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My Cj5 and 7 apocalyptic builds from the under world

5K views 47 replies 11 participants last post by  benullman 
#1 ·
My two Cj7 apocalyptic builds from the under world

(prepare for a long winded post about pointless background)

July, 2010 Cj7 purchased $3500
81' 258, T150, D20, AMC20, D30 WT
33x12.5"tires

October 2010 rusted Cj5 parts vehicle $325
78' 258,T150, D20, AMC20,D30 NT

I have the dash out of the CJ7 now and I am going to pull the heater box. I am almost to the point where I want to do a frame off but I know that wouldnt be wise. I am going to use the driveline from the Cj5 (90k miles not seized) and rebuild it. That will then go into the Cj5 frame. I would like to get the Cj7 back to DD condition so I can use it this winter. I need to get heat, and wiring fixed. I am working on that all now.Then I will just drive it till I blow it!

I want to take it slow with the 5 and build it how I want. Im thinking 33" Mickey thompsons. 3.73s 258 bored .030". That way I can drive and enjoy the 7 and have the ideal jeep being build. Win, win!

I am picking up the 5 this saturday so pictures to come then. The tub will be trashed and possibly fenders. Alot of usable parts still on it. Im going to do 90% of the work myself and learn along the way.

pictures and possibly video to follow tomorrow if I figure out how to get the sony conversion to work.

Ben
 
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#2 ·
ok heres an update, the Sale on the 5 fell through. probably for the better as a deal for $1500 on 2 7's (on runs, one for parts) popped up and might be doable.

for $200 I got 2 YJ half doors in great condition, 2 steel fenders with some surface rust, and a fiberglass hood with a small crack in it. Drove 2 hours to get it one way in the F250, cost me $50 in diesel, he wanted $275 I said $200 since I got to drive. It was worth it.

Sooooo onto the hood repair (pay attention Skerr ;) )

Ben
 
#3 ·
here is the hood I startted with. The cracking is just the gelcoat.



Here is a closeup of the crack. Its in 2 places



here it is from the top



One thing I notice right off the bat from handling the fiberglass hood is its light, pro, and flimsy, con. I wanted to preserve the nicer light weight but I wanted to strengthen it. So I looked around the shop with my thinking cap on. I came across a 1.25" wide piece of 36" long aluminum .125" thick. I then bent it in the bench vise to follow the contours of the hood, it fits fairly good.





I then grabbed some of our 6oz glass and measured it. I put down 3 layers of glass to make sure and strengthen that area.



the support bar barely shows through



The glass is liad out and ready to start.



here is the crack at the corner. I took duct tape and pulled the corner taught to bring the 2 halves together. It worked quite well.



After 3 layers of glass here is what it looked like. Its got a few bubbles but not to bad. Im going to go back with some epoxy and filler and I want to blend it into the hood and make it just as smooth as that top.

 
#5 ·
:laugh: I used to (still do) build large high powered rockets with fiberglass. I knew these tecniques would come in handy. Imstill not very good at it but I try. Mynext big challenge it to get a latch on here and light. I still want the hood latch along with the sring loaded holders and I think a light will come in handy.

Ben
 
#8 ·
ok, I need to update some pictures. I have now removed the whole front end. I am working on painting the engine and cleaning up the engine bay.

I am going to rewire the whole jeep and I am resealing the heater box and air duct.

I need to get somemore pics. I am going to order some500 degree paint in yellow blue and black. The jeep will use those 3 colors throughout.

Im hopingto order the weber carb rebuild kit, and engine overhaul gasket set this week.

My dad made the comment ' if you keep going, im going to walk into the garage and see a nut and bolt where your jeep used to be' I said 'its a jeep thing dad' :p

More to come!

Ben
 
#9 ·
You're going to do good Ben. Looking forward to the pics. Also interetsed in this color scheme you got going! Could look like the bumblebee from he**!
 
#11 ·
Good idea on the aluminum strip to reinforce the hood! For filler I would look at Evercoats Everglass, or Duraglass which can be bought locally. Basically just short strand fiberglass reinforced filler. Works very good and is very strong! I keep telling Scott (Skerr) about it but I don't think he has tried it out yet.
 
#12 ·
im not sure what I want to do. I thought about ordering some fiberglass strand mat that can be used with epoxy resin instead of polyester. Put a whole sheet on the underside of the hood to thicken it/reinforce and to have something to smooth out. we shall see. I just dont like the look of the strand mat underside of the hood. I need to atleast get it semi-smooth and painted.

Ben
 
#13 ·
I did what you were doing last year.I always wish i would have done a frame off.They look much better painted.I had a few issues i should have did with the frame I didn't see till I was done.
Keep up the good work.Looks Great
Mike:2thumbsup:
 
#15 ·
heres where Im at, I want a nice frame off jeep. I dont have the money though and I LOVE driving the one I have. So I want to get this one into a shape that I can just run it all year long for years to come till it dies. There arent any major problems (other than the throwout bearing chattering) so it should hold. then in 2-3 years when I finish a frame up of another jeep. This one will be ready to be retired for restoration. And the madness will continue till I have to many jeeps to count :laugh:

things left to do
  • carb rebuild
  • engine gaskets
  • engine paint
  • new fluids everywhere
  • repair heater box (with upgraded blower)
  • clean air box
  • get front grill soda blastd
  • paint radiator
  • strip rest of tub
  • rattle can it best I can and drive the hell out of my new tires!

can it be done by christmas?!?!? :drool:

Ben
 
#17 ·
NO!!!! (THANK GOD) :2thumbsup:

weber 32/36. I now realized why I could never get much more than 2k RPM out of her in top gear (3rd). The linkage wasnt allowing the second barrel to open more than a crack.

I really like this jeep more and more. As my first vehicle im learning alot. I just decided to tear my whole carb apart to understand it (and clean it) and I put as much of it back together as I could without the rebuild kit. once I get the gasket and such I will reassemle and see how she does on fireup!

Ben
 
#18 ·
I've heard the weber 32/36 is a great upgrade. I plan on running a custom TBI setup on my motor.
 
#19 ·
Ive already started to plan out my frame up build. Its got a ford 9" rear. D44 front, ARB lockers, 4.10, 36s, ford 460 TBI, AC, PS, ALT, OBA, dual exhaust infront of the tires, NV3550, D300, 4" lift, crabtree YJ reversal ( :wave: ), and some other cool stuff. Those are just the big items I want to include.

the longer and more expensive it is the better :p I love wrenching on the jeep and I dont have much else to spend $$ on!

Ben
 
#21 ·
alright! Pictures!! :2thumbsup:

Here is my carburater off the bench, these next few are just as reference for me so I can make sure I get it put back the same way!







here is the weber 32/36 split in half!



I finally got to do some real work! Here is the colors i will be using to dress up the engine bay!



My plan is to paint the block old ford blue. the intake manifold, water pump, accessory brackets, valve cover, thermostat housing, and fan will be yellow. The pulleys, power steering pump and radiator will be black. the white is for the manifold. im going to see if the guy I know with a paint booth can cure my manifold, and exhaust pipe at 250F (per the directions) to make it heat and fluid resistant up to 1500F

here is the water pump, thermo. housing, and alternator and power steering brackets (that isnt all of them, just the first round)



here is a closeup of the water pump. 3 coats yellow, one of clear. PURTY!!

 
#22 ·
here is the black next to the pulleys. I need to get a PS pump pulley puller (say that 3 times fast!) so I can work on the power steering pulley.



Here is the next step, i am going to paint the radiator. Freshen it up a little bit. im hoping to send the grill off to soda blasting in the next few weeks.



and here is my workbench/ hood as I try and get the front end put back together. After i get the engine sealed up ill work on the wiring and dash.



just thought this was something neat, this is what the impeller assembly from the water pump looks like. I pressed it out using my 10ton press after pulling the hub off the other side. I need to find some kind of sealent for when I put it back together....off to google for that!

 
#23 ·
here some more progress:

I used semi gloss black engine enamel for the pulleys. i really like the way this paint is laying down. for $5.75 a can it was worth it. Dupli color makes nice paint IMO. here is the Harmonic balancer and lower pulley and water pump pulley.



here is the lower pulley, with flash:



and without:



I was more than satisfied with the coverage. 3 coats black one coat clear.

Ben
 
#24 ·
just take a small step back:

I started taking it slow with her top off and going under the hood :shhh: (new wiper fluid motor and heater blower upgrade in the white box :2thumbsup: )



Here is the removal of the dash, wiring, and heater box.



here is the new dash to go in:



heres the rats nest the PO left me :thumbdown:



Here she is mostly cleaned up.

 
#29 ·
2 steps forward one step back

got 90% of the engine parts painted and most of it reasembled.

I screwed up the bushing for the power steering pump so I need to go back and visit advanced (our local manager is new and he happens to own a 79' Cj7, ive been getting 10% off and he loves talking about them :D ) to get a new shaft bushing. then I can paint the pump and resivior and get it put back together friday or saturday. once thats done I can get it mounted. I need to wire wheel the intake, exhaust manifolds, and valve cover. Then I can prime and paint and get them back on. then I will rebuild the weber and clean it up. Should be close to fire up after that!

here was last weekends progress:

Ben
 
#30 ·
here is the start. Blank slate, power washed and degreased and a few spots wire wheeled. As you can see I have taped off the importand stuff and stuffed rags to keep as much oil and water seperate as possible.



Here is the whole jeep.



The primer and Old Ford Blue. I was VERY happy with this color!



2 coats primer!



2 coats blue, 1 coat clear!



Maybe im just slow, but here is a neat way I figured to paint bolt heads. Some of mine didnt need replacing but they could use sprucing up. I hit them with the wire brush and put them in the cardboad.



1 coat primer, 1 coat black, 1 coat clear.



power steering bracket and alternator bracket painted with 2 coats yellow.



and it begins! I dissasembled the water pump to paint it. I hope it holds. i put it back together best I could. If it burns up, oh well, a new ones $20 and I have learned from my mistake.



dipstick!



alternator bracket and fuel pump added!



lower alt. bracket and distributor (team rushed! :thumbsup: )



I know the alternator looks out of place :p i didnt want to put much work into it as I figured i will end up replacing it within 6months. i will paint the new one thought :2thumbsup:


That wraps up last week. More pictures to come though! I dropped $250 this week at advanced for almost all of the remaing parts. ill place a morris 4x4 order to get the carb rebuild kit and valve cover gasket. Then she should be complete!!

thanks for looking!

Ben
 
#35 ·
happy thanksgiving all!!

What an awesome jeep day for me!

It started out kind of sour because I didnt get to do much and I need a new jack now to get my oil pan off.

2 weeks ago, a guy bought some stuff from me. Hes 5 hours away in charlotte, NC. Well, he hasnt been able to meet up with me. ($205 worth of stuff) so today I was scouring CL and I found a frame and roll bar for 'free'

A guy needed a hood and he said he would take the hood for the frame AND roll bar! It needs a rear crossmember and rear shacklemounts. Good deal #1 of the day.

#2, I was searching CL and found a 79 tub that was 30 min from this frame. He wanted $350 I offered him $275. he took it.

I am going to spend close to 10 hours driving (round trip) but im going to come home with almost a full jeep. Not a bad deal. Now I have something to work on once I get mine running (IM SOOOO CLOSE!)

Ben
 
#36 ·
ok, after a 13 hour day on the road yesterday I have Jeep STUFF!

Here is the frame and rollbar:

not much wrong with the roll bar. one of the feel neets a tad but of metal touchup work. Im going to use eastwoods internal coating on this to make sure it never rusts.



The frame is about 90% solid. it needs a rear crossmember and it needs new rear shackle hangers. One of the body mounts is a little worn, im thinking I can get a giant fender washer and weld it in after I clean the hole up. I am going to invest in a MIG welder soon. i cant wait to get going!! Im going to start on some of the smaller sheet metal welding first then move up to frame repair as I hone my skills.









now the not so good part. i wish I would have paid closer to $225-250 for this tub than $275. But it was late I couldnt see the damage that good.

there are a few floor patches you can see, I am going to remove those and do it right. and a couple small rust holes. other than that the floors are solid



the bottom needs one new crossmember that got torn



not sure how well you can see it in the picture but the tranny tunnel is bent in about .5"-1" on the passenget side along with a dent where the heat blower motor goes.





now for the funny: The rear corners and the sides were covered in .25-.5" of bondo (NO exageration!!) and I can see why. The rear corners were held together with 4-5 pop riveted sections and bondo. $50 in corners will be in the mail soon!







I need to repair one of the fenderwll braces that is rusted and riveted in.



there is some rust on the cowl by the vents and a rusted spot covered in bondo.





here is what the metal looks like. Surprisingly its good metal. pretty straight, not sure why there is so much BONDO!!







More to come!!!

Ben
 
#37 ·
I just placed my first order with 4wd! Very nice to work with! They price matched a few items for me and I took advantage of the free shipping for cyber monday, well worth it! should be here on Friday :D Just in time for the weekend :2thumbsup:

I orderd
  • passenger and driver rear corners
  • valve cover gasket
  • power steering return hose
  • weber 32/36 rebuild kit
  • dana 30 differential gasket

this should allow me to change all the fluids in the jeep and seal everything up and be ready for winter! Plus i can get started on the new tub with the back corners. Im pushing for a welder this christmas from 'santa'. if not it will be my gift to myself!

Ben
 
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