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BUILD THREAD: Project "Ghetto Fabulous"

158K views 811 replies 92 participants last post by  Jim1611 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, here I go again. This is CJ7 #3 for me and here's the story behind it and the title of the build.

For the past 7 years I have worked in the "Ghetto" and have driven past this one house that had this CJ7 parked along side the house for probably longer than 7 years. I would pass this thing numerous times a day and always check to see if this fellow Jeeper has made any progress on it. It never changed, it sat in the same spot the entire time never to be worked on again....until last week when I drove by again and there was a 4 sale sign on the grill. I called that day and went to take a look at it.

It "is" a 76 frame with an 83 tub, a chevy 350/ muncie 4 speed/ dana 20, stock axles, P/S. P/B with a custom cage and lots of extra parts.The tub has two minor areas with surface rust, solid floors and windshield frame. The chassis/frame looks new and all of the body mounts are solid. The guy asked $700.00 so I jumped on it (I wanted to build a $crambler, but what the hell) :thumbsup:.

So not only did I get a great deal but the guy trailered it to my house and helped me unload it into my garage!! :

The Jeep sat in the desert heat for years, so after vacuuming the desert off of the floorbaords (and the black widows) I was pleasantly surprised to see their like new condition. Nothing more than surface rust that will easily come off with a wire wheel or media blast.

So this turned out to be a "fabulous" find in the "ghetto", hence the build title.

Here's some pics:









The plan is to build a wheeler that will see street use:

#1. dump the stock axles for Currie 9 inch housings front and rear with detroit lockers and discs all around.
#2. dump the stock suspension and lift shackles for a quality 4.5 inch lift.
#3. install tube fenders up front and TJ flares out back to clear 35's.
#4. install Vanco hydraboost brakes and a high pressure P/S system.
#5. strip the body and line the interior and underside. the body will be painted either orange or camo. I already have a token red jeep :laugh:
#6. install rock sliders and bumpers with a tire carrier
#7. install new wiring harness
#8. tear down the motor, trans and xfer case and freshen them up because they sat open in the desert for years, probably got scorpions living in them, or completely replace everything.
#9. custom exhaust

Now here comes the big decision, do I keep the 350/muncie/dana 20 or install my worked 304/th400/dana 20 that I also have from another Jeep and put Fuel Injection on it? I'm an AMC kinda guy and I like to keep my CJ's mostly AMC/Jeep when I can (everyone and their mother can run a chevy, but an AMC takes a little TLC).

This project will take me quite a while cause I'm in no rush, so please bare with me and I'll post updates and lots of photos.

If anyone has any suggestions feel free to let me know.

I may put blacked out rims with some bling bling chrome center caps to keep with the "Ghetto Fabulous" theme. Cause in the Ghetto camoflauge and chrome match.
 
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#406 ·
Alternator is stripped, cleaned and installed. i also stripped the a/c compressor for paint. Now for the dumba$$ move of the day. I got oil and filters to service all three jeeps today. I put a filter on the project's 401, filled it up and primed it with my primer tool and drill. The good news, I have oil pressure. The bad news, I never installed an oil pressure sending unit so I pumped a quart of oil on my garage floor. Duh! That's what I get for trying to rush things. I capped the sender hole and ran the priming tool for a bit to get that oil circulating. I'll have to pickup a sending unit this weekend.
 
#407 ·
Back in the game! I hit the trail today in my 79' and got all motivated again! I was the only CJ out of 23 Jeeps on the run. Had to get winched once but I had a blast.

My contour fan setup kept the 401 between 165* and 185* all day and my Edelbrock carb only stalled once when I was nearly vertical. Aside from a linkage adjustment on my transfer case everything held together well and I managed not to roll it.

It's been a long and rough couple of months but today is just what I needed!

Now back to the project...
 

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#408 ·
That looks like a blast! Nice being the only CJ there. Bet you had some compliments, the Jeep looks good dude. I am 15% into the reassembly and I am jealous of all you guys that are driving yours!
 
#409 ·
This is what happens when you run old/dry tires on the rocks. Time for some new ones.

My home made para cord can strap kept my gas and water cans in place.
 

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#410 ·
I mounted up the dual contour fan and new aluminum 3 row radiator today. I also repurposed some old child gate hardware to make two rubber hood spacers. I think the next thing I buy for the project will be a dash panel. Here's a few pics
 

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#412 ·
Installed some hoses and belts today. I also disassembled the heater box. I'll just go over everything and clean it up a bit, not gonna go crazy painting everything. What's the best way to test the heater core for leaks? There was some peeking paint inside the box below the core so I don't want to reinstall a possibly leaking one. No chunks of crud or rust flowed out when I flushed it with the hose.
 

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#416 ·
Man! That is coming along nicely! I've been following you from the get-go. I know how it feels to get those bursts of motivation! I've got a '77 in the middle of a full resto that I am just now getting re-motivated to finish...and it's all because of this thread! :cool: Keep up the good/quality work!
 
#417 ·
Crisco87 said:
Man! That is coming along nicely! I've been following you from the get-go. I know how it feels to get those bursts of motivation! I've got a '77 in the middle of a full resto that I am just now getting re-motivated to finish...and it's all because of this thread! :cool: Keep up the good/quality work!
Thank you! Do you have a build thread for yours? It feels good to work on my Jeeps again. Life has been rough the last few months and these jeeps help keep me sane! There's something very gratifying about taking something old and dirty and building it up like new.

My Flowmaster Super 44's should be here sometime this week too. One for each CJ7. I have a cheap thrush performance muffler on my 79' and it sounds OK at idle but chokes it down when I step on the gas. I figure the flowmasters will open up the exhaust a bit and allow it to breathe better.

Thanks again for following!
 
#420 ·
Jim1611 said:
This is all looking great!
Thanks Jim, I have to catch up on your build too! Here's the heater box installed. Instead of trying to source the seals I opened up the holes and used a couple of grommets for the heater tubes and drain tubes where they pass through the firewall. It's a very tight fit so I hope it seals well. The seal for the heater motor was trimmed and the portion with the large hole was reused.
 

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#423 ·
Hooked up the heater hoses today, seems that the Flowkooler pump outlet is 3/4 instead of 5/8 hose like the factory pump so I made two trips to the store. I used a 3/4 - 5/8 adapter for the line that connects the water pump to the 5/8 heater core line. The factory hose fitting that goes into the back of the intake manifold didn't clear the firewall either and no local parts stores had it so I looked through my bucket of old fittings and found a 90* adapter to put in the intake. Then I connected the factory fitting to that and it just barely cleared. Hopefully it won't leak.

My hood got blown over a few times when I had my garage doors open the other day and the last time it fell it dented and creased the hood at the front so I'll have some body work to do on it.
 

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#424 ·
On picture number 3 it seems that the hose might be too tight to the heater core nipple. Meaning, over time, with engine torquing the heater core nipple might crack at the core. Just a thought...I may be way off ... but I hate replacing heater cores...

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/d...-knows-what-1276692/index16.html#post14924453

In photo number 3 of my post you can see how I routed my hose in front of the valve cover then a straight shot back to the heater core. So, there is no torquing on the heater core nipple...

Again, just a thought ...

Also, my stock water pump is the same 3/4 to 5/8 heater core, and I used a reducer too. A brass fitting would be better than plastic if you can find one.

Now time to go and read your thread here...

SC
 
#425 ·
WOW! Nice engine bay, very clean! Thanks for the tip, I don't think the rubber line I'm using can make such a sharp turn without collapsing though. I tried to run it as short as I could without kinking. I will replace the intake fitting if I can find the correct part locally in the next few days.
 
#426 ·
I found the correct heater hose connector and put that in today. I also started on a new cover for the air vent inlet to match the one I made for the hood. I still need to drill mounting holes and paint it but you get the idea.
 

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#427 ·
I finished the vent cover and installed it. I also stripped, painted and installed the rest of the driver's seat frame.

I started to tear down the steering column and I couldn't get the steering wheel off so I moved onto the windshield frame. I found a few spots (under the drivers wiper pivot and the top rail) that will need to be repaired. The majority of the rust is in the passenger side under the bracket.

The driver side wiper pivot has some damage, I hope they sell them separately because the rest of the system is good to go.

Just doing little stuff until I hear back from a media blaster with a quote to finish stripping my hood, roll cage and windshield frame. I'm anxious to get those final big parts painted and installed.
 

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#430 ·
motiv8ya said:
I couldn't resist even though I know I have to pull them back out to install the cage and dash!
Nice! But you may end up having to use after market seat brackets, I used corbeau because the original jeep brackets set too high and I couldn't get my leg between the steering wheel and seat. They worked so much better with that style of seat.
 
#431 ·
twinstickd20 said:
Nice! But you may end up having to use after market seat brackets, I used corbeau because the original jeep brackets set too high and I couldn't get my leg between the steering wheel and seat. They worked so much better with that style of seat.
I hope not, the high point of the front of my seats in my 79' measure 14" from the floor. These are 15.5". How much were the corbeau brackets just incase?
 
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