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Fricknghost's 1981 Scrambler rebuild.

Fricknghost

Basic User
City
Bend
State
Or
Hello everyone, I am completely new to the Scrambler crowd and this site so this should be a fun project for me and great learning experience. A little history for what drive's this project, my dad has had a scrambler that he purchased a long while back just sitting on the side of our shop, over the past year he has tossed around the idea of putting it together and using it as a fun off road vehicle on the BLM land we live off of here in Central Oregon. Unfortunately he was also diagnosed with some serious medical issues that really put this project on the sidelines, until my mom came and talked to me yesterday after work about how important this build is to him, after that talk I decided it was time to put all the other projects on hold and make this priority number 1. My plan is to get this thing on the trail before my dad loses the capability to drive it, and with the information and people from this site I am hoping that will be possible. So after the talk I had with my mother I went online and found this forum as well as a site called Novak-adapt and just started reading up on as much as I can, a TON of extremely useful information was found and I am only scratching the surface. Thanks for checking out the thread and hopefully I will be able to keep this thread updated regularly with progress on the build, not sure how fast I will be able to go since this is all really new and I don't know many people that are into building these up, but with determination and some blood sweat and tears I think it can be done.

Here are some pictures of the Scrambler where she sits as of right now, over the weekend I plan to clear out a couple of my cars from the shop and roll this one in and get to work.




 

Dave The Sparky

Rebuilding my CJ8 very,very slowly...
Member
City
Halifax
State
UK
Looks like a good base to build from and its always nice to see what looks like original paint/decals.
Will keep an eye on this one with it being an early one :popcorn:
 

Polarfire

Jeep Aficionado
Lifetime Member
City
Columbia
State
MO
First, welcome!! You have found the best Scrambler resource on the web!

Looks like you have a decent starting point. Do you have a plan for it yet (drivetrain, lift...)? What kind of wheeling do you plan on (rock crawling, fire roads, mudding)?

Sorry to hear about your dad's declining health. We have some members from Oregon and my parents and sister live in Portland and I get up that way from time to time. Im sure we can help with whatever questions you have.
 

Fricknghost

Basic User
City
Bend
State
Or
Looks like a good base to build from and its always nice to see what looks like original paint/decals.
Will keep an eye on this one with it being an early one :popcorn:

Thanks yea, it really seems to be a solid base to start from.

First, welcome!! You have found the best Scrambler resource on the web!

Looks like you have a decent starting point. Do you have a plan for it yet (drivetrain, lift...)? What kind of wheeling do you plan on (rock crawling, fire roads, mudding)?

Sorry to hear about your dad's declining health. We have some members from Oregon and my parents and sister live in Portland and I get up that way from time to time. Im sure we can help with whatever questions you have.

Well, my dad has a rebuilt 258 sitting in the back of the Srambler although I am worried that it has been sitting for to long in the elements, I will have to pull it out and look it over to see. He also has a v6 sitting in the shop not sure what the specs are on that at all will talk to him tonight about it, I think I remember him saying it was meant for a boat, but we can look into putting that in the Scrambler. I personally would love to swap in the small block 5.3 vortec v8 with the GM 4L60E transmission setup I was reading about on Novak, that would be my goal, but it is costly. The wheeling that it will be doing is just mostly easy going trails, and mild mudding, I am not sure if I am going to want much of a lift or not but if I get into this like I did racing I am sure I will be looking into it in the future.

Plans that I know for sure are to add an automatic transmission, power brakes, and power steering. The automatic transmission is a for sure as my dad is no longer able to work a clutch. Everything else is up in the air right now, as I have to try and sit down with my dad and talk to him about what he really wants out of this.
 

Fricknghost

Basic User
City
Bend
State
Or
So after sitting down and talking with my parents on what options to take, we are seriously considering getting the 5.3l V8 LM7, with a GM 4L60E transmission turn key swap from Novak-adapt.com. From what I can tell they seem to be a reputable place to get something that will make this a much easier process as well as much much faster, which for me is key to this project. Wondering though before we do simply pull the trigger on this, what some of you think about this set up, and Novak-adapt as a good place to purchase.
 

Polarfire

Jeep Aficionado
Lifetime Member
City
Columbia
State
MO
You may want to talk to Randyzzz on here. He has done the 5.3 swap and he is close to you in Oregon. His build is on here too if you search. His turned out really nice and I'm sure he has lots of tips and tricks.
 

Fricknghost

Basic User
City
Bend
State
Or
You may want to talk to Randyzzz on here. He has done the 5.3 swap and he is close to you in Oregon. His build is on here too if you search. His turned out really nice and I'm sure he has lots of tips and tricks.

Thanks for the tip I will shoot him a PM.
 

Major Jack

Legacy Registered User
City
Zillah
State
Wa
Randy is in Sisters. Great guy with a lot of knowledge on most things Scrambler related.
 

Randyzzz

Blown Budget
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Redmond
State
OR
Welcome! And thanks for the kind words, guys!

I replied to the PM and look forward to meeting you.

Novak is good but pricey. But, if time is an issue, that might be the way to go. I'll do whatever I can to help you out.
 

Fricknghost

Basic User
City
Bend
State
Or
Welcome! And thanks for the kind words, guys!

I replied to the PM and look forward to meeting you.

Novak is good but pricey. But, if time is an issue, that might be the way to go. I'll do whatever I can to help you out.

Thanks Randy, cant wait to check out the jeep.

So got a bit done today, managed to dig the jeep out from the side of the shop, and replace the flat tire so that we could roll it around as needed. Also managed to get the top off of it. The plan over this week is going to be removing the body from the frame, so we can take a good look at it and try to spay a fresh coat of black over it. Also need to look into fixing a bit of rust we found on the drivers side floor panel.

While I was out I did manage to take a few more shots of it.














Really bad pic of the top off but o well


 

Fricknghost

Basic User
City
Bend
State
Or
Okay guys got a question for you, we are trying to get the tub off of the jeep and have come to the steering column, what is the best way to get this out so that we can remove the tub?
 

Craner8

CJ-8 Member
Silver Member
Member
City
Orlando
State
FL
Is the dash out? If so there should be a bracket (or two) holding it in under the dash. Remove the bolts. I want to say it's 4 total. Column should drop down. Then remove bolts on shaft at steering box, may be nuts/bolts near firewall too. Shaft fits into spline on steering box as I recall. Pull column out thru firewall into interior. Should come apart. Been years since I had mine out but it's not hard. Photo it, bag and mark parts for installation.
 

Fricknghost

Basic User
City
Bend
State
Or
Is the dash out? If so there should be a bracket (or two) holding it in under the dash. Remove the bolts. I want to say it's 4 total. Column should drop down. Then remove bolts on shaft at steering box, may be nuts/bolts near firewall too. Shaft fits into spline on steering box as I recall. Pull column out thru firewall into interior. Should come apart. Been years since I had mine out but it's not hard. Photo it, bag and mark parts for installation.

Thanks for the reply we just got it all figured out after I took a longer look at it, my dad was having a hard time figuring it out but I noticed a bolt he forgot to remove once that was out it was simple.
 

Craner8

CJ-8 Member
Silver Member
Member
City
Orlando
State
FL
I'm too late, sounds like you figured it put. Great start, clean body. Have fun and keep pics coming...
 
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