[Guest]

Hello all,

I am on the verge of purchasing my first Jeep and can't wait. The one I am looking at is:

-1979? CJ7 (as per his wife)
-softtop
-has inline 6 cylinder (4.2L hopefully it is a 79' as it was the standard engine)
-3 speed manual
-manual shift 4wd ( shifter selects between 2H, 4L, N, 4H so I am assuming it's Quadtrack)
-it has locking hubs
-33's which don't rub
-no lift?? hard to believe 33's wouldn't rub w/o a lift
-black diamond tread plating on body side and rear corners

it needs to be road worthy(pass inspection)
- tailpipe
- windsheild
- side mirrors
- rear view mirrors
- rear bumper
- reverse lights don't work
- tranny repair

The Tranny pops out of 1st, you can hold it in but if you try to hold it for too long it pops out anyways.... what would be the main cause of this and is it a repair I can make myself or should I outsource to a tranny shop??

What steps should I take to diagnose the reverse lights problem?

Has anyone replaced a windsheild in their Jeep? How involved is it to get a good leak free seal??

After I get my CJ road worthy I plan on upgrading some of the current features (mainly interior)like a custom dash which puts the guages at a more comfortable viewing angle and a center console to house my radio below the dash while hiding it when i am away...LOL.... ohh and the accents will be diamond plate (not sure if I will follow the exterior cues and use black or stay seperate and use polished.... I am sure it will be custom cut by myself so nobody has one just like mine.....LOL

Are there any other areas I should look out for on my CJ?? I will not be doing any heavy off-roading or mud bogging.... just maybe a little urban assault

LOL

Thanks in advance for all your help and advice.... I hope to be a regular here!!!!!

 

[WILL]

Where are you? Fill out your profile please.

In reply to:

-manual shift 4wd ( shifter selects between 2H, 4L, N, 4H so I am assuming it's Quadtrack)

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope. The borg-warner 13-39 (quadratrac) transfer case was never offered with a manual transmission. You have a dana 20.

In reply to:

After I get my CJ road worthy I plan on upgrading some of the current features (mainly interior)like a custom dash which puts the guages at a more comfortable viewing angle

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's a great custom dash if you don't need or can modify it to accomodate the wiper motor.

In reply to:

-black diamond tread plating on body side and rear corners

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd really take a look at the inside of the body behind those diamond plate pieces. Most likely they are there because there are rust holes that the owner didn't want to fix, just cover up.

In reply to:

Has anyone replaced a windsheild in their Jeep? How involved is it to get a good leak free seal??

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not that difficult but it was worth it to me to let someone else do it after I broke the original glass trying to get it out. Even after they replaced it, in seating it, they broke it and had to get another one.

 

[Jim_Lou]

Unless you're looking at a Jeep from the desert southwest (we'd know that if you had filled out your profile), you should find all the rust damage and figure out how to repair it before you buy.

Places to look on the body:

Sides of the tub below and forward of the lower door hinge.
Sides of the fenders aft of the front wheels.
The body support channels that run fore and aft under the floor (major problem).
Under the jack tie-down on the floor under the outboard side of the driver seat.
Under the roll bar base on top of the rear fender wells (safety problem).
The rear corners below the tail lights.
The windshield frame, particularly the lower corners.
Any place on the body where two pieces of sheet metal are joined.
The perimeter of the floor, where it's joined to the vertical panels.

In the frame:
Forward of the rear axel arches, on the inside of the rails.
The top of the rails where the rear crossmembers are welded.
The area around the rear most crossmember where it's welded to the rails.
The rails from the rear crossmember forward to where the axel arch starts.
All of the pads where body mount biscuits rest.
The muffler hanger bracket, where two pieces are joined.

There is a simple reason that CJs are rust buckets - bad design. In many places they lapped a piece of steel over another and welded one edge. That leaves the other edge open to the elements, and no paint between the two pieces.

Moisture gets trapped between the two pieces and rust takes over quickly. The telltale sign, before rust comes through, is a swelling of one or both pieces where they are overlapped. That is because rust is bigger than the steel it came from.

A badly rusted body, of which diamond plate is an indicator, is hardly worth the effort to repair since any repair is temporary. Frames can be successfully repaired, but it's not easy to do properly, and proper repairs probably can't be done with the body on. I put up a post a few months ago detailing some of the frame repairs I made.

All that is not to suggest that you must find a rust free unrestored CJ. I think that there are only three in the country. Maybe four. Just have an idea of what it's going to take to turn it into a sound vehicle.

On other matters, in '79 they might have still had the 232 I6 - the 258 was an extra cost option in '78. Apparently the 232 is not much of an engine.

Will is right about the transmission. The cause of jumping out of gear is usually excessive end play in the main shaft gears. Usually the fix is to replace gears, which can be expensive. A second cause is worn engagement dogs, which also requires replacing gears. Less likely, but comparitively cheap and easy to fix, is worn shift forks or detents.

Rebuilding a transmission is not difficult - patience and a manual are about all you need, plus micrometers and dial indicators to find out what is wrong in the first place. I'm not familiar with that particular transmission, so I speak only in generalities.

On the instrument panel, thanks, Will, for posting the thread. The panel was a lot of work to make, not bad at all to install, but it's a delight to drive with.