Waggy murder scene:



Next plans:
1 - Strip / sand / paint front part of frame (going to be mid 60s this weekend)
2 - Install d300 on 727 (may overhaul the d300 first)
3 - Get mounts and install 727/d300 on frame
4 - Put new rear main seal on 360
5 - clean and paint 360
6 - Buy Novak motor mounts

That should tie up some of my "jeep" funding for awhile........

[certifiablejeep]

Impressive amount of work you got done... I am looking forward to getting back to another one soon... the little one has been keeping us busy so there hasn't been a ton of time lately, but that will change soon.

Good luck and keep us posted.

cb

[jimmyhaha666]

Is there a profound difference when you use the enamel hardener with the implement paint? Did you only use it on the roll bar, or did you paint other bits with it?

Nice build, I thought I had too much stuff in my garage to start tearing anything new apart, but you have inspired me!