1980 CJ7 Crawler Build

Well, after having to take some time off to recover from a minor surgery I’ve finally been able to get back on the CJ. Having a decent amount of off time had me thinking about stuff and ultimately decided that if we may end up down the road doing shoulder harnesses then we better just do it now. So we got back onto Genright’s website and ordered the harness bar kit to tie into the cage and ordered 4 PRP 4.2 easy harnesses.

Funny thing about the seatbelts is that the PRP harnesses were no more expensive than a standard 3 point buckle. Figured it would be easier to do it now then down the road since Im here doing the cage now.
IMG_2700.jpeg

Then I got to working on getting the A-Pillars welded and installed, getting these to all line up and play together was a bit of a chore but that was to be expected and they did end up settling in nicely all said and done.

The floor plates and gussets come not attached so they need to be welded and this is where I ran into the biggest problem, where the stanchion bolts into the door hinge it left almost an inch gap to the floor (to be fair, Genright specifically states in the instructions that these old CJs will have floor sag and modifications will need to be made)

IMG_2564.jpeg
IMG_2659.jpeg

The passenger side was the worst, driver side still had some sag but it was close enough after some bending of the floor plates that we could fill it with weld. Passenger side, even after bending the floor plate, was just too much of a gap so I made a spacer it fill it in.

IMG_2679.jpeg
IMG_2680.jpeg

Once that was complete we proceeded to weld in the gussets and prepare it for paint because once these go back in there is no reason to pull them back out.

IMG_2710.jpeg
IMG_2709.jpeg
IMG_2682.jpeg

Got them all painted up and installed, had to slightly modify my floor mats but after that everything turned out nicely!

IMG_2723.jpeg
IMG_2727.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Got the Raptor on today. It went on really well and is a very forgiving product, really happy with how it went. Using the roll on was also a plus, allowed me to control the product and get the texture I wanted.

Will it last? I don’t know, maybe, maybe not. I did as best as I could with what I had. I used UPOL’s acid etch and adhesion promoter underneath so only time will tell!

View attachment 419556
View attachment 419557
View attachment 419558
View attachment 419559
Nice
 
Got the cage painted this weekend, turned out about as good as one could expect for a rattle can job. I went this route because of price and ease of touch up in the future.

I used the Seymour stainless blast black and was very happy with the product. This was my first time using it and I wanted to see what all the hype was about, it’s now my favorite rattle can and it’s not even close. I bought 5 cans, used 4 and saved a can for touch ups.


IMG_2835.jpeg
IMG_2827.jpeg
IMG_2836.jpeg
IMG_2830.jpeg
IMG_2829.jpeg
IMG_2832.jpeg
 
Got the cage painted this weekend, turned out about as good as one could expect for a rattle can job. I went this route because of price and ease of touch up in the future.

I used the Seymour stainless blast black and was very happy with the product. This was my first time using it and I wanted to see what all the hype was about, it’s now my favorite rattle can and it’s not even close. I bought 5 cans, used 4 and saved a can for touch ups.


View attachment 425129
View attachment 425134
View attachment 425130
View attachment 425131
View attachment 425132
View attachment 425133
That turned out really well. Nicely done and cost effective = winner!
 
Another big day on the jeep.

New Rockville 6” marine speakers, ran the wires in a braided loom along the cage. Cheap amazon UTV dome light with a simple on/off button wired straight to battery and I picked up the Genright specific cut spider shade.

Still waiting on 2 of the seats from Bestop as they were on a back order, once they come in I will install the center console and harnesses.

IMG_2837.jpeg
IMG_2838.jpeg
IMG_2839.jpeg
IMG_2840.jpeg
 
Top Bottom