flexyfool
GDW
- Location
- Boise, Idaho
I owned an '80 CJ7 from 1990-2002. In the end, the only things bone stock were the grill, hood, windshield, sun visors, and power brake booster. The Dana 300 was still in it but with 4:1 gears.
In stock form, it was the most unreliable, poorly designed POS I've ever owned. Almost everything stock sucked.
Little annoying things broke. Every rubber control knob eventually pulled off. The rear view mirror fell off. The glass in both side view mirrors fell out. The 258 valve cover would never seal and the clutch would get soaked in oil and slip. The oil fill cap melted and fell inside the cover. I'm still scratching my head over that one. The clutch linkage would fall apart because the motor mounts would tear letting the engine move too much.
Big things broke. The frame rusted so bad that it collapsed in the middle in '92. Hey! Why is my tranny hanging down so low? I went through 2 used 258's, a used 304, and a professionally rebuilt 360 in 12 years. Total mileage accumulated on those 4 engines was about 80K.
Stupid things broke. The power steering pump bracket cracked. The throttle cable snapped. The battery tray pulled out of the body. The pickup tube fell into the gas tank. Hey! The tank is full of gas but nothing is coming out. The timing chain gear on the 304 spun. The gear on the crank was a 2 piece design. It had a ring of plastic teeth pressed onto a steel center section. The plastic ring spun about 30 degrees around the center section causing the fundamental timing to be wrong.
Yeah. I hate the last years of the CJ5/7 with a passion.
In stock form, it was the most unreliable, poorly designed POS I've ever owned. Almost everything stock sucked.
Little annoying things broke. Every rubber control knob eventually pulled off. The rear view mirror fell off. The glass in both side view mirrors fell out. The 258 valve cover would never seal and the clutch would get soaked in oil and slip. The oil fill cap melted and fell inside the cover. I'm still scratching my head over that one. The clutch linkage would fall apart because the motor mounts would tear letting the engine move too much.
Big things broke. The frame rusted so bad that it collapsed in the middle in '92. Hey! Why is my tranny hanging down so low? I went through 2 used 258's, a used 304, and a professionally rebuilt 360 in 12 years. Total mileage accumulated on those 4 engines was about 80K.
Stupid things broke. The power steering pump bracket cracked. The throttle cable snapped. The battery tray pulled out of the body. The pickup tube fell into the gas tank. Hey! The tank is full of gas but nothing is coming out. The timing chain gear on the 304 spun. The gear on the crank was a 2 piece design. It had a ring of plastic teeth pressed onto a steel center section. The plastic ring spun about 30 degrees around the center section causing the fundamental timing to be wrong.
Yeah. I hate the last years of the CJ5/7 with a passion.
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