CJ7/8

I've been working on this project for a few years, which is a long time for me. Seriously, from my track record, that's a long time owning the same rig. I switched directions from changing it to a Willys truck to leaving it a stretched CJ. Recent mods include the new CJ louvered hood and early CJ grill. We're also completing a much needed roll bar build. I realize builds like this are a dime a dozen, but I thought I'd share anyway. Thanks to a patient wife and help from friends it will be down to Winter 4x4 Jamboree next week. First time on the rocks in over 6 months.

 

[Greg]

Love how this has come together for you Bart, it's a beautiful looking rig. Love the CJ front clip, too!

 

[Bart]

Thank you all. It's been a project for sure, and it's far from finished. There are a couple of major things to fix but its working better than ever and that's nice.

Do you wish this thing sat lower? It sits higher than the normal LCG builds were used to seeing and all love so much, but in a real world scenario do you wish it was lower?

I built the rear suspension so I can drop it 2". I'll go 1" when I can get it back on a rack and see what that does for the stance. There's not much I can do with the front until I link it, but that's in the long term plans. It's pretty stable as it is and it still rubs at break over sometime, so I don't have plans for any radical drop because I still like most of the uptravel I have.

 

[Kirk]

Looks Great Bart! What's your wheelbase?

 

[Bart]

Thanks Kirk. I'm at 111" now. I'm going to try to get 1 more inch in the front.

 

[Bart]

I always wanted the double B pillar and wanted to make it look different. Matt and I were bouncing ideas off each other in the shop while building it and came up with the idea of the plate. We drew one up in cardboard and that made my decision easy. I texted ILean and asked if he could do the dimple dies and of course he could. Then he asked for the angles we needed on the ends and we did some calculations and gave them to him. He had them finished in a day and I didn't have cut or modify them at all. He also made a slick rear bumper cap for me that I'll be adding soon. He's the man.

I dig you b-pillar and the stance looks fantastic!

Sent from my SM-G530T using Tapatalk

 

[Pile of parts]

Do you wish this thing sat lower? It sits higher than the normal LCG builds were used to seeing and all love so much, but in a real world scenario do you wish it was lower?

How high is it? I always wonder how mine compares. I did everything I could think of, except french in the spring hangers, to keep it low being a spring over Jeep. I'm at or just over 110" WB and with 39.5 TSL's (which seem to run small to size) Aired down to 6 psi, I measure 22" to the bottom of the frame at the center of the door opening, 27" to the bottom of the rocker in the same place and about 20.5" to the bottom of my transfer case crossmember. (I tried to keep that flat too but difficult with an Atlas) It seems pretty stable but I started out years ago with a narrow '73 CJ5. Much lower seems to me like you'd sacrifice a lot on breakover? Maybe one day I'll go to a link-type suspension but that's money and know how that I don't have at this point. Either way, I like your Jeep and glad it worked well for you.

 

[Bart]

Had to add the obligatory Cover Shot into the thread.

 

[Bart]

Finally got around to building the shroud for my radiator. Luckily I have a friend with access to a shear and press break, and some other fun toys that made this pretty easy.

 

[Rock Taco]

Much better than the cardboard one.

 

[Bart]

Hahaha, yeah, just a tad. It was amazing how much better it worked with the cardboard than without it.

 

[Bart]

Mbryson inspired me to try and fix my 350 TBI problem and after extensive looking on KSL I found a donor that looked really good. I was off for the week between Christmas and New Years and decided to attempt the swap at that time. I also had a problem with the 700r4 shifting from 1st to 2nd so I wanted to address that also. It took a few days to get everything out, and the tranny to shop. It is supposed to be finished this Friday. While waiting for that I decided to test fit the tube fenders that finally arrived after a 4 month wait.

 

[Bart]

I dove into the replacement motor to verify it was as good as promised, and like a lot of things on KSL, it left me wondering if the gamble would pay off. The rotor was seized on the distributor and after pulling the intake the valves were not as clean as I would have liked. I pulled the oil pan after that and the bottom end looked good. I'll be swapping the heads that I had done last year from my old motor onto this one tonight and then will do a new rear main and front crank seal while it's on the engine stand. Hopefully I'll have it buttoned up and ready when I get the tranny back and will start the install this weekend. I need to have it running and tested by the 17th when I head to Winter 4x4 Jamboree.

 

[Greg]

Looks like a clean, 4 bolt main block... hope it runs perfectly for you Bart!

 

[Jinx]

Good Luck with this.

I really like the tube fender look on the CJ's too.

 

[Bart]

Looks like a clean, 4 bolt main block... hope it runs perfectly for you Bart!

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Good Luck with this. I really like the tube fender look on the CJ's too.

Me too. Looking forward to this thing running well so I can eventually get paint on it.

So, now down to this. Front and rear seals tonight.

 

[Bart]

No pics but I picked the tranny up last night and it is rebuilt and ready to go in. The motor is 98% together and just about ready also. Hopefully get the tranny in tonight and the motor placed tomorrow. Wiring, plumbing, fluids, and cleaning up early Saturday and hopefully crank it up Saturday afternoon. Everything always takes me twice as long so most likely Sunday.

 

[Bart]

As some of you know that despite a valiant effort I didn't get this running before Winter 4x4 Jamboree and finally got around to looking at it again last night. I had some keyed power but nothing to the fuel pump and some other vital systems. My son came over and (DOH) found the ground wire from the loom that wasn't hooked up. After a little playing with the distributor it fired and ran. It already sounds better than the old motor and has better oil pressure. I'll be doing some other things to it before completely putting it together so it will be a month or so before it sees a trail.

 

[Greg]

Funny how a fresh set of eyes will find something that you looked over. Glad it's running & sounding healthy, Bart!

 

[Bart]

Even though it hasn't left the garage since the motor/tranny swap, I decided to start another project that has been on the list since the beginning. Here is a sneak peak of things to come. Hopefully finished before EJS.

 

[Bart]

Got the front end put back together on back on tires for the first time since January 1. I've got to get the 3 link on the front done to lower it. First time I've had working park lights and turn signals since the CJ install. Body work on the hood and 1/2 doors getting finished this week. Still hope to have the whole thing painted by EJS.