My Personal CJ-7 Project

It was a happy day for me when I picked this 1983 CJ-7 for $3000.00. It was an Arizona Jeep from day 1. It had no rust and was in show-room stock condition, just not as shinny. If they ever were.

The next day it was on jack stands for round one. I'm sad to say I never took a picture of it before my build up started. Believe me, it wasn't anything to drool over. Anyways, round one consisted of a spring over suspension swap, all custom made. 4.88 ring and pinions went into the axles along with a Detroit Locker in the rear. The front remained open for the time being. I also extended the original shock mounts for longer shock travel. Then added some 35 inch BFG Muds. I was very impressed with how well the Jeep was working. I just hated the carburetor...

Round Two:

Then one day I found a smoking deal on a set of Scout II Dana 44's. I thought that would be a great upgrade, so I jumped on it. I cut and turned the inner C's to give me 7* of caster, and a little more to turn the pinion up a bit. I then modified the housing for the spring over perches, and used a Poison Spyder Full Width Axle Kit to outboard the spring hangers. I added Chevy knuckles with high steer then went inside and swapped out the ring and pinion to 4.88 and added an ARB locker. The rear was much easier. Just adjusted the perch location for the springs, added disc brakes, 4.88's and a spool.

The few inches I gained in my track width are great when I get into a tipsy situation on the trail. The overall handling of this Jeep was great. I can go 70 MPH down the road and not hold the steering wheel. No steering stabilizer needed and no bump steer.
The spring over really helped the flex as well.

Round Three:

Even with a swap to a MC 2100 carburetor, I still hated the way the engine ran. It overheated a lot in the hot AZ summer, it stalled out climbing waterfalls, and one time a guy asked me if my Jeep ran on Burger King oil. He said it smelled funny.

That's when I found my next great deal. This time it was on Ebay. A TPI 350 out of an 89 Camero IROC Z28. It came with just about everything I need, shipped to me for about $1200. I pulled a lot of junk yard parts to finish what I needed. In the end the swap was very cost efficient.

I had an old Turbo 350 that I used as a core and upgraded to a 700r4. I planned on a lot of freeway driving and wanted the overdrive, and the lower first gear wasn't bad either. I cleaned up my Dana 300 and bolted it up with an Advanced Adaptor. With all that done, it was time to put the drive train in the Jeep.

The engine came with wiring harness and computer which was nice. I ended up getting the computer reflashed and ripped the harness apart and made a new one out of the old one. This let me put the computer where I wanted and make the engine bay as clean as possible. I was very happy with the outcome.

It almost looks like it belongs in a CJ, not a Camero. I routed the air filter inside the cab, under the dash. It keeps the filter cleaner and is actually very quiet, after the engine goes into closed loop. I haven't been able to find a fan shroud that works, as I reused the CJ radiator ( I had the inlet and outlet ports moved to the opposite sides ) and now the fan interferes with the stock shroud. So when load the engine going over an obstacle, it will start to overheat. For the time being, I added an electric fan to the outside of the radiator that I can flip on as needed. I should just hard mount the fan on the inside of the radiator. I just like the idea of a mechanical fan.

With the longer drive train in place, it was necessary for me to move the rear axle back a bit to help with drive shaft angels. I wasn't to sad about doing that. The sad part was that I was moving to Utah soon and was running out of time to finish this round. I ended up doing a pretty poor suspension mock up and called it good for the time being. I used Poison Spyder Rocker Knockers and Comp Cut Corners. That allowed me the room to bring my rear axle back enough to give me a 103 inch wheelbase. In that time, I also build the roll cage. Now that I'm in Utah, I am planning on redoing it for one that is a little more soft top friendly.

The fuel cell is back just enough that I can put the rear seat in and still have some leg room, well for my two young daughters. The rear seat is also tied into the roll cage now (not in the picture). So all the seats are bolted to the cage now. I feel safer now.

Stay tuned for more on this project. I'm now working on making it street legal in Utah. So I'm covering the rear tires and doing some other mods as well. I have also fixed the rear suspension, for much better driving and better off roading. More pics to come.

ROUND FOUR:

Well, in an effort to get this thing street legal in Utah, and to get rid of the ugly Comp Cut Corners, it was time to fill in the fenders. Once the corners are filled in, a tube fender will be built that will cover the tires. That makes me legal, and will take a beating.

I designed and a had these corners bent, when I got them back I had to do just a little trimming and then they were ready to weld into place.

With the corner welded in place, all I had to do was grind down the weld. Once it's painted, you'll never know it was two pieces.

Once the tube fender is mocked up, the corner will be trimmed down quite a bit. Once it's all done, it should still clear a 37" tire just fine...If I ever get around to getting 37's.

With the back section done, it was time to jump on the front of the crusher corner. This piece is designed to fit snug with the slider. The plasma cutter makes for a clean cut with just a little trimming needed for a good fit.

The front section all welded up and ready for grinding smooth.

A not so good shot of the welding.

Phase one of the new corners is done. Now I jump on Bend Tech and design the tube to be bent. I'm supposed to have bumper that is the width of the tires, so these tubes will wrap around the back of the corner and then come up and look like normal tube fenders. A very different design them most, but why do them like everyone else? Stay tuned.

With the fender all bent up, it was time to position it on the corner.

This gives you an idea of the tire coverage I'll have now.

Welding them up.

I lost the picture of me making the template for the skin, but this one shows the skin all welded up.

I had some customer parts that were getting sandblasted and powedercoated, so I threw my stuff in at the same time, with no added cost. I always love that kind of stuff. When I got them back from the powdercoater, the color was still a little to shinny for my liking. I primed them and went over them with som flat black. I can always touch them up with that paint and the powdercoat underneath will keep the rust away.

All finished. I'm happy with the end product in that it is now street legal. I just hate such a big fender. And the fact that it has a large rear axle stretch, doesn't help any. So it is what it is. And it gets the job done.