Scott's build of a 1981 CJ8 Scrambler

GraniteCrystal

New member
So excited to begin this process. I'll begin with our thought process on this Jeep for others considering an older Jeep.

My wife and I were down to one vehicle (Scout, our 2014 JKUR) for about the past 9 months. That worked fine for the time, but we're coming up on a season of needing a second vehicle. We considered an SUV, a Minivan, or an older Jeep. Ultimately, we came to conclude that the 2nd vehicle didn't need to be 100% reliable (we have been fine with 1 car for awhile) and that an older Jeep could be a lot of fun to restore for me and our two sons.

Initially, I wanted a CJ7. Very cool look, newer than the CJ5. TJ isn't old enough to be cool in that classic-car kind of way (sorry TJ guys). As I was searching for a CJ7, the idea of a Scrambler came up in conversation. I showed one to my wife and she loved it. Then I found out you can put a 3rd row in there to seat 6. At that point, I knew a Scrambler was what I wanted. We'd already be maxing out a CJ7 with us and two kids. We could grow into a CJ8.

The entire search is documented in this thread:
https://wayalife.com/showthread.php/46157-Scott-s-build-of-a-CJ7
and culminates in 7 hour drive to Blanding, Utah to pick up the Jeep. If you're looking for one of these, be prepared to drive. Only 27,792 of these were ever made, from 1981-1985 with a few leftovers sold in 1986. Of those, I assume probably half have been destroyed or turned to rust buckets in the past 30+ years so the number of Scramblers in good condition for sale is relatively tiny.

And so I present to you Atticus, our 1981 CJ8 Scrambler. Atticus is equipped with a 4.2L straight 6 engine and a T176 manual transmission. The 4.2L engine is a good one and the T176 transmission is probably the best manual transmission to go into the Scrambler (the T4 and T5 are weaker from what I read). You can tell the T176 from the T4 or T5 because the shifter on the T1756 is straight, the T4 and T5 bend/curve in the middle.

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Future modifications:
Sell hard top, buy full length soft top
Sell tube doors, buy YJ half doors
Rockhard 4x4 Sport Cage for the rear - maybe
Remove body lift to return it to stock height
Spare tire and wheel
Remove LED cubes - DONE
Get the horn working - DONE
Rewire horn to steering wheel
Adjust belt tension so it doesn't squeal on start up - DONE
Fix auto-off feature of right turn signal
Add a catalytic convertor so it passes emissions
New draglink (or at least the ends)
New tie rod (or at least the ends)
New dash plate so there isn't a hole for the radio
New breather hose on front differential
Sand down and spray paint/bed line the bottom of the tub for protection
New gear oil in differentials
New motor oil
Rebuild the carburetor
General engine compartment clean up/degreasing
Add shoulder belts for front seats
New paint job - maybe return to it's original Oriental Red

Seems like a lot, but I think I'll be able to knock out a lot of it in the first month or two. The potential is all there.
 
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GraniteCrystal

New member
First up: the horn. Didn't work. Previous owner said it just needed to be grounded after the new paint.

Horn
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Sanding down paint for bare metal contact
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Still didn't work when I pushed center of steering wheel.

Battery hot to horn ground: 12V
Horn hooked up to battery: HONK!

Traced the horn hot wire and found this inline switch mounted below dash:
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Pushed it: HONK!

Is that how they came? Do they not use the center of steering wheel for horn? Seems super weird
 

GraniteCrystal

New member
This looks like the alternator would swing out, increasing tension, but I don't see a bolt to tighten to move it. Looks like it'd be by hand which seems weird.

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GraniteCrystal

New member
Looks like it's by hand. And looks like it's already as tight as it'll go. Maybe need a new belt or the one on there is the wrong size.

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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
You loosen the bolt, use a small pry bar to increase the tension and then tighten again. There should be a certain amount of deflection in the belt that you need but off the top of my head, I can't remember what that is.
 

GraniteCrystal

New member
You loosen the bolt, use a small pry bar to increase the tension and then tighten again. There should be a certain amount of deflection in the belt that you need but off the top of my head, I can't remember what that is.

Being that I had an 81 CJ7, I have an TSM for it and I might be able to look for it later.
Thanks Eddie. I'm thinking they put the wrong belt on there. It's already as tight as it'll go and doesn't take much effort by hand to get it there. No pry bar needed. O'Reilly says they have some in stock, so probably making a trip tonight.
 

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
First up: the horn. Didn't work. Previous owner said it just needed to be grounded after the new paint.

Horn
View attachment 269263

Sanding down paint for bare metal contact
View attachment 269264

Still didn't work when I pushed center of steering wheel.

Battery hot to horn ground: 12V
Horn hooked up to battery: HONK!

Traced the horn hot wire and found this inline switch mounted below dash:
View attachment 269265

Pushed it: HONK!

Is that how they came? Do they not use the center of steering wheel for horn? Seems super weird

I had an 83 CJ with the original steering wheel. It definitely did not use a button for the horn. The horn was in the center of the steering wheel. If I had to guess, that was someone's easy fix. Weird. Congrats again on the CJ8 though, I've always wanted one. I can't wait to see what you do with it! Subscribed!


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

GraniteCrystal

New member
I had an 83 CJ with the original steering wheel. It definitely did not use a button for the horn. The horn was in the center of the steering wheel. If I had to guess, that was someone's easy fix. Weird. Congrats again on the CJ8 though, I've always wanted one. I can't wait to see what you do with it! Subscribed!


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Yeah, seems to be the consensus that it should be in the steering wheel. Looks like an aft steering wheel which wasn't properly installed.
 

GraniteCrystal

New member
$20 belt, Eddie's pry bar trick, and a 13mm socket and Atticus starts up squeal free! Woohoo!

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Interesting note, the previous belt was the correct size. It's the same as the new one. I expected it to be incorrect and larger or obviously worn/stretched out. To the naked eye they looked the same, but under tension they were obviously different. Pry bar needed to tighten the new one. I'll still keep the old one as a spare though.

Here is the alternator belt part, for my own records.
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GraniteCrystal

New member
Bumper should be secured by 4 bolts. One was missing the nut so totally loose. Another was stripped. Put two new ones on to replace.

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Also removed the cube lights on the bumper (those will go to Scout) and the attachment points for flat towing it (I'll hold onto those).
 
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