This 81 Jeep Scrambler has been site seeing in the Arizona deserts and is now getting a career change to becoming a show quality driver! 

 11/5/12

In the coming weeks it will get a full teardown and rebuild for a family in Colorado.  It is getting a manual transmission to automatic conversion, widetrac axles, a new GM crate engine, 3 rows of seating and a custom sport bar! 

Please tune in to watch it come together!

11/14/12

A little behind on pictures but here is the teardown...

Super clean rot free frame....AND body! :)

Already back from sandblast.... This frame looks better than new!

Beautiful front floors....

The storage container is clear full of blasted small parts.

You'll notice the differentials looking new.  They are widetracs.  81 Scramblers and all CJs for that matter had narrower differentials than thier 82 to 86 counterparts and we are therefore going to the wider version.  Note, all CJ5s are narrow trac to the end of their production in 1983. 

12/1/12

WIDETRAC CONVERSION...

This frame is a 1981 and seemingly AMC was ready to make the switch but just didm't quite get it done.  I say this because this frame was already drilled for the 82-86 shock towers which we had scavenged from a newer CJ. 

The 76 to 81 shock mounts look like this....

These are welded on from the factory so a little careful cutting and they're gone. 

Now you can't just bolt the widetrac shock towers on as the frame will collapse as you tighten the bolts.  The factory resolution is bolt stand-offs or steel tubes inside the frame.  We can't get in the frame so the solution is to acquire tube that slides over the 3/8-16 bolts and cut them to length as shown.

Our solution is to enlarge the shock tower holes (one side only) to the OD of the tube and slide it in first and then tighten down the shock towers for a firm fit.

We also swapped out the flexible brake line brackets as the widetrac version is slightly shorter.  Again, the late 81 frame had these holes so all we had to do was tap them....  and we're done! :)

12-27-12

The body has gone to paint and we are working on the chassis.

Shown here are the HD spring hangers and short HD Shackles installed.  Also differentials in place with HD spring sliders for a super clean underside. 

Rear differential in place with a G2 brand one piece axle conversion.  We're running 3.31 gears in this Jeep which we took some grief from in selecting such a deep ratio.  Most people want to climb or crawl something.  This Jeep has far more HP than the common 304 and will be used up to 75 mph and won't be screaming at you and slurping fuel like a big rig.  With 4lo selected in 4wd it will do just fine and if the owner ever wants to crawl it harder, he can always do a 4:1 kit in the t-case. 

Steering and axles installed with all new USA made ball joints, tie rod ends and CVs.

1/5/13

New spindle bearing a good idea for a full restoration but for most rebuilds I'd say you usually won't need them.  These are difficult to remove without the right tool.  We use a pilot bushing removal tool as shown to the right...

We are using a cool old set of Warn chrome hubs I'd been hording for myself on this build.   We take them apart, degrease them and simply use a little gear oil inside.  I've read that grease is not the thing to use in your hubs.  Maybe some lithium grease but I like it this way and they are much easier to turn when it's cold out.

New ceramic pads and reman calipers.

We noticed the callper sliders weren't lubed well out of the box so we addressed that with some synthetic caliper grease.  This will aid in long life of these calipers without hanging up. 

 All installed with new slotted rotors, bearings, seals etc.  Extra time invested in blasting the steel bearing retainers and lug studs and painting them.  Note we also use loctite on the hub bolts.  It is less of an issue with these and more-so with the 6 bolt lock outs. 

1/8/13

Stainless brake and fuel lines and proportioning valve installed...

Rear brakes done...

Note it's a good idea to use antisieze on the self adjusters for long trouble free life...

Flexible front brake lines installed...

Rear flexible line installed (along with new brake drums)

1/11/13

Sway bar and poly bushings installed along with front differential cover including stainless steel flange head serrated hex bolts to show you care...

1-14-13

Some really cool 31x10.50r15 Tires and original 30 year old AMC Chrome CJ Wheels

Mounted, balanced, polished and installed with antisieze on the wheels studs for years of trouble free maintenance

It rolls!

 1/15/13

A plan fulfilled...

We made a promise to this gentleman that we could make his Jeep into an automatic and not use a floor shifter AND use a swapped in non-AMC crate engine.  I really dislike seeing B&M floor shifters and whater else conjured up on the floor of a CJ to shift a converted auto trans which is why we made our link on the left to show people how to make the swap from a stick to an auto using stock parts. 

Here's how it is coming to be.  I have a 999 auto transmission (the stock transmission in 1980 and newer CJs) in my trail Jeep with a small block Chevy and have abused it ruthlesly.  The 999 is based on the 727 Torqueflight which is a known solid transmission.  I know it can handle the V8 engine so it was our choice to adapt to.  This means the transmission goes in the stock location and you mount the engine wherever it lands once the trans is mounted.  This allows for stock linkage for shifting AND it saves the customer money using at least a stock front driveshaft.  It would also use a stock rear driveshaft except Scrambler auto transmission driveshafts are quite rare and with this Jeep being what it is, we will probably order new. 

We had waited for a snow melt to cut a template from one of our many rusty midwest parts Jeeps outside to build from as shown...

This was a 1980 Laredo auto 6 cylinder Jeep that has died so others may live...

That is an automatic CJ front clip sitting where the finished body will go.  It has the column and brake booster in place along with tunnel hole etc so we can be sure of interferences etc before mounting the engine mounts.

We chose to use a Novak kit for the adapting and have hit a snag with their torque converter but I am confident they will get it right. 

The customer wanted a new GM 290 hp Chevy crate engine for proven reliability, value, power, economical build options and of course that V8 sound!

Rebuilt 999 auto trans from the boys @ MD Transmission mocked up for placement of the engine mounts.  The adapter is installed and we are doing this without the torque converter until it is resolved.

Sitting in place.  Trans mounted in the crossmember stock location ;)

Firewall clearance for the new HEI distributor.  You always have to check this as these distributors are fat but work great and inexpensive.   It is far back to allow for adjustment of the timing but close enough to the firewall that it gives me confidence that we will have front clearance for accesories, thick aluminum radiator and fan etc...

Rebuilt t-case (Dana 300) from MD transmission

Mocked up for clearance testing

All CJ engines sit to the driver's side slightly to ensire the driveshaft has clearance when the Jeep is under compression...

Probably the hardest part is making clearance for custom headers on an engine swap...  Yeah, these are sweet headers :)

...and a detail from the folks at Novak (they have a lot of info on their site for swaps and have been doing it for a VERY long time).  They want 3 to 5 degrees of tip on an engine so we break out our little angle finder to make sure we have this....  I expect there are moany reasons for this including but not limited to oiling and thrust bearings on the crankshaft.

Engine removed for mount placement.  Mounts firmly clamped in place on bare steel frame for welding.

1/18/13

Robot type weld done by a local pro I brought in.  Really pretty welds.   

Also, primered and satin painted like stock. 

The customer wanted a black engine which I think is a great practical decision for use in a vehicle that gets used.  The engine came to us black but the paint didn't cover everywhere and I've seen the factory paint go thin after a few years of use so we high temperature reprimed it and repainted it.  It's a great time to do this with all the factory hole plugs still in place.

 We have things worked out with Novak regarding the torque converter with a little input from the guys @ MD transmission as well.  As with many things AMC, nothing is "always done".  They made lots of changes throughout the years.  For instance, the transmission we are using is from a later CJ and has a lock up torque converter and therefore different splines than the non lock up torque converter.  It is neat that the lock up is done without electronics.  Lock up converters stop slippage and save fuel.

Long story short, Novak is sending a new convertor and retrieving the old one.  This means work will be stopped for a bit on this project so you might flip the channel and check out the 86 CJ7 build for a little bit ;)

 1/23/13

Engine set and a bit of accesories going on...

 Novak came through with the correct torque converter on Thursday as expected ;)

3/5/13

Just about ready for paint...

Documentation takes time and eventually the customer build schedule and life required more of my time than was available.  The documentation on the site got cut short but the customer kept getting photos.

 Additional photos of this gorgeous finished product are HERE