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Project CJ7 "PJ edition" complete rebuild !

27K views 101 replies 16 participants last post by  KristPJ 
#1 · (Edited)
Before going any where further, let me tell you a little about me and my project ... if not interested in reading this, just scroll down and pass to progress threads ...



***here is the first test run since the teardown***



This is where I am at on my build for the moment. more goes on every week! stay tuned if you are interested! if you got comments or suggestions feel free to post! Thanks for Following

I've always had a passion for Jeep's. Even before I learned to drive I knew someday I would own a Jeep... My idea of a project all started when I was in high school, more exactly in Secondary 4(Grade 10). A friend of mine brought me at his cousin's house, this is where I fell in love, in his Garage, he had a nice old 1986 CJ7 ! That thing look tuff as hell and seemed amazing to drive around. It gave the impression it could take you anywhere you wanted ... I did not have a driver license yet, but I knew I wanted to own one just like this. Time went by, finished high school, not so sure on what I wanted to do, I asked the same friend who brought me to this CJ where he was going to school next year! So I looked up what classes I could do in that city (Rimouski, Quebec). Remembering I wanted a old jeep, and I knew nothing about mechanics, I ended up doing a car mechanics course ... so I could eventually fix or build my future dream ! I then Joined the army reserve to get a little extra money during my studies... drove back home during the christmas holidays during my second year of school and saw this good looking 1976 CJ7 , on 35" tires and had a 4bbl AMC 360 in it! So i stopped at the guys house and asked if he wanted to sell it! There was lots of work to do on it to make it "brand new" but the owner accepted to sell it to me for 2000$ on 33" tires.... So there is where my CJ7 PJ edition project all began ! If you follow every now and then the page you will see a frame up restoration of my Jeep... progress goes with budget, so stay tuned even if some updates don't come every week ;)



This is my CJ when i first got it! it had 33" tires, Dana 44 rear , Dana 30 front, drum brakes at 4 wheels, AMC 360 4bbl ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I start, forgive my english or mistakes, my first language is french, I've only been to the english school till 3ed grade(Dad is english and mom french) My Jeep had not been running often since 2002 ... so having a parked Jeep near the sea, with harsh Canadian winters, it does nothing good to the CJ! When I finished school, instead of working as mechanics, I did what I really liked, Went Regular forces in the Canadian infantry! During those years, 2001 to 2005, i was driving around in a 1998 toyota corolla, until I got in this little accident which gave me the kick in the *** to start the PJ edition project, since the damage on the corolla were about equal to it's value, I sent it to the scrape and decided it was time to get that old CJ rolling again! First few major things I done to it before having it come to Quebec city, where I am stationed. was getting rid of that old messed up wiring harness for a brand new Painless CJ7 harness. That thing is a little expensive but amazing, they thought of everything, wires are there for electric fan and even for injection conversions ... really worth's it!
Then once My jeep arrived to Quebec, I did a little more to it, all what was important to make it safe and limit the problems. I Changed the Fuel lines, Brakes , Brake lines with nice preformed stainless steel line from Quadratec, 15 Gallon metal tank for 20 Gallon plastic tank, and sent my engine for a rebuild in a shop... the job was suppose to cost about 1300 but ended up being 2200, one week after receiving the engine, found one in Montreal , Chrysler 360 injection from a 2000 truck for 2500 ... wish I found that earlier ...
AMC 360 after rebuild and installed in the Jeep (Sorry at that time when i would work on the CJ or add parts i would not always take pictures , and some got lost to, so the beginning might be sloppy a little ! i promise there will be more coming up) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having been driving around for almost 2 years with the CJ, fixing many little problems and upgrading a few parts, time came for me to bring it in the shop and start the tear down for a rebuild ! In those 2 years i drove it, I changed this old 3 speed transmission and Dana20 t-case for a "better" for driving around 5 speed T5 transmission and dana 300 t-case. I also had to rebuild my rear Dana44 .... I blew the planetary gears in it after rebuilding my engine! I wanted to know what kind of power a rebuild AMC 360 had, i guess dropping the clutch and flooring the gas was a little to demanding on the D44 ! so I got a lock right Powertrac locker and 4,10 gears and all the hardware to rebuild it like new ! I also upgraded the hard top to a YJ one with defrost and wiper ... lift gate on my CJ one was rotting , I also got the YJ family roll bar in it! Drove a little with it again then what motivated me to buy an other car, was breaking the rear axles right in front of the bearing .... lost my wheel and drum in a parking lot ! That was enough, i fixed it and stored it, bought a 2004 Jeep liberty .... and the Project full rebuild started ! so here are a few pics of the what it looked liked before the tear down and from the tear down .
as you can see the body is gone ,,, to the scrape metal, so will the frame go ! found a 1983 one in great condition.
on this last one you can see the "new" frame i got ... only got about 6 inches to fix on the inner C rear frame. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So this was all done prior to 2010 ... now 2013 has arrived and i will be getting home from deployment soon, so the work could finally start again ! During this year i will be preparing the frame and axles, i got a Chevy 1 ton Dana 60 for the front and Full Floating Ford E350 rear Dana 60, obviously, for the rear ... got to cut them down to about 65" since here in Quebec rules are very strict on tires sticking out to far from the fenders! I also found a 1987 YJ a guy was rebuilding ,i got it for a very decent price for the Tub, all the rest of it is for sell (if anyone interested in a frame , fenders, grill , 6" suspension, and lives somewhere near Quebec... PM me) so i sand blasted my axles, bought the YJ and as soon as i get home , i will be ordering the GenRight Legend extreme suspension/stretch kit! this should keep me busy till the fall ... at least(depending on my budget). What i plan on doing since a few mod's need to be done for the YJ tub on the CJ frame , i have the CAD drawing if the rear CJ cross member, i will slightly modify it so the body mount holes are at a distance for a YJ then ill get a shop to cut it ! i do not have the necessary gear for it ! For the body mounts, since i need to change the rear ones in front of wheels for the YJ , i will be taking them all off and custom build some so they are 1" higher, i will not need those ****ty body lifts anymore !
here is my from D60 after sand blast ... can't find my rear one but you can see in my pic all striped down . it is there !
here is the YJ i got for the Tub ... for the rest you will need to wait around 1 month , since i will not be home till next month. what i hope my CJ will look like when ever i finish with it should be something like this (changed the colors with photoshop. sorry for the poor quality, if the owner recon's his jeep, sorry for the take , just needed one similar to what i am hoping to build and modify the colors for a general idea , see if its nice or not)
 
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#2 · (Edited)
YJ tear down

It's been a few weeks since I last wrote here. In previous post i put a picture of the YJ I bought for the tub. I had it towed to the garage(Autonome Mechanic, pièces d'auto 3060) this place is amazing, they have eveything needed to do mechanic's and body work, for people like me who do not have a place for it! All necessary tools and work space is available for a very decent price, they rent floor and lift spaces... and have a paint room to ! Pictures were taken in the body work side of the garage ... I've know the owner for a long time now so he allows me to do my work in the quiet side... the mechanics side have about 10 hoists and 8 floor spaces!

Once my YJ arrived I did a little clean up and started the tear down, taking care of saving all the good parts that I do not need! I ended up selling most of the parts. The money made selling those made that the YJ hardly cost me anything!

So this is the YJ when i got it,


Once I got it in the garage, I got what was left of the interior out,most of it was done home. Then fenders , doors , hard top, tailgate came off... so I could have it down to the body and frame


Once all this was done, the fun began... removing the tub trying not to break the mounting bolts ... since the body was in good condition, I lubed at first, this ended up in not a success on most of them so I tried heating, but bushings in the way and other factors(me)... I decided to get a grinder out, cut the bolt heads and then lift the body, from there no more bushing , more access to heat and a good pair of pliers will allow me to remove the remaining bolts with out having them breaking in place !


The Tub finally off, my Genright Suspension kit finally in, I can now begin the build work... My intent was to build this
I found this model on google. I can't remember who is the designer, but thanks for the blueprint and work you put on it!

But after finding the price it would cost in metal tubing ... the plan changed and I will build a sawhorse wood rack on wheels for the tub.

Then the frame and suspension work can start. steps should be a little like this, 1) do all major repairs on body, then on the frame. 2) put the body back on the frame with the mechanics, 3) install/build the suspension and cycle it to be sure all works perfect 4)Weld all suspension in final place 5) tear everything off the frame again 6) sandblast every single part of metal 7) be sure to have no more welding or cutting on the frame, axles and body. 8) primer epoxy everything 9) eastwood 2k ceramic frame kit paint on the frame and axles 10) engine, transmission, t-case clean up primer and paint 11) tub preparation and painting 12) hopefully i can put everything back on the frame and have something that looks a little like a CJ then finish all the minor things left !



So as you can see, this is really the start of the project! Even if I've been gathering parts and money in the past years for this ... there is still LOTS to do before i have it rolling again !
 
#4 ·
So, did the YJ not run or something I missed?
Usually you could just buy a tub and be done with it.
Doing what you did is certainly cheaper in the long run, but it takes a lot of time.

cb
 
#5 ·
certifiablejeep said:
So, did the YJ not run or something I missed?
Usually you could just buy a tub and be done with it.
Doing what you did is certainly cheaper in the long run, but it takes a lot of time.

cb
yes i didn't mention, the YJ i bought was at a good price but had not engine , transmission and t-case... but was worth the shot! here in Canada, Quebec winter's are hard on Cars! The one I found was in very good condition for the year!
 
#6 · (Edited)
So this week I went a few afternoon's at the garage to work on my tub a little !With the price of metal who went up quit a bit. This money I can keep and put in on the jeep! I ended up building a wood rack that the tub can sit upside down for the time i need to work on the under part of the tub, once i will be finished i can easilly modify the supports to lower the tub and sit it up straight !

this is the rack i build, you can also see how the tub will sit on it.



once the tub was flipped and placed on the rack, i went around and inspected a little more on the floor and mounts ! Got a little suprise... the rear tailgate/body mount crossmember was not in that good of a condition.




choices I gave myself were, clean the rust off, rebuild some patches and weld in place, take it all off drilling out the spotweld's and give it a try for a home rebuild replica ... or call back ClassicEnt and add to my past order a new tailgate end support !
I looked at the options, made a fast count, and in the end, it will be almost even in time, material , try's and mistakes... so i decided to go for the ClassicEnt part.
earlier this week i placed the order for the floor pans, the outer rail supports (Cj ones) so i wont have to modify the mounts on the frame. ClassicEnt build great products. I bought the front Jeep clips this spring, my tub will be a Jeep and no longer a Joop ;)





Here are a few pictures of some parts i got in my Genright Legend Extreme suspension kit, rear corner guards and boat rocksliders


the plan is to integrate those to the original tub. so no metal sticking/over laying will be done...
now you can see a little of the progress I did, still a few spot welds to take off before the part can come off but I am almost there... anyways i can take my time, my order is not in yet ;)





as you can see, I did not bother bending the rear corners of the tub ... I will not be using those in a near futur since the GR corner guards will be replacing those

this week I will go back, finish taking it off and cleaning. And hopefully I will receive my order soon enough so I can get more progress on the tub
 
#8 ·
rplivin said:
Do you have the measurements on the saw horse stand you built? All looks nice great job on the rotisserie.
i don't have them with me at the moment, but i can get them on tuesday when i will go back! i can tell what i remember though, the bottom rack is 4x8 build in 2x4's... it has 3" caster wheels! the rear sawhorse is 32"high from the rack and the front one is about 15" higher... but you need to shim the sides so it is the floor that supports and not the shifter hole! i made is soni can work standing for my height ! it could be a little lower and would be great to! when i will flip the tub again to work the inside i will probable make it less high!
 
#10 ·
A little more work got done today, I finished removing the rear tailgate/body mount support. Once all off, I saw a little contaminated area at the far rear of the rear floor, no big deal, I will cut and replace!
Once this was done I went forward and cut off the old front Joop clip on the driver side to prepare the area for the new Jeep one ...
As i was cutting out the clip, i noticed a little surprise...
there was LOTS of rust between the clip and the firewall! Seem's you always get unexpected stuff when you start body work on older machines ! The good thing is most of the firewall is clean, so I wont have to change all of it ! So I went ahead, got the drill out and drilled out those spot welds holding everything in place.
Once that ''sheild'' behind the brake booster and steering column was off, I drilled out the one's holding the firewall to the cowl and the floor! Traced a line, got the zipcut out and cut the panel to change out ! Some of you might notice more rust on the firewall right to the cut near the floor junction... I saw it to, I will take care of this part later one since i need to form it as well ! I prefer getting the flat done then the parts who need more work !
The brace between the clip and the firewall was in pretty bad condition to, so i took it off. Next time i go, probably tomorrow evening, I will draw out the new parts i need to build. I never did any body work before, i am looking forward to what will happen from now... if anyone has suggestions, feel free to inform me! This is the part of the firewall I need to build...
and this is what i have gone from the tub up front.
 
#11 ·
A litte more work was done these two past days, I passed about 4 hours in all building my panel for the firewall! Like seen in the past post, the piece I cut out was in pretty bad shape! I bought a cardboard, made the drawing of the piece i needed to cut the tried it out on the tub to see if all was good in size and measurements.Once all was "Ok" or pretty close to it I traced it on some sheet metal then cut it out.
I didn't cut out the holes yet, I prefer doing it once it is installed in place. This way I can be sure the holes wont be off or not 100% straight. I never done body work before, so let me tell you this simple piece was some how a challenge... at first my intent was to cut and weld the lips separately, but the owner of the garage and a guy who does lots of body work convinced me to shape it with a hammer and anvil ! for a first experience I think it turn out well ... I still have some work to do on it, buff the welds then straighten it out a little but from the first fit, it seems to be ok !
I have not welded in a good while, i hope my skills will improve shortly ;) Here you can see the part droped in place. nothing is holding it, but you get the idea where it sits ...
 
#12 ·
In the past few days, I improvised myself into a metal worker... as you saw on the last picture, I had some more rot on the firewall where the gas pedal bolt! so I cut out that part after drilling the spot welds, then got a sheet of metal, marker, ruler, anvil and hammer and started to beat that sheet of metal hoping to make it shape like the old one .
It turned out good for someone new to this ! All that is left to do on it is bend the lip that will be spot welded to the firewall and do some final trimming to make it fit. When ever I receive my order (floor pan, rear tail gate support) I will have everything it will be lots easier to instal all at once to make it fit and be sure all is straight !

So here is the part I cut out because of the rust, and then you can see both pieces side by side ... share your opinion!

 
#14 ·
It's been a few weeks since I last posted up here, once again I've been lots busy with work! But the good news is Christmas holidays are finally arrived, so now i got a full week ahead of me so I can get more work done!
Basicly i have not made any progress since mid october. In the past 2 days I got to weld in one of the pieces I made for the firewall, fix a bend hing on my tail gate, and cut out the driver floor! I also made a few patches, a tiny little one for the rear floor, the part behind the roll bar on the step brace, and tomorrow if all goes as planed, ill have the driver side floor completed. Today I cleaned up the supports under then did the trimming to fit the floor in place.
You will see in the following pictures, I some how took a bad mesurment and cut out a little to much on my fllor panel, but it's no big deal, I'll get to patch this up easilly!
So here we go for a few pictures of the progress...









So this is about it for now, I hope to finish all the driver side by the weekend, all I want to have to do after the vacations is weld the corner guards to replace my factory rear quarters ! but 3/16 steel weld on 18Ga steel, I'll need to ask a friend of mine to accomplish this!
 
#15 ·
Wow, that's a lot of rebuilding you got going there. Great job, it's looking good. Mine was bad but not that bad. My only concern is the body tweaking on you with no temp. bracing in place. Check your measurements to make sure nothing shifted or warped.
 
#16 ·
Renegade82 said:
Wow, that's a lot of rebuilding you got going there. Great job, it's looking good. Mine was bad but not that bad. My only concern is the body tweaking on you with no temp. bracing in place. Check your measurements to make sure nothing shifted or warped.
yes i was a little scared about this to, i did not use braces yet, but i checked the mesurments last night and all is good, it varies by about 1/8... i guess i can live with this ;) ill have a few more pictures tonight or tomorrow, i welded the floor in place and the other missing part on the firewall!
 
#17 ·
An 1/8" isn't too bad, it was probably out that from the factory!:D I did my rockers first so I could brace across them on the bottom to hold things square, then I could clamp my floor panels (same ones you got) to them and cut things to fit. Did you get new outer supports too or can you salvage the supports (outer, inner, and transverse)?
 
#18 ·
Renegade82 said:
An 1/8" isn't too bad, it was probably out that from the factory!:D I did my rockers first so I could brace across them on the bottom to hold things square, then I could clamp my floor panels (same ones you got) to them and cut things to fit. Did you get new outer supports too or can you salvage the supports (outer, inner, and transverse)?
i got new ones to, since it s a yj tub buil cj ! i also got the front jeep clips! for the rear i am cutting out the fenders and puttin the genright full stretch corner guards !
 
#19 ·
So here are the pictures of what was done today, it is all on ruff for now, all I want it to have the tub ready to sit on the frame fast enough so I can finally get started on installing my GenRight suspension. Then I will be able to take my time fix every little detail on it and sandblast it for a clean build! I am some how satisfied with my work, i never done any body/metal work before... ok there are a few points that need to be corrected, like little gaps for bad mesuring but all this can be addessed! So the missing part of the firewall is now in place, driver side floor pan and a few little patches. and the step brace patch, you can see here on the pictures, all the grinding of the welds will come later on in the build, for now it is far from the priority ;)

 
#20 ·
I'm back! sorry for those of you following me, I know I have not posted anything in a while, once again! But in the past few week I did a little more work, ordered a few more parts and drew some plans for new parts I want to get build (new frame body mounts with integrated 1 inch lift, a little like the genright YJ one's). So I was kinda busy with it anyways! What I have done in the past weeks, still on the tub (can't wait to finish with it so I can get the genright suspension started), before christmas I had cut and welded the driver floor panel in as shown in previous post. since then I rebuild the lower part of my cowl support, welded it on then installed the Jeep clip from classic ent. and built my rocker panel. once all these were set I welded them in place on the tub.
as you can see the rocker is a little longer. this is to fit with the new corner guards... wheel well is a little further back for the stretch. I wasn't sur how I would install the genright stretch corner guards on the tub. In the instructions they say to bolt them on with the hardware they come with. Maybe down south where the weather is nice 11.5 months out of 12 it is a good idea! But here in Quebec, Canada, with 6 months of winter, 2 of spring 3 of fall ... and if lucky 4 weeks of summer, I didn't like the idea of squeezing two sheet metal together, the risk of getting water or crap stuck in between, starting a new phase of rust! Not my plan... So i tool many mesurements clamped the corner guard on and off making sur all was ok then cut off all the old part of the rear quarter panel so i can next weld in the corner guard as replacement! i also had to trim about 3/8" on the top of the corner guard and about 1" near the tail gate part so I can have enough space to weld on the remaining part of the tub.
I also removed the support behind the door since I need the rebuild the lower part of it to, then maybe trim it a little since there is a nice diffrence between the tub sheet metal and the corner guard. 18 Ga vs 3/16" ... a challenge to weld ! Once I finish welding it in place, I need to bring in my frame so I can get the new body mounts placed at the right spots. passenger side are all in place from factory, but driver side, since it is a YJ to CJ conversion, I got rid of the rotten mounts for the new CJ ones. Parts I ordered for this is the energy suspension body bushing kit, and the crown kit for the sleeves. So this is it for now, I really will try hard to update more often. I have lots of mesurments taken and keep double checking ... so no worries for the tub tweaking, I know its not braced but I am not worried about it.
 
#22 ·
I passed a few hours at the garage this afternoon, I finally got the driver side all closed!

Last time I prepared the body and corner guard. today I tacked it in place... I think I will need to do tacks for the whole piece, welding 18Ga to 3/16 was a little challenging, I don't think I will be able to do a continuous bead.

All i have to do now on this side, is the final welding, and trim the rocker to have it fit with the fender well. fix the little details and install the body supports. For this I will bring in my frame so I can be sure all fits straight in place. then I will proceed to the final stuff and continue to the passenger side. (I might not update much for the passenger side since it is pretty much a copy and past of the driver side. I'll wait for the Finished product before priming it for more updates)

so this is what it looks like for now, you can see the strech in the fenderwell, a few welds and a few places I need to retouch!


One thins I forgot to take in picture and post is the panel support(where the door jam screws in) i had to remove it and rebuild the lower part. this will be installed soon. Ill post a picture next week.
 
#23 ·
So this week I some how did good progress, it may not seem like much but I think it's all good since everything worked out fine! I brought in my frame at the garage(not working on this one yet) so I could sit the tub on it and be certain all sits straight! I got my Energy suspension bushings in place, finished fixing the front driver body support, positioned the outboard floor rail, installed the rollbar to see if all was in right spots, then dropped the tub on the frame, braced the rear corner guards at the right measurements so i can weld in the body panel support(one with the door jam)... anyways here are a few pictures plus a glimps one of the tub with the mini boat side rocker I will be installing this week !
No worries about the crossmember, o got a new ones build like the original, but in 3/16 steel
And the glimps picture ...
 
#25 ·
Renegade82 said:
That B pillar support looks real good. But what's your plan for the seat belt?
the regular 3 points mount to to rollbar and the lower of the support i rebuild on the side of the rollbar! i might do a brackette frame to body for the rollbar and my 5 point seat belts to, im still hesitating for this one
 
#26 ·
Once again, it's been a while since I last posted the work done on my CJ build, so here is a quick update; lately I got going on the passenger side,I prepared and tack welded the passenger side floor, build a few more body parts and started the install. What I will have left is to cut the quarter panel and replace it with the corner guard.
here you can see the difference between the stock fender well opening and the new opening with the gen-right stretch corner guards.
so as soon as this corner guard is welded I will be able to install the new mounts for the body in the right spots so the tub is centered on the frame then I can do a little of the ruff buffing, and put is aside so i can get the suspension started. i recently found a clean dana 60-isu full float to replace the dana 61 I accidently purchased a few years ago !
 
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