LJ-7

Lizard's Custom Home Built and Rebuilt CJ-7

By Gene Ferris AKA "Lizard"

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WHAT TO EXPECT HERE

When doing a vehicle buildup article, most magazines write very short stories that make everything sound like a wonderful improvement, and provide little detail on how to duplicate something you may see and really like. This is not going to be like that.

In reality, most "improvements" bring along many side affects and unexpected problems. I read way too many magazines, and like all little kids (at least at heart), I have to have everything I read about. This CJ has seen many "improvements", and even more unwanted side affects!

This article is a fairly long and detailed account of the buildup of my 1983 CJ-7. I have tried to build a machine that pushes the limits of what you can do to a vehicle to make it more trail worthy, and yet still not attract the attention of every cop within a fifty mile radius. As with any buildup, to achieve a certain goal, some compromises must be made. I will give driving impressions, and overall satisfaction level of most of the modifications, as well as problems occurred in any area where it seems significant. There even will be a bit of aftermarket product evaluation.

BACKGROUND

I moved to the state of Utah back in 1990 because it was the most beautiful place I'd ever run across during several cross country meanderings. I'm just nuts about those red rocks and canyons! Moab was my first choice, but what would I do for an income? So Salt Lake City it was. Weekend trips to Moab made it quickly apparent that to really see this state you need a decent four wheel drive. Decent meaning that it must not only be capable, but reliable as well. It was painfully obvious that the bone stock (except for 32 x 11.50 tires) 1978 CJ-7 that I drove here from upstate NY was not going to cut it here. The 304 V8 was a sweet running engine, but the three speed stick shift and Dana 20 transfer case didn't even come close to the gearing needed for rock crawling. The CJ was also in such poor shape that it wasn't worth modifying. The '78 CJ had to go.

I joined the Red Rock Fourwheelers and learned from the greatest bunch of people around what four wheeling was all about. From their experience, and from watching hundreds of various vehicles during their Easter Jeep Safari, I learned which modifications work well, and which don't. I must have learned well because I had only been a member for about two years before they made me an Easter Jeep Safari trail leader. (Gene, AKA Lizard, is the the Strike Ravine Trail Leader on Big Saturday of Easter Jeep Safari - he also helps out on other trails during the week)

VEHICLE GOALS

I've been through quite a few 4x4's over the years, and even though I was very fond of a '74 Bronco I had many years ago, this buildup had to be a Jeep. It also had to be a daily driver as well as a competent trail machine. A difficult combination to say the least.

For the trails it needs enough power for sand hills and mud (yuck), yet still have plenty of low end grunt and low gearing for those very slow rocky sections. It must have enough ground clearance to not get skewered on large rocks, yet not be so tall and tippy that it can't quite seem to stay upright. It must be durable enough that it doesn't leave a trail of shrapnel that the environmentalists can follow to my house. It must have enough room for weekend camping trips for two people and a dog that likes to try to drive. And it must have enough suspension travel to leap tall boulders in a single bound.

For the street it must handle well and be safe under all normal driving conditions, including those long twenty-eight mile trips to work at 75 mph (that's the speed limit here!). It must be comfortable and economical. It must pass emissions, as well as Utah's stringent safety inspections. And it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of luxuries like cruise control and intermittent wipers either. Luckily I love the hot Utah summers, so I have no need for air conditioning. They don't call me Lizard for nothing!

IN THE BEGINNING

So I bought a stock 1983 CJ-7 with the 258 straight six, T4 transmission, Dana 300 xfercase, and "Wide Track" axles as my starting platform. In the six years I've owned this thing it has been through many changes (including two wives). There are several things I would do differently, and even more things that I DID do differently. And then I did it again, and again, and…. This Jeep has been through four engines, three transmissions, four axles, six differentials, four gas tanks, three sets of seats, three radiators, six exhaust systems, and I can't even count the fuel pumps. I could continue, but I think you get the idea.

Two years ago it had a mildly built 327 Chevy with Holley Projection, a Ford T18 transmission, Dana 300 xfercase, Dana 44 rear end with an ARB and 3.54 gears, Dana 30 front end with a Lock Right, Rancho 2.5 inch springs with short leaf removed (very stiff, ouch!), Rancho 5000's all around, and BFG 33 x 12.50 mud T/A's. There were lots of other modifications too, but these are the ones that got the job done. Set up like that, this Jeep did every 4+ trail in Utah (many times), as well as all the bad ones in Colorado. It worked quite well and I probably should have been happy, but I'm a difficult one to please. Besides, my check book wasn't empty yet.

My main complaints had to do with things hitting the trail, other than the tires. I bashed the spring shackles, smashed the gas tank, and trashed the steering gear box mounts. I also made a habit of hitting the front mount of the rear leaf springs, and bent the rear shock mounts several times. I even broke the front spring hangers once, and tweaked the skid plate on several occasions.

Despite all this carnage, the CJ always finished the trail. Even with leaf springs sticking out the side and the steering gearbox dangling on half sheared bolts, it still drove me home. Luckily, I have never had what most would call a major breakdown, but I've sure seen my share of them! Someday I will probably run out of luck.

THE LATEST AND GREATEST

I will cover here all of the things I did to fix the above mentioned problems, plus several other modifications I did just because. The current finished product (is it ever really finished?) is a very capable machine for my needs. I even accomplished my goal of emptying the checkbook! Although I'm sure that if you see it in a couple of years from now, it will be entirely different. Some of the things I'm going to cover here are: · Swap engine to a Chevy TPI 350 · Transmission swap to 700R4 automatic, and gear selection · Spring over suspension · Wheels and tires · Shock absorbers selection · Raising the steering gear box · Cooling system problems · Custom stainless steel gas tank · Dana 44 axles and drivelines · Tie rod and drag link problems · Bumpers and tire carrier.

ENGINE

I'm amazed at the number of people who think you need a big nasty fire breathing V8 for rock crawling. When in truth, just the opposite is true. I started with the stock 258, then had a fully "Cliffordized" 258, then a mildly warmed over 327 Chevy, and now the TPI 350 Chevy.

I love my TPI 350. It has by far the most usable power, and the best fuel economy of the four engines so far. But seriously, for general trail use and rock crawling, it doesn't do any better than the original 258. The 350 has more of everything, but is it necessary? Umm, no. Sure is fun though.

The 327 Chevy I just took out had a General Kinetics cam, Dart heads, Weiand intake, Holley Projection, and way too much other crap to list here. It also had too little low end grunt, too much top end, it overheated, had horrible gas mileage, and the early Holley Projection was not exactly a "refined" system (I hear their new digital systems are vastly improved). Although it had piles of horsepower for sand hills etc., it barely had enough oomph to get out of the driveway at 600 rpm, much less idle up the Moab Rim Trail. For general purpose trail use, it was not as powerful as the original 258. It now lives happily in a ski boat on Lake Powell.

I replaced the 327 with a Tuned Port Injected 350 (L98) that came from a 1989 Pontiac Trans Am GTA. These are also found in Camaro IROC's as well as Corvettes (Corvettes have aluminum heads). I kept it completely stock with the exception of a K&N air filter, block hugger headers with single three inch exhaust, a Flowmaster muffler, and a performance chip from Howell Engine Developments that eliminates the vehicle anti-theft system (VATS).

The L98's are excellent engines to say the least. They are about as refined as it gets. It feels like two of the 258's are under the hood. Power is smooth as glass from 600 rpm to 4500. Parts for it can be bought almost anywhere, and for very reasonable prices. And it uses less gas than the old 258, at least it did with the T18 transmission.

My only complaint about the L98 is that the computer has the ability to spike the idle to about 1500 rpm's if you accidentally try to pull it lower than 600 rpm's. And of course this happens quite often when rock crawling with a stick shift transmission. However, this fault exists with almost all modern fuel injected engines, not just Chevy's. My 1993 Jeep YJ with the 4.0 liter straight six does it too. This problem doesn't exist with automatic transmissions.

You can buy a wiring harness from many sources, or you can make your own, as I did. Figuring out how to wire the engine, and making your own harness is somewhat tricky. Finding the required information is like getting Nixon's tapes, but it can be done if you're persistent. There are many books available to help. One of the best is Chevrolet TPI & TBI Engine Swapping by Mike Knell. It tells you almost everything you need to know. But when it comes to details on wiring, he only tells you how to reuse the factory harness. The author repeatedly recommends the factory manual as a necessary companion, and if you intend to make you own harness, he is right on.

There is one item about these engines where I have to disagree with the experts: contrary to what they say, the vehicles speed sensor is NOT essential to proper engine performance. It makes no difference in fuel economy or performance when used in a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a small barn (Jeep), and it gives you an idle speed proportional to vehicle speed. What this means is that engine braking is a thing of the past. I used my speed sensor for a while, then removed it. I'm much happier without it. But there are complications with it's removal. In order to eliminate it you must have the park/neutral switch set to park/neutral, not to run. However, this means the EGR, the charcoal canister purge, and torque converter lock up feature will all be inoperative. All these problems are very easy to work around. But if it must be legal to the letter, then put it together the way it was designed.

700R4 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

Virtually every 4x4 magazine you pick up these days will praise the many virtues of a modern automatic transmission for four wheeling. Being very tired of the wide ratio Ford T18 (did I say wide ratio, I meant WIIIIDE ratio!), and the feeling of driving a dump truck, I had to have a 700R4 automatic.

The swap itself was fairly easy. I located a used 700R4 from an 1989 4x4 pickup truck, and had it rebuilt by a local expert. Quick tip here: get a 4x4 version of the 700R4 if at all possible, it will save several hundred dollars on the adapter, and will save you from tearing apart the transmission to install a new output shaft.

The "expert" rebuilder performed all the usual high performance tricks that are becoming quite standard with these tranny's. Such as; extra clutch disks, increased pump pressure, and billet servo piston. There were many other modifications too, but I have to admit that I am automatic ignorant, and most of the things he did really didn't mean much to me.

The 700R4 bolted right up to the engine with no problems (of course dummy), and a quick call to Novak Adapters had an adapter in the mail the next day to bolt my Dana 300 onto the 700R4. The finished package is quite long, leaving me with a driveline only eighteen inches long.

For shifting the gears, I tried a popular ratchet cable shifter, but it never made it out of the garage. I just didn't like the way it fit or felt. I think it would be much more suited to a drag racer than a four wheeler. I then bought a Lokar shifter (Summit Racing) and am very pleased with it. It shifts smooth and easy, and has a minimum of moving parts. I would highly recommend one of these units for anyone considering a similar swap.

Next I needed to swap axle gears because of the 700R4's .7 overdrive. Most people are aware of the equation: RPM = (336 x GEAR RATIO x MPH) / TIRE DIAMETER. This calculates engine rpms, but most will get the wrong answer because they use the tire size that's written on the tire. Instead, I roll the CJ down the driveway until the tire has rotated exactly one revolution, then measure how far the Jeep moved. My brand new 35 x 12.50 BFG's rolled 106.5 inches. Which means the diameter is really 33.9 inches. This is the number to use for tire diameter in the above equation.

With the T18 (no overdrive) and 3.54 gears, 70 mph was about 2450 rpm. It was a very comfortable cruising speed with plenty of oomph for those 8% grades at 8000 feet. For the 700R4 I chose 4.56 gears. This put me at 2200 rpm at 70 mph, with the torque converter locked. I felt that if it was a bit "doggy" on those long hills, I could still downshift to third and only bring the tach up to just over 3000 at 70 mph. I thought this would be a great gearing setup, and probably even get better fuel economy than the T18 when cruising. WRONG!!

Maybe it is just something particular to my automatic, but now even 6% grades at 4000 feet just aren't going to happen without downshifting. The 350 TPI is now a dog. And despite the overdrive, the fuel economy went down the dumper. Average fuel economy went from 18 mpg, to 15. Since gasoline eventually makes it's way to either the tires or the radiator, this probably explains a good share of my new found overheating problem.

One of the more controversial subjects when it comes to automatics, is selecting a torque converter stall speed. Seemed like everyone I talked to gave me a different answer, and a different reason for their answer. Most people told me to go with something around 2000 to 2500 rpms. But I'm not building a drag racer, and most serious rock crawlers I know suggested to build the converter as low as I could get it. Their reasoning sounded better thought out, so that's the route I chose. The converter I'm now running was made right here in Salt Lake, and has a stall speed of about 1000 rpm.

Now that I have this super low rpm converter, I wish I had gone a little higher. Actually, I now believe that the stock factory stall speeds are probably best. Why? Because in the morning when the engine is cold and idling high, you had better be ready to move when you put it into gear! It goes into gear so violently that it is almost impossible to avoid squealing the tires in the garage! And even when warmed up, sitting at a stop light it pushes so hard that I almost always have to put it into neutral to avoid holding the brake with both legs!

But the whole point of low stall speed converters is to improve rock crawling abilities. It helps you to avoid having to use the gas pedal and the brake at the same time, as you see so many people with autos do so often. And it does accomplish this goal very nicely, as long as you don't ever need to stop!

I was once told that an automatic will rock crawl as good as a stick shift, with about half the crawl ratio as a stick shift. My current crawl ratio is a not very impressive sounding 36.6:1. With the T18 it was 59:1. Based on the direct comparison of the two, I'd say that I was told correctly because my 700R4 definitely does crawl better than the T18. BUT, it is sometimes hard to maintain momentum on very large rocks and ledges - the stupid thing just quits moving at the most inopportune times! Compression braking is very good down to about 2 mph. Try to go slower than that and it just pushes forward harder and harder forcing you to push the brake harder and harder.

If anyone is thinking about switching to an automatic, I believe that if you are coming from a very tall geared stick shift, you will find the automatic a very big improvement. But if you already have a properly geared rock machine, and are comfortable with using the clutch in bad off road situations, then I don't believe you will find the automatic to be an improvement.

Each type of tranny has it's pros and cons. But as my wife says: "you complained a lot about that T18, but not nearly as much as you do about that 700R4!"

SUSPENSION

Ground clearance was a major issue of this buildup. I was always hitting the front shackles, steering gearbox, rear shackles, gas tank corners, skid plate, and the front mount of the rear leaf springs. So these are the items I wanted to concentrate on. Most people would just lift the whole truck, but I despise tall and tippy trucks (Two years ago I led Sevenmile Rim Trail during Easter Jeep Safari week. There was a very tall and obviously very expensive Flatfender along whose driver was overheard bragging about his "ultimate" trail machine. When we got to a particularly bad side hill section near Wipe Out Hill, the "ultimate" trail machine wimped out and went home. So much for tall and tippy. This trail is only rated 3.5, but personally I would rate it 3.0).

I wanted only about an inch and a half more lift than what I already had (The 2.5 inch Rancho's were only two inches after I removed the short leaf, and after five years of abuse they lost another half inch), I wanted a ramp travel index of 1000, and I wanted to stop banging my shackles!

I decided on a spring over suspension based on Wrangler springs. I did a front shackle reversal too. Spring over conversions typically yield more like 4.5 to 5 inches of lift, and that was more than I wanted. So I changed all the mounts on the frame to mount the springs closer to the frame. This included moving the upper spring shackle mounts into the frame rather than under it, and the solid mount of the rear spring was moved up more than an inch, and angled so that it will slide better over rocks rather than bringing me to an abrupt halt when it hits. The same treatment was applied to the front. This removed about 1.5 inches of lift, leaving me with about 3.5 total. Because the shackle ends are higher yet, you'd need 5.5 inches of "normal" suspension lift to get my front shackle clearance, and 6.5 inches of lift to equal my rear shackle clearance.

I fully realize that by limiting the lift to 3.5 inches, I am also sacrificing axle articulation. While I believe good articulation is very important to off road performance, I also believe that too much of a good thing is just that - too much. I personally believe that proper matching of spring rates and shock absorbers to the driving conditions, is more important than having an ramp travel index (RTI) of more than 1000.

While I was moving things around, I took the opportunity to stretch the wheelbase a bit for better wheel well clearance. The front end was moved out about an inch and a half, and the rear end was moved out about half an inch. My rear 35's now just barely miss the body at the front of the wheel well under full compression, and that is with the sheetmetal lip that protrudes rearward from the body completely removed.

The front tires will still hit the inner fender while turning a corner under full compression, but is very slight and not to be worried about. Also notice in the pictures that I was not afraid to use a jigsaw to butcher the sheet metal where ever it got too close to the tire. It may be a tad crude, but it was built for function, not to win shows.

The rear wheel openings were much easier. The flares are stock 1997 Jeep TJ units. They not only look good, but provide almost the perfect amount of clearance for 35's. A lot of sheetmetal had to be removed to get these things on the CJ. Now if only I could come up with an equal solution for the front wheel wells.

After my first drive down the road with the new suspension I was VERY disappointed with the overall handling and ride! I had ruined my Jeep, it was now useless. Panic set in. What do I do now?

The steering wheel had little affect on vehicle direction, mostly it just made it lean. Simple highway obstacles like railroad crossings caused the suspension to bottom out violently. Freeway on ramps seemed to have serious rollover potential. Strong crosswinds had me driving 45 mph in a 75 zone.

Did I mention axle hop and spring wrap? No? Well let me tell you these problems are a fact of life on softly sprung spring over conversions. Pulling away from stop signs the rear end of the Jeep would drop about two inches. On the trails, I'd hit a big ledge and the CJ would stop moving because the leaf springs were winding up. When the front axle cleared the ledge, the CJ would shoot forward as the rear springs were relieved of pressure and free to unwind. It was very unsettling, and there is absolutely nothing graceful about driving it this way.

If you don't understand why spring over conversions have such bad spring wind up, draw yourself a little diagram of a rear axle and leaf spring from the side, with arrows drawn to represent the force of the axle housing trying to twist opposite of the tire rotation, and the forward pushing force of the tire on the ground. Draw it for both a spring over and a spring under. Ahh, now you see!! And you thought you'd never use that force vector crap you learned in physics class!

To get an idea about what was happening with the rear suspension, I parked the CJ in my driveway with the shifter in park, and had my wife grab the rear tire and rock it forward and backward as hard as she could. I was shocked to see the u-joint on the rear axle moving up and down about two inches! If she could wind up the springs that badly, what do you suppose that 350 V8 could do!

Rather than panic about my suspension problems, I analyzed what I didn't like and tried to figure out how to fix it. The spring over is a good concept, it just needed a little refining. It seemed that the single largest problem was spring rate. Soft is nice, but these springs are ridiculously soft. I found a used set of Wrangler springs, took the main leaf out, cut off the bushing eye, and inserted them into my leaf spring packs as a full length add-a-leaf. The result was dramatic. It sat half an inch taller, never bottomed out, still rode better than a Lincoln Town Car, the steering wheel was now useful for something other than just a place to hang on, and the spring wrap was reduced significantly (but still there). It still has considerable body roll in corners, but it is not excessive. If I were willing to put the front anti-sway bar back on (I'm not), it would probably handle almost as well as a stock Jeep.

To further control spring wrap, I welded a bracket onto the axle housing that has a pivot point about six inches directly above the axle center line. From here I built an arm with heim ends at each end and connected it to the bracket on the axle at one end, and to a special reinforced section of the body floor on the other end. I fully expected this to stop the spring wrap cold, but it did not. However, it does reduce it enough that I don't worry too much about breaking rear u-joints anymore. But the use of heim ends mounted directly to the body transmits an unbelievable amount of noise into the CJ's interior. It is so loud that I remove the front of the arm and let it dangle on a plastic tie wrap any time I am not out four wheeling.

With the suspension now "almost" finished, I drove up the Moab Rim Trail to test it's off road performance. I purposely chose bad lines for most all the obstacles, and left the ARB's turned off. It was the easiest trip up the Rim Trail I had ever done! All four tires stayed firmly planted to the rock, even on a bad line over the Devils Crack (and I removed all the rocks that people have thrown into the crack to make it easy to cross).

WHEELS AND TIRES

The wheels are one piece aluminum Crager 8.5 x 15's with 3.375 inches of backspacing. The tires are 35 x 12.50 BFG mud T/A's.

The wheels have been on this CJ for about four years. They've taken some bad hits, but overall, they still look OK. The bare polished aluminum is a LOT of work to keep looking good, which is why mine don't.

This is my third set of BFG mud T/A's, although the others were 33's. While I think you can buy other tire brands that work better for strictly off road than these, I think it would be very difficult to buy a better street/trail compromise tire that is this tough. I got 75,000 from the first set, but they didn't work very well on slickrock after 40,000 miles. The second set I sold after 40,000 miles, and then bought the current 35's. More than likely, my next tires will BFG's too.

SHOCK ABSORBERS

Shock absorbers were a real challenge, especially on the front. I ended up using the third longest Rancho 9000's made. They are part number 9112. They provide about 11.2 inches of travel, and that is barely enough. Their next longer shocks have 12.3, and 14.2 inches of travel. I probably should have gone with a longer shock. Most people who have done similar spring overs, but didn't lower it like I did, will find my shocks way too short. I had to move the upper shock mount up and right through the inner fender well. This also required a brace connecting the upper shock mounts together in order to prevent frame flex and eventual cracks.

The rear shocks were much easier. They are the same Rancho 5000's (P/N 5118, 9 inches of travel) that I've been running for the last six years with no problems. I still use the stock upper shock mounts on the frame, and just figured out where the lower shock mount needed to be on the axle, and welded on the homemade brackets. The rear shocks don't need to be nearly as long as the front because of the poor leverage angle they are running at. But they are not nearly as effective as the fronts for the same reason. To design a proper shock set up for the rear you need to either be willing to cut holes in the floor and move the upper mount inside the body, or have such a wide track width that shocks can be mounted outside of the leaf springs in the wheel well.

I wanted to run the shocks upside down, but found that the rear 5000's developed about a one inch long dead band where they did almost nothing other than make gurgling noises. Many people have told me that 5000's can be run upside down, but it didn't work for me. I did not call Rancho about this problem, I just put them back on correctly and the problem went away. I run the front 9000's upside down with no problem at all.

STEERING GEARBOX

Moving the steering gearbox was one of the more challenging parts of this buildup. With my front leaf springs now mounted solidly to the front of the frame, and up tight against it, the steering gearbox looked very exposed.

What I basically ended up doing was this: imagine the lower u-joint of the steering shaft as a pivot point. Without moving the location of the pivot point itself, raise the front of the steering gearbox up until the u-joint binds, then lower the gearbox about half an inch, anchor the box right there. Of course that is a lot easier said than done! The front of the box is now about three inches higher than stock. Check it out in the pictures, the box is almost hidden behind the bumper.

It would be difficult to move the box any further than this because the steering shaft itself can't be raised or it will hit the radiator. Even as I did it, I had to build my own front frame crossmember, and cut out a small piece of the grill. It's funny how nobody ever notices this though.

I also made my own gearbox brace to tie it in with the other side of the frame. But, you can buy these braces almost anywhere.

An unexpected benefit of moving the steering gearbox the way I did is that it actually lowered the pitman arm by almost an inch and a half! This was a surprise to me, but if you once again draw a side view picture of a steering gearbox, and rotate it up at just the front, it becomes perfectly clear how that worked.

COOLING SYSTEM PROBLEMS

I've had more cooling problems with my Jeep than any ten four wheelers I know put together. Most of this occurred during the very loooong year I ran the 327 engine. I learned a lot about cooling from that engine.

Up until just a few months ago I used a three row Chevy conversion radiator from Four Wheel Drive Hardware. It was a good radiator, but if you live in a place with very hot summers like I do, I would strongly recommend a four row. Or better yet, one of the new aluminum radiators that are getting popular. If you go that route, be certain it is epoxy free, or it will break from off road abuse!

With my 327 I tried clutch fans, flex fans, single 16 inch electric's, dual 12 inch electric's, and many combinations of all of the above. I also bought a Edelbrock aluminum water pump, and even tried the last resort effort of plugging the water pump bypass hole in the Chevy block, which requires drilling a small hole in the thermostat.

I also have a rather impressive collection of thermostats. Stock thermostats, racing thermostats, thermostats with oversize openings, thermostats with holes drilled into them to relieve any air bubbles that may exist, and thermostats with temperature ratings from 160 to 195 degrees. Chances are that if it's a thermostat, and it fits a small block Chevy, I have one in "the pile." It seemed that nothing I could do was going to make that 327 stop overheating.

When I got rid of the 327, almost all of my cooling problems went with it. The TPI 350 seemed to run just fine with the three row radiator and the clutch fan only. Once in a great while when I was really pushing it hard, and the ambient temperature was shooting for a hundred, the engine temp would climb as high as 220. But typically it stayed at less than 200 degrees.

Then came the automatic transmission and everything changed. It was just like the 327 all over again. The combination of the 700R4's external cooler blocking the radiator with hot air, and the extra power demand on the engine to run the automatic, was just too much for the three row radiator.

Not wanting to fool around with something that was just barely enough, I decided to go way overkill and get a new two row aluminum radiator with one inch wide tubes. I now have about as big a radiator as you can possibly stuff under the hood of a CJ. It is made by Howe Racing Enterprises, and is epoxy free. I ordered it from Summit Racing, part number: HRE-342A28.

But there is a serious fly in the ointment here: it was meant for stock car racing, not Jeeps. This means that for mounting brackets and fan shrouds you are on your own. A lot of sheet metal had to be cut from the grill to accommodate this radiator. However, is was only $200. I've seen several custom fit aluminum radiators for Jeeps lately, but they cost more like $500! I can build a lot of brackets for the price difference.

I drove it for a few weeks without a fan shroud and realized this was not going to work, unless I never went less than 20 mph. I briefly considered putting back on the dual 12 inch electric fans that are gathering dust in my basement. It would have been easy, and they did cool just fine, but they were pure hell on the alternator. So I built a fan shroud for the clutch fan, and life is good. Now the temperature gage never goes over 195 degrees no matter what the driving conditions!

GAS TANK AND FUEL PUMP

I've had quite a few tanks on this jeep. The current tank is a homemade job made from 304 stainless steel. The bottom is a built-in skid plate made of 10 gage, and the rest of the tank is 14 gage. It holds 21.1 gallons and uses an internal Corvette fuel pump. Much time was spent figuring out how to properly baffle it inside to prevent fuel starvation on hills, corners, etc. The rear edge is angled up to the homemade rear bumper leaving no flat vertical edge. This improves effective ground clearance by quite a bit over any other tank design currently available, although I've seen several similar homemade units.

I've also had problems with external pumps and vapor lock. Keep in mind that fuel injected engines return very hot gas back to the tank (TBI's don't have as much of a problem here because of the fuel rail design, TPI's are one of the worst). When four wheeling, you are going very slow and there is no air flow over the tank and lines to cool the gas. This can cause vapor lock and an aftermarket external pump meltdown. You need some means of cooling the gas, and don't route the fuel lines anywhere even close to the exhaust! I recently switched to 3/8 diameter aluminum fuel lines to aid cooling. Because the lines are large, the gas velocity is low, which means the gas is in them longer, giving the gas more time to cool. I find my gas now runs about 20 degrees over ambient. Before the aluminum lines it was about 35 degrees over ambient. On 110 degree summer days in Moab, touching the gas tank was something you didn't do for long!

I have a pile of external fuel pumps under my workbench and some of them probably still have my fingerprints etched into them from when I touched them after they quit to see if they were hot. They were. I've been towed home several times because of this, twice by a bone stock Chevy Luv. Very embarrassing.

I tried external pumps mounted on the frame, and mounted low on the gas tank. I played with inlet hose diameters up to half inch. I tried expensive high volume filters. I tried gravity feeding the pumps from a remote reservoir that was fed by a second low pressure pump. And I even tried running the fuel return line through an automatic transmission cooler. No matter what I tried, as soon as I left the pavement, I was stranded. The bottom line is; throw that expensive aftermarket pump away and get yourself a stock in the tank fuel pump!

AXLES AND DRIVELINES

I now have Dana 44's with standard cut 4.56 gears and ARB's at both ends. The rear one was made in Salt Lake by Advanced Four Wheel Drive. It was cut down from a larger truck, and has custom axles by Moser. I've been using this unit for about six years with no problem. Last winter I switched from 3.54 gears to 4.56's which meant changing the ARB too (bummer).

The front axle is a brand new custom unit by Dynatrac, designed just for my suspension. I opted to save bucks and stick with stock CJ knuckles, brakes, and hubs (my stock hubs cracked years ago, I now use Superwinch). The Dynatrac unit is a real quality piece.

If a front Dana 44 axle swap is in your future, be certain about sticking with either spring under, or spring over. Because the spring pad is an integral part of a front Dana 44 housing, you can't switch once the choice has been made.

All drivelines are by Six States Distributors in Salt Lake. The rear one has a double cardon CV joint to eliminate the need to lower the transfercase skid plate. The shaft is a meager 18 inches long because of the new, and very long, 700R4 transmission. I have NO driveline rumble at any speed.

The front driveline has a long travel slip joint to accommodate the long travel suspension and shackle reversal. The stock slip joint travel of 3.5 inches would have pulled apart the first time I went off road. I use about 5 inches of travel here, so it would be nice to have at least 6 inches for a safety margin. Because of the 700R4 I was forced to stick with the skinny little driveline of the stock diameter. It only misses the 700R4 by about .375 inch.

TIE RODS

The tie rod and drag link are totally stock, and still mounted under the steering knuckle (that will all change this winter). I found that by using a two inch dropped pitman arm, the drag link was almost parallel with the tie rod. This means there is no bump steer at all. At full suspension twist the drag link just barely touches the leaf spring, but it has never bent it - yet. The skinny little tie rod really bothers me now that I have 35's. And it all looks suspiciously like a rock magnet too.

RTI TEST

Shortly after I finished the suspension I drove it up the RTI ramp at Mepco Jeep. It missed the end of the ramp by only an inch, for an RTI of 980. I was still running 25psi in the tires. And I found the front shocks bottomed out before the spring. I fixed the shock problem and am now confident that it would hit my goal of 1000 quite easily if I air down the tires (I'm amazed at how many people think 25psi IS aired down).

ODDS AND ENDS

The aftermarket seats are extremely comfortable, and clean easily after a dusty weekend of four wheeling, but the fabric hasn't held up as well as I would have expected from $500 seats.

I use Currie twin sticks on my Dana 300. When I had the Lock Right in the front end, the twin sticks were invaluable. I was always switching between two and four wheel drive while staying in low range. Now that I have an ARB in the front, I always just stay in four wheel drive on the trails. But the twin sticks are still a worthwhile investment. I cut the linkage on mine in half and stretched them so that the shifters still come through the floor in the stock location even though the 700R4 moved the xfercase back over four inches.

The plastic air lines that come with an ARB won't last long in most cases. My rear one lasted two years. I replaced it with 3/16 steel brake lines. A spare brake flex hose from my Harley makes the flexible connection from frame to axle. I still use plastic on the front ARB, but plan on changing it out very soon - before it blows! I may experiment with Parker "Push-Lock" air hose next time. This hose is cheap, strong, heat resistant, and very easy to replace on the trail.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Like all good projects, they are never done.

In the very near future this project CJ is going to get a stronger tie rod and drag link that are also mounted above the leaf springs so that I can avoid having a rock shaped tie rod. I have not yet worked out the details of how I'm going to do this, but I believe it will probably be expensive.

This winter I am going to fix my rear spring wrap problem once and for all with some type of control arms that I can leave attached at all times. I think I know how to fix it and not interfere with axle articulation, but after an evening on the creeper with a flashlight and tape measure, I may change my mind. Also, the shock absorbers will get longer, and mounted in a better location too.

The body is getting uglier by the minute. After talking to many people, I am 95% certain that I want a fiberglass replacement. I will also do something with the front fenders at the same time to make them look a little better, and cover more of the tires. I am thinking about keeping the CJ grill and using YJ fenders and TJ flares. I know someone who has just done this, and it really looks better than it sounds. Only minimal cutting of the fenders and flares was required.

When the body gets replaced, I will also replace the ragged looking soft top with a Supertop. Some type of rocker panel protection will also be required for the new body, probably a .187 thick piece of angle iron mounted directly to the rocker panel. I also have a set of full hard doors that I'm in process of fixing up, but they will never see trail use.

The homemade tire carrier was inspired by a popular aftermarket design, but mine didn't work as well as theirs (it rattles). This winter it gets fixed, and I may even modify it to open the tailgate as the carrier swings out. Although that may be really asking for rattles.

I promised my wife I'd give myself a year to learn to love that 700R4 automatic transmission. If that doesn't happen, it's outa there! In that case it will be replaced with a brand new Dodge version NV4500 5 speed stick shift. Although it sounds a little strange, the Dodge NV4500 fits a CJ with a Chevy engine better than the Chevy version of this same transmission! Gearing wise, the NV4500 is basically just a T18 with an overdrive. Later versions also have a taller (5.61:1) first gear.

I run stock brakes all around, and without power assist! The 35 inch tires created a noticeable loss of braking power as compared to the old 33's. It will still keep all four tires locked up as it slides off of Moab's White Knuckle Hill, it just takes a LOT more leg power to do it. The combination of 35 inch tires and the 700R4 have made me decide to get power brakes very soon. Before those two modifications, I never really gave power brakes much thought.

I would like to convert the rear axle to disk brakes too. But it is not a very high priority for me, so it may take a year or two.

That's it. Hope you've been inspired. And I hope you spouse doesn't lock up your check book because if it!

See Part 2 Lizard's the LJ-7 Build-up

Gene Ferris AKA "Lizard"

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