Build Thread My 1982 cj build thread

[ttuseth]

I'd like to chronicle all the work, mods, and things in doing on my cj in a build thread.


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[ttuseth]

I'll start with my jeeping story

I always wanted a CJ7.... was never well off enough or able to buy one for most of my life.
Once I graduated college and got a real job I squirreled away some money in hopes of getting one.
I spoke with a few jeep shops and they convinced me that I should get a yj. They told me that for my intended use I wouldn't want a carbureted engine.

So in 2008 I bought myself a 1994 Sahara wrangler on ebay in Ohio. It had 244k miles on it and lots of rust. I used it often and the ride was horrible but overall it wasn't that bad.
About a year or so later I met and started dating my wife. Once things progressed with us she moved in with me.
Now we had 2 people in a 1950s built house in Houston with a 1 car garage and drive way with 4 cars!
My dd, my jeep, her car, and her company provided car.
Things needed to change so I sold my dd and my jeep.
But I did pool all that money for a future jeep purchase.

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[ttuseth]

2 years later I was working for an offshore drilling company that got bought out and I was offered a golden parachute. .. payout of my bonus and a 4 month severance package.
I didn't like the company or my job much so I jumped at the opportunity and found myself a much better job anyways.
My wife pointed out that I could go get another jeep (she is awesome)

Well I had a considerable amount of money so I stupidly looked newer. I bought myself a 2007 4 door soft top 6 speed wrangler (again off ebay).
Low miles great condition and for the price an absolute steal!
So excited the day it shows up only to find that. ... no 4wd!
Wtf!
All in all is not that big of a deal as I don't do any wheeling and use it for driving around town on the highway most of the time but I wasn't even aware that jeep would make such a thing.
I kept the 4 door for almost 3 years and was very happy with it but it was a spare vehicle not used often and slot of money too.

The pull of a cj was getting to me and I was constantly looking for one. Then in November 2014 I find a real beautiful CJ7 right here in Houston on ebay.
I contacted the seller and arranged to see and drive it.
The listing had barely any info

Turns out it was the guys son's car in high school and has since day in his covered lot for about 10 years.
Overall they were the 2nd owners and had it for 14 years.
The guys brother was a mechanic and got it back up and running so as to sell it.


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[PaRenegade]

A Wrangler is no more of a substitute for a Jeep than a Samurai would be. Sadly many think cause it has a jeep emblem on it it's the same! Glad you found what's considered a "real Jeep".
Looking forward to your build, as I'm partial to that year.

 

[ttuseth]

Now I needed help and time... I floated the idea by my wife...
Sell the 4 door jeep and buy a really old one.
Once I explained the reasoning and the fact that I could sell the 4 door for 15k and buy the old one for 6k, she came around to the idea.
I still needed a few things to work out for me.
1 I had to buy it
It was an eBay listing and I knew the guy was looking for 7500 but it was topping out around 5k. I won the initial auction but didn't meet the reserve so he relisted. The next 2 relistings on ebay all maxed out near or just over 5k. This works for my favor in trying to get it for less. I arrange to meet him and take another look at it on January 6th. I offer him 6200 and he says he will let me know.
I get a call a few days later and he accepts. He is going to be out of town til the end of the month. . Good for me because

I had to sell my 4 door. Took longer than I wanted and I got slightly less than what I wanted to get but this is my cj story so no need to get into that.

I sold it the day I went to pick up the cj.


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[ttuseth]

Picked it up February 3rd looking like this:
it had a big winch on the front and they threw in the stock front bumper.

 

[ttuseth]

So
It's a 1982 jeep CJ7 with 98k miles that runs very well and has sat for most of the last 10 years.

I was able to drive it around and get the feel for what needed work and what I wanted to do with it.

I will eventually take it offroad but won't be wheeling too much so one of the first things I did was take off and sell the winch.


Once that was gone I also cleaned up and put the stock front bumper back on it.
I also made quite a few other small adjustments like:
Changed the side view mirrors from chrome to black (needed to be changed neve of a broken mirror and spacers) also because I don't think it looks good with chrome, I like the blue with black accents.
Replaced the shifter to look stock along with new boots.



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[ttuseth]

I was very worried about the tires since it sat for so long. Then one day as I was about to head out on an errand it felt very awkward as I pulled away from the house.
Turns out the front tire split open from dry rot


Immediately went about trying to source replacements. Craigslist, ebay, etc etc

There is a chinese tire distribution place that I found 32 in mud tires brand new set for 400 in Houston. Got them mounted and balanced for 60. And now I'm feeling allot safer when driving.



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[ttuseth]

So I may not be going specifically in order for the things I've done but I'm only covering 7 months that I've had it.

I got 600 for the winch I sold and immediately turned that into parts and mods I'd like to do.
I went to morris4x4.com and got myself new shocks, shackles, a complete poly bushing set, some por 15 (beginner kit for some touch up on the frame).
As of today I have yet to install or do anything with those parts but plan on tackling it labor day weekend.
It's hard to find the time to be able to do all that (I have a toddler running around the house) so I'm restricted to his nap times on the weekends.
That and I know I'm taking it out of driving condition to do the mods and am afraid I'll get it apart and not back together!


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[ttuseth]

I did take off the spare and carrier a few weeks back. ..
The tire on it is dry rotted bad and I actually use the back often to transport my dog / bikes / hockey gear.


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[ttuseth]

Because I use my jeep to transport my bikes often I wanted to put on a back bumper with a hitch.
I could have bought what I wanted for 150 but I had the old front bumper with a receiver around so I found a weld shop in Houston that would modify it for me to bolt on the back.
Great jeep guy who has his 85 CJ7 in pieces in the back of his shop.

He made custom brackets to bolt to the rear crossmember and cut off an unneeded section of angle iron. He was about 1/4 in off center so the entire thing is about 1/2 inch off true center but everything lined up and bolted on no problem.

So here is my custom rear bumper




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[PaRenegade]

I would have kept that winch, it was a good one. But if you needed the money for parts and you said you won't be wheelin' it, then maybe that was a good idea.
You may know this but if not, don't sell or modify that dash pad or the softtop and doors. Blue is pretty rare anymore and no one makes anything in blue.
I almost ordered my Jeep in that blue but went with slate blue instead.

 

[ttuseth]

I would have kept that winch, it was a good one. But if you needed the money for parts and you said you won't be wheelin' it, then maybe that was a good idea.
You may know this but if not, don't sell or modify that dash pad or the softtop and doors. Blue is pretty rare anymore and no one makes anything in blue.
I almost ordered my Jeep in that blue but went with slate blue instead.

Yeah, I've got the original top and doors in the garage and they are in great condition.
I figured they must be original because you can't find anything like them for sale anywhere.


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[ttuseth]

One of the issues I've had with my jeep since I got it is cold starts. .. not the temperature cold but starting after it has been sitting for a week or so.
After reading ask about it I decided on the team rush ignition upgrade.
Using the write up by busadave and a similar one specific to the 258 engine I found on 4x4ham (found via Google search). I ordered the parts via rockauto.
Adapter
Cap
Wires
Rotor
Spark plugs
New coil

I elected not to do the ignition control module msd or streetfire, I may do the streetfire in the future.

I'm pretty sure this was the source of my problems. ... the spark plugs all looked like this


The upgrade is complete, except the new coil (count get the old one out).




it started up very easily and fast, I'll add more info after a give it a week or so


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[ttuseth]

I need to go on a little rant. .. I mistakenly bought spark plugs for a 1980 ford f150 (since that was the source for the adapter, rotor, cap, and wires). Once I figured out the issue I thought it would be easy to source replacements via a trip to O'Reilly auto parts.
Boy was I wrong, I was asking for plugs that met the stock criteria but wanted a larger gap (and wanted to purchase them that way instead of adjusting the gap).
This proved way to complicated for O'Reilly, auto zone, and an ac delco parts distribution place that are all close to each other.
After about and hour and a half of running between those places and asking I ended up buying double platinum plugs that were said to have a 36 gap and an adjustment tool.
Once out of the box they all showed to have a gap over 44 (less than 54) so I didn't even have to adjust them.


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[PaRenegade]

What brand was the blue cap they sent you? Mine is gray but blue would look better. Yeah yeah I know, what's it matter. It doesn't mechanically but my engine bay is a blue "theme" so it's purely aesthetics.

 

[ttuseth2]

What brand was the blue cap they sent you? Mine is gray but blue would look better. Yeah yeah I know, what's it matter. It doesn't mechanically but my engine bay is a blue "theme" so it's purely aesthetics.

Sorry for the delay in response. . My phone crapped out on me on Sunday.

It's standard motor products part number fd151 and through rock auto it's only 19.80

Your engine bay is very pretty!


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[ttuseth2]

So labor day weekend. .. finally enough time to tackle the new shocks, shackles, bushings I have had sitting around since April.
I started with the front
Here is before:




I ran into a problem with my stabilizer rubbing the sway bar. I started a new thread to get help. Ultimately I put in new hardware and I hope that the extra space of the shackles will provide clearance.


Got the front back together and it looks good but my shackles appear to be bending.


I will be contacting rough country to see if this is normal or if I need to replace them.

Here is the front after:




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[ttuseth2]

Out with the old:


Now on to the rear

No issues found like the rubbing in the front, but I did have to go out and get extra washers to space out the bolts and keep them from contacting the gas tank.




Here is the rear all buttoned up:





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[ttuseth2]

Things are looking good...




Now I need to come up with a plan on what to do next.
I have a few oil leaks but think that the fixes are beyond my means. I bought a full engine gasket set but will probably bring in a mechanic to do the job correctly.
I also have a fuel / starting issue that I will most likely start a thread to solve.
Once I get the oil leaks and fuel issue solved I think I will be okay with finally doing some wheeling!


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