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Posted: 4/19/2024 6:31:31 PM EDT
So I am in the process of doing a drivetrain swap and some other upgrades to my 1982 CJ-8. Primary goal has been an engine and transmission swap. I have a LQ nine out of a 2005 Cadillac Escalade and an NV4500 speed transmission out of a 1996 Chevrolet truck. I will keep the stock, Dana 300 transfer case.
In addition to changing the engine and transmission, I am taking the opportunity to do a few other upgrades. I am revamping/upgrading the entire fuel and brake systems. Installing a new power brake booster, master cylinder and replacing all of the brake lines with new stainless ones. Also replacing the stock 15 gallon gas tank with a TDK 30 gallon aluminum tank that incorporates an internal electric fuel pump to support the 6.0L LS motor and a super beefy skid plate. And lastly, swapping in better axles that have 4.56 gears and ARB lockers. Will probably also go to a high steer tie rod and drag link. Anywho, I currently have it disassembled down to the frame. The frame itself is really solid with minimal surface rest. But I’m starting to think as long as I have it torn down this far, maybe I should do something to protect it against corrosion. The tub has had holes in the driver and passenger side floorpans ever since I bought it. It originally had carpet in it that trapped moisture and especially caused the driver side floor pan to rot out. I think at some point it also leaked brake fluid from either the brake cylinder or the clutch master cylinder on both sides of the firewall, causing it to rust as well. so I’d like to fix the footwells, and clean up all the firewall rust and protect it from future corrosion as well. Also think about just redoing the entire interior of the tub and both sides of the firewallin some sort of industrial paint or epoxy or bedliner material. Kind of curious what other peoples’ experiences have been and open to any thoughts, ideas, recommendations, suggestions, etc. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Tub pics
Attached File Attached File Rust hold under one of the roll bar feet Attached File Rust perforation in passenger side rocker Attached File Toe support under passenger floor pan Attached File |
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Ditch the frame.
Ditch the axle. Also throw away those motor, trans. Go w/ Tons frame. 4bt built D60/80 or above |
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POR15 the frame. Patch the floor panels and any structural sections. POR15 the tub and then reassemble
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George Mason “The Cavalier’s” Great-Grandson
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Originally Posted By BAT: Ditch the frame. Ditch the axle. Also throw away those motor, trans. Go w/ Tons frame. 4bt built D60/80 or above View Quote That’s real retarded, sir. The fuck is a “tons frame”? 4bt is a low power heavy piece of shit. LQ9 is awesome. There is no need for d60 for “regular” wheeling, especially for the cost. OP is doing scrambler right. I would do EXACTLY what he is doing. Probably save the steering projects for another rainy day so I can get back on the trails sooner. This is the way. |
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Strip the frame and axles. paint with epoxy paint or similar.
Replace floor pans. LineX the interior. Front shackle reversal. Then build it how YOU want. |
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“It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt” - Mark Twain
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OP, with what CJ8s are going for these days, you're crazy to go back with anything but a stock powertrain with updates, maybe a stroker 4.0 at most.
WRT to the rust, look at what's readily available for patch panels, get that in hand, then cut to fit the panel. The metal does not need to be welded with the availability of modern unibody adhesives, all you need is some joint overlap, a few rivets, proper prep, and the glued in tub will be as strong or stronger than it was OEM. Not to mention Jeeps depend on the frame, not the tub, for stiffness and strength. For the rust that remains, take it down to the metal as best you can, one spot at a time, and get the rust converter on it immediately. Don't let micro rust form overnight. POR15 is as good as the rest, you might also look into spraying over that with a zinc-rich primer before the finish coat. |
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We are born free and will stay free. |
I think you should trash the tub and make a fiberglass tub in the shape of a giant rubber ducky. Then put some yuuugge tires on it and park it on top of jeep wranglers at the mall
Eta I dont know much about jeeps |
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The mountains are calling, and I must go. -John Muir
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Originally Posted By VVinci: OP, with what CJ8s are going for these days, you're crazy to go back with anything but a stock powertrain with updates, maybe a stroker 4.0 at most. View Quote Original is a 151ci 4 cylinder Iron Duke and a 4speed T4. Dennis Collins calls them undesirable and worthless. No matter what gets put into it, the VIN is always going to show that it started out as a 4 cylinder. So it’s never going to be particularly valuable in its purely stock form. Not only that, it’s not even the original 4 cylinder engine. When I bought it 22 years ago for$1,500, it had a knocking rod so I swapped it out for a junkyard motor and enjoyed it as it was in the time since. That second little Iron Duke just wouldn’t quit. The Jeep also had a low quality repaint before it came to be mine. So between all of that, I just don’t see the point or value of restoring it to original. It’s a great candidate for a relatively modest build. |
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I agree with the por-15. People have had pretty good luck with that stuff once the rust has been mitigated. I had to use saf-t-caps in two places on my old TJ but they were quality parts and I believe the end product ended up stronger/better than oem. Good luck, looks like a heck of a project. Keep us updated.
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Originally Posted By Boomer: Original is a 151ci 4 cylinder Iron Duke and a 4speed T4. Dennis Collins calls them undesirable and worthless. No matter what gets put into it, the VIN is always going to show that it started out as a 4 cylinder. So it’s never going to be particularly valuable in its purely stock form. Not only that, it’s not even the original 4 cylinder engine. When I bought it 22 years ago for$1,500, it had a knocking rod so I swapped it out for a junkyard motor and enjoyed it as it was in the time since. That second little Iron Duke just wouldn’t quit. The Jeep also had a low quality repaint before it came to be mine. So between all of that, I just don’t see the point or value of restoring it to original. It’s a great candidate for a relatively modest build. View Quote I suspect Collins was talking about CJ7s, CJ8s are far more rare. Yeah the VIN might say I4, but it would still pull a premium if you did a nice I6 build on it, or even a 304 AMC. Having driven hotrod Jeeps, once you get much past a warmed over 304, they are so dangerous as to not be much fun any more IMO. You could obviously go a lot wilder than an LQ9, but it will still be a handful and no one but you will understand all the nuances to keep it running. It's your baby though, so enjoy whatever you build. And try not to let it kill you! |
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I'd probably let it sit in my garage.......just like the TJ tub and frame I have been letting sit in my garage forever now
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5.3L aluminum block vortec LH6 mated to a 4L60-E.
Currie Ford 9" front & rear Eaton Rear E-Locker Detroit Limited Slip front locker 4" BDS Lift 33" Duratracs Live it up. |
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Originally Posted By netbrad: Just don't get any on your hootus. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By netbrad: Originally Posted By The_Like_Button: POR15 the frame. Patch the floor panels and any structural sections. POR15 the tub and then reassemble Just don't get any on your hootus. Classic! Lol |
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Carpe diem - Seize the day
Carpe per diem - Seize the expense check |
I’d move the front axle as far forward as possible, 3 link the front, 4 link the rear and put it on 14” coilovers all around.
Check out irate4x4.com |
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Build that bitch
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The most important thing to be learned from those who demand “Equity/Equality For All” is that all are not equal
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Park it in my yard and let it rot in an effort to lower property values and cut my fucking taxes
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I saw someone (on Arf actually) send a frame out for galvanizing. IIRC it is actually pretty affordable.
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Originally Posted By PointBlank82: 5.3L aluminum block vortec LH6 mated to a 4L60-E. Currie Ford 9" front & rear Eaton Rear E-Locker Detroit Limited Slip front locker 4" BDS Lift 33" Duratracs Live it up. View Quote You are on the right track, but Detroit Lockers and limited slip diffs suck up front on the street, especially on a Jeep. A Turetrac is where it's at. |
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“It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt” - Mark Twain
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4bt is a low power heavy piece of shit. LQ9 is awesome View Quote |
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Stuff I learned from A-Team: 1)Always pity da fool 2)Carry wire cutters (you may need to defuse a bomb or start a car) 3)Never trust a crazy fool 4)Carry grenade launcher/machine guns in the van 5)Know how to weld 6)Love It When A Plan Comes Together
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Originally Posted By Jason280: Yeah, I don't get the obsession some have with the 4BT...especially in a Jeep. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Jason280: 4bt is a low power heavy piece of shit. LQ9 is awesome Yeah, I don't get the obsession some have with the 4BT...especially in a Jeep. People like the sound. Burning WMO is also a thing. |
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Originally Posted By Backscatter: You are on the right track, but Detroit Lockers and limited slip diffs suck up front on the street, especially on a Jeep. A Turetrac is where it's at. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Backscatter: Originally Posted By PointBlank82: 5.3L aluminum block vortec LH6 mated to a 4L60-E. Currie Ford 9" front & rear Eaton Rear E-Locker Detroit Limited Slip front locker 4" BDS Lift 33" Duratracs Live it up. You are on the right track, but Detroit Lockers and limited slip diffs suck up front on the street, especially on a Jeep. A Turetrac is where it's at. Well, I have manual hubs on my CJ, so don't really notice. Now the mechanical Detroit in the rear... that sucks making turns. Errrrr.... pop! |
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Just buy a new fiberglass tub.
I did for my 80 CJ5. No complaints, |
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Originally Posted By PointBlank82: 5.3L aluminum block vortec LH6 mated to a 4L60-E. Currie Ford 9" front & rear Eaton Rear E-Locker Detroit Limited Slip front locker 4" BDS Lift 33" Duratracs Live it up. View Quote I don’t think I am going to end up too far from that.
If for some reason the FSJ Model 20 doesn’t work out, I would definitely have a Ford 9” built for the rear end. |
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Flintstone's car.
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Originally Posted By jimdvan: Flintstone's car. View Quote I already fabbed up a patch panel and fixed it. Attached File |
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firstly a soda blast and a powder coat.
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I would have the tub rust cut out and replaced with metal. Silly not to at this point.
Your not doing a restoration so maybe just ospho the frame rust and paint it? |
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Not a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows. Charles Reade
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I’d sell it to fund an lj - the superior jeep
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I'm doing the same cj8 project on a 84. My frame was in worse shape and just thin in general. We went with a new tdk frame, and slowly working on it. We've got the body off and the new frame painted with por and replacing fuel and brake lines now that we've put the old axles back under the new frame.
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Don't ever overlap patch panels. Cut to fit and mig them. And pop rivets should be aviation only. I would however recommend a crossmember with a skid plate to protect the rear driveshaft.
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Originally Posted By hotbiggun42:
Globalism = bring America down to everyone else's level just to be fair |
Have the tub and frame dipped before you do anything.
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"According to Argonne National Laboratory, it takes 100 pounds of battery in an EV to go a distance achieved by only one pound of gasoline in an ICE vehicle"
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Originally Posted By Boomer: I don’t think I am going to end up too far from that.
If for some reason the FSJ Model 20 doesn’t work out, I would definitely have a Ford 9” built for the rear end. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Boomer: Originally Posted By PointBlank82: 5.3L aluminum block vortec LH6 mated to a 4L60-E. Currie Ford 9" front & rear Eaton Rear E-Locker Detroit Limited Slip front locker 4" BDS Lift 33" Duratracs Live it up. I don’t think I am going to end up too far from that.
If for some reason the FSJ Model 20 doesn’t work out, I would definitely have a Ford 9” built for the rear end. I hope you scored some Moser one piece Axle shafts for the 20... The 4500is cool, until you try driving in the city. I'm so done with the ax15 in my 85 CJ. Once I financially recover from the CO AWB, I want to swap in a 5.3/4L60. I'll eventually truss my AMC20 too |
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You Scrambler ownin' son of a bitch!
I am JELLY AS ALL HELL!!!!!!!!!! |
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"Such predicaments! I must forge ahead!"
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Front shackle reversal kit.
Ditch the stock front shock towers and weld on some pre-fabricated longer travel shock hoops. Fabricate a suitable and reinforced rear frame crossmember. This will give you a LOT more suitable and MUCH stronger than stock xmbr for custom rear bumper and swingouts. |
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"I am gonna laugh my ass off looking out the air vent of the box car watching some of you shot in the head in a ditch when you finally realize it's time to resist." stolen from RR_broccoli
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I’m re-building my 1995 F-150 4x4, I did the entire frame , wire wheeled everything I could, hand brushed what I could, painted the whole thing with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and then top coated with Rustoleum Flat Black.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07X3VH58H/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&aaxitk=d79a3589a34623a1eadb167b3c9f24a9&hsa_cr_id=1872313330201&qid=1713635363&sr=1-1-3c6b3b04-89d4-46ee-857c-1e2f0de6a70e&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_scm_asin_0_img&pd_rd_w=Cq285&content-id=amzn1.sym.4870a952-0dfa-4beb-9d2a-7a52537f019d%3Aamzn1.sym.4870a952-0dfa-4beb-9d2a-7a52537f019d&pf_rd_p=4870a952-0dfa-4beb-9d2a-7a52537f019d&pf_rd_r=X61Z3Y157YEDMK135XEV&pd_rd_wg=akMsK&pd_rd_r=0b4a475e-3474-46fd-af70-fe900bc6fb5e |
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The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
George Will |
Originally Posted By PointBlank82: I hope you scored some Moser one piece Axle shafts for the 20... The 4500is cool, until you try driving in the city. I'm so done with the ax15 in my 85 CJ. Once I financially recover from the CO AWB, I want to swap in a 5.3/4L60. I'll eventually truss my AMC20 too View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By PointBlank82: Originally Posted By Boomer: Originally Posted By PointBlank82: 5.3L aluminum block vortec LH6 mated to a 4L60-E. Currie Ford 9" front & rear Eaton Rear E-Locker Detroit Limited Slip front locker 4" BDS Lift 33" Duratracs Live it up. I don’t think I am going to end up too far from that.
If for some reason the FSJ Model 20 doesn’t work out, I would definitely have a Ford 9” built for the rear end. I hope you scored some Moser one piece Axle shafts for the 20... The 4500is cool, until you try driving in the city. I'm so done with the ax15 in my 85 CJ. Once I financially recover from the CO AWB, I want to swap in a 5.3/4L60. I'll eventually truss my AMC20 too The CJ already had a 4 speed manual and I liked it. I also owned a 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins 6BTA and a NV4500 for a long time that I liked and put quite a few miles on it, so I would to think I am fairly familiar with the operating characteristics of the transmission. And I don’t do a ton of city driving. So I think I’ll be okay. But if not, eventually swapping to an automatic won’t be a huge pain. I added Yukon 1 piece axles to stock Model 20 years ago, but am not bothering with it beyond that. The Model 20 I am swapping in is from a 1984 full size Grand Wagoneer. The Model 20s in the FSJ came stock with thicker axle tubes and 1 piece axles. It’s also a bit over 4” wider than the CJ wide track axle. So it will be an upgrade all the way around. |
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Originally Posted By cinco1: Fabricate a suitable and reinforced rear frame crossmember. This will give you a LOT more suitable and MUCH stronger than stock xmbr for custom rear bumper and swingouts. View Quote There is a guy on CJ-8.com that sells really beefy rear crossmembers at a very reasonable price. Got one on order. |
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Looks like you've got a great project going OP.
Tagged to follow along. |
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The only exploited minority in this nation is the American taxpayer. -kevinb120
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Originally Posted By netbrad: Just don't get any on your hootus. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By netbrad: Originally Posted By The_Like_Button: POR15 the frame. Patch the floor panels and any structural sections. POR15 the tub and then reassemble Just don't get any on your hootus. I believe that was herculiner. |
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Originally Posted By Boomer: Original is a 151ci 4 cylinder Iron Duke and a 4speed T4. Dennis Collins calls them undesirable and worthless. No matter what gets put into it, the VIN is always going to show that it started out as a 4 cylinder. So it’s never going to be particularly valuable in its purely stock form. Not only that, it’s not even the original 4 cylinder engine. When I bought it 22 years ago for$1,500, it had a knocking rod so I swapped it out for a junkyard motor and enjoyed it as it was in the time since. That second little Iron Duke just wouldn’t quit. The Jeep also had a low quality repaint before it came to be mine. So between all of that, I just don’t see the point or value of restoring it to original. It’s a great candidate for a relatively modest build. View Quote If it has the Chevy bell house pattern. There’s a little swap 99% of people never think about. And that’s a 181 Chevy industrial/marine motor. They are torquey little motors. (I put one in a Vega wagon. Slow but hills were no object)If you want to be different. Otherwise an LS swap could be in order. |
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If you can't take the high road, occupy the high ground.
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Originally Posted By Boomer: The CJ already had a 4 speed manual and I liked it. I also owned a 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins 6BTA and a NV4500 for a long time that I liked and put quite a few miles on it, so I would to think I am fairly familiar with the operating characteristics of the transmission. And I don’t do a ton of city driving. So I think I’ll be okay. But if not, eventually swapping to an automatic won’t be a huge pain. I added Yukon 1 piece axles to stock Model 20 years ago, but am not bothering with it beyond that. The Model 20 I am swapping in is from a 1984 full size Grand Wagoneer. The Model 20s in the FSJ came stock with thicker axle tubes and 1 piece axles. It’s also a bit over 4” wider than the CJ wide track axle. So it will be an upgrade all the way around. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Boomer: Originally Posted By PointBlank82: Originally Posted By Boomer: Originally Posted By PointBlank82: 5.3L aluminum block vortec LH6 mated to a 4L60-E. Currie Ford 9" front & rear Eaton Rear E-Locker Detroit Limited Slip front locker 4" BDS Lift 33" Duratracs Live it up. I don’t think I am going to end up too far from that.
If for some reason the FSJ Model 20 doesn’t work out, I would definitely have a Ford 9” built for the rear end. I hope you scored some Moser one piece Axle shafts for the 20... The 4500is cool, until you try driving in the city. I'm so done with the ax15 in my 85 CJ. Once I financially recover from the CO AWB, I want to swap in a 5.3/4L60. I'll eventually truss my AMC20 too The CJ already had a 4 speed manual and I liked it. I also owned a 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins 6BTA and a NV4500 for a long time that I liked and put quite a few miles on it, so I would to think I am fairly familiar with the operating characteristics of the transmission. And I don’t do a ton of city driving. So I think I’ll be okay. But if not, eventually swapping to an automatic won’t be a huge pain. I added Yukon 1 piece axles to stock Model 20 years ago, but am not bothering with it beyond that. The Model 20 I am swapping in is from a 1984 full size Grand Wagoneer. The Model 20s in the FSJ came stock with thicker axle tubes and 1 piece axles. It’s also a bit over 4” wider than the CJ wide track axle. So it will be an upgrade all the way around. That thing is gonna be a tank. nice! |
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