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Jeep cj7 83 right hand drive 4x4 5 sp british export - part II

CB, when I rebuilt my cj7 for the first time I stripped it and had it sandblasted. Then put her back together. To make a long story short 5yrs after I noticed the frame rotted out from the inside. That's why on the two cj8 frames I have I had them acid dipped to start out clean. If you cut the bad sections out, is the frame stable enough to take to the sandblaster so he can take a shot at blasting a part of the inside. This will show up the thinner metal before you weld in the pieces (better to catch before rather than later) and give him access to the sections that seem to rot out (skidplate mounting, front curve to rear axle etc.). I don't know how far you are along, just a thought.:wave:
 
What's the general cost of sandblasting up there for our projects ?
 
Thanks for the comments.

I cut the metal back on the one side to sold metal to where when I weld it, it doesn't blow through and they are solid welds.
It was further than I had thought when I started.
The other side however, I will not be done in time for tomorrow morning, so as you are saying, I am going to widen the hole a bit and allow him to blast it and see what is there to work with.

The frame wasn't too bad, just the one side that I am working now and the rear, which has already been taken care of
On the bad section, I am rebuilding the inner structure with c-channel and then plating the outside. It will be strong when done, but as you said, there is always the chance to rot from the inside out.

On the rotting angle... all my Jeeps will never see the winter, never driven in rain, definitely never see the New England salts. They are all coated with Zero-Rust or POR-15 depending on what section we are talking about so that helps a lot to hasten the further rotting from the inside out. The underside of the tub usually receives a duplicolor type bed lining and then the body is primed and painted. This one I will just paint the floor inside, but others I have herculined or similar.

This one I want to keep more stock appearance on the inside.

Bottom line is that I want it to be safe and will make sure I do so.
It is definitely worse than I had thought and I had really done a 2x over on it.
In the end, all the body mounts, the frame and the rear section will be far superior to what was there.
The body is a whole lot nicer than what was yanked off of there, the new fenders too are so much more stiff than the old ones that just crumbled with all the bondo in them.

Acid dipping is something I have never really looked into.
This guy was a friend of a friend that has a sandblasting business... I just wanted to get all the gunk off of the parts and not have to strip by hand... the price was well worth it.

Pics to follow this weekend if all goes well.

fingers crossed

Happy New Year to all!

cb
 
BRKLYNZ28 said:
What's the general cost of sandblasting up there for our projects ?
Click to expand...

This guy normally gets $150 an hour... he said he has done a frame and body in a couple hours, as long as you stick around to help rotate things and move things.
If he has to have help, it takes longer and costs more.

Since it is being done on a holiday and it is "free money" to him as he normally wouldn't be working, the cost is less.

I don't know if what he normally gets is a good deal or not, but the reduced project price on the holiday made it worth it.
Plus, the last time I used those blue plastic strip discs and the wire cup method.
I was filthy
It took hours
My throat hurt for a week (even with a respirator on)
It cost I think like $50 or more for materials
My grinder was on its last legs afterwards (another $100 to replace)

So, in the end, I will gladly spend a little to stay clean, have use of my hands/arms that night (vibration for hours on that grinder) and have a frame that is clean that I have to wipe down with alcohol/spirits to clean it off and then put a coat of rust preventative paint on.

Looking forward to it.

cb
 
Yea I did that 2 times already and don't feel like doing it anymore on the large stuff. The cleaning up after the fact is the problem. Thanks for the $ figure..
 
Found some pics... the garage was a freaking mess too from grinding it all off

And, it wasn't 100% clean

100_0315-1.jpg

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Other pics
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I noticed last night too when I got in from welding/grinding my beard was full of crap... don't like that feeling and needed a shower to clean it all out, even though Mr. Pegasus thermometer said it was 20 degrees, I was covered head to toe in warm and protective gear and wasn't even sweating!

cb
 
I had the cj7 blasted in the mid 90's and it was I believe 350. for the frame and the skid plate. The frame had no holes or rot (or so I thought). I drove it for about 4 yrs till I needed the engine rebuilt. I had a shop rebuild the motor over the winter, in the spring when I went to check out the motor I found the guy had the jeep sitting in a field behind his shop. About 2 yrs later I crawled under her for maintenance and found the frame was completely rotted in front of the axles up to the skid plate. It rotted from the inside out. By the time it comes through it's too late. Even the first cj8 frame I got from someone who already had it primered and looked good (he cut out the bad spots and welded metal in all but two of the sections). I welded the two sections and had it dipped. When I got it I found pin holes where the skid plate bolted. I just welded angle over these sections to strengthen. That's why if I'm going to the expense and time I don't want the rust to come back and bite me. My jeeps also won't see the snow and very little rain. Looks good and looking forward to seeing it built:wave:
 
The blasting fortunately did not reveal anything new that I didn't know, but I hear what you are saying on the inside out, it is enevitable with the way the frames were designed. I just try to rebuild it as much as I can with angle iron, plate it to strengthen it, then paint it with rust preventative paint or coating (Zero Rust and POR-15 I have done numerous times in the past) and then try to get as much as I can inside when I spray it.

When it is painted, seal up the holes, run some transmission fluid in there, let it sit, rotate 90, let it sit, rotate 90 add more let it sit, rotate 90, let it sit, back to normal position and hopefully it has given a bit more life to it.

When you acid dipped it, what did you do to try to coat the inside of the frame? Paint or whatever?

cb
 
Nearing the 200 hour mark so far since I got the Jeep... amazing how time just gets chewed up fixing little things.
The good news is that we are back from blasting and it looks great

Heading out:
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It was cold
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Heading home after 2 hours and $225
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A poser picture of all things blasted (minus the front euro grille that isn't pictures)
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Rebuilding internals that are missing
IMG_7203-1.jpg


Playing with paint
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Finally, found the date stamp, it matches up for an 83!
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I plan to get to the welding/grinding the 2 areas on the frame that need attention and painting done to all the "jammed" parts that will go on the frame with new grade 8 hardware.
I have to rebuild a few parts and pieces that were missing or snapped off, mainly the sway bar and shock tower mountings (brake junction too in the future).

I want to get it painted under where the parts touch and then a final coat when it is all assembled.
I was hoping by Sunday evening to be all done with it, however, we just had a news flash of a possible 8 inches of wet heavy stuff coming Saturday night so that might dampen the plans.
Oddly enough, it is supposed to be 50 on Sunday and that is when I wanted to paint as it would be warmer... such is life I suppose.

Next week will be tough with work and meetings and such, not too much will be accomplished unfortunately, but this was a good making progress update.

cb
 
On the first cj8 frame I used nason chassis paint. That's the one that had the pin holes where the skid plate mounts. After I did that frame I found one in excellent condition. After dipping I sprayed (with a pump sprayer) epoxy primer and rotated the frame (with the holes taped up). After rotating every 5 min. I let it dry and then did the same with enamel paint with hardener. I used the epoxy on my work trucks and then painted with the SS black enamel. When I wet sanded, I sanded through the paint and exposed the epoxy on the roof of the cab and a spot on the front fender. Three winters of Cleveland salt and no rust (not even surface rust). My father use to own a auto repair shop (Grandfather and him family owned) and use to put used motor oil in the fenders, rockers, etc. Where the body plugs were. He would swear that the used oil had a acid (from use) that got into the rust and sealed the rust, stopping it. The cars would last much longer. It just left a mess right after he did it till it drained out.
 
jammer1 said:
Good price on the sandblasting.:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Yeah, the guy was quick and good... a lot of parts and pieces... setup/breakdown of all that equipment is what took a while, plus being cold, the compressor and feeder/hopper wasn't cooperating, but once he got it moving, he went at it... like 45 mins for the frame with me helping unload it from the trailer, and flip it after he was done on the one side and then load it back up.

He turned off the grit in the end and just used the high air pressure and blew out the frame as well, very cool, some junk came out (that part isn't so good, but at least it isn't in there anymore)

cb
 
Just curious why not modify the tub instead of the frame. You can modify a YJ tub to be identical to a CJ.
 
LetchcoreCJ7 said:
Just curious why not modify the tub instead of the frame. You can modify a YJ tub to be identical to a CJ.
Click to expand...

I guess I am not understanding the question. I started with a tub that I thought was in good shape and it has 2 body mounts that are different than a CJ near the rear wheels. I moved the already rusted frame mounts to that location.

Upon flipping the body, I realized that those 2 mounts were in pretty bad shape on the ends, so I ordered up some new YJ body replacement pieces as the frame mounts were already moved. The rear section I ordered is CJ and the front pieces are pretty much identical. I have made all the necessary changes so far to have it look CJ and will continue with the tailgate when I get to it

So, the question to you is, what part of the YJ tub modification are you referring to?

cb
 
Travels and sickness has left me not being able to do much, but I did do some painting last weekend when it was warm, not going to be able to do much this week... FREEZING!!!... spy photo included.

IMG_7236-1.jpg


cb
 
Also, those pieces on top are just drying... I installed all the poly bushings after they paint... tight fit, but lubed them up.
I installed the steering box upside down... SOOOOOO much easier than on the ground (had to make sure it was on the "correct" side.
A lot of other parts and pieces installed and basically just waiting to finish up welding the one area on the frame, grind it down, spray it, then flip it over, spray the top side and then put the axles back in.
I got new u-bolts, the u-bolt plates are painted as well.
They can be seen in this earlier picture

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Gas tank too.

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cb
 
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