CJ-7 Projects
 

  

Lightforce Lights - H.I.D. High-intensity discharge Upgrade

HEI Ignition System (GM Style) Installed in the AMC 360 V8
Getting rid of gremlins and improving performance

Installing 23,000 Volt Offroad Lights

Autogage Tachometer Installation
  

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Project CJ-7
  
Offroaders Guide
to Gearing up
for Offroad

From Basic Equipment to Well Equipped.  An extensive list guide to help you prepare your vehicle for the offroad.
  
 

  

Onboard Air
Converting a York
AC Compressor
to Pump Air


Trailering Safety and Trailer Hitch Information

 

Off-Road Truck Driving Techniques and Safety



Off-Road Lights
by LightForce Product Review / Installation.
from Off-Road Lights

 

Jeep Dana 300 TeraLow - 4:1 Gearset for the Dana 300 Transfer Case


AMC V8 Engines
From
GEN-1 Nash/Hudson/Rambler V-8s (1956-1966) through to the GEN-3 AMC Tall-deck (1970-1991)

Chevy Small-Block V8 Engines
Chevy Small-Block V8 Engines Manufactured by General Motors - Production: 1955?2002

Hemi Engine - All about the Hemi Engine

Ford Engines
4 Cylinder, 6 Cylinder, 8 Cylinder, 10 Cylinder, 12 Cylinder Ford Engines

Ford V8 Engines
8 Cylinder Engines manufactured by Ford

Ford 351 Cleveland V8 Engines
351 cubic inch V8 Engines manufactured by Ford

Chrysler Hemi Engine

AMC V8 hp/Torque, Compression & Bore/Stroke by year

Engine Size Conversion Table
Converting engine displacement from CID, Liters, C.C.

Engine Overheating Basics - 16 Common Causes of an Overheated Engine

Fan Clutch Diagnosis
How to tell if the Fan Clutch in your Cooling System is failing or has failed.

Automotive Gauges & Instrument Functions
Information they display & their importance.

 

From the
Department of Cheap   Tricks and Useful Tips

  
Ultra-Cool Hand Throttle for Free!

Jeep V8 Swap Tips

The Exploding Clutch

Radiator Protection using 6 bucks worth of material

Cracked Under Pressure - Fixing a smashed fingernail

A Cheap, effective alternative to undercoating

Home-built Saginaw Gearbox Brace for the cost of lunch!

Ammo Box Storage - Mounting Them for Quick Disconnect

Home-built Serious Skid-Plate protection for the Oil Pan for under 20 bucks!

Ramp Travel Index
RTI / Ramp Travel Index  What it is and how to calculate it, with and without the ramp.
 

 

 

 

 

Project Jeep CJ-7
The Dana 20

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Dana 20 Seal Kit

The T-18A when purchased came with a Dana 20 with the 2:1 low range.  I looked into swapping the Dana 20 for a Dana 300 but discovered that the require adapter cost more than a low range kit for the Dana 20.  The Jeep Dana 300, which would bolt up to the T-18 are hard to find so I opted to stick with the existing Dana 20 that I could either swap the gears for a kit or do a Spicer 18 gear set/Bronco input gear swap that would give me a 2.46:1 ratio so I'm looking for parts for that.  The condition of the Dana 20 was pretty good when I inspected it internally so an overhaul wasn't necessary.  I did want to update some of the seals before bolting it into the CJ-7 so I purchased a Dana 20 seal kit which included a much needed seal for the Dana 20 to the adapter.  Replacing the seals was relatively easy because I only replaced the easy to access seals.  The main reason I didn't replace all the seals was because I may eventually look into swapping gears from a Ford Dana 20 which has lower low range gears that the Jeep Dana 20 and supposedly it's possible to just swap the gears.  If I ever do that I may end up changing the seals again anyway.  Also I needed to shorted the shifter linkage because the T-18A/Dana 20 came out of a J-20 and the Dana 20's shifter was more forward than the T-18A's shift and would put it well under the dash of the CJ-7.

The output shaft seals were removed after removing the yokes and the new seals were pressed in using the throwout bearing of the old clutch which fit nicely over the seal's outer edge.  I used a hammer to gently tap the seal into place.

   Dcp_1609.jpg (12881 bytes)
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Seal is pressed in and ready for the yoke.

Dcp_1612.jpg (14569 bytes)
           

Next up was the small seals around the shifting rods.  Again I removed them with a small regular screw driver and this time I pressed them in with a deep socket.

Dcp_1614.jpg (18000 bytes)
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Next I removed the bottom plate again and cleaned out any debris that may have gotten in to the case and cleaned the cover plate.

Dcp_1618.jpg (15809 bytes) Dcp_1621.jpg (5094 bytes)Dcp_1624.jpg (7547 bytes)

To the right is the seal that goes between the adapter and the T-18A.  Both surfaces were cleaned and coated with the blue stuff, the seal stuck in place and then the Dana 20 was bolted to the adapter.

Dcp_1628.jpg (14249 bytes)

    
Below are some shots of shortening the shifting linkage for the Dana 20. I actually did some of this before bolting the Dana 20 to the adapter.  It was tough getting the shifter housing off of the tub but a little heat applied to the tube and a pipe wrench on the shifter housing and it came off.  I wouldn't recommend applying force to the shifter itself to twist the housing off.  Instead put a pipe wrench on the cast housing to twist it off.
   

Dcp_1598.jpg (14272 bytes)First thing was to figure out where I wanted to put the shifter relative to the T-18A's shifter.  I ended up rounding off the shorted amount to 3 inches (easier math) and cut that much off the tube that braces shifter to the Dana 20.  Then I drilled out the new holes in the tube by slipping on the shifter housing and lining it up as straight as possible again and marking the spots where to drill and removing the housing again.  Then I drilled the tube out using the size drill bit as it was before (old holes).  I didn't drill it out all the way though.  My thinking was that the way the bolt ends were shaped it would be better to allow the end of the set bolt to sink into the tube and make it's own hole as to assure a tight fit.  It was at this point that I replaced the seals in the Dana 20 and bolted it up to the adapter. 
   

Next up was to shorten the linkage rods.  I've seen some people cut and weld these rods (as well as the connecting pipe) but I chose to cut, reshape and drill out the male end of the linkage with an angle grinder.  It wasn't that difficult.  I just took my time and measured everything many times over to be sure I was right on.

Dcp_1600.jpg (15028 bytes)

Here's a comparison of an old set and the new shortened set of linkage.

Dcp_1601.jpg (8560 bytes)

Shifter housing, ready to go on.  I had cleaned and inspected it prior to this point.

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Test fit.  I also ran though the gears to make sure everything was right.
Dcp_1629.jpg (14189 bytes)
Once the Dana 20 was bolted up it was just a matter of bolting the housing on and attaching the linkage.
Last I filled the Dana 20 with gear oil and filling the shifter housing with grease.

     

Gear Shift

When the Tub was lowered onto the frame, the Dana 20 stick shift off of a J-20 Pickup didn't quite line up with the Jeep's stock opening.  Three options: Cut the opening, modify the stick shift, or find a new shift linkage.  I kind of like the throw of this linkage (plus money is always an issue) so  I decided to modify the stick shift.  So, I cut two stick shifts up and welded an offset piece 3/8" steel to each half as picture to the right.  Worked like a charm.

 


Cover plate  (see below)
To the right you can see the reason for the offset.

 

With a custom gear shift, come a custom cover plate.  I needed to fabricate a cover plate out of something.  After looking around a little, I found some sheet metal of an old PC case that was ready for the scrap heap.  The sheet metal was thin enough to cut with shears and strong enough to use for this application.  A template was cut out of cardboard and then transferred to the sheet metal.  After a paint job and a couple of boots it'll do the trick.

 

 

This design took a little bit of work but I ended up with a pretty cool looking cover plate.  The boot on the T-18A is off the shelf from an auto store and the Dana 20 cover plate is a custom fab job using the pieces of the computer case and an old rubber inner tube.  I'm going to do an inverted boot on the Dana 20's shifter.

 


without flames...

With Flames!

Project Jeep CJ-7 ~ The Dana 20

Back to Project Index

 

  

 

Offroad Tire Info
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Tires for your Truck
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Tire Reviews & Info
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All Terrain AT Tire Reviews
Super Swamper Bogger
Super Swamper SSR
Super Swamper SX
Super Swamper Vortrac
Interco IROK TSL
Super Swamper LTB
Super Swamper TSL
Super Swamper TSL Radial
Super Swamper Narrow
Interco SS-M16 Swamper
Thornbird TSl Radial
Thornbird TSl Bias
Thornbird TSL
Parnelli Jone Dirt Grip
BFGoodrich Krawler
BFGoodrich MT T/A KM
BFGoodrich MT T/A KM2
BFGoodrich AT TA KO
BFGoodrich Mud King XT
Bridgestone Dueler MT
Cooper Discoverer ST
Cooper Discoverer STT
Cooper Discoverer ST/C
Firestone Destination MT
General Grabber MT
General Grabber AT2
Green Diamond Icelander
Ground Hawg Mud Tire
Hankook Dynapro MT
Hankook Dynamic MT RT01
Hercules Terra Trac MT
Hercules Trail Digger MT
Kelly-Springfield Safari DTR
Kelly-Springfield Safari MSR
Kumho Road Venture MT
Kumho Road Venture KL71
Kumho Road Venture AT
Dick Cepek Mud Country
Dick Cepek F-C II
Dick Cepek Fun Country II
Dick Cepek Fun Country Nylon
Dick Cepek Fun Country Kevlar
Mastercraft Courser MT
Mastercraft Courser HTR
Mastercraft Courser HTR Plus
Maxxis BigHorn Radial
Maxxis Creepy Crawler
Maxxis Trepador
Maxxis Buckshot Mudder
Maxxis MA-SW
Maxxis M-8080 Mudzilla
Maxxis MT-754 Buckshot
Maxxis MT-753 Bravo
Maxxis MA-751 Bravo
Maxxis MA-S2 Marauder II
Maxxis MA-S1 Marauder
Maxxis MT-762 BigHorn
Nitto Mud Grappler
Nitto Dune Grappler
Nokian Vatiiva MT
Pit Bull Rocker Extreme
Pit Bull Maddog
Pit Bull Growler
Goodyear Wrangler MT/R
Pro Comp Xterrain
Pro Comp All Terrain
Pro Comp Mud Terrain
Pro Comp Xtreme AT
Pro Comp Xtreme MT
Toyo Open Country MT
TrXus Mud Terrain
TrXus STS All Terrain
Mickey Thompson MTZ
Mickey Thompson MTX
Mickey Thompson Baja Claw
Mickey Thompson Baja Crusher
Competition Claw
Dunlop Mud Rover
Yokohama Geolandar
  

Latest trips Offroad
... trail reports with the Project CJ-7
click here.

Sounds System, Raised the Rear Seat
Storage below and a great place to mount 6x9 Speakers for Great Bass ... In a Jeep!

York AC Compressor Conversion.  What used to pump Freon, now pumps compressed air to the front and rear bumpers.  125 psi,  2 gallons of storage, air fittings at the bumpers, enough CFM to power air tools!.  Click Here for more  Details

 

Dick Cepek's 2008 F-250 Super Duty Project Vehicle ? Project CRUSHER


Warn X8000i
Winch Installation


ARB Air Locker Install
Jeep Wide Track Axles Swap

 
Mud Tire Reviews

Building a Garage?
Need a Garage Plan?
 


Reader's Rigs and Seriously Stucks!

 

Jeep Trans Swap Info
T-18A Transmission Rebuild & Short Shaft Conversion