Build Thread 1977 CJ7 Rebuild and Conversion

[Jimbocker]

Hello everybody!

I am in the process of acquiring a 1977 CJ7 from a coworker. It's in need of a lot of love, but it should make for a sweet project. It's essentially a frame and a body. I drained 5 quarts of water out of the engine, it has no transfer case or driveshafts, and the automatic transmission that came with it is pretty rusted. On the bright side, it appears to have a lift, 33" tires, and roll cage (rather than just the bar). The frame and body are in pretty good shape considering that the vehicle sat through a massive flood.

My current plans for the build are as follows:

- Chevy Vortec V8
- SM465
- NP205
- Capable of moderate off-road trails in the Boulder area
- Seating for 3
- Disc Brakes

I currently have little idea if the stock axles are salvageable, so that should be a significant portion of the project, along with the interior. The interior has been stripped, so I get to start from square one on that.

It's an ambitious project, but it should be a blast! I'm fortunate to have access to a mill, lathe, drill press, and welder. I also have a good friend in welding school, so I should be able to fabricate a lot of things myself. For a lot of it though, I will have to make the decision between building something myself and just buying the part. I do tend to value my money a lot more than my time though, so we'll see what I actually buy.

So far, I haven't been too good at taking pictures, but I will try to do better on this front in the future! I'm looking forward to sharing the process with you all!

 

[Jimbocker]

Alright folks, let's start with the origins of the Jeep.

Several years ago (possibly 10+) a coworker of mine bought a '77 CJ7 from a friend with the intent to turn it into a nice off-road vehicle. All it needed was some wiring, a transfer case, and an interior. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me) he didn't really want a project, so it sat for years. In 2013, a massive flood hit the town and the Jeep was submerged. He never did drain the water out, but thanks to Colorado's dryness, rust did not take over.

I moved to CO from TX and started my job in the summer of 2016 and found myself wondering about this Jeep that sat on the property. I asked around and got the story, finding out that my coworker wanted to sell it. I have always wanted a project, and I've always wanted a Jeep. I began to inspect it.

The first thing I checked was the engine. I drained 5 quarts of water out of it. That's a loss. The stock automatic probably isn't in much better shape, since the flexplate is coated in rust. I want a manual anyway. The frame is in good shape, no major rust issues there, and the same can be said about the body.

The wheels and roll cage are not stock. It looks like it has a lift! That's a plus.
Good frame and body? Needs new drivetrain? Should be a good project! The best part? It's got a receiver cover in the shape of Texas! It's meant to be.

One of these days I'll figure out how to get inline pictures working... For now, I'll just attach them.

 

[Jimbocker]

After much research, I settled on a transmission/tcase combo. I wanted a manual. Something easy to work on, easily found, and really tough. It's a plus if it has good gearing for off-roading. Enter the SM465/NP205 Combo. Yes, it's long. Yes, the low of the 205 isn't that low. But it is tough, and doesn't require $500 adapters. Maybe someday when I have more money I'll spring for a planetary doubler. I've got this idea for a doubler that replaces the factory adapter. That's a topic for another thread!

I looked on craigslist and found an NP205 with adapter and crossmember for $100 just down the street from work, and an SM465 an hour away for $250, complete with bellhousing, adapter, crossmember, and clutch assy. I bought them as quickly as I could.

The NP205 was FILTHY, but it turned smoothly and shifted well, so I bought it. It was too long for the guy's CJ5, so he just wanted it gone. I opened it up and was thrilled with what I saw. All this thing needs is gaskets, seals, and a few hours of cleaning!

The SM465 was much cleaner, but was pretty rusty. Fortunately, the rust hadn't made its way into the case too far. There was some surface rust on the gears and a little more in the top cover, but I could wipe it off the gears, so things weren't too bad. Probably needs 3rd gear replaced, but what SM465 doesn't? I couldn't tell right away what would need replacement, but it was cheap, so I bought it.

 

[Jimbocker]

Since then (and a winter later) I have torn down the transmission and tcase. Here's the rundown:

The transmission is a pain to take apart without the right tools. But with the right tools, and not needing to modify/make your own, it wouldn't take more than a couple of hours. I was not good about taking pictures of this, but I have a couple. My advice: Buy a good bearing puller. Read the Rebuild manual.
Here's a link: http://zieglerdigital.ca/public/downloads/sm465rbman.pdf

It looks like all I'm going to need to replace on the tranny are third gear (already has the sleeve installed, so no need for that), gaskets, synchros, and the front countershaft bearing. The gears will need some love, but there's still plenty of engagement area. I asked a couple coworkers (one who is a machinist) and they were impressed with how good things looked.

I rust treated the case with Krud Kutter (basically phosphoric acid) and painted it. I used Rustoleum self-etching primer and red engine enamel. Yes, red. I know it's not the OEM color, but it's not the OEM vehicle. Besides, I like it, and I think it looks good, so sue me.

That's an SM465 for <$400 right there.

 

[Jimbocker]

The tcase was a breeze to disassemble - once I bought an impact wrench. There was no amount of muscle that was going to break those yoke nuts free.

There's a great writeup on an NP205 rebuild for anyone who's curious: NP205 Rebuild Guide

Everything was so clean on the inside. I couldn't be happier! I'm only going to need to replace the gaskets and seals. NP205 for <$200!

This one also got the same paint treatment. Krud Kutter and red scotch brite for prep, self-etching primer, and red engine enamel. Things are looking good!

 

[Jimbocker]

While I wait for rebuild parts to come in, I had to answer the last big question in the diagnosis of the Jeep. Are the diffs any good? Dana 30 up front and AMC20 in the rear. I'll be upgrading the 20 to one-piece axles if the housing/diff are any good.

As I cracked open the front, water began to leak out of the case, and I feared the worst. When I cracked it open, water and mud poured out, with very little oil. Surprisingly, it's not rusted solid! And the diff isn't the stock Dana 30 - That might be a locker?

I went to the rear and had a much more difficult time getting it open. When I finally did, I got a diff full of gear oil. The diff looks BEAUTIFUL. And also not stock. I don't yet know the ratios. I'm planning to service both of these axles, so when I get around to that, I'll let you know what I find!

 

[gert]

Watching


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[Belizean]

Looks pretty good for being under water! Would have been a pile of ---- here if left unattended. Gitter done

 

[Jimbocker]

I received half of my expected SM465 rebuild parts in the mail yesterday, so I won't be completing that this weekend. For some reason, the company decided to ship it in two packages through two different shippers. I got the FedEx parcel yesterday and UPS is coming Monday.

Anyway, I picked up a parts washer on craigslist for $40, so I've been tidying things up a bit. The purple harbor freight degreaser works fairly well on oil, but not so well on the old oil+dirt combo all over the external parts of the transfer case.

As long as I had it apart, I decided to go ahead and try my hand at the twin-stick modification to the shift rails in the NP205. The pictures you see are the "after" pictures. The nice, clean machined side is what I was going for. The ground side with some extra marks on it is from where the jig I was using on the mill didn't quite hold the piece. I got to use the e-stop for the first time...

It was a pretty easy mod. I tested it out by installing both rails and the interlock pins into the empty case. This allowed me to dial it in such that I avoided overdoing it. If you grind too far, you'll be able to put the case in high and low at the same time. Bad. I found that all it took was 3/8" on the rear cutout and 7/16" on the middle cutout, toward the rear. There's more details on the mod at this link: Technical Discussions - Twin-Stick that NP205, here's how.
All that remains for this mod is to find another stick and machine a mount for both sticks!

 

[Alec79CJ]

Those look like detroits in those axles. Body looks good too!

 

[gert]

That's going to be nice


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[Jimbocker]

Yesterday I went over to my friend's shop and used his press to remove the gears from the sm465 mainshaft. It all came apart nicely, but I think I'm gonna want to replace the bushings. It's hard to tell how worn they are. All of the documentation said to check for "Excessive Wear", which could mean a lot of things. There was some scoring on them though, so as long as I have it apart, I may as well.
View attachment 21994

Today I got some more rebuild parts in, including the small parts kit for the top cover. I got the top cover assembled and I'm looking forward to feeling how it shifts now.
View attachment 21992

The last thing I did was make the set screws for the shift lever. Rather than rig the roll pins, I decided to tap the holes with a 3/8 tap and make some set screws out of some bolts. Add some loctite and this thing should have much less slop!
View attachment 21993

 

[Jimbocker]

Over the last two days I've completed the reassembly of the NP205. Thursday I did the bulk of the reassembly, and it went smoothly except for shearing the poppet plug... But that's ok, I just bought some 1/2-13 bolts and modified them on the lathe.
View attachment 22040View attachment 22041


Replacing the roller bearing on the input pilot was a pain. There's 15 rollers located three inches down a one inch hole. Lots of grease and frustration went into learning how to do that right!

I swapped out the old plain steel bolts for some grade 5 zinc plated bolts. It's looking good! Now I just need to make my shift levers.

 

[Jimbocker]

Sorry for the radio silence - things have been pretty busy!

Since I last posted, I've acquired the engine - a 1996/97 Chevy Vortec 350. I found a good deal on a running engine from a local salvage yard. I paid $850 for engine, computer, harness, and bolt-on accessories. It's not as cheap as another I found, but that ended up being a sketchy Craigslist situation, so I opted to spend more, have some assurance it runs, and a warranty. While I have not heard it run yet, the cylinders performed pretty well on the leakdown tester, so I'm hopeful. One of the cylinders was a little higher leakage (still in the green on the gauge, but almost in the yellow), and it sounded like it was leaking past the cylinder, so that may warrant some investigation. I may just leave it though.

I'm currently going through the process of going through the harness and removing the things I don't need (Auto Transmission, A/C, etc), so I have a harness occupying my living room floor! I'll be shipping the ECU to Brendan at LT1Swap.com for the reprogramming. I hear he does good work.

I'm also going through the block and cleaning things up. I'm waiting on a fuel pump and filter, but I should be able to fire it up sometime next week. After that I'll pull the heads and see how things look on the inside. I'll give it some cleaning, replace the injectors, and paint the block, then this thing will be ready for the Jeep!

Also, the SM465 rebuild is complete! I'll get some pictures of the finished product up, including my fix for the sloppy shifter, later this week. That was not without some drama, but I'll get to that when I put the pictures up. In the meantime, here's the engine:

 

[Jimbocker]

In the last few months, I've been wrestling with the owner about the title. I waited to buy it until I knew what the situation was, and eventually learned that there was no title. The PO who my coworker had purchased it from had lost the title, and he couldn't be convinced to apply for the duplicate - so the title was gone for good. I went to the DMV to see what my options were and have determined that I will have to get a salvage title for it. At first this was a bit of a disappointment - it seemed a shame to have this vehicle permanently branded "REBUILT FROM SALVAGE", but that won't be incorrect, and I'll still be able to legally own it. So, at the beginning of this month I purchased the Jeep from my coworker and can begin the actual work! Pictures and updates are in the works.

 

[gert]

wow that is a shame, I have heard that the salvage title goes away after it has been sold 1 or 2 times is that true?

 

[Jimbocker]

wow that is a shame, I have heard that the salvage title goes away after it has been sold 1 or 2 times is that true?

Not sure. In the state of Colorado I'll have to physically stamp the vehicle and the title will go from "Salvage" to "Rebuilt from Salvage". If anything, it's more motivation to thoroughly document the process so I can ease a potential buyer's mind should I decide to sell it (though I'm not planning on that any time soon).

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[gert]

Not sure. In the state of Colorado I'll have to physically stamp the vehicle and the title will go from "Salvage" to "Rebuilt from Salvage". If anything, it's more motivation to thoroughly document the process so I can ease a potential buyer's mind should I decide to sell it (though I'm not planning on that any time soon).

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A friend of mine had bought a car in TN that had a tag riveted in the drivers door jamb I think it said salvage or rebuilt you couldnt miss it =0


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[Jimbocker]

Just spoke to the state patrol and learned that I have to stamp it before I can get the VIN inspection. I guess it had to be done sooner or later...
Time to go buy a stamp set!

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[Belizean]

Just spoke to the state patrol and learned that I have to stamp it before I can get the VIN inspection. I guess it had to be done sooner or later...
Time to go buy a stamp set!

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If you are talking about a set of steel stamps and can't find a good set, I have a set that is 1/4 inch I believe, that you can borrow