Build Thread First personal cj build

[Brentum]

Hello jeep guys and gals.
I finally caved in and have decided to do a jeep build of my own. I have helped on many of friend and family jeeps of all sorts from cj's to Cherokees, as well as tj's and jk's. up until now I would not buy a jeep and kept my personal projects Japanese and British. due to my p.o.s land rover project, (don't buy a rover unless you have deep pockets, which mine were not deep enough apparently) I have purchased a nice clean 1980 CJ7 for my next build. I guess for starters, I would like some opinions on reliability upgrades.
I Found a smoking deal on this Cj due to low oil pressure and a very small lifter tick. so my first question would be is it worth replacing the oil pump on a high mileage 258 C.I, and running thicker oil, or should I start looking to rebuild or find a better running motor now. got the jeep for $1500 so I feel like there is still a lot of meat left on the bone on this one. Currently its carbed with a msd ignition the engine runs, just sound pretty tired will be checking compression on it this week. I have never ha a no molested Cj with any thing other then fankenstined v8's and transmission in them. I want to keep it some what stock. so ideas and opinions to go in this direction are greatly appreciated. I drive all my rigs daily and it has to stay RELIABLE.
this was a desert car so no real rust That I could find.

 

[Peanut Butter]

Nice looking CJ to start with. Be sure to check behind the diamond plate for rust. As for the engine, you can throw some parts at it and it may run just fine. A complete rebuild of the engine ensures you the reliability that you want, especially since you have engine rebuilding experience. I wish I had that. My engine was running good before I started my rebuild, but I would like to have rebuilt it to be on the safe side. After all I'm rebuilding everthing else. Do a good fluids check / replacement too. Check your wiring harness as many PO's hack those up. Then go have some fun with it. You'll then get an idea of what needs attention first.

PS: Be sure to update your profile with axle types, transfer case, transmission, etc.

 

[Posi]

What is the warm idle oil pressure?
I would recommend a leak down test (preferred), or a compression test.