Spankrjs 1986 "Ploy-Boy" CJ-7

[spankrjs]

For some strange reasons, I have always wanted/been looking to acquire a 1986 CJ-7. Maybe it has to do with the fact that it is the final year, end of the CJ era. So, if you look long enough, you might finally find what you want. For good and bad...........................

This Jeep came up for sale earlier this year/was listed on eBay. I reached out to the seller and a deal was made.

Link to the video the 2nd owner/seller made of this Jeep:

So, what I bought:

1986 CJ-7 hard Top/Doors
Base model, but has some options
6,500 +/- miles
258, auto, Dana 44 rear axle, 3.31 gears with Trac-Lok rear
PS, PB, tach, clock, intermittent wipers, lockable glove box, 20 gallon fuel tank, low back seats
HD cooling, electrical, suspension

So, the story goes that it is a one owner Jeep, a judge in PA (yeah I know east coast Jeeps...) who bought it new to ploy his driveway. The plow, from the best I can tell, is the "dealer optioned" Meyer snow plow:



I believe this picture came from the original owner, looks great from a distance!!!!



I spoke to the guy I bought it from, so I knew it did have some rust issues/previous repairs. I did not ask for many pictures, but the pictures below sort of give you an idea of the condition:







Two plow pictures:





So, I should have ran!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In all seriousness, and the pictures are scary, while this Jeep does have significant under carriage rust, I would say 90-95% of it is superficial. I have beat on the frame and body with a hammer, the Jeep is solid, just very cosmetically challenged underneath. Not salt damage, just surface rust under the undercoating that makes it look terrible. It will clean up, will take a shit load of work, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

 

[spankrjs]

So, let's get the "bad" right out of the way first.

This is the driver side rear wheel well. This bracket is for the "fold and tumble" rear seat. Looks scary!!!!



All that bubbling, holy $hit this thing is gonna fall apart.

Passenger side rear wheel well, same area:



If you scrape the under coating off, it reveals light surface rust/what is left of the original paint. No cancer, no rotted out seams. I used a hand scraper/hammer, razor blade, and sand paper to clean this area up. This spot took about one minute.

So, it has good bones, will just take a lot of work to make this thing look good, and more importantly, preserve it.

Same passenger side rear wheel well:



The bubbles are hard under coating. I literally beat on this entire wheel well/bed floor seam with a chisel/hammer for two minutes. It is solid, just looks like crap. Again, I have a crap load of work ahead of me. And I thought I swore off rusty Jeeps

I was concerned about how "uneven" the bottom face of this wheel well felt. But, looking at this original paint 1985 Cj-7 in my yard, what I am feeling is all the OEM spot weld divots. Not the best pictures, but you get the idea:







I did not take any pictures yet, but the bottoms of the floors, outboard of the frames, look bad. Not rust, bud crumbling/caked on/gooped on under coating.

So, will this Jeep ever look like a 6,500 mile garage queen survivor? No. With a bunch of work will it look a million times better? Yes.

I am still undecided as to either pull the tub off to attack it, like "Yard Scrambler 1", or leave the tub in place. I am leaning toward option 2. If I take option 2, I can attack it one area at a time:

1) rear "cubby holes" behind wheel wells
2) pull tires, rear wheel wells
3) floor boards out board of frame rails, to cowl
4) drop fuel tank, pull rear axle and drive shaft, entire middle floor boards (over transmissions and transfer case are fine due to oil leaks!!)
5) pull front clip, fire wall and grill and fenders

That's the game plan. I think...

The 1st owner patched the front driver side floor board. Aesthetically, it looks bad, but it solid. The second owner repaired the lower "B -Piller" area (both sides). They cut out the rocker and welded in new metal, both sides. Small areas, maybe 4"x6". The second owner repainted their repairs, and repainted the interior floor boards. From what I have seen, the original owner has repainted this Jeep sometime in the past. So, only 6,500 miles, but definitely not 100% original paint.

When I first got the Jeep, I was disgusted. It was not what I thought, or maybe hope is a better word, it to be. I did not even look at it for 3 months.

All that being said, it is solid. I have only drove it a few times, @JeepAddict drove it once. When we drove it, It was packed full of crap, not assembled, loose hard top/roll bar, plow strapped up, etc. The crazy thing is, this Jeep feels/drives so solid it is scary. The way the doors shut, the way the transmission shifts, even the way it starts up. Low mileage CJ's "feel" different, if that makes sense. And this one does fell like that. It starts/drives/runs like a "new" CJ, which in a way, it is. If that makes sense.

So, that is my little butt hurt rant. It's mine now, I can "make it" like I want it to be, so no more crying about it. Time to get to work. And it will take some work.

Besides, in all honesty, if this would have been a perfect shape/6,500 mile 1986 CJ-7, no way I would have bought it for what it would be worth.

So, I have my 1986, time to get to work

 

[Randyzzz]

Looks pretty good from here! I have always bragged about Oregon high desert rust free Jeeps- and now I own a Jeepster that every bumper bolt twisted off and the front floor pans are shot. I’ll trade you!

 

[spankrjs]

I had this Jeep shipped to JeepAddict/Baton Rouge when I bought it. The idea was, once I finished his 1982 Renegade he would bring the black Jeep to me when he picked his up. I bought the Jeep in January, I think it got to Baton Rouge in February, delivered to me in March.

Regardless, here are some pictures when it made it to Baton Rouge:



It crossed Texas during a snow storm, so covered it salt/road grime etc.

Tommy Jr. posing:



Really looks like crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Packed up full of all/most of its parts:





Very dusty/dirty:



Tommy drove it with his kid, all the dust blowing around inside almost killed both of them!!!!



After a quick hose down, looks much better!!!

 

[Belizeit]

Yeah from the pictures it does look pretty good for a NE Jeep

 

[spankrjs]

And of course, Tommy took pictures of "the bad" and sent me.

Surface rust between fender/cowl:



Under body rust. Just surface/light pits, no rust through. I believe this is the passenger side at cowl, front toe board support "cubby hole":



Surface rust/peeling under coat on driver side inner frame rail. OEM fuel/vapor/brake lines are long gone, replaced with copper tube/compression fittings!!



Frame is solid, I beat the shit out of it with a hammer.

This poor little vacuum canister!!! Also note the non OEM battery tray and large battery. I guess for snow plow duty???



The plow hydraulic pump (below alternator) is belt driven off the crank:



The original owner did some odd things, I guess actually pretty good. He added grease fittings to the door hinges/hood hinges:





Also note the stainless bolts in the doors. IIRC the hard top hinges have stainless bolts, too.

I am for sure going to take the plow off. Number 1, it is a huge PIA having to walk/work around it. Number 2, absolutely no use for it in south Mississippi. I hate to sell it separate from the Jeep, since it is part of this Jeeps story, so undecided what to do with it. i do know that i will be taking it off, once I make sure it is functional/play with it!!!!!!!

I drove this Jeep around my neighborhood the other day, and boy did i get some looks!!! So, maybe keep the plow, drive around with it in south Mississippi, great conversation starter

 

[spankrjs]

Looks pretty good from here! I have always bragged about Oregon high desert rust free Jeeps- and now I own a Jeepster that every bumper bolt twisted off and the front floor pans are shot. I’ll trade you!

Don't tempt me

 

[spankrjs]

Yeah from the pictures it does look pretty good for a NE Jeep

Only 6,500 miles is what saved it. I tend to believe the guy only used it to plow.

6,500 miles divided by 35 years (2021-1986) = 185 miles a year

 

[spankrjs]

Some of the documentation that came with the Jeep.



Original title:



Under seat build sheet:





The build sheet is very faded, but I can still just make out the characters. I need to hand write all this down before it completely fades away:



Original window sticker:





Wish they still made them for this price!!!!!!!!



Inside the owner's manual:



This is a reproduction, but I will probably stick it on the dash, after I have it engraved:

 

[Belizeit]

That plow is pretty cool. You could do some plowing down at the beach

 

[spankrjs]

A few pictures of the snow plow documentation:











Common to the end of the line 1986 CJ's, the Dana 44 rear axle:




Some of the plow controls:



How I let it sit for almost three months, until yesterday:

 

[spankrjs]

So, I wasn't really planning on starting to mess with this one anytime soon, but I got a good deal on a new battery on the way home from work Friday. Since this Jeep needed a new battery, and I had just built the new Harbor Freight sun shade and moved all the Jeeps around................

It begins:



Installed the battery, cranked the engine over for about 45 seconds (I haven't started it in 3 months), Jeep fired up and I backed it out of the other Harbor Freight garage thingy, which is now the LJ's new home.

Washed the dust/dirt off of it, drove it around the neighborhood to show off my plow:



Parked it in the new "work shop" on Saturday:



Sunday morning I grabbed some tables and my tool cart, got started:



Still packed up:



So, for some reason, the 2nd owner pulled the dash and repainted it?? So, the few times I have drove it, it has been like this:



So, my plan of attack:

1) Reassemble the dash/interior
2) Reinstall the missing exterior items (fender flares, tire carrier, rear lights, etc)
3) Remove Plow
4) Start on all of the under body rust removal/repaint work (ughhhhh.....................)
5) Mechanical maintenance/leaks/etc

Lot's of pictures, kind of jump around, so bear with me.

Interior is in great shape, rust wise. Only rust is surface rust on the steering column brackets (bare steel from the factory):



Hardly any wear to the brake/gas pedals:



OEM carburetor computer, heater box, etc. Note very light surface rust on heater control brackets.




I am assuming the factory primer was grey, they then installed dash, then painted Jeep? One rust stain present.

 

[spankrjs]

Surface rust/light primer bubbling on cowl:



Passenger front floor board solid, just dirty:



Driver side floor board has been patched. Not pretty, but solid, AND they left about 1.5" of OEM floor off the rocker, so this could be revisited in the future without ruining the exterior rocker paint.



Original stickers:



More heater box control brackets:



Worst interior rust, original unpainted steering column bracket:



Heater box marking:



Second owner repainted the floor, but left a few non OEM holes in the floor? Plastic plugs and a center console can cover these up.



On the way to Jody's Georgia Jeep show a few weeks back, pit stop in Birmingham, score a front frame cover (for when I eventually remove the plow) and a dash pad. For some reason, a 6,500 mile original Jeep's dahs pad was so damaged it was thrown away??

 

[spankrjs]

Dash pad has one little dimple in one corner, but way better then nothing or aftermarket.



Starting to dig through all of the boxes packed inside the Jeep.

The repainted dash board. (repainted but left the two holes the original owner drilled for some plow stuff??)



Original stickers on inside of glove box: (the "do not drive in 4wd on hard packed roads" is floating around somewhere)



The original owner added holes.




Also, the dash was wrapped in bubble wrap for so long it marked the new paint!!!!! (it buffed out, thank God!)

Let's just cut these ground wires!!



I presume the original spare tire cover?? Maybe not??



The front "mini mat" carpet piece, only one cut out since it is an automatic transmission.



The two rear fender flares:



Behind the front seat area carpet, rear bed carpet, rear wheel well carpet:



OEM spare tire carrier with original owner added auxiliary lighting:

 

[spankrjs]

Some corrosion present, but is should clean up:



All the little factory plastic square plugs are present. Original owner welded on this doo-hickey, not sure of it's purpose yet?



The auxiliary lighting did not fare well, pretty rusty:



The other one looks a million times better LOL:



Maybe the original spare, would have to decode the build date? Regardless, it is flat. The Jeep does have newer Good Year tires installed, not Wranglers, but they are the original 235/75/15 size.





The driver side step thing.



Lots of undercoating/surface rust, some pitting, but it is still solid and can be cleaned up.





So, finally unloaded:

 

[spankrjs]

The second owner repainted the interior floor boards, and left all the body shop dust inside. Fold and tumbler rear seat half way installed:



Again, a few original owner added holes. Plastic plugs to the rescue, for now.



Seatbelts, lights, fuel filler, heater control cables, etc:



Bags of hardware:



Definitely not OEM:



OEM spare tire carrier brackets, all solid/salvageable, just need some aesthetic work:





And the other table:



Bags of hardware:

 

[spankrjs]

OEM cardboard glove box, with the above mentioned missing glove box door sticker:



Horn and misc. parts:



More dash parts:



Ash tray has some minor corrosion issues:



Tail light lenses, not sure why there are three yet?




Gauges:



Original owner added dash light, something to do with plow or auxiliary lights, not sure yet?



There it is, 6,490 mile speedometer. Interesting that the orange band from 55 -85 mph has faded? Maybe it is the right color?



Some type of dash wiring doo-hickey, I think OEM, will have to figure it out? Maybe rear or trailer wiring?



Rear fold and tumble seat brackets, they bolt to the wheel wells. Random plugs and a wooden wedge painted black?

 

[spankrjs]

Second owner found some stripped out Torx heads!!!



Some other random/salvageable hardware:



Extra (read OLD) belts and some I presume spare seals for the plow hydraulics?



A few notes from the original owner to the second owner. Hate to read about the gas gauge



So, that's it. This is the Jeep, how I got it, what it came with.


Now, time to get to work!!!

 

[Belizeit]

Looks like a good start. So is that the only speedometer ? 55 - 85 color I don’t think is faded. Nice find.

 

[spankrjs]

So, I decided to reinstall the dash board first. But, the steering column plays an important role in this, more in a bit.

To install the dashboard, I need to pull the steering wheel. Well, off it came, revealing the first broken part, the horn contactor/turn signal cancel cam thing:



It came to me this way. I though I recognized these parts that were hid inside one of the hardware bags!!!!!!!!



Being that this is a factory automatic Jeep, I also needed to remove the transmission shifter handle from the column. Fairly easy, knock out the roll pin with a punch/hammer:



Roll pin/shifter handle bracket on the steering column:



So, I removed the steering wheel and the shifter, BUT the dash board would still not slide over the column mounted "PRND21" thing. I definitely did not want to break/damage it, so head scratching time.

So, remember the "bubble wrap imprinted" dash:



I buffed it, scratched my ass some, then broke out the FSM.

The FSM acts like it is a piece of cake to remove the "PRND21" thing:



Good luck with that!!!!!!!!!!!

The below pictures are from a spare gear indicator thing, NOT the one on this Jeep:



In the above picture, you can see the little metal tabs they want you to pry out. The two pieces of thin metal with the square holes is part of the column, where this thing slide over/clips to.

Bottom side of the gear indicator:



Someone wiser/braver then me can try to remove these two tabs. I could not figure it out, well, at least not with a high probability of breaking something.

This Jeep's indicator, on the column:



On the far side, you can see the square hole where the little retaining clip lives: