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Ken's 1985 CJ7 refurbishment thread

999K views 3K replies 267 participants last post by  John Strenk 
#1 · (Edited)


My intent is not to rebuild this CJ. I don't have the time, money, or patience for that. I want to drive my CJ.

But, like most CJs, this one needs work. While it generally looks OK and has a generally solid frame, it has some common problems.

Here's the thread I posted when I first found this Jeep. It has lots of photos and details:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/your-opinions-1985-cj-7-a-1036735/

Here's the thread I posted after buying her:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/just-drove-her-home-1985-cj-7-a-1039261/

So, this thread will catalog the work I on this CJ. I will attempt to post photos to keep it interesting.

This will not be a frame off restore. My intent is to fix and refurbish things as I go along, slowly improving the looks, performance, and reliability. I hope for this CJ to be a 50% daily diriver.

EDIT 4/19/2011: I have included an index to the major work I've done on this Jeep. Here's the page with the index:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/k...ment-thread-1040550/index45.html#post11394398
Ken B.

:cheers2:
 
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#78 ·
I picked up a box of Napa/Belden cables at lunch:



When I got home I applied tuneup grease to the plug ends of the cables, installed them, double-checked the numbering and order, and went to fire her up.

The engine turned over...

..but didn't fire up.

@#$@! I was frustrated. I *just* went though this earlier in the week. Not again!

Before starting the real troubleshooting, I decided to check the basics: wiring order, horseshoe connector on coil, coil connection to distributor, reseated all of the plug wires. Nothing helped.

I turned off the lights in the garage and went in for dinner.

After dinner I returned to the garage and checked the basics again. I rembered having problems with the horseshoe connector on the coil in the past; the metal clips would sometimes come unseated. I pulled the connector and checked it.

Bingo.

The green wire was loose. Very disappointing for a new part. I pushed it back in place, reinstalled the horseshoe, then pulled it and examined it again to see if the green wire stayed in. It did.

I hopped back in the driver's seat, fired her up, and the engine came to life. After giving it a couple of minutes of QA, I drove it for about 4 miles.

What differences did I notice? I noticed several slight differences. The main difference was that it has a bit more pep. It runs a bit quieter. The exhaust is a tiny bit cleaner smelling.

The other thing I noticed, and this seems odd, is that when I shift gears, or I'm moving in 3rd or 4th gear and then shift into neutral and left off the throttle, the engine quiets down immediately. In other words, as soon as the load is disengaged from the engine and it slows down, it does so quickly and is then quiet. I may be reading too much into this. I don't know what would cause this, or if it's just in my head.

But, in general, the engine seems a bit more energetic. It doesn't seem to want to turn any faster than it did before, but the RPM range it is comfortable in seems a bit more peppy. I can live with that.

Tomorrow I will change the oil and change the fluid in the T5. The T5 will be a challenge because even with the hose I got that connects to the trans fluid jug, I don't know how easy it'll be getting the new fluid in the fill hole.
 
#80 ·
Thanks. I was a relief when it fired up.

I also failed to mention that the Team Rush Upgrade also made the paint more shiny, the lift taller, and it eliminated all of the rattles from the whole CJ.

Just kidding.. :cheers:
 
#81 ·
Ken,

After working on my buddies CJ-7 and practically rebuilding the motor and doing the carb work the biggest thing that helped improve the performance was adding several additional grounds. We noticed a huge difference. If you haven't done so I'd recommend it. I don't know if they did much different between the '81's and '85's.
 
#82 ·
Today I set out to change the oil and the transmission fluid. I tackled the trans first. Draining the transmission fluid was fairly simple.

Getting the new fluid in was a big challenge. I didn't have a fluid transfer pump but I did have a 12" plastic tube that screwed onto the top of the gallon jug of GL4 gear oil. The problem was that I couldn't elevate the jug above the level of the fill hole. That problem was solved by pulling off the transfer case boot and feeding the fill tube though the hole where the boot was and down to the fill hole on the transmission. Sounds simple, right? There were 2 problems. First, the nozzle on the end of the fill tube kept slipping out of the fill hole. Second, there was no easy way to get air into the oil jug, and the oil would stop flowing.

By this time I had gear oil all over me, my arms, the garage floor, and a few spots in the cab, but hadn't put any substantial amount into the trans.

I decided to put that on hold and change the engine oil and filter. I knew I could do that easily. That was done in 15 minutes with no surprises.

Back to the trans: Instead of attaching the plastic fill hose directly to the gear oil jug, I decided to use it as as funnel. I also removed the plastic tip from the hose so I could feed the hose several inches into the transmission. That would help keep it from slipping out. Working from above, I could see the hose entering the fill hole so I would know when the transmission was full.

This worked. In about 10 minutes I was able to get the oil into the trans. I started with a gallon of oil and was able to get about 3/4 of it in. I did end up with about a cup of spilled oil.

Cleaning up after the engine and transmission oil changes took another 15 minutes or so, but I was glad to have it done.

The old engine oil was dark. It must have had at least 8,000 miles on it. The old transmission oil looked great: like honey.

For engine oil I went with JeepHammer's reccomendation: Shell Rotella T, 15W40. This stuff isn't any more expensive than the usual kinds. I was only able
to find it in gallon jugs, but I needed 5 quarts, not 4. So I had to buy 2 jugs and had about 3 quarts left over for next time.

For the T-5 transmission, I used 85w90 gear oil meeting the GL4 standard, part number SL24239. This is supposed to be compatible with the brass synchro rings. The PO had used 30 weight motor oil in the engine, which isn't unheard of.

Here are few images to make this post more interesting:

T-5 drain and fill holes:







 
#87 ·
Since I've had this CJ, the rearview mirror has been a problem. It's mounted to a piece of sheetmetal that allows the whole thing to vibrate when I'm driving. It's basically unuseable and I've been meaning to fix it.

After looking at replacement mirrors for an '85 in different places, I have no idea which mirror it originally had. After taking apart the PO's rig and examining the mounting holes, now I really have no idea about what the original factory mirror looked like.

Would the original mirror have been mounted on the windshield?

Can anyone shed any light on what it should look like?

Here's the PO's rig:



Here's my improved, but still temporary, rig. It should prevent or reduce the shaking problem:



I tried screwing the mirror directly to a mounting hole, but the angle was wrong and I couldn't see out the back, even after adjusting the swivels on the mirror. So I still had to use a bracket that would allow the mirror to be angled up slightly.
 
#89 ·
Since I got the Jeep, I had been seeing an assumulation of rust flakes under the back side driver's seat. I kept cleaning them up but they kept reappearing. I finally stuck my head under the seat to see the deal, and saw that two of the main strauctural pieces of the seat were as rusty as a junkyard Willys. I left the seat in the Jeep, wire brushed the areas I could reach, vaccumed them, cleaned them, and hit them with some Eastwood rust converter.

Yesterday while working on the trans and engine oil changes, I noticed a dime-sized hole in the small pipe that comes off the main exhaust pipe This small pipe is about 8 inches long and is terminated with a crimp. maybe it's used for California emissions? Anyhow, it had been spraying exhaust on the side of the oil pan for long enough that I was able to flake off some pieces of black soot from the side of the pan.

I sanded the pipe, cleaned it with pain thinner, dried it, and then applied two layers of exhaust tape that I happened to have. Clearly this is not a permanent fix but perhaps it will buy some time and clean up the emissions a bit too. Will post pics later.

Back to the spare tire mount: I was unhappy with the latch mechanism of the spare tire mount. I hurried to paint it which resulted in a large drip and a side that was left mostly unpainted. This morning I removed it, stripped it almost bare with orange stripper and it's now sitting with a second coat of orange stripper. Hopefully the second attempt will be be a better quality job.
 
#92 ·
Today I got one small item conquered: I got the turn signals all working and flashing at a reasonable speed (not too fast) and I got the hazzard lights working.

For the turn signals I did this:

1) Replaced all the bulbs, including the Sylvania #158 "side marker" lamps in the tail lights.
2) Cleaned the wiring harness connections to the tail lights by dremeling the insides of the female pins and the outsides of the male pins and then using dielectric grease. The insides of the tail lights were already clean.
3) Refinished the inside of the front right turn signal. It looked like it had been full of water.
4) Replaced the flasher 'relay' (round, silver) with an identical #552 flasher unit.

For the hazard lights, I'm sure the above steps were necessary and I also installed a #552 flasher unit into the correct place on the fuse panel; there wasn't already one in the socket.
 
#93 ·
Today I got one small item conquered: I got the turn signals all working and flashing at a reasonable speed (not too fast) and I got the hazzard lights working.

For the turn signals I did this:

1) Replaced all the bulbs, including the Sylvania #158 "side marker" lamps in the tail lights.
2) Cleaned the wiring harness connections to the tail lights by dremeling the insides of the female pins and the outsides of the male pins and then using dielectric grease. The insides of the tail lights were already clean.
3) Refinished the inside of the front right turn signal. It looked like it had been full of water.
4) Replaced the flasher 'relay' (round, silver) with an identical #552 flasher unit.

For the hazard lights, I'm sure the above steps were necessary and I also installed a #552 flasher unit into the correct place on the fuse panel; there wasn't already one in the socket.
Thanks, Ken. this may help me too. Mine don't work at all! :D
 
#94 ·
Here's a shot of the exhaust hole before patching it:



Here's the tire carrier latch after stripping and cleaning:



I repainted it today and it should be ready tomorrow. That's a good thing because I used a tie wrap to hold the tire carrier closed and it busted off while I was driving to the grocery store. Luckily I had a bungee cord with me and I used that to strap it down.

I have been meaning to post this next photo for a awhile. This is the bottom of the starter motor. You can clearly see a sticker saying "American...". I always wonder if this motor is somehow original to the Jeep, or was a rebuilt one that just happened to still have the American Motor sticker still on it. Also, you can see that the thing has been coated in what looks like black spray paint.



In other news, I tried turning the bolts holding up the gas tank. The rear-most bolts came loose prety easy. The ones toward the front of the tank took some real effort: The 18" breaker bar and some real muscle. I PB blasted them all again just in case.
 
#95 ·
Ken

every new post you make takes me back to when I got mine, it's amazing.

I had the same exahust tube problem, not sure what it went to orignally, but I folded it over twice, filled the tip with JB weld, and put a new clamp on- no problem.

as for your mirror, I'd gues that was someones attempt to move it up higher, as it should be mounted to the windshield? when I had mine replaced,I had them glue the mount back on higher than normal.

keep up the good work:thumbsup:

Hoss
 
#96 ·
I had the same exahust tube problem, not sure what it went to orignally, but I folded it over twice, filled the tip with JB weld, and put a new clamp on- no problem.
What kind of clamp did you use?

as for your mirror, I'd gues that was someones attempt to move it up higher, as it should be mounted to the windshield? when I had mine replaced,I had them glue the mount back on higher than normal.
My mirror bracket hack did not help much. The mirror still shakes too much. This morning I had the idea to increase the mass of the mirror by sticking something heavy to the back of it, but if the mirror is supposed to be attached to the glass then I should just get a new one and glue to the glass.
 
#98 ·
I got home today and the side mirror bushings were here. I've had problems with my side mirrors moving around and I stumbled upon the existence of both rubber and stainless steel bushings. I figured they might be the missing pieces that would help the mirrors stay put.

Here's how it looked when I bought the Jeep. Two of the washers are rubber:



A couple of weeks ago on the other side (other mirror), I replaced the rusty hardware with stainless steel parts and star washers, but it really didn't give me much of a stronger hold.

It took some work to get the new bushings to fit on the old mirror arms. I thought that squeezing the arms in the vice to make them round would work (they were squashed into ovals), but that didn't get me 100% of the way there.

I ended up rounding them in the vice, wire wheeling the ends, hitting them with a shot of silicone spray, and then hammering the bushings on.



Here's the finished product, complete with a view of the PO's silicone sealer and touch-up paint hack job:



So, it's a small step in the right direction and was a fun 45 minute project.

The next major project is getting a rebuilt BBD on the engine. That's going to take a while because it looks like I can't order a rebuild kit until I get the specific number (if available) off the carb headed my way.

In other news: My power steering pump was about 75% empty. I filled it with Valvoline "leak stop" power steering fluid. There is no shortage or products claiming to stop leaks in power steering systems, and this gave me the fluid plus the stopping feature. I have no idea if it will work. The steering box is in a hard-to-reach place and I haven't been able to figure out exactly where it's leaking. Most of the body of the thing is glazed over. The hoses (at least the parts I can see), look fine. So I'm not going to worry about it too much. I'll just keep checking the fluid level. At some point I'll clean the steering box and it'll either look good, or it'll help me pinpoint the leak location. At least one JF post says not to try to rebuild this assembly; it's not worth it.
 
#99 ·
I always joke with my wife about how the CJ is a "guy magnet" and if she wanted to get some attention she could take the CJ out for a drive. It would at least be a good opportunity for her to practice her manual transmission skills.

Anyhow, my neighbors have been interested in it too. My neighbor across the street is retired and about 70 years old. I was driving to work this morning and he was out walking and had a big smile on his face when he saw me driving down the street. I stopped and we had the expected conversation: how many miles on the odometer, what year was the CJ, where did I get it, etc.

This evening when I was working on the mirrors, my next door neighbor stopped by for a chat. He's a a jovial, pot bellied, middle-aged Asian family man originally from Hong Kong. He has 3 teenaged sons and they have a not so unusual collection of cars. He drives a motorcycle (no idea what kind) from time to time and I can always hear him fire it up. Anyhow, he has always been interested in the CJ so we've had many conversations about it. Tonight he stopped by after he saw me working on the mirrors. We talked for a while and he went on to say that in the Chinese culture my license plate had many lucky numbers. He went on to explain the meaning of some of the other numbers. He told me that he had talked to his wife about Jeeps and in a mocking, high pitched voice immitating his wife, he wagged his finger and said, "No, no, no!". If was pretty funny. He then asked me why I didn't buy a new Jeep and my first reply was, "I wanted an old one."

Last week I was talking to a co-worker about the CJ and he thought it was funny that I spent about half of what he spent on a brand new 4 wheeler. When I told him the CJ didn't have air conditioning he completely thought I was joking. I should have asked him if his $10,000 4 wheeler had AC.

 
#101 ·
I ordered a new rear view mirror. My 'fix' on the current one is not helping much. I did notice on the windshield, about where a mirror would mount, there is a small cluster of scratches in the glass. It almost looks like someone scrapped off the old mirror adhesive which would suggest the mirror was attached there at some point.

I also ordered a clutch fork boot because that seems like an area where we'd like to keep things out.

I have also noticed that if I close the back window then I rarely notice any exhaust smell. So that's good, except that I usually have the back window open because it makes for a breezier, cooler drive.
 
#104 ·
Every manual trans I've owned has basically been no maintenance until I got the CJ, and even then there's not much you can do other than changing the oil.

Short story: I bought a used VW Jetta about 3 years ago and took it to the only local independent VW shop in town and had them look it over. They warned me about the timing belt and water pump and how they are often changed at the same time ($$$), but when I told them it had a manual trans the mechanics basically said there was nothing they could or would do as long as it was driving and shifting OK.
 
#106 ·
Ask and ye shall receive. To be honest, I'm not 100% I didn't put the rubber piece on upside down...













Here you can see that the rubber is molded around the metal backing piece:





Bonus photo. Just arrived today:

 
#109 ·
Thanks for the confirmation I have it in backwards. The indentation on the rubber piece (from the tire carrier bar pressing into it) would also indicate that you guys are right. I'll fix that today.
 
#110 ·
On the way back from the auto parts store yesterday, I stopped by this shady looking muffler shop to get some prices. The guy (whose first language wasn't English) quoted me a total price of $225 for a Flowmaster (of unspecified model) and new pipe to the rear of the Jeep, labor included. I didn't get specifics on pipe diameter. He also tried to get me to buy a shiny tip for the end of the pipe which I refused. The shop looked fairly clean and had 2 lifts and a nice looking Miller welder, but was far less equipped than a high volume place like a chain muffler shop.

It's probably not a horrible deal, but I can get a Flowmaster Super 40 for under $100 which is less than his price of $120. I came home and did some JF research to get a better idea of what other people have done. It looks like getting a larger diameter pipe (2.5" instead of 2" or 2.125") has a better chance at making a better sound. I keep telling myself that the existing muffler and pipe are perfectly fine and I should spend the money on stuff that's already in bad shape (rust, brakes, no radio, etc). I have no interest in headers or necessarily getting the sound that a v8 would make, but it would be nice to have a bit more rumble from the 258 by putting on a Super 40. Help talk me out of the muffler upgrade for now!
 
#113 ·
I'm working on the BBD today. I started this thread to cover the questions and problems that come up.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/carter-bbd-rebuild-questions-1053544/

So far so good. I have the first batch of parts soaking now. One of the stepper motor pins is bent for some reason which seems odd, but I have 2 other carbs headed my way. By the time I'm done with this carb rebuild I will be well trained in rebuilding them.
 
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