Value this CJ7

[finorman]

I'm looking to get some input from this board.

the I love original CJs, and recently ran across this one a couple of hours from where I live. I put a deposit on it, and the owner was nice enough to hold it for me until I can see it at the end of the month...

1980 Jeep CJ7 4X4 4 speed manual 2.5L 4 cyclinder All original steel tub. Original paint except for hood. Was barn kept for 15 years. Hard top added and soft top goes with it. New fuel pump. New dist cap and rotor. New Rough Country leaf springs and shocks. Title in hand. Will only accept cash. $10,000 obo

It does have some rust on the passenger and driver floor board... I'm told no electrical or mechanical problems.

My plan was to fix the rust... restore the original paint and drive it around town.

Is the 2.5 underpowered for town/occasional easy highway use? can you get AC for it? is fuel injection available for the 151? Is that bumper an original bumper? It has a bit of a lean, as long as the Frame isn't rusted is there anything else I should look for?

 

[finorman]

I'v never seen this interior

 

[finorman]

Break down of the vin and data plate
1980 cj7
T-06PN Bucket seats, high back, Desert Beige, Cara Vinyl with Italian
Purse Vertical Stripes
OM-dark brown metallic
Jom93ab06xxxx

 

[Trevor Davidson]

I had a the GM 151 iron duke 4 cylinder in my 83 scrambler
Great little engine but has big limitations on highway and was not able to source fuel injection for it .
It will have either 3:54 or 4:10 gears which is a bonus with the 4 cylinder

 

[Craner8]

Frank, What does the dash
plaque say on the glove box? I like the interior- haven’t seen that before. Laredo trim. Don’t know how the four-cylinder will work but I imagine will be fine around town. Looks like a pretty good deal for the price.

 

[finorman]

Frank, What does the dash
plaque say on the glove box? I like the interior- haven’t seen that before. Laredo trim. Don’t know how the four-cylinder will work but I imagine will be fine around town. Looks like a pretty good deal for the price.

Great seeing you Jim... hope you are staying safe. I think the plaque says Laredo, and I have seen it come with stock interiors, although I have never owned a CJ that had one. I'm not sure if there is a source to find one. The other thought was maybe I'd recondition the paint and redo the decals

 

[finorman]

I had a the GM 151 iron duke 4 cylinder in my 83 scrambler
Great little engine but has big limitations on highway and was not able to source fuel injection for it .
It will have either 3:54 or 4:10 gears which is a bonus with the 4 cylinder

Could you get to 60 mph on a straight-away?

 

[Chamba]

Seems like a great deal to me. I had an iron duke 7 at sea level and it was adequate. Over about 2000' or going up to Mount Hood it was slower than a wet week. Mine was a 5 speed but I could almost never use it as it would bog the engine down too much.

For an occasional driver though it'll be fine. I would bet you could drop a YJ iron duke with fuel injection straight in with minimal mods.... if you could find one.

I don't see why you couldn't put the sniper FI on it. As I recall, isn't it the same carburettor as the 6? I seem to recall guys putting the 258 carb on the Duke to get the bigger secondary.

 

[Trevor Davidson]

Hey Chamba,the Gm 151 iron duke came with a Rochester varajet carb,great little carb .
Electric choke etc.
Also has one wire distributor so easy HEI ,
I have seen guys retro fit S10/Fiero fuel injection setups not sure about sniper

 

[Craner8]

I think you’re right. I googled 1980 jeep CJ7, Cara vinyl and found a brochure from 1980 that describe it to a T. Laredo model. Can’t find any pictures of the seats though. May be a one year only option.

 

[finorman]

I think it's this....

 

[ag4ever]

I don’t believe the iron duke was ever used in a YJ. In 84 AMC switched from the GM Iron Duke 151ci engine to the AMC 150 ci engine. Iron Duke was first used by Jeep in ‘80.

The Iron Duke had a Chevy small block bolt pattern, the AMC engine did not.

The Iron Duke was used in S-10 trucks and other Chevy cars.

The CJ-7 in question should have the Iron Duke in it.

For factory tbi (single injector) fuel injection, look for one of these cars in a wrecking yard:

• 1982–1985 Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird
• 1982–1989 Chevrolet Celebrity
• 1982–1991 Pontiac 6000
• 1982–1992 Buick Century, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera
• 1984–1988 Pontiac Fiero
• 1985–1987 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, GMC S-15 Jimmy
• 1985–1993 Chevrolet S-10, GMC S-15/Sonoma
• 1985–1990 Chevrolet Astro, GMC Safari
• 1985–1987 Buick Somerset
• 1985–1991 Pontiac Grand Am, Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais
• 1986–1991 Buick Skylark
• 1987–1994 Grumman LLV (USPS delivery vehicle)
• 1990–1992 Chevrolet Lumina

 

[Belizeit]

Are any of those still around ? Those all look like cash ( $ ) for clunkers ( ) candidates.

 

[ag4ever]

Are any of those still around ? Those all look like cash ( $ ) for clunkers ( ) candidates.

I’d imagine a bunch were crushed, but a few slipped through.

 

[finorman]

I don’t believe the iron duke was ever used in a YJ. In 84 AMC switched from the GM Iron Duke 151ci engine to the AMC 150 ci engine. Iron Duke was first used by Jeep in ‘80.

The Iron Duke had a Chevy small block bolt pattern, the AMC engine did not.

The Iron Duke was used in S-10 trucks and other Chevy cars.

The CJ-7 in question should have the Iron Duke in it.

For factory tbi (single injector) fuel injection, look for one of these cars in a wrecking yard:

• 1982–1985 Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird
• 1982–1989 Chevrolet Celebrity
• 1982–1991 Pontiac 6000
• 1982–1992 Buick Century, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera
• 1984–1988 Pontiac Fiero
• 1985–1987 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, GMC S-15 Jimmy
• 1985–1993 Chevrolet S-10, GMC S-15/Sonoma
• 1985–1990 Chevrolet Astro, GMC Safari
• 1985–1987 Buick Somerset
• 1985–1991 Pontiac Grand Am, Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais
• 1986–1991 Buick Skylark
• 1987–1994 Grumman LLV (USPS delivery vehicle)
• 1990–1992 Chevrolet Lumina

Thank you... that's a really helpful list... do you think it makes a big performance difference between carbonated and adding FI from one of the aforementioned vehicles?
and Just out of curiosity, If I keep the same color and keep it largely original, do you think it is more desirable to keep the original 2.5 or to change to the 258?

 

[finorman]

I’d imagine a bunch were crushed, but a few slipped through.

View attachment 97042
View attachment 97043
View attachment 97044

do you have a source or link for how to do this swap and the parts needed?

 

[Chamba]

I don’t believe the iron duke was ever used in a YJ. In 84 AMC switched from the GM Iron Duke 151ci engine to the AMC 150 ci engine. Iron Duke was first used by Jeep in ‘80.

[/LIST]

Disregard what I said then Frank. My 7 was an '85, so it must have had the AMC 150. I had it back in '94, but I didn't have it very long. The guy I bought it from called it an Iron Duke and that's what I called it too: obviously incorrectly. But the AMC 150 performed well enough around town anyway for what that's worth.

I bought the 7 right after I bought my first new car: a '93 YJ 4 cyl (which I named "Duke" after what I thought- until a moment ago- the engine was.....). I saw the 7 near my work and loved it so I bought it for $1800. I cleaned it up, waxed it took the carpets out and painted the floor and then sold it on a whim to this guy who offered me $2500 for it. I never even registered it in my name.

Given it's a Chevy 350 bolt pattern engine then, wouldn't a TBI 4.3 v6 be an easy swap? Could the 4 speed handle the older TBI 4.3's fairly meagre horsepower ag4evr? That could be a lot easier than retrofitting fuel injection .

 

[Trevor Davidson]

I completed the 151 swap last year , off the top of my head
You need different bellhousing ,motor mounts ,radiator,exhaust,add return fuel line,and vapour canister line is on opposite frame rail.
Clutch and slave cylinder bracket as the 151 has hydro clutch and 258 from factory is mechanical clutch linkage.
The engine is pushed back a bit so utilize different holes on cross member skid ,also 258/T176 trans has different trans tunnel cover then my 151/T176 trans tunnel cover.
I added HEI dist also .
There’s probably more lol

 

[finorman]

does anyone recognize the rear step bumper? diamond plate, no endcaps, maybe bent?

 

[ag4ever]

I don’t know anything about the EFI swap, it might be marginally better, but I doubt it would be that much better than a well tuned carb. Problem would be collecting the computer, wiring, sensors, and retrofitting to a vehicle it was never on. I imagine it would be similar to a Howel injection system on the 258. But, GM did feel it was better and used it until the mid 90’s.

I would either drive it as is, or swap in a SBC or a 4.3 v-6.

My ‘82 was originally an Iron Duke. Previous owner swapped in the 232 from a 79 Spirit. He only used the Jeep around his property near cottonwood, az. If the 151 was underpowered for just running around the hills in Arizona, I can’t imagine it would be much fun on a highway. City street should be fine. (I’ll bet my original engine is still in the barn of the original owner. Wish I had grabbed it when buying the Jeep.)