CJ7: 1978 rolling rebuild

[cherren]

HiI am in the same process as you, With the ARB leaf springs is there a ARB part number you can give me please. The CJ had some major mods not done to my liking, 360cui, 2 barrel Holley hot dog exhausts out the side etc,

I will also be getting the Bilstein from the USA, got 5 new mags and new floor shifter, by boat, edilbrock inlet manifold, rocker covers carb covers. 600cfm Holley 4 barrel carb, new seals bearings for the th400 auto & quadatrack transfer case, got new 11" drums and shoe for rear brakes, bloody big brakes, still trying to work my way the the mysteries of the from disks, got 300 dia rotors 1 1/18 " thk not 7/8" thick rotors no caliper bolts (2off) like the XYs. Fancy polished chrome alum diff th400 covers, new dash Pad covers and instruments, side door covers and sunvisors all new rubbers for whole of jeep. Full new painless wire loom, they had bastardise the org loom. Will send some picks of bits has I finish them

Originally Posted by Scottieb

Thanks.

I ordered the ARB springs locally, got bilstein shockies out of the US and used ARB shackles, Crabtree front spring mounts and new spring plates to get a working combination on the suspension. It isn't an overly hard job, but having good tools helps. Two jacks is definitely handy.




The end result is pretty good. The car sits higher, looks better and rides a lot nicer.



Attachment 65929

[Scottieb]

Originally Posted by TOYROX

Nice CJ.
You will have to increase the castor angle to get the steering to self centre.
The old rigs have all but zero castor from factory.
You will need at least 3 degrees up to 5 with 8 inch rims.
You can use caster shims or grind the mounts on the front diff and reweld them after setting the caster.
With the longer springs you can move the chassis bracket forward and end up drilling an extra hole for the mount.
I strongly recommend a steering box brace. To fit one With the TJ box you will need to grind the notch at the box sector shaft spigot to fit it.
Check the seam weld along the bottom of the chassis at the RHF spring mount at the tail end. This regularly splits open and can be hard to see. But will cause flex and affect the steering.

Thanks, the Crabtree spring mounts pickup the original two bolt holes and add a third threaded hole in the mount to take a third bolt. The assembly brings the front spring mount about an inch forward as you pointed to. The Crabtree part is well made but expensive.

I hear you on the steering brace. There is a lot of flex in the factory mounts.

Despite a lot of effort on the steering I still need to fit the power steering pump (factory mounts) and hoses (custom made by ENZED). I need to remove the radiator to get some clearance. I'm not sure the hydraulic fittings and adaptors are actually going to fit...

I also need to replace the lower steering column bearing.

The lower steering column bearing surprised me. There was no play but it is loose and feels very crunchy. I guess it was masked by the totally shot steering box previously. I done a small,amount of checking and I suspect a holden HQ to WB bearing will be identical. Can anyone confirm this?

I figured out that imgur is a good enough image host, so here are some pic's...
In the driveway


ARB shackles, YJ springs, Crabtree spring hanger and the TJ steering box with dropped pitman arm


The rear suspension... ARB OME YJ, This just bolted in with no mods needed

[Scottieb]

Originally Posted by cherren

HiI am in the same process as you, With the ARB leaf springs is there a ARB part number you can give me please. The CJ had some major mods not done to my liking, 360cui, 2 barrel Holley hot dog exhausts out the side etc,

I will also be getting the Bilstein from the USA, got 5 new mags and new floor shifter, by boat, edilbrock inlet manifold, rocker covers carb covers. 600cfm Holley 4 barrel carb, new seals bearings for the th400 auto & quadatrack transfer case, got new 11" drums and shoe for rear brakes, bloody big brakes, still trying to work my way the the mysteries of the from disks, got 300 dia rotors 1 1/18 " thk not 7/8" thick rotors no caliper bolts (2off) like the XYs. Fancy polished chrome alum diff th400 covers, new dash Pad covers and instruments, side door covers and sunvisors all new rubbers for whole of jeep. Full new painless wire loom, they had bastardise the org loom. Will send some picks of bits has I finish them

It sounds like you've got a similar age CJ with the Quadratrak and turbo 400 trans. I've got the low ratio box which is an optional extra to the Quadratrak. Mine is very noisy when engaged, so,I suspect I need bears and seals as well. I'm keen to get those part numbers off you if possible. I will have the ARB part numbers on an invoice somewhere. All you need to do is ask a local ARB outlet for YJ springs though. I worked out is was cheaper to haggle a price locally than pay the freight for heavy and bulky springs. ARB gave a good discount when I quoted the US prices to them. Crazy that the US vendors are selling gear made in Aus cheaper than we can get it.

Watch out for the bilstein shocks as mine are the 4600 series and while good shocks they do limit axle flex as they are standard height. All fine on road though.

I'd love to see how the 360v8 goes in the CJ. Mine is a stock 258 and has plenty of go, but part of having a toy is wanting the V8 rumble...

[Scottieb]

The fuel tank had a leak somewhere in the system. The jeep marked its territory and always had a fuel smell around it. It got people nervous that their car was leaking when parked in the work car park

I dropped it out when replacing the rear suspension. It was dripping badly and needed action.

Taking it out was fairly straightforward. Two rolls of bolts front and back holding the bash plate to the cross members. The tank is strapped to the bashplate.

Tank and bashplate out of the jeep


Side view showing bypassed vapour lines.. More stuff to fix...


The bashplate was badly rusted


The bashplates reinforcing band was rusted through and the vent and fill hoses were cracked and perished.

Everything to be replaced....

New poly tank(no rust), new pickup, new repro bashplate, new straps and hoses...



Annoying as expensive and doesn't make the jeep look or drive better... But I've now got a working fuel gauge and no leaks. It's a win.

[TOYROX]

Thelower steer column bearing will look great and feel good but will present an unwelcome knocking noise when driving around and hitting bumps.
The best repair is to remove the column.
Cut a couple of inches of the bottom outer case to the column without cutting the main steer shaft.
Get a sealed roller race to fit the main shaft.
Get a piece of exhaust tube the same as the outer steer shaft outer and have it expanded by the exhaust shop to fit the bearing.
Weld this to the end of the shaft assy.
Install the bearing and peen the exhaust pipe over to hold the bearin in place.
Hope thi makes sense.

[TOYROX]

Looks like the rear axels are still two piece.
Moderate off road or the future V8 will see these break at the taper of the main flange.
One piece Moser or similar are the go.
If you go for one piece give me a pm and i will give you some tips.
As for the 360. If you can get a good runner 360 cheap is a good conversion.
Otherwise use a Chev engine if the 360 needs attention.
Parts for 360 are harder to get and pricey.

[TOYROX]

The CJ looks great too.
Before you know you will have spent more on it ten a new JK.
But they don't have that coooool.