It all began with this 1985 CJ7 I got from a good friend Josh Nicholson...
As you can see, this thing was pretty rusted out...this is only a sample...it was REALLY bad...frame and tub completely shot.
During disassembly entire portions of the floor were found to be missing!
Then I got ahold of a 1991 Wrangler YJ tub from a guy in North Carolina for $300.
Then I got ahold of a 1983 CJ7 frame for free that I dug out of a guy's yard in Clearwater. We cut loose the stock motor mounts and my stepdad, Steve Briant, fabricated new mounts to hold a Chevy 350...I know...the Jeep purists hate me for it...but you gotta love a 350!
Then we set the new tub on the frame to ensure that we had a good alignment with the transmission and Advance Adapters conversion bell housing before final welding. We also needed to make sure we cleared the firewall.
Next, it was time for the interior disassembly...more of a gutting if you will.
After spending a couple of evenings wire-wheeling the new frame it was time to take it to the painter.
While the frame was being painted I wire-wheeled the entire underside of the new tub to prep it for paint as well.
With the frame back from the painter it was time to get out the new 1" body lift mounting hardware and prep it to be mounted to the tub. (The Jeep already has a 4" spring lift).
Now that the tub had been painted as well I could finally begin assembling the new project...it was about time!
Before I could go any farther it was time to strip the old jeep down to the bones and get to the axles. I literally only used the axles and hood...everything else was replaced.
Dissasembly continued and I pulled out the old, tired, 258 and gave it to a friend, James Boggs, who plans to rebuild it and put it into an old CJ5 that he wants to restore.
With the motor out and the axles free, it was time to put the rest of this baby down and let her go to that little jeep graveyard in the sky...
Going...
Going...
GONE!
Now back to reassembly. The rear axle was secured first.
Then the front axle was secured.
The next step was to re-install the shocks (yes I re-used them, too) and then bolt on the new front fenders and grille while topping it off with the old hood (which was a recent aftermarket install on the old Jeep already).
Finally, the new windshield frame and roll bar (show bar) were installed. I didn't want to use the Wrangler roll bar because it just didn't look right to me in a CJ. I called Extreme Jeep in Tampa and they took the square-back roll bar in even trade for an exceptionally clean, early YJ roll bar that still had the CJ look to it.
Although I still do not have the new 350 power plant, I can at least get it to the painter.
I bought an original, Sherwin Williams paint chip sheet for 1985 AMC/Jeep vehicles. I want to paint this an original 85 CJ color so it will have the initial appearance of being somewhat stock to the untrained eye...I am thinking the light metallic blue. Check back soon for pics after paint! 
