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Bmann412's 1978 CJ7 Renegade Restoration

41K views 371 replies 33 participants last post by  Bmann412 
#1 ·
through the many hours spent searching on Craigslist for parts for my Tj build, I stumbled upon a new project. I guess one project vehicle is not enough. It is a 1978 CJ7 Renegade with the AMC 304 V8 and a 3 speed transmission. It also has the levi's interior package although its missing the original front seats. The Jeep has sat for a good bit of its life while the previous owners planed to restore it but never ended up getting around to actually starting. So the Jeep has only 40,000 miles.

Here are some pictures from the day I brought it home.

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The first thing that needed to be done besides cleaning out the Jeep was to fix the brake lines since one had a hole in it. I decide to replace them all so I want with the classic tubes stainless steel set and picked up a Yj booster and master cylinder to help improve braking. During this time I picked a set of cheap 31's off a friend so the jeep would be easier to move around. With the brakes repair I was able to finally test drive the Jeep! For not being driven much the jeep runs and drive pretty well. I drove the jeep up and down the street a few time before the fuel line burst. Turns out the fuel tank was pretty well rust inside. so removed it and the jeep sat over the winter while my frame and v8 swap in my Tj took place.

This about brings us to today I have been collecting parts here and there like a dash in better shape then my current on a 20 gallon poly tank which I might trade out for a 15 gallon later on. Now for the major piece to the puzzle. I picked up a Yj tub that is in very good condition and most of the metal work has been done. I was originally planning to repair the Cj tub but the more I look at it the worse it got. There are very few salvageable panels besides the front clip. I was never a big fan of fiber glass and I hear mixed reviews on the repli-tubs. I don't plan to offroad this Jeep, just something to cruise around in and take to local car shows and jeep events. I am looking to make it as close cosmetically to a Cj7 as possible and retain as many of the original parts as I can. At the end of the day it doesn't have to be concurs level just resemble an OEM Cj enough that the untrained eye cannot tell the difference.

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#2 ·
Been a while since I last updated on the CJ. I have mainly been working to get the whole jeep stripped down. It is very tedious labeling everything and put all the hardware in bags. Hopefully it is worth it when I reassemble everything. Now I have the tub off of the frame and it is pretty much ready to be sent to the scrap yard. I hate to do it but there is not enough salvageable on the tub for it to be worth anything. Pretty much every panel would have to be replaced. Next on my ever going list of things to do is pull the engine and get everything off of the frame. After looking at the frame closer it seems to be in worse shape then I had originally thought. I think I am going to buy a rust free frame from a guy I know that brings them up from down south. This way I will have a solid foundation to start with and not waste time and money trying to patch this frame. This jeep is almost turining into just a parts vehicle with all the stuff that will have to be replaced.

For anyone that has done a yj tub swap. What did you do about seat belts? My jeep came with lap belts and I am not sure how they would work in a yj tub. I am considering changing to a later roll bar and do the 3 point harness. However that would cause me to lose my roll bar and that would affect the appearance of my jeep since the 78 and earlier had the torx bolts down the side.
 

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#3 ·
With a little effort you can get a YJ tub so close to a CJ that only a knowledgeable eye can tell the difference.

I replaced my rotted out lap belts with -> lap belts.
Buy the quality made in USA Beams belts.
JC Whitney amongst others carries them and all the accessories you need.

Note also I just put a 3/8 pan head screw where the YJ roll bar mounted in the tub because I used a '76 top of wheel well roll bar.

 
#5 ·
Been a while since I have updated last. I have been making progress on the Jeep. I have it completely torn down at this point. I have been taking lots of pictures of locations of holes on the original tub as well as measuring and marking the YJ tub. It is kind of sad getting rid of the original tub. It was just too far gone to justify trying to save it. There wasn't a single panel that wouldn't have to be replaced. including the floors and all the body mount channels. As far as the frame goes I am leaning towards replacing. I have a line on a rust free frame for a good price. didn't realize the extent of the frame rust until the body was off. even though I am replacing the tub and frame I managed to save as many of the original parts off of this Jeep. It will never be numbers matching original but that's ok with me. I want to be able to drive it and enjoy it not just leave it in a garage collecting dust.

I start to strip the axles in preparation for sand blasting. haven't decide if I will remove ring and pinion before blasting or just clean extremely well after I get the axles back. Once I clean the garage up a bit and build a cart for the Tub I will begin prepping the tub. I have decide to go with the older YJ or later CJ roll bar and 3 point harness. I might still and the bolts down the side of the Jeep for ascetics only. Also deciding if I want to add a 2.5" lift or stock height. leaning toward the OME lift but its quite pricey. I want to run 31" AT's when its all done.

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#7 ·
*** Keeping uploading upside ***
Turn off your Ant-Gravity device, pics are hard to look at.

Nice project though and reminds me of mine. I did a Repli-tub and some minor upgrades but Jeep still retains that OEM look and feel that can't be beat. Your on the right track.

Teardown is time consuming, as you now know. Bagging and tagging is key to getting everything back in its place as well as taking as many pictures you can. In this digital world we live in, taking 100's of pictures to refer back to is one of the benefits than yesteryear's Polaroid era camera's.

Nice work.
 
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#9 ·
Hopefully i can get these pictures to come out the correct way. It's been awhile since I have last updated. I have been making some progress on the tub. First I started by recreating a movable stand that is a bit more sturdy with spare wood and moving carts I had laying around the house. To make working on the tub and storing it easier.

The first major project that I tackled was changing the defrost vent in the yj tub to the oval cut outs of the Cj's. How I went about this was I cut out pretty much the entire Channel from the old tub. I did this to retain more of the Cj dash mounting locations. By doing this I was also able to keep the Cj windshield bolt location using this method. Where others either convert to a yj windshield frame or drill and welded a nut in the Cj location. Once the channel was cut out of the yj tub, I tacked it into place and check to make sure it was level and the dash lined up. Once that was all verified I fully welded it into place and ground it as smooth as I could get it. I am by no means a professional welder. However I think it came out pretty good for being my first major body panel repair.


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#11 ·
Got some work done to the CJ in the past few weeks. I am still working on the YJ tub fixing the few trouble spots here and there. While trying to make it resemble a CJ as much as possible. After getting the CJ Channel welded on to the YJ tub I decided to tackle the passenger side front floor pan. The PO patched it in a few places. I decided to just pick up a replacement floor pan from 4wd to spare the headache of fixing it up. unfortunately I don't have many pictures from the process however its pretty straight forward. Cut the floor out. Cut the replacement to fit and weld it up. While the Passenger floor was out I figured it was a good time to replace the floor brace with a new one that the PO included with the tub.
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Still need to do some smoothing out of the welds and straightening the pinch seem. will also have to sand away primer later. just trying to prevent rust for the time being.
 
#12 ·
Made a little progress with the couple warmer days we have had. I am starting to get everything bolted and mocked up. Waiting on weld through primer to finish patching the few remaining spots.

I decide to start with the roll bar but that is proving to be more difficult then expected. I got the holes for the lower brackets drilled. However I am missing the hardware for it and several other bolts that had to be cut out when removing the bar from the old tub. Does any one know where to get button head torx bolts? Found a kit for the bolts along the tub but not the brackets I have pictured. Now I am debating filling in the holes I drilled and find a later model roll bar that will bolt in to the pre existing holes on the yj tub.

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#13 ·
Decided to keep the early style roll bar and ordered the hardware finish it. While I wait for the bolts to come in I decided to tackle the rear half of the Jeep. I started by getting all the brackets for the stock tire carrier mounted. There was little modification that needed to be done to get it setup on the yj tub. A total of 4 holes were drilled. 2 on the drivers side for the tire carrier latch. The other 2 holes we by each of the yj hinge mounts since the holes on the hinges we too far apart. With all the drilling out of the way I test fit the carrier and made sure its level. Automotive tire Vehicle Machine tool Motor vehicle Bumper

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Next up I plan to try and get the tailgate mounted and gas filler cut out and the rear half of the Cj should be done. With the exception of filling a couple holes.

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#14 ·
Been awhile since I have last updated. Work on the body has been slow. I was able to get the rear gas filler cut out of the tub and finished filling any holes that were not needed.
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Next I decided to tackle the front vin plate and one of the last remaining patches.unfortunately I didn't get many pictures of repairing the hole and driver side fender mount. After the fender mount was completed. I started grinding away the rust on the firewall and vin plate. I hit both the firewall and vin plate with weld through primer and filled the spot welds.

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Considering this is my first real project welding sheet metal I think I did alright. It makes me appreciate those who are good at body work.

All that is left is to drill out the remaining holes for the roll bars and fender flares. Fix the passenger side Jeep logo and test fit all major parts that attach to the body. Then I should be ready for body filler. I would really appreciate any feedback on this subject. This is something I have never done before and would like to learn. I figure it would cost to much to have a shop do this. So I plan to get as much as I can get done myself and have someone else do final details and paint.

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#17 ·
Little sick of cutting and welding so I decided to start drilling the holes for the roll bar. I have been dreading this for a while. Not because it's necessarily hard but tedious and lots and lots of measuring to ensure all the bolts will be lined up. I decided to keep the oem roll bar for two reasons. 1. My roll bar is in excellent shape and 2. I think this is one of the cool/ unique features of the early models of the Cj7/5. Not to often do I see Cj's with the roll bar bolts down the side. Most convert to a yj style or later Cj style.

Since I already had some of the lower brackets drilled to align the roll bar. I started by removing the roll bar and placing masking tape on the inside of the tub where the bolts will go through. I then reinstalled the roll bar and marked the holes. Then once again I removed the roll bar and measured and marked each hole at the half way point. I then used a ruler to connect each of the marks I just made. I then triple checked that each hole was the same distance from the floor. Once I was happy with that I went to each hole and found the center width wise and used a punch to mark the spot. With all of the holes marked and punched I placed painters tape on the outside of the tub to help identify and measure where the hole comes through. I drilled out each hole with a very small drill bit and used a square to make sure each hole was in line with one another and they are the same distance from the top of the tub.

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This is as far as I got tonight. I will double check either tomorrow or this weekend and drill the holes to their final size. Then mark the remaining holes that mount to the bottom of the tub.

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#18 ·
Finished up the roll bar install. Obviously this will all come back out when it's time to Bed line the floor and paint the rest of the Jeep.

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Since I ran out of gas for the welder and the shop close to me has weird weekend hours and closes before I get home from work during the week. I decided to start to work on cleaning up some other parts. Right now I disassembled the heater box and cleaned cleaned out the mouses nest. I will have to get pictures tomorrow. I scuffed up most of the pieces in preparation for paint. Now I just need to pick up some foam to replace the worn out pieces, a heater core and blower motor out of a later yj.

I am trying to get everything that mounts directly to the tub done or atleast mounted before I start any kind of body work. I am trying my best to not have to drill any additional holes after it has been painted.

When the weather warms up alittle more I will bring the axles up to clean and replace the usual wear items in preparation for when I pick up my frame. This way I can have a rolling chassis pretty quickly.

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#19 ·
Started testing fitting some of the parts that mount to firewall. So far everything is lining up like it was meant to be there. I Will hopefully pick up more gas for the welder this weekend and finish up the one body mount nut/cage I have to replace and fix the one Jeep logo on passenger side. I Have not got around to completing the rebuild on the heater box. Ran out of spray paint and still need to order the heater core and blazer blower motor.

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Garage buddy asleep on the job

My brother will be in town on spring break so the Cj will wait while we fix up his Tj. Maybe while he is home we will flip the tub to clean up the underside and paint.

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#20 ·
Man great work on the welding! Just picked up a YJ tub for my 1980 Laredo. Going the same route with changing it over, but mine was the change over year, so my rollbar mounts to the floor. I replaced the lap belts with the YJ 3 point belts which came with my YJ tub.
A question far out...what color you plan in painting the engine? I picked up a rebuilt 304 to replace my boat anchor, and was planning on going AMC blue (looks like teal to me).

Keep up the work!
 
#21 ·
Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions about the yj tub swap. I am no expert but I can atleast try answer to the best of my knowledge. I am still thinking about modifying the roll bar for 3 point harnesses. I went back and forth on whether or not to keep factory roll bar or convert to the yj one. For the engine I plan on painting it back to factory amc blue which does look teal. I will probably go with Eastwood's engine paint. So far all the build I have seen have used this and been happy. Do you have a build thread or plan on starting one? I would love to follow your progress since it's sounds very similar to what I am doing.

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#22 ·
I started to clean up the t150 and Dana 20 transmission and transfer case. Man was there a lot of grease/dirt build up from over the years. I got as much as I could off with a chisel and wire brush. Then soaked it down in degreaser. I will let it soak over night and pressure wash it after work tomorrow. Not sure if I am going to do a full rebuild of both or just clean up and replace gaskets any input would be appreciated. I go back and forth on the subject. Guess I will know when I open them up.

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#23 ·
Separated the transmission and transfer case. So far I have only had enough time to open up the transmission. It looks to be in very good shape. No chipped teeth or noticeable wear. I will probably just replace the gaskets and clean it up. Hopefully the transfer case will be in as good of shape.

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#24 ·
Finally after days of cleaning I got the transfer case presentable. I tore it completely down and replaced all gaskets and greased up all the bearings. Everything looked to be in great shape with minimal wear. This weekend I will connect the transfer case and transmission back together and add fluid.

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#25 ·
Finally got the transfer case and transmission all buttoned up. I filled them both with some fresh gl4 oil so they don't rust while they wait to be mated back with the engine.
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Next I will start tearing down the axles and either freshening them up or rebuilding. I won't know until I dig into them. I should hopefully be getting my frame either this week or in June. Trying to get a rolling chassis done. So I can finish welding on the tub and start the body work/paint process.

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#26 ·
Been awhile since I have last updated. I have been working on the CJ here and there, not as much as I would have liked. However, now that my brother's Tj is all put back together I should have a little more time to work on the CJ. Since my last update I have picked up a really nice frame off a 1980 CJ7 for $800. I have also picked up 2 reproduction fenders, an OEM tail gate (better shape then mine), bolt on front shock mounts (missing from my frame), Trans tunnel cover, and a set of OEM rocker trim in near perfect condition.



I now have both axles torn down and have the front axle sand blasted and painted with POR15 and Satin black as the top coat. Going to try and get the rear axle, transmission skid and misc brackets blasted this weekend or next. I have also removed the rear body mount brackets on the frame in preparation to relocate them. Just waiting for some extra hands to mock up the body on the frame. New goal is to have the frame Painted and both axles before the weather gets to cold. this way I can finish putting seals and brakes in the axles over the winter and start bolting components to the frame.






 
#27 ·
Got some work done on the Cj in the past few weeks. I was able to get all the mounts relocated on the frame to accept the yj tub. I will go more in depth on this later. I was also able to finish wire wheeling my rear axle and some smaller parts and getting them painted.

First I started by patching the rear most body mount holes to relocate them. I chose this method because I think it will end with a cleaner result then just widening the holes. I used a hole saw to drill them in the new location.





Now that I can bolt down all four corners. I marked and tacked in the other two mounts. I will finish weld once the body comes off again to paint the frame.



Lastly I started to rebuild the one captured nut that was missing when I bought the tub. I started by taking some 1/4" steel and cutting it to a square. I the drilled and tapped the hole to accept the body mount bolt. Next I made the piece that keeps the nut from spinning. This was pretty simple I used 18 gauge steel and cut it to fit the dimensions I needed. I then mark about about a centimeter up on both ends as a point to bend in order to raise the piece up that the nut could freely move side to side. I then marked and drilled a wide hole in the center of the metal to allow the bolt to protrude through. and



I plan to clean up and weld the piece tonight. I will cap off the hole in the floor once I get my internal frame paint from Eastwood. I would like to paint inside while I have easy access.

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#28 ·
As mentioned earlier I was able to get a lot of small parts wire wheeled and painted with por15 followed with a top coat of satin black. During this tedious process of cleaning and painting parts I took the time to replace the leaf spring perches on the rear axle since they had seen better days.






I hopefully should have more progress done in the next week or so when my seam sealer and internal frame coating come in. I am now at a race against the weather to get as many parts painted so i can make progress over the winter.

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#29 ·
Got the rear seat mocked up and holes drilled.



Flipped the tub over to finish welding and to paint the bottom of the tub. I found one more spot to patch and was able to get on of the holes cut to fish my tail gate brackets into place.




Not pictured is the final body mounts were finish welded. Not my prettiest welds but should be plenty strong. I plan to grind down the welds a little bit just to clean them up.

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