Build Thread 1981 CJ7 Trail Rig Build

[Nikwho]

Thanks! I appreciate it! I'm highly motivated! I got all registered for the Easter Jeep Safari today, which is the first 9 days of April! If anyone wants to go, it's filling up fast. I think that its only open to Members of the Red Rock 4 Wheelers Club, but I happily joined, since they are a good organization!

I made some more progress today. I bent new hard brake lines for the rear axle, plus plumbed and bled the brakes.

The u-joint yoke on my rear axle hasld some stripped threads. So, I was drilling and tapping those holes out a size bigger and got greedy, and broke my tap off in the yoke. I switched gears to think about how I want to proceed, and cut my other quarter panel, and started to prep the drivers rear frame rail for its shock hoop.
My progress was slowed when my hand was bitten by my angle grinder with a cut off wheel on it! Right on the knuckle, straight down to the bone. Don't be a knuckle head and remove your guard, like I did!

I think that I have everything to put the guard back on, and I will before using it again. I'll spare you guys the gnarly photos, but my super glue isn't holding, so I think that I'm going to run in to get some stitches right quick!

 

[aglinks]

I hate you guys in the warmer weather states, I need a heater in my garage by next winter

We have nearly 4 feet of snow on the ground right now. Lol.

 

[Nikwho]

I hate you guys in the warmer weather states, I need a heater in my garage by next winter

Now, to be fair, I live in the mountains, albeit in Arizona! My house is at 6,850' ASL. I think that I've shoveled over 3 feet of snow this week! Still not as cold as other areas, but I think that our high today was 29°, and our low tonight will be 4°.

My garage is passively heated, from our house furnace, but still quite cold. I keep my radiator heater pretty close to where I'm working.

 

[Nikwho]

This thing is looking amazing! I can't believe how fast your progress is! If you have it driving by Feb 5th, I am planning a trail day in Sedona!

Man, if I just wrap up what I have going on right now, and don't jump into anything new, February 5th may be very doable! I really want to do quite a few shake down runs before dragging it 6 hours up to Moab. So that will give me a good target to aim for! Thanks for the invite!

 

[aglinks]

I live across town and my house is at approximately 7000 feet. I think we got 41 inches of snow at my place from this storm.

 

[Nikwho]

I live across town and my house is at approximately 7000 feet. I think we got 41 inches of snow at my place from this storm.

Sounds about right! I'd guess 36" here. Not too bad. I recently read that Mammoth Mountain ski resort has gotten 30 FEET since November! I think that I'm going to have to fit in a trip out there over the next few weeks!

 

[Nikwho]

Tried to secure my front axle with the u-bolt kit that I ordered from Summit Racing today. They didn't fit. I honestly think that it was my fault. Summit Racing was awesome! I called, and found out that I somehow ordered a kit for a one ton truck. But the girl on the phone said that the kit I ordered popped up "for a sec" when she was putting my vehicle application info in. She thought it was an error on their website. She told me that they'd ship the correct set today, and that I could "destroy" the other set! I already got tracking, and it says that the new u-bolt kit will be delivered on Sunday! Pretty awesome. I love ordering from them!

 

[Nikwho]

Got my front bumper finish welded, cleaned up and painted today!


I also welded a couple of small 16 ga. plates across the top support bars of the Roll cage, to mount radios to. I'm going to run a radio relay that grabs ignition power, and sends power to the CB and the Midland GMRS radio that I'm still waiting on. I figured that this would be a good place for the radios to be up and out of the way.


I'm not a big fan of this roll cage. I don't like the ugly welds produced by whomever welded it up. Its got a very dated look to it, too. But, in the mean time, I may just add some tubes, some bracing, and a few grab handles. Then, I'll feel comfortable running it until after the Easter Jeep Safari. At that time I can start building a new cage from scratch.

Another fun update. My new Woodward Fab tubing bender, and 1.75" 180° die set showed up today. I'm also toying with building a low-buck hydraulic assist steering setup for the Jeep.

 

[Nikwho]

Oh, ALSO, I'm happy to report that I sorted out some other stuff today! I got my brake lines finished and bled. There was one flare that I wasn't happy with. I cut that line and re-flared it. Got it plumbed and bled. Picked up some new rear wheel cylinders and bled the rear brakes with them.

I also got my broken thread cutting tap removed from my rear axle yoke. I had to weld 4 nuts to it, before I was able to finally get it to back out! That felt really good! I also picked up a new 5/16-24 tap, drilled out the smaller stripped holes and got the yoke tapped, and picked up a new u-joint strap kit from NAPA. It is ready to go, but now I need to run and buy some 5/16"-24 bolts for the yoke.

Last update. I'm adding a second battery to the Jeep. I'll add it with a bracket under the hood. The main reason for this, is to be able to weld on the trail. Ideally, with a 3rd 12v battery, wired in series (36v). But, in a pinch, I can also stick weld with 24v. I retained the locking steel drawer under the back seat. I have a trail welding kit, with an assortment of different welding rods, 10 feet of power and ground cables, and some gloves. I just need to find a suitable welding hood to pack on the trail. I'm pretty excited about the addition of welding capabilities on the trail! I'll show pictures of the welding setup soon!

 

[Nikwho]

Getting closer every day! Brakes done, steering done and rebuilt the carburetor! The carb had so much dirt and rust from the old fuel tank, I'm surprised that it ran at all! Got it all cleaned up and it purrs now! Any work has been reopening my cut on my hand, so I've been taking it kinda easy. I still need to finish the shock hoops, replace one of the rear brake wheel cylinders, and tidy up some steering stuff. I MAY build a hydraulic assist steering setup before the Easter Jeep Safari. Though, first, I'll likely extend the cage to the rear.

 

[aglinks]

That thing looks rad!

 

[Nikwho]

Thanks! I'm not digging the wheels. I think that I'll get some steel wheels, weld rock rings to them, and either paint them to match the roll cage/bumpers, or have them powder coated.

 

[aglinks]

Thanks! I'm not digging the wheels. I think that I'll get some steel wheels, weld rock rings to them, and either paint them to match the roll cage/bumpers, or have them powder coated.

I figured those were temporary haha

 

[Belizean]

Nice ! Right now I’m thinking SNOW RAT for your bumper sign.

 

[Patrick]

Since last November till now, you’ve accomplished a whole lot, Nik. I commend you.

 

[Nikwho]

Since last November till now, you’ve accomplished a whole lot, Nik. I commend you.

Thank you! I appreciate you saying that! I've been busy. It's been much slower progress, since I cut my hand open.

 

[Nikwho]

Today, I welded up my final shock hoop! So, all four shock hoops are done, and all shocks are mounted! Brakes are bled and steering is hooked up! I took the stock white steel wheels to have the tires dismounted, and prepped all five wheels to weld the rock rings in. I even got two of the rock rings welded in, and one wheel painted! Went around and did some final checks to make sure that everything is tight, and took it for a short test drive today! It drove well, though I have decided that I'm going to try to add an hydraulic assist steering ram prior to the Easter Jeep Safari!

 

[KRUPP]

Nikwho,

Great build, so far. Your welding and fab skills look excellent.

I'm kinda in the same boat now - in a crunch to get the Heep ready in time for Moab. I'm registered and have a hotel reserved as well. It's been about 20 years since I've been in the Safari. Used to be an official on trails, back in the day.
Still have some things to wrap up with my project too. Maybe I'll see ya there!
Good luck to you.

 

[Nikwho]

Well, I should update the build thread a little, I suppose! I got my hydro-assist steering done. I am super unhappy with Trail Gears customer service. My ram has a leak. Waiting on a rebuild kit, that I had to buy myself, even though my brand new ram leaked. Oh well.

I built my tie rod, drag link and double sheared my pitman arm.



I made a bracket to holdy fuel can. It will be a temporary deal, being I am going to "boat side" the Jeep.


I did a little digging on my transmission. First gear felt lower than it would have been, being any transmission that would have originally came with a CJ7, in 1981. A little digging and I discovered that it is an SM435 transmission, out of a Ford or Dodge truck. Seems that it's not a super uncommon swap, but not for the faint of heart, as you have to buy a new shaft that costs a little over $600, and completely disassemble and reassemble the transmission.

I bought an NP203 doubler case. Figuring out what I need to run that doubler case between my SM435 and Dana 300 transfercase.

 

[Nikwho]

Rather than building something out of angle iron, I decided to go with a Barnes 4WD fuel cell mount. Made mounting my fuel cell a breeze!