What's new

1500 dollar CJ7 “Uncle Joe”

Smart move on the 60 front. The newer Rubicon 44s can live OK since they can fit much bigger joints or rcv's. Those old D44s barely hold up to samurais on 37s, much less a V8. :laughing:

Sweet project. Neat to see something simple and kinda old school, but still well executed.
 
was a little busy last weekend doing a thing.
0CBF350D-D325-4DCF-A76C-0BE54A604306.jpeg

But started on some motor mounts this weekend, I’ll be borrowing a lot from our proven Top shelf platform on this build so some production mounts will do just fine! Just Tig welded instead of Mig welded.
2B9BB1D8-6CD1-4E42-BD8D-1D3D1573EB8F.jpeg
2701D915-A63D-4C9D-A113-1748F0B2DCA6.jpeg
D05FE29A-6BA8-476D-8983-37815B25E59F.jpeg
 
Part of me wants to stick with the short wheel base with leaf springs in the rear but I own 4 coil overs and 4 bypasses and if I’m gunna 4 link it I might as stretch it to LJ length. Kinda my thought process.
 
Trying to get a lot done over the next few weeks or so if this can live on the lift for the moment. Made a deal with Tyson Shell who i co-drive for in 4400 for these K-spec take offs. So I’m gunna go ahead and build with 40’s and I pulled the trigger on an atlas a few weeks ago. Makes my life easier because there’s a whole mock up drive train laying around the shop! I’m pretty sure these motor mounts are going to change some before they get finalized.
ED9421D3-D461-46BB-964A-E1725DD907BD.jpeg
4EFCEA0B-7B37-4430-BC4A-BE9D176C8938.jpeg
C0713027-6E44-4D37-80EE-D5AD7C79F5D7.jpeg
73FD3470-4A04-43F3-9750-941EC3829152.jpeg
06FCFA25-6A93-4D83-B43D-7CF34BEEC13E.jpeg
05F8DB7A-E4C6-4619-B189-6432D1149634.jpeg
7BC7A35F-E9DB-4536-A2DD-C822A8BB251D.jpeg
F70C9341-30EA-4E14-B8AB-8619B5D61D60.jpeg
DA8AD20F-8271-4F3B-94AB-F1814D2B4902.jpeg
 
15,000 jeep now.

Nice work, what's your tig setup for welding 1/4 and 3/16 brackets? Tungsten size, flow rate, ect.
 
15,000 jeep now.

Nice work, what's your tig setup for welding 1/4 and 3/16 brackets? Tungsten size, flow rate, ect.
So far I’m under Under 6k into this project but that’s about to change with the few big ticket items I just ordered.
Mostly doing 3/16 brackets all the race cars have been upgraded to 1/4. Running a Miller dynasty 210 about 35cfm 3/32 purple tungsten with a fupa 12 cup at 165 amps. Real struggle right now is my wire. Had to burn through all the Washington alloy crap so I could order some quality Lincoln electric wire.
 
So far I’m under Under 6k into this project but that’s about to change with the few big ticket items I just ordered.
Mostly doing 3/16 brackets all the race cars have been upgraded to 1/4. Running a Miller dynasty 210 about 35cfm 3/32 purple tungsten with a fupa 12 cup at 165 amps. Real struggle right now is my wire. Had to burn through all the Washington alloy crap so I could order some quality Lincoln electric wire.
What size filler? Looks good.

6k that's great. I sold out all my jeep and scout stuff few years ago and unfortunately everything up here is garbage for to much $$.
 
What size filler? Looks good.

6k that's great. I sold out all my jeep and scout stuff few years ago and unfortunately everything up here is garbage for to much $$.
Depends on the job. Mostly 3/32 though if it’s not enough do a second pass
 
F32970BA-F2BF-464C-B2A4-0EF351DB25A7.jpeg
F6086F45-6355-412C-8D72-AB657194B741.jpeg


Learned a hard lesson today. Just because you measured something weeks ago doesn’t mean it was right. Figured out my center line for the motor mounts was an inch off. Luckily I found that out after making the second variation of these motor mounts🤦🏻‍♂️ All good got it straightened out. Decided to move the motor up about 3 inches and finally got it square.
47AB51C8-FC6F-4313-9D25-2FB8A412B0D5.jpeg
770B8CFE-A379-4866-80A8-468162C02F21.jpeg
07E4D398-69B7-4802-AE4E-FD27E2D37035.jpeg

Also brought my shocks into the shop so I can get them rebuilt and start using them to mock the suspension up! They 14” and 16” FOA’s I know they are janky and plan to up grade to fox’s down the road so I’ll be trying to plan accordingly! My dad got these shocks years ago and always planned to build a car with them but after he sold his Last house he didn’t wanna move them across country a 2nd time😂 great deal for me cause I’m cheap!
0FD84753-ACC3-48FE-886B-975AFD4ACF66.jpeg
 
No crazy updates today think I’m gunna move the lower links in a little maybe I won’t rub the 40’s that way. Also got the steering box this week spidertrax unit bearings for the front axle will be here sometime next week
7DE0DC83-DE0C-4335-9F98-8F2E11CE641B.jpeg
979A32DB-F7C8-476F-9A8E-F74B9D576857.jpeg
4FEEB61D-F8FA-44FA-ADA7-6EA0552ABBCD.jpeg
 
Did you center the engine in the frame rails?

When I put a 6.2 in my father in law's YJ, the mounts he bought kicked it over a little to the pass side (driver drop axle) made driveline fitment a lot easier and I think the exhaust will have plenty of room.
 
Did you center the engine in the frame rails?

When I put a 6.2 in my father in law's YJ, the mounts he bought kicked it over a little to the pass side (driver drop axle) made driveline fitment a lot easier and I think the exhaust will have plenty of room.
I’m currently centered but I’m already planning on changing it now that I have a better idea of where everything needs to go. Plan is to move it one inch to the driver side.
 
I’m currently centered but I’m already planning on changing it now that I have a better idea of where everything needs to go. Plan is to move it one inch to the driver side.
yeah, im sure you're finding out now that a pass drop high pinon ford puts that yoke right where the oil pan wants to be.

i wish i could have warned you,
i spent a long time trying to get the front of my CJ down. exact set up too. LS, atlas, and chevy length axles. i ended up chopping off the CJ frame rails 6" forward of the body.

great build you got going here.
 
yeah, im sure you're finding out now that a pass drop high pinon ford puts that yoke right where the oil pan wants to be.

i wish i could have warned you,
i spent a long time trying to get the front of my CJ down. exact set up too. LS, atlas, and chevy length axles. i ended up chopping off the CJ frame rails 6" forward of the body.

great build you got going here.

Luckily the YJ frame is much wider than the CJ.

Which hopefully gives him enough room to shift the engine over to clear.
 
3rd time is a charm right?:flipoff2:
We do it right because we do it tres :smokin:
yeah, im sure you're finding out now that a pass drop high pinon ford puts that yoke right where the oil pan wants to be.

i wish i could have warned you,
i spent a long time trying to get the front of my CJ down. exact set up too. LS, atlas, and chevy length axles. i ended up chopping off the CJ frame rails 6" forward of the body.

great build you got going here.
my problem seems to be the starter more then anything. Might end up running a carrier bearing but there’s not much room for that either.
Luckily the YJ frame is much wider than the CJ.

Which hopefully gives him enough room to shift the engine over to clear.
im pretty sure you’ll be seeing some body hacking coming up soon😂 plenty of room to move over on the frame.. not so much on the tub.
 
We do it right because we do it tres :smokin:

my problem seems to be the starter more then anything. Might end up running a carrier bearing but there’s not much room for that either.

im pretty sure you’ll be seeing some body hacking coming up soon😂 plenty of room to move over on the frame.. not so much on the tub.
youre doing god's work,
jess at HAD made me a skinny single piece drive shaft with long rough splines where i was contacting the starter. it got me just enough clearance at the time.
 
Now that I’ve kinda got things figured out such as axle location and pinion angle I figure nows a good time to finish the front axle housing. Had to rotate my C’s forward 1 degree from where I had originally set it up. Feeling pretty confident these days in my ability to weld cast steel.
792F62B8-9492-4A2F-84E6-A2A499BADBF2.jpeg
EA2CDBAC-0E79-4E5C-B63E-8B46BAC49356.jpeg
9FE358E0-3B39-46CA-8E0D-652793FD565D.jpeg
CB717E8B-5B94-41D0-BA13-788D70FB9A32.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • F097103E-E178-4669-A233-BEBD5E396F3A.jpeg
    F097103E-E178-4669-A233-BEBD5E396F3A.jpeg
    1.7 MB · Views: 5
Been tinkering on this front housing after work all week since the welding school I teach at part time had this week off so it was a good opportunity to get ahead. Finished up it up last night and will weld it sometime today. You can probably guess which piece was the hardest to make good old C.A.D(cardboard-aided design) on this project.
161C76C4-B306-49EE-A5EA-410DABCCD3E0.jpeg
9BC2F9DD-522A-494B-8BAC-AC2D419B72C6.jpeg
AA874FB4-0790-4970-BCE9-EE2EA8E4F195.jpeg
90DFAAF7-7FF0-440D-8FE0-34C6F5CC10BF.jpeg
6C5251D5-5EE7-46D9-AB9C-025C6085EBE6.jpeg
2DD460E5-C3E5-4A98-8552-8412D7C37494.jpeg
 
Still waiting for it to cool down but should still be straight. Or at least close...
C5A0D2A0-D278-4213-B6D3-EC152CD9F7C2.jpeg
96059D51-F06A-4711-9624-F9D8C34E781A.jpeg
F012A22D-6155-490E-8A25-CC0EAE187607.jpeg
E045D4FE-6857-40EB-8B2B-F0F1F7AE4702.jpeg
5BA6AE88-AC54-42AB-8B88-E5EBC324A6B1.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • 29ADB1E7-2928-49BC-B803-5BE32AF8B021.jpeg
    29ADB1E7-2928-49BC-B803-5BE32AF8B021.jpeg
    1.7 MB · Views: 2
Very clean, How much pressure are you applying to the axle when welding a full truss? Is it a measurable amount like 1/8th or 3/16th in the center hoping it comes back flat?

Thanks for posting this is the shizz!
 
As far as pre load on the axle goes it’s somewhat of a constant learning curve I’ve gotten pretty good at doing fabricated housings but this is my first set of cast housings and there seems to be a lot less room for error. I base everything off of the true bar and the puck(usually it’s whatever size bearing spacer I’m not using in the axle at the time) point the axle in the direction it needs to go up then go equal and opposite of that plus a few extra pumps on the jack. Weld the top side of the truss then release pressure and re check before pre loading to weld the tubes and banjo. Always be mind full of how your welds going to pull the center of the diff and try to use it to your advantage. It’s kind of an art.
73EF5EC9-F30A-41EF-A0B4-6B9BC555A29C.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Top Back Refresh