1979 CJ7 QuadraTrac Build

[Deleted member 96197]

I have never taken the time to actually make a build thread, I'll try to keep up with it.
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After a little looking around I came across a great deal on a decent base for a project. I know not everyone loves the QT, but the bulk of the opinions are if you take care of them right, they are very solid, I can't be sure this one was taken care of right, so it's going to be rebuilt before I rely on it. The rest of the drivetrain is in great shape, engine runs great, and although I would have preferred a manual, the TH400 is bulletproof. The AMC 20 in the back will need a little strengthening, but I don't plan on making this a rock crawler sitting on massive rubber, keeping it fairly true to its original intent, I plan to turn this rusty mess in to a barebones expo truck, no fancy live in compartments or satellite uplinks here, just a way for me and my dog to get out away from civilization, but with a little bit of classic style.
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I don't really know the history of this jeep, but as I dig through it, my best guess is it was pretty well taken care of for most it's life. Somehow in made it in to the hands of someone who just didn't care much, rust in the back, but none forward of the front seats looks like maybe it started living in a bikini top, and as small things broke short cuts were taken, so the ignition, indicators, and pretty much everything else needs to be rewired.
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This is how i found her:

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Not ready for the highway yet, she got towed to my driveway:

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Rust in the rear, but overall less than I expected:

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The actuator rod pulled out of the steering column and left out to make a redneck push button start is my favorite of the creative fixes on the jeep:

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As i started unbuttoning her, I was supprised to find things better than I expected:

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The body work was a total joke though, new panels were bought, but never welded or painted well, luckily they aren't too ate up, so I'll be able to clean them up and remount a lot of it.

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Once i had it all disconnected, I fab'd up some custom mounts to hold the tub in place while I work on the chasis, then fix a few of the mounts on the tub, then rolled it forward.

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Now off to the races.

 

[bdp1978]

Nice work so far! Looking forward to following along.

 

[tgreening]

The QT gets a bad rap unjustly. It's actually a very very stout xfer case. You can probably find most wear items still but the one thing you wont find new is the Sun Gear. It's what the output shaft of the transmission plugs into and it has a very course tooth cut having IIRC only 10 teeth. These will wear, not catastrophically, but enough to cause a rather annoying clunk when shifting into reverse.

Probably it's biggest drawback is its hit on fuel mileage because it's a full time unit. There used to be a part time conversion kit on the market but I dont know if it still exists. I would imagine google will be your friend.

Good luck with it. I've got an '83 CJ7 still and its been probably my favorite vehicle of all time. Loved the snot out of that thing.

 

[Deleted member 96197]

Thanks for the input on the sun gear, I'll have to take a good look at that. There is at least one company that still stocks the part time kit, but it's certainly not cheap. The gas mileage I knew would be a trade off, but my daily driver is a mini cooper, so at the end of the day they should balance out to a decent mpg average

More photos to come, but last night i picked up a factory 20 gallon tank with skid and sending unit on the cheap to replace the rusted out 15 gallon one i had, I know some people don't like how much lower they sit, but for me the extra range wins out since i don't plan to make a crawler out of this and if i tap it occasonally the skid plate is pretty stout.

 

[redthies]

Is this your first CJ project? How long did it take you to disconnect everything to take the tub off? I will probably do that to my new CJ7 when winter hits. I have similar plans to yours, and just want to wire wheel my chassis and maybe replace the fuel lines etc while the tub is off. There is also some poor bodywork on mine that I will repair. I will be watching your progress and probably learning a bunch too!

 

[Deleted member 96197]

This is my first CJ, I've primarily had 'yota's in the past, and one XJ.
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I had the tub off in 2 days, would have been one day, disconnecting everything is only a couple hours, but the trouble hits (as always) when bolts start breaking. Luckily the front end of mine is in pretty good shape so the hood and fenders litterally took mintues, the body mounts are a mess, nearly everyone of them had rusted loose so they spun as soon as i put any torque on them, but given the amount of welding i was already going to have to do, i just decided to grab the grinder and cut all the bolts. The E-brake cable was also very stuck, so I decided to just replace it and i cut that too. There has been some funny wiring done over time, so I labelled both sides of a couple odd wires and snipped them too, this way i would know which ones matched which ones when i went back to do some rewiring, but if yours has had less creative fixes then mine all that should be a little easier. The brake master cylinder is only on the firewall with a couple bolts but it's easy to bend the brake lines when you move it, so watch that. Finally I opted to fab up a couple of A-frames to support the front of the tub, then ran a 4x4 across the back resting on two saw horses. I don't have a fancy rotisserie, and I didn't even feel like removing everything from the tub, but i did want to be able to reach under and build some new mounts for the body side of the body mounts, so this was a good answer for me.

 

[tgreening]

Shoot, if you want to work on the bottom side, throw a tarp down and stand the thing right up on its butt. Gotta pull the lights and what-not but it's the easiest least painful way of doing working on the belly if you don't have a lift or rotisserie.






Inspiration.... This is a 1979 I rebuilt when I bought it, and again after the X wife ran into a light pole in a parking lot. When I took the original body off I rolled it off the frame onto its side, folded it in half, and with the help of a few friends tossed it in a scrap dumpster.

 

[Deleted member 96197]

Good Looking CJ, and good idea, when i get done with the frame, the tub might end up standing like that.
This evening I fab'd up a plate for the inner rail near the front hanger for the back leaf, 2x4 steel tube works great, cut in half on two of the corners it's a perfect fit for the frame rails.
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My welds aren't going to win any beauty contests at the moment, but they are functional
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[M35A2]

Nice. Liking this.

 

[tgreening]

Are you kidding? Those welds are world class compared to the factory bubble-gum. Never quite figured out how those frames held together.

A little tip if your interested. Grab yourself some weld through primer and prime your plates before you weld them on. Not perfect but it adds a bit of rust protection between the frame and new plate. Those old Jeeps can use all the help they can get!

 

[Deleted member 96197]

Thanks I'm always up for helpful tips.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Always like seeing a vintage iron build thread. Keep it coming.

 

[Deleted member 96197]

Nearly done firming up the frame, decided to go a little different route with the rear crossmember and bumper than most the builds i have looked at, but I'm still considering some options for the rear bumper so if you have any good ideas feel free to throw them out there for me.
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While the auto rust rear sections aren't the cheapest option, I'm happy that i went with them, they reach way passed the common rust spot and they line up really well, which will make the bumper project much easier.

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I decided to run a piece of angle iron across the bottom of the rear frame sections. I cut the rails so that it would sit flush in the back, and to length so it doesn't stick out passed the rails. The main job of this crossmember is just to hold the rear of the gas tank skid, while providing a little bit of extra lateral support.

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Once everything was set, the tank skid lined up well with the rails, and it's clamped in place to line up new bolt holes. I'm not sure if its just the larger tank andone piece skid, or because it came off a different year, but the front holes didn't line up, so I'm drilling new ones, and obviously the rear will need new holes.

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I hope to never need to drop the tank later, but I want to make sure that if i need to it won't be a big problem. So question for those of you who have, do you think welding the bolt heads in place (like the stock crossmember) would make it easiest to remove, or do you think welding the nuts in place so you run the bolts up through them would be better?
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For the rear bumper what I am thinking is leaving the sides of the frame rails open so i can run heavy duty bumper mounts about 6-8" along the frame rails for support more like the trucks I've built in the past rather then the bumper / crossmember set up that the jeeps use... It'll make the back body mounts a little more tricky, but I'm a little surprised i haven't seen more builds that do this. I am missing something?

 

[tgreening]

I'd probably weld the nuts in. Weld, not those wimpy little tacks the factories tend to use. And when you weld them in weld them with a bolt in them and snugged down. When you back the bolt out it will chase the threads on its way out and help pull out any distortions in the nut from welding it. Assuming of course you manage to not weld the bolt into the nut.


On the heavy duty bumper. If it were me I'd reproduce the factory crossmember/bumper-ish thingy it came with. This way it will conform to whatever aftermarket goodies you might end up eye balling down the road. It only needs to be so heavy duty because it's a CJ and now matter how stout the structure is you are only ever going to safely pull so much weight. It's just not big enough mass wise to be tugging around too much stuff.

 

[Deleted member 96197]

Thanks for the input, I don't actually plan to tow anything regularly with it, maybe the occasional utility trailer, Jeeps are certainly not made for hauling much.