PO did What?

[jzak]

So the PO did a pretty good job with aftermarket projects on my CJ5, except for one massive cluster F***!

He installed a Howell TBI unit on my 4.2l 258. Instead of removing all the old wiring and harnesses, he simply spliced in the new cables and tucked everything up against the fire wall. The result was a mass of wires and harnesses, most of them not connected to anything.

Out of complete frustration, I ripped out all the tubbing, and spend the next few hours running every wire to see if it was connected to anything. At the end of the day, I probably took out 25 feet of unneeded cable, and 8 harnesses. There's something very satisfying in actually knowing where every cable goes.

 

[Neuner]

Starting to think mine was a frame-off half-arse rebuild at some point in it's history. Not sure if it was that PO or another that was unorganized and has left every component on my CJ missing at least one bolt.

I've spent too much time trying to identify and find the correct size and length bolt for the bellhousing, tranny, transfer case, skid plate, dash, tire carrier, seats, etc.

 

[Hedgehog]

...... And it's frustrating to realize that there are actually only a few sizes you really need. ...... For some reason around here 7/16" are hard to come by, except for Copper State Nut & Bolt. For Drive train AMC (JEEP) seemed to love 7/16 hardware ... yep, some of it is fine thread and some of it isn't. 3/8" are easier to find and JEEP liked them as well. Got sick of going to ACE, sure they have a decent selection of bolts and sometime you HAVE to use them, a small hand full of nuts and bolts $35.00, WHAT! At Copper State a box full of grade 8 nuts and bolts, $10 or $15.

 

[Neuner]

Nailed it. Really starting to hate seeing that 7/16" size!! The local auto parts stores only have a few odd lengths left. Only place I know I can get it is at Fastenal but it's so far out of the way.

Thankfully I think I've gotten about all I need.

 

[caveman]

Do you guys have Tractor supply in your areas? They sell bolts by the pound and are pretty cheap. In our area we have an outlet called Mardens surplus. They also sell by the pound but are only in Maine.

 

[Hedgehog]

Mine has a very Limited supply, few grade 8's and NO fine threads. They are also more expensive than I expected them to be for such items.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

We have a Tractor Supply here that's one of the very best 'bolt-houses' that I have seen, outside of when I was work'n in aircraft assembly.
LG

 

[caveman]

They are also more expensive than I expected them to be for such items.

Bulk nut and bolt selections are only about $2 a pound here the last time I got them. It don't get any cheaper than that.

 

[Hedgehog]

Evidently all Tractor Supply stores are not the same...... Next time I'll look for the bulk supply bin. Most of what I saw (I actually bought some too) were either galvanized grade 3, some grade 5 and a few grade 8. NOTHING was a fine thread.

Don't get me wrong here, I really like Tractor Supply. It's a great store for many thing I can find no where else.

 

[Neuner]

just found another missing one and this time on the wheel hub. This is getting ridiculous. Was half expecting one of the large wheel nuts to be missing.

 

[Hedgehog]

When I got my CJ it had 5 different types of lug nuts and 6 different types of nuts on the shocks. Most of the time if there were 6 bolts, 5 would have washers. If there was supposed to be 3 screws, invariably there would be only 2 and that didn't guarantee they would be the same.

 

[79Renegade]

My otherwise beautiful 79 Renegade had the blue Levis dash pad, visors, rear seat, even the shift knobs spray painted gray. Apparently because he could not find an OEM blue soft top so he went with a gray supertop and color coded the interior appropriately.

 

[Petescj]

my otherwise beautiful 79 Renegade had the blue levis dash pad, visors, rear seat, even the shift knobs spray painted gray. Apparently because he could not find an oem blue soft top so he went with a gray supertop and color coded the interior appropriately.

.

Wow!

 

[AussieCJ3A]

Reading this makes me feel good about my buy
Yes the po was an idiot ..but he didn't do too bad a job ..
everything leaks a little oil and he put the front gearbox internal seal in the wrong spot, his bolts are a mishmash of different sizes, the wireing is horriable but very simple and the brake reservoir is an old pill bottle .. but everything else is done to a decent standard
It's workable without too many major issues ..just a whole heap of minor ones

 

[hdgapeach]

Biggest pain in the hind end I inherited on my '76 CJ was the "homemade" shackle reversal up front. All the front axle's stock leaf hanger brackets were removed from their original locations, swapped around and bubble gum welded to the frame. They didn't bother worrying about shimming the front brackets down to maintain the spring eye distance from the bottom of the frame. Kept the "new" rear shackles just like they come off the front. You talk about a geeked up caster angle - and the ride was unbearable.

Four new brackets, a lot of cutting, grinding, drilling, sanding, paint and a small pile of grade 8 hardware and I got it back to original orientation. Amazing how much longer the front tires last now!

Also got a heap of the complimentary wiring issues that now seems like they were an original AMC option package on all of 'em! Painless solved that mess in less time than it would've took to figure out what that spider web harness had going on.

 

[mriplaybass]

During the course of rebuilding the engine, I found PO mistakes that most would consider unforgivable.
This engine was supposed to have been recently rebuilt
Item #1, The timing chain was so loose that it was hitting the inside of the cover.
Item #2, The oil slinger for the timing chain was missing.
Item #3, When I checked the ring end gap on the piston rings I discovered that although the PO had the block bored .030 over and installed .030 over pistons, he installed STD rings! No wonder I had such low power! Then after scraping some of the dirt off, what I found just made me laugh............a tag from a professional rebuilder attached to the block!

 

[mtnwhlr]

During the course of rebuilding the engine, I found PO mistakes that most would consider unforgivable.
This engine was supposed to have been recently rebuilt
Item #1, The timing chain was so loose that it was hitting the inside of the cover.
Item #2, The oil slinger for the timing chain was missing.
Item #3, When I checked the ring end gap on the piston rings I discovered that although the PO had the block bored .030 over and installed .030 over pistons, he installed STD rings! No wonder I had such low power! Then after scraping some of the dirt off, what I found just made me laugh............a tag from a professional rebuilder attached to the block!

WOW I often wonder when this world became just a bunch of dumbasses.

 

[Belizean]

WOW I often wonder when this world became just a bunch of dumbasses.

I'm trying not to be one of those dumbass PO when my daughter gets mine maybe when it turns 50.

 

[shum8]

I'm trying not to be one of those dumbass PO when my daughter gets mine maybe when it turns 50.

Yer gonna break the tradition????

 

[Deadpool]

Ok so my 83 CJ7 had 3 fully wired wiper motors ziptied under the dash. The floors were redone fairly well before anyone(me) tried to redo the body mounts that were t there that leads to why i had to sell the hardtop that was 4 inches to long ect.