My first Jeep, a 1983 CJ7!

[CaptainBuilt]

After a year, I finally brought the Jeep home.

Even tho it's from my father in law, it's basically a "barn find". I am the second owner. The only thing that has been done is it has a new hood after a accident about 20 years ago.

It's in ok shape. Good bones. Zero rust.

Parked at the hotel for the night:

And home! As soon as it gets above 20º I will get it running. The carb needs cleaned up.

 

[givemethewillys]

Good luck! Looks like you have an awesome jeep to start with, and so cool it has been in your family.

 

[KENPERK]

if you haven't, take a look at the CJ jeep board on Jeep Forum.com...they know CJ7s

 

[AggieOE]

Excited to see what you do with this!

 

[CaptainBuilt]

Excited to see what you do with this!

"Hopefully" make it look like this:

Good luck! Looks like you have an awesome jeep to start with, and so cool it has been in your family.

Ever since I met my then future father in law, I have been wearing him down about this Jeep. Everyone is excited to see what I'm gonna do with it.

Fabulous... I like the box truck too. Skinny boxes are the best.
I never noticed the mirror friendly 55MPH on the U-HAUL fender before

They are the best! Cheaper than a truck, and I'm converting it to a RV.

if you haven't, take a look at the CJ jeep board on Jeep Forum.com...they know CJ7s

Thanks!

They put in a new engine 10 years ago. The Jeep has 117k miles. And they could never it going after the new engine.

There are TONS of vacuum hoses not connected, or missing. And the carb needs rebuilt. After unsticking the floats in the carb, new fuel pump, new inline filter, I got it to run for a few minutes.

The gas smells like varnish, and lots of work to be had of cleaning the tank. lines, etc. Also every hose is dry rotted.

Short video of it running.

Jeep CJ7 is running!

www.youtube.com

Carb cleaning:

Made it up the driveway!

First bath in a looooong time!

 

[AggieOE]

Love the plans to restore it back to mostly stock. They really looked good as is! Good luck! Glad to see it's moving forward.

 

[shays4me]

That's a nice example of a stock CJ7. A lot of the pieces I'm seeing are hard to get these days. The typical Jeep owner throws the factory bumpers, wheels, seats, engines, drivetrain, etc away and then "upgrades them" to aftermarket only to end up wanting to put the factory stuff back on years later. You've got a bit of a gold mine in parts there. I've got one too, but mine is far too gone to ever restore into a factory looking Jeep. Be careful to not be too fast throwing things away!

 

[CaptainBuilt]

Love the plans to restore it back to mostly stock. They really looked good as is! Good luck! Glad to see it's moving forward.

Thanks! I don't plan on getting too crazy. I just wanna drive it.

That's a nice example of a stock CJ7. A lot of the pieces I'm seeing are hard to get these days. The typical Jeep owner throws the factory bumpers, wheels, seats, engines, drivetrain, etc away and then "upgrades them" to aftermarket only to end up wanting to put the factory stuff back on years later. You've got a bit of a gold mine in parts there. I've got one too, but mine is far too gone to ever restore into a factory looking Jeep. Be careful to not be too fast throwing things away!
View attachment 762207

Nice Jeep! I am keeping everything I can. And try to make it OEM looking as possible.

My father in law had a guy install a new engine. And a new gas tank. As I'm working on this thing, I'm finding a lot of shortcuts that were taken. Missing bolts, loose clamps, etc...

None of the air / vacuum hoses are connected correctly, or at all. I have a diagram that I'm working with trying to get everything hooked back up.

The Jeep sat for at least 10 years. The fuel smells like varnish.

Looks like tea.....

Gonna clean out the tank, and flush the lines. Add a new fuel filter. Once it's running, new tires, and new fluids and hoses for everything.

 

[CaptainBuilt]

The wheels are too far gone. Will be adding new Cragar Nomad wheels ( the OEM Wheels), and BFG KO2's 235/75R15.

 

[shays4me]

The factory manual is your friend. They're worth every penny if you have to buy one and often times if you look around there's a downloadable pdf for free.

 

[CaptainBuilt]

The factory manual is your friend. They're worth every penny if you have to buy one and often times if you look around there's a downloadable pdf for free.

I've been looking for one. I might order the MR 252 Manual.

I ordered new tail lights. front turn signals, sending unit, and gas tank.

I pulled the tank, which was new before it sat for 10 years. But now, the bottom was covered in rust.

Sending unit is a good example what was in the tank....

More stinky fuel:

I buffed down the skid plate for the tank and painted it with some left over POR-15 I had. Can't even see the rust pits!

Once we move I will have a powder coating setup. And I will powder every part I can. And hopefully send the frame off for powder as well.

 

[shays4me]

I just searched my computer and sure enough I have the factory manual on pdf. If you'd like a copy you can PM me and I'll email it to you.

 

[CaptainBuilt]

Holley Sniper EFI is on the way.

New tank installed that will have to come back out for the EFI setup lol..

Installed new tail lights, front turn signals, and side amber lights:

New tires:

I'm fighting with tuning, and I think I have a stuck lifter. I pulled the valve cover and all the rockers were tight. Not sure what's going on with that. It is getting less noticeable the more I drive it.

My father in law put in a new engine, but couldn't get it running correctly after the install. The mechanic he used was horrible. Most vacuum lines are missing / open vacuum ports.

After a second carb teardown, I broke down and ordered a Holley Sniper EFI kit, not yet installed.

The engine bay is a mess. Before I install the EFI, I am going to clean things up.

The plugs before I changed them:

Getting there:

 

[CaptainBuilt]

Holley Sniper EFI:

 

[CaptainBuilt]

Holley Sniper EFI installed. I only have a few miles on it, but I'm already a believer. Holy crap, it idles so smoothly and drives like anything else that's a standard, not rough or anything like it was. It feels like a different vehicle now. INSANE.

Throttle body:

In tank fuel pump:

There is a Sniper EFI ignition option, which includes distributor, coil, and CD ignition box. Which is controlled by the Snapier EFI ECM. I will but that next.

Even Holley says buy just the Sniper EFI kit and get it working right, then install the ignition system.