CJ7 Build Part 2 aka Stopping the Flopping

[USMC 0369]

[COLOR="#800000"]HOOOOOLY CRAP Dude!!! That's scary!![/COLOR]

[daniel_buck]

Wow! wonder how long it's been like that!?? The metal on the inside of the crack doesn't look bright/fresh

[jonah]

whoa, how is that holding on?! This is a perfect example of why it is a good idea to upgrade your jeep often, it gives you the chance to find these things, safety first!

[6spdYJ]

WOW! Scary, glad you found it the safe way.

[dirtman13]

Spent some time last night looking at that crack a little more and it defiantly has been there a while. If you grab the front passenger side of the frame you can actually see it moving. I have no idea whats holding it together but I'm sure lucky. That failing on the freeway wouldn't have ended well.

[RAT]

Jesus chuck. Go buy a lotto ticket cuz your luck is phenominal.

[daniel_buck]

I guess the body is holding it there, haha

[dirtman13]

Here are some before pictures. It's going to look and perform much different later.





Along with the items mentioned earlier the plans include:
Engine will be Chevy Blue
Installing an aluminum high flow water pump from a 5.7L
Custom cold air intake with 3 1/2" tube
JBA stainless headers.
MSD Ignition coil.
180 degree JET high flow t-stat.
Flowmaster Muffler
The big monster power steering pump and alternator brackets will be removed and replaced with a small block Chevy pulley kit like this.

[TipsE-Z]

Looks like some good work coming on this thing. And holy crap! I'm with Kurt, go get a lotto ticket. That is crazy to see, glad it made it home. I do like Jonah's thought's on upgrading often.

[dirtman13]

Made some good progress this weekend. Frame is fixed. Maybe a little over kill but it won't happen again at least in that spot. Still need to clean it up and paint it. I also removed the upper and lower front shock mounts. The FOA shocks are shorter than the King's so I'm redoing the mounts to gain some more down travel. Upper will be a hi-rise bracket and the lower is getting moved to the inner C. Once that is done I can start on the wiring.




Old Upper shock mount.

Getting replace with this.

[daniel_buck]

When you fix a big crack like that, did you clamp/ratchet/whatever everything back together to reduce the gap before fixing it? Or just leave it like it is, weld it up, then plate it up?

[dirtman13]

I closed it. You can see the jack stand in the first picture under the frame behind the crack. The front is just hanging there. I didn't need to do any ratcheting.

[dr.dirty]

Glad you got it fixed. Pretty crazy stuff.

[dirtman13]

Made a little more headway this weekend.
Front shock relocation complete.
Stripped the fire wall and welded up all the old unused holes.

Before


Body separation on passenger side.


Filled the old clutch hole.



During


After


Moving on to the battery box now. The old one has about had it.

[Mike]

Nice work on the firewall. That looks damn good! Car show quality.