CJ7: Classic 1979 Jeep Renegade Rebuild

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The front guards look pretty awesome when painted.

These were rusted out when I got them in the double skin (the usual rust spot).

I wanted to be lazy and buy replacement front guards, but to be quite honest what I could find was all crap. I looked at about 6 pairs of new replacement guards and they were all crap quality. I mean I was even prepared to be dodgy towards the end, because the repair on my guards to too much to contemplate. These new repro guards were thinner guage, some of the spot welds had not formed and also left and right sides were not symetrical!!!

Anyhow I decided to repair my own. I removed the outer skin by a combination of drilling and angle grinding the top layer off. Once removed I had the guards sandblasted. I had some zinc-anneal folded with 1 50mm 90deg fold (this was the part that bolts up against the body.)

I then used my (cut-off) outer skin as a template (after I panel beated it flat) and cut the same shape on my new zinc-anneal outer panel. I then G-clamped it in place and slowly tapped the top curved fold on.

I then used a automotive sealer (Sikaflex 227) and spot welded the outers back on. Let's just say that this was time consuming and took about 1 day each. However at the end they looked awesome.

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Here you can see the OME greasable shackle hangers - these are a pretty impressive product. Well made and fitted very well.

You can also see the rear disk brakes with Subaru Leone front calipers and Suzuki Vitara rotors. These look pretty good but do not know how well they work yet.

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Well a hole lot of time went by when this picture was taken. Finished the chassis off over a couple of late nights after I heard the tub was ready to be picked up. I hired a car trailer and took the whole chassis over to the panel beaters. The guys there lifted the tub and put it on the chassis. I then bolted it down and took it home.

I took all of the other loose parts/panels home in a Toyota Troopie one or two are a time so as to not risk scratching them. Tedious job, but got the whole lot home no problems.

Here you can see the Jeep after about 1 weeks worth of assembly.



You can see that I have fitted the tin valve cover from a later model 4.0. The reason I did this was because I wanted to use the TJ crossover tube for the air intake. On the XJ valve cover, the Xover tube runs directly over the top of the front emissions elbow fitting. It would fit, but it looked dodgy to me, so I got the later style tin valve cover which moved the emissions elbow forward about 3 inches.

You can also see (just) all of the TJ serpentine drive fitted. You will notice the difference if you compare to the previous pics I posted of the XJ setup.

You can also see the dual diapraghm TJ brake booster fitted. This required some custom brackets to me made.




Here you can see the mass of wires that I needed to sort out for the XJ engine loom. You can also see the MAP sensor mounted to the firewall. Also the oval shaped grommet for the AW4 trans computer, which is mounted on the inside of the dash up behind the glovebox.



Here is the stock XJ emissions canister sitting in place in the original CJ location. It is actually a smaller diameter so I will need to do something about that.

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Here you can see the progress under the dash.



Here is the trans computer mounted.



Here is the rebuilt stock 79 model heater. This is a Australian made heater that was fitted when the vehicles got to Australia.



Here is a shot across to the drivers side. You can see the pedals and steering column mount.



Here is the rebuilt steering column. Everything was satin black powder-coated which provided a real trick finish.

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Here is a pic of the original mirrors that were rebuilt. I totally dismantled these, had then black powder coated and new mirror glass cut. I re-assembled them and they look trick.



Here is the low-back seats that I am planning on using. These are all original and in pretty good condition. At some stage in the future I will probably get them reupholstered but for now they are good enough.



At this stage the roll bar is bolted in.



Rear end almost finished. TJ tail lights and most of the spare tyre carrier fitted.

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I had everything that was originally black on the jeep, powdercoated in satin black by Quality Powder coaters at Archerfield. These guys do awesome work, good quality and reasonably priced. Of the 50 odd items that I have had done, they have all come back looking factory - very impressed. The finish is also very durable.

Here is a pic of my passenger side seat mounting bracket. This is the type that folds forward.



It has been powder coated and look great. However the powder coaters cannot coat something like this in one piece. So I ground out the rivets and dismantled the whole seat base. I had all of the individual items powder coated.

I then had new rivets machined up and then had these gold zinc plated as per the original items. I them punched the rivets on with a hammer and reassembled the seat base that you see here.

Hate to think just how long I spent on this one item...

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Here you can see the TJ drive components.



This is the overall assembly. That is still the original XJ alternator. Just about everything else is TJ.



This is the idler pulley that goes in place of the A/C compressor. I decided to run without AC on this jeep.



This is the alternator mounting bracket and idler pulley. I purchased a couple of wrong ones before getting the correct one (EDIT: Doh it's still the wrong one - read further on to find out why). There have been a lot of similar brackets mounted on 4.0 engines. Pre and post 96 cherokee and grand cherokee - all look similar but not the same.



Finally this is the TJ water pump fitted and TJ pulley. The price is my dad joking around since he had to machine a mm off the back side of the pulley which was rubbing on my water pump.