Hey guys! As my CJ is currently torn apart, thought it would be an appropriate time to start my build thread.
So I bought my jeep back in Sept 2011, not really knowing anything about jeeps other than I wanted one. I had looked at several on craigslist and settled on this bad boy. It needed some work, but not too much....so I thought.
I started replacing and fixing miscellaneous parts that were easy to do. Found out I was running 2.73 gearing with the PO's 33x12.5 tires, which was why it was such a dog off the line. I traded a guy my BFG AT for some smaller KM2's with quite a bit of life left on them. When I got them mounted the guys at the shop told me that my wheels were pretty out of wack and they couldnt fully balance them. I also had 3 8" rims and one 7". I decided to get a new set of Craigar Soft 8's, which made it look much better.
Next came the Team Rush upgrade. Having a glass body on it, I began to learn of the issues involved with improper grounding. Thats when I decided I would pull the body off, paint it and fix the wiring. We all know what happens next....
PO used carriage bolts as some of the body mount bolts for some reason. There was no way those were coming off, so just took the grinder to the heads.
Think I can reuse the body bolts?
This is how she sits at the moment
My plans are to coat the frame, replace brake and fuel hard lines, pull the engine to fix engine mount brackets, replace clutch, :monsta: both interior and exterior of the tub, dedicated grounds, redo exhaust, fix cancer on the back of the frame, new springs, fab both front and rear bumpers, swap out Dana 30 for one with 4.10 gearing, weld and truss the amc 20 and get it re-geared, front and rear lockers, and anything else that comes up while doing all that
Great group of people on here, I look forward to everyone's input as I move along. If you think I'm doing something stupid, just :fish: and let me know.
So I bought my jeep back in Sept 2011, not really knowing anything about jeeps other than I wanted one. I had looked at several on craigslist and settled on this bad boy. It needed some work, but not too much....so I thought.
I started replacing and fixing miscellaneous parts that were easy to do. Found out I was running 2.73 gearing with the PO's 33x12.5 tires, which was why it was such a dog off the line. I traded a guy my BFG AT for some smaller KM2's with quite a bit of life left on them. When I got them mounted the guys at the shop told me that my wheels were pretty out of wack and they couldnt fully balance them. I also had 3 8" rims and one 7". I decided to get a new set of Craigar Soft 8's, which made it look much better.
Next came the Team Rush upgrade. Having a glass body on it, I began to learn of the issues involved with improper grounding. Thats when I decided I would pull the body off, paint it and fix the wiring. We all know what happens next....
PO used carriage bolts as some of the body mount bolts for some reason. There was no way those were coming off, so just took the grinder to the heads.
Think I can reuse the body bolts?
This is how she sits at the moment
My plans are to coat the frame, replace brake and fuel hard lines, pull the engine to fix engine mount brackets, replace clutch, :monsta: both interior and exterior of the tub, dedicated grounds, redo exhaust, fix cancer on the back of the frame, new springs, fab both front and rear bumpers, swap out Dana 30 for one with 4.10 gearing, weld and truss the amc 20 and get it re-geared, front and rear lockers, and anything else that comes up while doing all that
Great group of people on here, I look forward to everyone's input as I move along. If you think I'm doing something stupid, just :fish: and let me know.