Build Thread '85 CJ7 Renegade refresh of sorts

[venom]

This first post is going to be a long one. I've been documenting my refresh in other locations, and thought it would be appropriate to put it here since I've been using the knowledge of you fine folks, you might as well see the progress. The first few posts will get me caught up to where I am today, and I'll try to keep things up to date as I progress.

I'm up for questions, suggestions, and comments. Now, let's get this party started...

That's my 1985 Jeep CJ7 Renegade. It was my first "car", and I've probably (definitely) done more harm than good through the years. Now it's time to fix that.

It's in the garage, and I'm currently going through the wiring. Rodents had attacked it, and I've got a good bit to work through. Fortunately, removing the computer and swapping the carb allows me to remove a LOT of the wiring. There are some other things I'll need to fix, but I think it's a doable project. Worst case scenario, I yank the whole thing out and start anew.

There's a whole list of things that will be done, but one step at a time, right? Get it running and driving and continue the fixes and upgrades. Here's a few pictures of it before the work started, the damage done, and where I got to the first night after pulling it into the garage.

 

[venom]

Just saw this was approved. Gonna get caught up to date in the next couple posts:

Feeling encouraged...

I’ve been spending the last few evenings working on the Jeep. I’ve been pulling out no longer necessary wiring, tracing down and labeling other wiring, and re-connecting what needs to be connected. It’s been encouraging to find that a lot of the vitals are still in place and intact, and to be able to trace and identify the vast majority of the rest of the wiring.

At this point I believe I only have 2 or 3 wires left that I want to label, and I still need to re-wire the temperature sending unit, and it has be encouraged. It was trying from time to time, but so far I’ve persevered. Once I get the last bit done, I’ll have to order some loom and finish the tidy up, but it really should help clean the engine compartment nicely.

Now, keep in mind that this is just the under hood stuff that I’m getting close to completing. I still have the lights that need to be re-wired, there’s also short in the drivers taillight that causes it to go out when in reverse, the interior is waiting, and I’ll need to start looking at the other circuits. Check out the additional circuits planning page for some of the stuff I’m looking at adding.

I have to keep telling myself, “one step at a time”, as I have a tendency to move from one thing to the next and then get overwhelmed when I have so many ongoing projects and it appears as though noting is getting done. That’s simply not the case, and is definitely no reason to give up.

I’ll likely finish the under hood wiring today or tomorrow, but I won’t wrap it up (loom/etc) until I verify it’s running well and I don’t need to do anything else directly to the wiring. That will come after I get a new battery, and change all the fluids in the motor. The fluids will actually probably fall after I complete the under hood stuff and re-wire the front turn that I know is cut/eaten.

One step at a time…

The box of wiring that's been pulled...

 

[venom]

One Step Forward...

There’s a saying that goes, “one step forward, two steps back”, and it seems like that might be what’s going on with the wiring. I’m still almost done under the hood. I need to get some wire and connectors so I can complete the temperature sending unit connection, which I hope to have done this evening. I also need to double check the heater fan wiring. I was doing some additional checks and it doesn’t come on. It’s also possible that it’s simply toast.

Speaking of the additional checks. it looks like my headlight switch is gone. The parking lights come on, but the headlights no longer come on. I didn’t mess with that wiring, so it is indicative of a bad switch. What’s further indicative of a bad switch is that my dash lights don’t come on either. I’m really hoping that the switch will fix those problems, or at least some of them. It also looks like my flashers and relays are in bad shape, too. They’ll follow directly behind the switch replacement. It seems as though my high beam / low beam selector might be okay, but if the headlight replacement doesn’t fix the main issues it’ll be on the replacement list, too.

I hope to get the passenger front turn signal fixed today or tomorrow, and the oil changed by Sunday. The idea will be to get it started and moved out to do some cleaning and power washing. There’s just a lot of dirt and grime that needs to go away so I can keep finding and fixing problems. Good times!

 

[venom]

It Lives!!!

An oil change and some coaxing the gas out of the tank and she fired up and purred. I won’t call it a kitten, but it idles and runs!

After digging through the wiring, getting confused over and over again, and a good bit of research, the jeep stared and ran again today. This might not seem like a big deal, but considering just how much wiring I removed and disconnected it’s definitely a feat for me. I’m not out of the woods yet, I still have to wire the temperature sending unit, I’m waiting on some wiring that should be here tomorrow, and then on to the lights. One step at a time. After the lights, it will probably be a break from wiring to move on to some mechanics for a while, and then back to the interior (dash) wiring, and auxiliary circuits.

You’ll notice all the wires still sitting looks, for the most part, and that’s because I want to knock out the vitals before I finish wrapping and looming them. I don’t think it’ll be necessary to wait until the aux circuits are in, so I’ll probably get it done when I’m through with the lights.

All in all, today is a good day…

And video goodness:

 

[venom]

Another good day…

Yesterday was yet another good day. I received some consumables I was waiting on, and it allowed me to finish wiring up the temperature sending unit. That means that with the exception of actually tying and looming the wiring, the under hood stuff is done. The plan is to wait until I am done with all the wiring (within reason) before I close it in. You never know what might change.

I have since moved onto the other vital circuits (main lights, horn, etc.) and am slowly going through them. The dimmer switch was causing issues, and has been replaced. The horn needs a new relay, which is on order. I have at least one light that needs to be rewired, and there are plenty of bulbs out. I also believe there’s a short in my drives side backup light. All will be addressed in due course.

Once I have the vitals done, I’ll move under the dash. Initial checks (after I replaced the dimmer) look positive. I know there are some bulbs out, but I can say that some lights work and the gauges appear to be working as expected as well. That’s all good news, but I’m sure I’ll have some hurdles to overcome as well. After that’s squared away I’ll be looking into the auxiliary circuits (additional lights, etc.).

I’d be remiss to not mention that it won’t all be electrical. I’ve got the jeep fired up, and will be going through the vitals there (steering, brakes, fluids, etc.) as well. The more exciting stuff will be down the road, but it all has to get done.

All in all, I’m happy about the build so far, and pretty excited to boot.

 

[venom]

And let there be light...

It's been a long and trying weekend, but I'm significantly closer to where I need to be. To start off, I was able to yank all of the lights out and started one by one working through the lights. The first order of business what to wiring up the light that had been eaten. I soldered and used heat shrink on the splice for the wince lights, and added waterproof connectors. I'm pleased with how they came out, even though I'll have to re-do them. More on that later.

After getting everything up front laid out, I started plugging things in and that's when the fun began. The drives side appeared to work correctly, but the passenger side was acting funny in all kinds of ways. The lights would just come on randomly with no consistency. I kept tracing the wires and not coming up with anything, even though everything seemed to be correct. That was, ultimately, correct. That's of little comfort after having spent literally hours trying to figure it out. I ended up calling it quits before I really broke something.

When I went back to it this morning, fresh, I started isolating the power connections and running one at a time. I ended up finding that while the housings showed grounded when I put my multi-meter on them, when hot was applied, I lost both ground and subsequently voltage. I took a shot and ran a temporary ground and wallah, the lights started working. A single solitary ground had me running around lost. Such is life I guess. With that knowledge, I was able to button up the front with one issue left up front. My passenger grill signal light turn doesn't work. It's actually a socket issue, and not wiring, so I'm leaving it as is until I can buy a new housing. I'll actually be buying the pair so I can have nice clear lenses on both sides. Regardless, the front harness is in good shape for now. This is where I'm going to have to re-do the connections I mentioned previously.

That allowed me to move on to the back. I had a short in the drivers side lamp, and the passenger side was acting unpredictably, so I had pulled them both out. Fortunately the passenger side appears to have been due to the issues from the front. I plugged the housing back in, and my initial tests revealed good connectivity. Marker, turn, and backup lights all worked. I then moved on to the passenger side. This housing was missing the connector, and had simple bullet type connectors plugged into the harness. Rather than cut the harness, I decided to do my testing with the connectors. I found the harness had parts of the old connector broken off in it, which was likely my issue. I fixed that, plugged everything in as it should be, and again my tests passed. I won't be leaving it like this. I'm going to buy a new light with the correct connector so it's done right. I could replace the connector on both ends, but don't want to chop off the connector and have it different between the two sides.

This is where my next hurdle came in. I don't have brake lights, and my flashers don't work in the rear. I'm not sure what the issue there is, but I'm relatively certain that when I figure out the brake lights that the flashers will be resolved at the same time. We shall see. And that is my next order of business. Figure out the brake and rear hazard issue.

Once I have that working, I'll be moving on to the dash. Hopefully that's not too chewed up. An uber positive thing to note is my wife is encouraged and excited for our first excursion. It's not going to happen too soon, obviously, but everything I get done gets me one step closer.

And now the obligatory pictures...

 

[venom]

And just like that...

The brake lights and flashers and are working…kinda ��

I hit up the forums and was pointed in the right direction. It looks like my turn signal switch is due for replacement. A little wiggle here, a little wiggle there, and the lights all work. And on the replace list it goes. At least I know what it is and what needs to be done to fix it.

 

[venom]

I love it when things work out...

A couple more quick updates….

First, I’ve ordered the new front turn signals and they have apparently shipped. That’ll get the front completed, and give me nice clear lenses on both sides. WooHoo! Sure, I’ve got to rework the wiring and tie those in with the winch signals, but the hard work is done so it shouldn’t take long.

The guys on the forum suggested that a good cleaning and simply working the turn signals should resolve my brake / rear flasher issues for good. That means I can spend the turn signal switch money on something else. We’ll see. I’ll be doing that in short order so I should know soon enough.

I think I’ve also decided that I’m going to simply replace the connector on the drivers tail light. I just can’t see spending money on a new light when I have waterproof plugs on hand, and I don’t think I’ll ever sell the Jeep. Not to mention, that wouldn’t be the first missing plug on the jeep, either. Time will tell, though. I’m not going to do anything right this minute as there is still plenty of work left to do.

The next things on the menu are to get it back out of the garage so I can power wash it. I’m not sure if that will happen before this weekend, but you never know. I’ll be digging into the dash to make sure all the lights there work as expected. Really that encompasses the back lighting, the parking brake light, and the 4×4 light. At least, I think that’s all. I’m also going to look in my spare parts bin to see if I can find my daughters old stereo. The one that was in the dash is dead, and if I remember correctly hers worked when we swapped it for a more modern unit.

So far things seem to be working out…

 

[venom]

Had an eventful day...

Today was an eventful day. I was able to get the dash all sorted. From the dash lights to the 4x4 and emergency brake idiot lights, they all light up when they should. I'm stoked. Of course, I still have to tie and loom everything. That par for the course with all the wiring so far.

I took it one step further and started wiring and mocking up my daughters old stereo. It's old, but it works and has 2 camera inputs for front and rear cameras. That should give me everything I need for music and approach and departure help beyond my spotter. It also angles toward and away from the driver for ease of viewing. A bonus here is that it, too, is wired correctly and comes on when I flip the key to accessory. That's something I've not had in a long time with this rig. More naieve stupidity on my behalf.

I'm not sure how much more wiring I'm going to be doing before I get into some less electrifying :smile: aspects of the build. I'm going to move it out and wash it as soon as I have the opportunity.

And pictures...

 

[venom]

Closing that chapter...

The new grill mounted parking/turn lights came in yesterday, and before and after running my son to do some fundraising for the swim team at the football game I was able to pull the old lights, wire up the new lights, and re-install everything. The wiring is ultimately the same as it was before, so there are no pictures of that, but I did get some before and after pictures and the difference is like night and day.

After I finished that up, I did a temporary fix on my hatch lock that may or may not become permanent. It really depends on how well it works. Basically, the cable that goes into the hatch lock mechanism that turns to open it, wasn't attached. I'm not sure what should attach it, but it's not a through bolt. I took a .22 casing, shaved it down, and somehow got it in place. It works so far, but I just don't have warm and fuzzy feelings about it.

The seats are back in, so today will have me power washing it, and giving my daughter her first lesson in driving a manual transmission. If she can drive this, she'll be able to drive anything :smile:

Before:

Comparison:

After:

 

[venom]

Ups and downs...

Today was a pretty good day. Got up this morning and my daughter and I did some power washing of the under carriage. After that we went through and flushed and bled the brakes so we could start with the education. It was time to give her some insight into the ways of the stick shift.

I’d be remiss if I were to pretend we don’t have a long way to go ��. She started out and let out on the clutch and took off, no problem at all. Twice in a row at that. The squeals of delight and ear to ear smiles were priceless. She's got a long way to go, but we spent about 2 hours laughing at the starts, stops, stalls, clutch popping, and bucking. Just like with any of the other journeys we've taken, it's all about building those lasting memories

All was not fun and games, unfortunately. I did find that my radiator is leaking, so another repair to go on the list. We've got a few months to work through the driving lessons, the repairs, and the upgrades. Plenty of time, hopefully.

 

[venom]

Cleanup continues...

Yesterday was a relatively light day. I added loom to the engine bay to pretty much finalize the under hood wiring project. It's a whole lot less than what was there before, and it definitely cleans it up. I need to find some way to attach the loom to the firewall and fender liners, but this is pretty much the way it's been since I bought it, so it'll come after some other more important fixes and upgrades.

I also started some fabrication of a rear electronic panel. It's going to sit on the passenger fender and will house a negative bus, part of the stereo, two fuse panels (one keyed and one not), and a couple of charging sockets for the rear. I don't have any pictures of that because right now it's just a piece of plywood that I keep laying things on :smile:.

As part of the stereo layout, I started looking at mounting options for the rear speakers, which will actually be on the roll bar. I've got a good idea of what I'm going to do. More on that later, when I actually get close to it.

Here's the current state of the engine bay:

 

[venom]

Clunk...clunk, clunk...Huh?

While continuing the driving lessons with my daughter, I started hearing some weird noises, feeling some strange vibrations. I say started, but that's not actually accurate. It's happened before, but I never really paid it much attention.

Ultimately if I'm driving and I have my RPMs at the higher end of the spectrum for the gear (not over revving by any means) and I go to stop, when I push in the clutch I get a series of clunks and what feels like the transmission / motor torquing. It happens like 3 or 4 times in as many seconds. In my mind, I see the motor torquing counter clockwise each time it does it. The closest thing that comes to mind that I've experienced that's anything like it is the overrun clutch on my tractor.

I looked at the motor mounts, and as far as I could tell they looked good. Apparently that was an incorrect assessment. I took some pictures and those with far more knowledge than me said that the motor is far too close to the firewall. Not only that, but the torque arm bushings look like they're toast to me. All in all, I'll be replacing the motor mounts, transmission mount, and torque arm bushings with the "bulletproof" offerings from M.O.R.E. Now I just need to find the money :-D

 

[venom]

And that has us pretty much up to date. The only things to add are that I did order the motor and transmission mounts, the torque arm bushings (and a new torque arm bolt thing just to be safe), and the bellcrank bushings. I also got the correct battery hold down to replace the old nylon strap that I stuck on there years ago, that only ever half worked.

I'll be spraying penetrating oil on all the mount bolts in preparation for the replacements. Good times!

 

[gert]

very cool I am going to look forward to following this thread, I especially like that you are teaching your daughter to drive very cool.

 

[venom]

Thanks, Gert. She's up first, and then my son. He literally just asked this morning on the way to school. So, he'll be the 3rd to learn to drive a manual on this old CJ. It's funny just how attached you can get to something like a vehicle.

 

[shum8]

..... It's funny just how attached you can get to something like a vehicle.

These things also get in your blood - got my first one in 1984 (used), and haven't been able to shake the addiction yet. I've given up, actually.

You'll have to have em draw numbers to see who gets it after you....

 

[venom]

These things also get in your blood - got my first one in 1984 (used), and haven't been able to shake the addiction yet. I've given up, actually.

You'll have to have em draw numbers to see who gets it after you....

Believe it or not, this was my first car. I went in on it with my dad when I was 12ish with money I earned from odd jobs (lawn mowing and the like), with the expectation I'd get it when I was 16. In that 4 year span, it was totaled and rebuilt, Thanks dad . It was originally Red. In any case, I proceeded to act like a dumb kid and tore it up, and now I'm paying for it.

It is definitely in the blood. My parents became Jeepers after we got this. My sister had a Grand Cherokee and wants another Jeep. Her oldest drives a Commander, as do my parents. My dad ran his grand cherokee into the ground, just over 500K before he decided he wouldn't spend anymore money on it.

I think we'll look into a Jeep for the boy's first car. My daughter already has a car, so she's sol I'm going to keep this until I can't drive it anymore, then I'll decide to draw numbers, or give it to a grandchild (assuming one comes along, it's still a little early for that.

 

[venom]

Now it's a party...

Parts are in. What you're looking at here are a new torque arm, torque arm bushings, polyurethane transmission mount, and M.O.R.E. bombproof motor mounts. This should, hopefully, resolve my clunking issues while upgrading the components so they will last a good bit longer than OEM replacements.

I started soaking the bolts in penetrating fluid when I made the order, so I hope that'll make it easier to get them out. Don't worry, I'm under no delusion. I know that this will likely be a pain in the butt. We'll know soon enough. I'm not sure if I'm going to start this evening, or first thing in the morning. Either way, I hope to have the lot done by the end of the day tomorrow. Again, we shall see...

 

[gert]

Sure is a party, those MORE parts are nice


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