Build Thread project CHIMERA

[K9kodi]

A chimera is a single organism made up of two separate organisms. in July or August of last year my father was diagnosed with leukemia and began chemotherapy. While on chemotherapy he was placed on the international registry for a stem cell transplant. His cancer was a very aggressive form iland during his treatment he was also diagnosed with Myelofibrosis. there were no donors at this point in time and dad's condition was becoming terminal he was a waiting for a match. leukemia can be treated with a half match match transplant or haploidentical, which would be a parent or child or sibling. however this treatment for myelofibrosis was rare and had not been conducted at dads hospital let alone add in the complication of two forms of marrow cancer. i was tapped in as the donor and feb 5 was the transplant day. it was a battle for him and the family but he was allowed home a little after father's day. i'm only 36 but i'm a dumb 36 and it took this event for me to value possessions sentimentally vs monetarily and i regretted ever selling the CJ7 we built in 1998/1999 together. i picked up this jeep from a friend for practically nothing and plan to get it nice and pretty and reliable and give it to dad when we're done w it.


1985 CJ7.
258
148k miles
rebuild at 100
my buddy was the original purchaser new with 4 miles on it.

body is rough, but frame is solid!
front drivers side frame from shock mount forward is bent from accident.
picking up a tub tomorrow and gonna ponder on replacing tub or using it for patch panels.

 

[Petescj]

I wish you and your dad the best. Good luck with your build and I for one will be following along.

 

[TnCJ]

Thoughts and prayers for your Dad. Cancer SUX I hate even hearing the word!!!!! I don't know of anyone that it hasn't touched one way or another.
I'll be following your build as well.

 

[Belizean]

Welcome to the forum. Hope your father makes a full speedy recovery. Enjoy him while you can and take full advantage of it. The big C took mine away 13 years ago and I miss him badly

 

[K9kodi]

thanks guys, i brought it home this morning!

 

[K9kodi]

quick update. located a local jeep collector. guy has his baby, rust free cj 7 on one tons sprung over with shackle reversal, it's pretty. anyhow, had a yard of frames , scramble frames and a complete scrambler, misc jeep parts. i'm picking up practically rust free yj tub, cj windshield frame, steering shaft for less then 400 bucks. the goal is to section the front frame horns of the new frame onto mine where the frame is bent. front shock tower forward.
my options are
1) only section the drivers side as that's the only frame horn that's bent, but so is crossmember.
2) section the front both sides including crossmember at the forward more body mount.
3) it will be sleeved and fish plated
4) i may just go ahead and do a shackle reversal before i put it all back together
5) body on mine is pretty rough but if i grt it running i can take time and work the yj tub over and convert it to cj. gas filler and dash and paint it before putting it back on


currently i'm packing for the yearly hunting trip so i'll have lox's when i return

 

[K9kodi]

besides buying a radiator from quadratec or some place like that, are there any universal radiators part stores may have or cross referenced parts a little cheaper?

 

[Project86]

Some times buying local is easier. IF you get a bad radiator it is easier to return to the LAPS and get some satisfaction.

Good deal on the tub, BTW.

 

[K9kodi]

Some times buying local is easier. IF you get a bad radiator it is easier to return to the LAPS and get some satisfaction.

Good deal on the tub, BTW.

picking up from tomorrow a tub with one little rust spot, steering linkages , steering box, skid plate and other miscellaneous stuff for 100. i'll get the other tub and frame and such next week when i get back from hunting trip

 

[gert]

man im really sorry to hear about your father, i lost mine to complications of Parkinsons disease when i was 26 and it has haunted me since, spend as much time as you can with your dad

 

[K9kodi]

it really puts things in perspective. i'll be back sunday from hunting and the wrenching will begin. still contemplating just swapping over new body and thus motor and misc axles and such into the new frame vs fixing this frame. i mean with the body off it can't be too much more work

 

[Project86]

Search the build forum with keyword "disaster" and you can see the YJ conversion I did. You might find something useful.

 

[K9kodi]

awesome i'll do that now

 

[K9kodi]

so getting to start has been a lil slow with the holidays and pulling extra shifts. i picked up the tub today along w steering box, drag link and tie rod and roll bar. it's really a pretty solid body with 2 small rust spots where roll cage bolted in. 100 bucks, i felt good about the purchase. i'll get more pics tomorrow. gonna set it on some horses and clean up firewall. does anyone know if the hydraulic clutch from 87 wrangler work for 85cj?

 

[K9kodi]

also, are the wrangler tie rod and drag link and gear box a direct bolt on to the 85

 

[K9kodi]

and gonna toss wrangler heater box , how do y'all convert plastic wrangler tank to right side cj? or should i just use cj tank

 

[Belizean]

so getting to start has been a lil slow with the holidays and pulling extra shifts. i picked up the tub today along w steering box, drag link and tie rod and roll bar. it's really a pretty solid body with 2 small rust spots where roll cage bolted in. 100 bucks, i felt good about the purchase. i'll get more pics tomorrow. gonna set it on some horses and clean up firewall. does anyone know if the hydraulic clutch from 87 wrangler work for 85cj?

I've got one on an 84. The main thing I know is on the 84-85 the slave is mounted on the outside of the transmission and on the 87 it is internal of the bellhouse. I think the clutch master cylinder is the same from what I remember

 

[K9kodi]

awesome, gonna start tackling some of the jeep tub tomorrow. mainly polishing off the firewall

 

[K9kodi]

officially started today. got the yj body on saw horses and started stripping firewall , ground off any surface rust. i was amazed at the amount of rust on the seem going across the lower 1/3 of the body that is covered with seam sealer. pulled all the sealer out and ground down to good metal. primed everything and got old heater box out. i'll coat it tomorrow with some satin black or body color and start working on the rest of the tub.

 

[K9kodi]

bringing this back, i've been away, medical stuff coming back up with pops and work and what not. i'm ready to get down and dirty.

where i'm at now:
the yj body is prepped, not fully complete. rust is fixed, i will be placing it on the frame before i finish the body work and paint

as i mentioned, the front frame section/frame horns of my project cj are bent, drivers side pretty bad, tore up the steering box and steering linkages. the steering shaft was bent as well. radiator is shot. i made a few calls locally and found a guy with a full cj frame, rusted back half, solid front half, not only just a solid front half but was already set up for shackle reversal, but that's not all.....

shackle reversal, cj steering box, radiator, 258 motor mounted to t4 i believe and a dana 300 t case, front and rear axles are supposedly geared and locked and a spare t5 tranny i believe..


taking dad to richmond thurs for some tests and found a guy with a rust free cj windshield frame for 70 bucks, i'll be picking that up along the way.

plans for now......splice in new frame somewhere along the straight section of frame under door, either sleeve and or sleeve and fishplate. swap in the motor i have that i know for sure ran before the accident. i ordered new brake lines and fuel lines and i'm gonna rip out the old cj tub and run those lines, wire wheel and paint the frame. install new axles and yj 4" leaf springs. ordered yj 1" body mounts with bolts, reinstall the yj tub and adapt the tub to accept cj beater and defrost. the biggest most intimidating part about all of this is sealing the wiring from one jeep to the next for me. i'll start posting pics tomorrow