What Have I Done... 1977 Cj7

I also forgot, I picked up some full doors for $250 and they have wing windows! I guess these are hard to come by? Several CJ/YJ guys have told me that.

 

Really nice except for the silly poker.

 

Silly poker?

 

The stinger you already removed. Lol

 

Found a set of tube fenders for the front of the CJ on marketplace! Already had some inner fenders that were cut to fit as well. Made installation so much easier.

 

Oh and I guess I never mentioned that I was given a set of TJ rear tube flares a while back. That opened up the wheel well nicely and added some much needed projection. Next thing to do is paint the doors. I also picked up a Jeep D300 to put behind the T18.

 

Finally got the doors painted the way I wanted them! All this rain we’ve been getting has made it difficult!

 

I did away with the harbor freight winch. That thing was slower than death when pulling. I had this nice 8274 kicking around and the correct mounting plate. Looks more fitting on the CJ.



I wired the controls inside and now I need to get a new hook and cable thimble.

 

Yesterday, I went down to Dave's ( @wheelie ) to pick up a front Scout D44. I had a rear Scout D44. The black axle with orange U joints is a Chevy D44. I'll be taking the 4.56 gears out of it along with the high steer knuckles. Looks like the only real big money I'll have to spend is for the lockers and new tires now.

 

Well, Facebook strikes again. I picked up another matched set of scout 44s for $300 today. At least I now have spare parts.

 

I’m out here in Canandaigua NY for a tractor show and walking the rows, I came across a 4bt Cummins. I ended up getting it for $600! It might end up in the cj now.

 

The Dana 44 pile is growing! Two sets of Scout 44's and two Chevy D44s.



I pulled the Chevy axles apart to get the 4.55 gears and the high steer knuckles. The closed knuckle dinosaur is the spare to my 64 Chevy K20. It had a blown up axle shaft, but there were lots of good left.



And all the parts I'll be using in the Scout axles.

 

Picked this yj carcass up for 3 - 18 packs of mountain dew. It has a lot of good parts I can use on my cj7. Spare hard top and windshield glass will be useful. I also wanted the front lift springs for my cj7 for when I do the axle swap.

 

Finally got the front axle together. It really kicked my keister, but I finally got it done. I clocked the axle C's to get the proper caster angle and I used ram charger outers so I have internally splined hubs. It also has chevy high steer knuckles.

 

Out with the old.



In with the new! I used some 2.5" lift YJ front springs and Mountain Off Road Enterprises shackle reversal kit. Man, what a difference in the ride! So much better. I am also happy with the axle swap. It wan't too bad. I needed to use 8 degree pinion shims to correct the front pinion angle. It was pointing down. I still have to get M.O.R.E.'s steering box bracket to move the steering box forward. The drag link is less than ideal at the moment. I took a factory CJ7 one modified it to make it fit. If the steering box gets moved forward, I can do something much nicer. I will say, it is so nice to build something with good aftermarket support.



And most importantly, I get 31" of flex out of it! Most of it is spring droop which is nice. Keep it low and still have good flex.

 

This is my experience with shackle reversal. Better ride and handling modest up travel, lots of droop.

 

Finished up the rear axle install today. It turns so much tighter now and it is nice having a parking brake! The stock CJ7 parking brake cables from an 86 worked just fine with the scout D44.

 

Got some parts for my birthday and finally installed them I got M.O.R.E's steering box mount and stabilizer bar. The mount pushed the box forward an inch and a quarter, which gave me room for the one ton drag link.



I borrowed my friend's TRE ream to make the bigger TREs fit the pitman arm.



And I also got 2" taller shackle's for the front. After doing the shackle reverse, the jeep was doing a little bit of a nose dive and drove me nuts. This little bit of lift solved that.