CJ-75 Budget Build

[Deweyxj]

Soooo, here's where we start!


I aquired a nice (relatively) 74 CJ7 with a 304, 3 speed, 20 t-case, 30 front w/drums, AMC 20 rear (broke), manual steering & brakes, soft top & doors, fair body, & a Ramsey 12,000# winch(BONUS) for $800 about a year ago!


With times being tough 'n all I've been wheelin 'n dealin, & swappin 'n shoppin to aquire enough junk to put this thing together!:amy:


The orriginal plan was to:

Convert to power steering & brakes
Disks up front
Tilt wheel
TBI fuel injection (Chevy)
Wider trac (wheel spacers)
Experiment with some different spring setups (XJ, YJ, F150, Toy, different combos,???)
Maybe a spring over on something longer/flexier
Stretch the wheelbase out to around 101"

The idea was to keep it somewhat low & street friendly, but still a fairly tough off roader.


As I got closer to starting the prodject & started measuring & eyeballing things I noticed a few issues.:-\

The frame had a bit of an up angle at the front. Initially I thought it was the crappy homemade bumper job, but after a closer look we found that the frame was bent just in front of the back spring hanger for the front spring on both sides!


Time for a new game plan!!


I had been following CJ14's build thread & the 4 door Comando build thread with great interest & started
thinking this idea isn't that hard to pull off??



Soooooo........

Soursed a J10 pickup frame & running gear (buddy bought it for the cab & plow)
Found a CJ5 tub for $200


Voila!! The makings of possibly the worlds 1 & only CJ1075 !!!



This will be a slow & cheap build! I'll be working on it only on Sundays (Jeep Church) in Tooele


Weekly updates at best!



I'll post pics when I figure that out tomorrow

 

[Deweyxj]

I'll try some pics

 

[Deweyxj]

OK! Now I'm encouraged!!


Pics of the frame & where we tried to fix it.:busted:

Heat + jacks + weight + BIG hammer = bupkiss!

 

[Deweyxj]

Soooo.... The new plan is to graft a CJ5 tub onto the back of a CJ7 tub & end up with a JK type look on a old school body plan!!


Started to put together the tubs, just on the rack now, but you'll get the idea!

 

[I Lean]

Watching......

 

[offroadlogan]

Me two

 

[Deweyxj]

Going to start stripping the body off the J-10 tomorow then we can get some accurate measurements & start fitting the bodies together!

 

[cj14]

Great to see another 4 door design. Keep updating. Laying paint on mine now. Looking forward to meeting some of you guy's at EJS

 

[Deweyxj]

We stripped the bed & front clip off of the J-10!

The J-10 comes with:

360 V8
T-18 4 speed
Dana 20
Dana 44's front & rear
Power steering
Power brakes



The plan is to put the bodies together first then wheelbase the frame to fit.

Hoping for something around 120", we'll see!

 

[Deweyxj]

I got the CJ7 & 5 tubs cut down & fit up on sunday!

 

[Deweyxj]

A little closer!

 

[Deweyxj]

I am coming out at exactly 125" WB!:-\ I had hoped for a little closer to 120", To take any more out between the doors would mean cutting out the front door support on the CJ5 & into the seat belt / floor section of the 7, both of which I feel are going to be needed for stiffness in the door area .

 

[Deweyxj]

Sooooo...

This is how she'll look

 

[zukking01]

Liking this Alot. Please keep up on the pics and info. Great!!!

 

[turbohaulic]

Should be an awesome build. I'll be watching!!

 

[zukking01]

Are you making a top to go with it? Will you use doors?

 

[Bart]

Thought about this build for years and glad to see you doing it. Looking great so far. Keep the progress and pics coming.

 

[Deweyxj]

Are you making a top to go with it? Will you use doors?

Yes! The idea is to use the CJ5 soft top on the back half which will come forward of the top of the door line & then I'll stitch on a piece from there to the windshield & a flap down either side to fill in between the doors



I'm keeping the door openings stock so I can use half doors durring the summer

 

[Deweyxj]

Thought about this build for years and glad to see you doing it. Looking great so far. Keep the progress and pics coming.

Thanks, but I have to give credit to my buddy & fearless fabricator Wayne Walker:bow:! Every time I say, can it be done, he says, Oh yeah, I've done that lots of times!


I would never jump off this bridge alone! I also have to give kudos to Wayne's son Wayne ( Phill) who owns the shop where we are doing this build!


Both are very good mechanics & fabricators & sport some highly modified & capable rigs of their own:greg:


We get together every Sunday for Jeep church!



I'll post some pics of their rigs tomorrow!!

 

[Deweyxj]

Got the cab seperated from the pickup chasis!


30 years worth of crud! Needless to say I'll be cleaning it up with the pressure washer before starting on the chasis mods:-\!