Build 1987 BJ71 Texas Build

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mxtaco48

10 Year 15 Year 20 Year
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Threads
122
Messages
624
Location
Vidor, TX DIXIE
I've had this '87 BJ71 for almost 6 months but decided with all of the work I am doing to it, a build thread would be nice to keep track of what all I have done. This also allows me to share some info that others may find useful. I'll try to keep this in chronological order as best as I can.

I was starting a job in downtown Houston and I know that driving from DFW to Houston wasn't going to be fun in my 3/4 ton Chevy. Parking inside the loop is terrible and fit s a compact car better than full-size truck. I started lookin at vehicles and ran across this BJ71 in a off the beaten path used car lot. It was imported by the owners friend and had been sitting on the lot for 5 months. After some negotiating, he agreed on a price and to deliver it to me. Considering it was a PITA to get it insured, this was best. I didn't have a ton of time to get ready for the move to Houston so most of the maintenance stuff like fluids were done in the first few days.

For some stats:
1987 BJ71 LX
Factory cable lockers
13BT/H55/9.5" Axles
4x4 Engineering suspension lift
PTO winch
35x12.5x15 BFG MT + Brand new spare

The good: Interior was clean, heater works, all power doors/locks/mirrors work, engine runs good

The bad: AC did not work, some rust of the frame and some rust on the body, tires were a bit dry, shocks were bad

Things I needed to do:
Fix AC (being in TX, it's a must). AC system needed to be fix some leaks and had a local shop top off with R12. AC Fixed
Change all fluids, air filter, belts. (Rotella 15w-40 for Engine Oil, NAPA had filters and belts)
Fix rust in frame before installing sliders
New shocks
Remove old "steps"

Pics are from the day it arrived at my house and the sliders I started building soon after getting the rig.

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Gorgeous machine you have there. Excited to follow this build as I have several similar goals on the long term to-do list. Best of luck!
 
The top pic is when I was mocking up the sliders to see where they would line up. The square tubing is 11 gauge and the round is DOM.

The 2nd pic is where I cut out some rot. I prepped the inside of the frame rail by cleaning it out and then spraying silver bullet everywhere. I used a long nozzle sprayer to get deep into the enclosed frame. PITA. I welded in 3/8 channel I cut as best as I could the replacement to the frame. The curve of the channel iron fit nicely with the curve of the frame.
Then I added another 3/8" plate that covered all of the space you see that was cut here and extended a bit further to the front and rear. I had to do this prior to welding on the sliders to the frame.




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I just started welding as I was getting the BJ71. So my welds were with only a few hours of practice (practice being building my welding cart...ignore the s***ty welds). I had to make some funky legs for the sliders, especially on the exhaust side.

In the 2nd pic, you can see where it finally sits and is painted. Pretty good protection. I am going to add 3M textured tape for additional grip soon.
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This is also about the time that I got the genius idea to add a battery disconnect so that my precious new purchase would not be stolen. After quite a few nights of stressful planning, poking, and removing stuff, I chose to stay stock for now. It was kind of frustrating because I had a short during this time and had a hard time troubleshooting the 24v system. Long story short, it was the fusable link which I replaced with a GM fusable link from NAPA. Perfect fit.
 
I also needed a place for my 4 year old to sit. In this pic you can see both the amazon mat I ordered and cut to size and the eye rings I used for mounts for her car seat.

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At this point, I am driving back and forth to Houston to Dallas every week. I'll try to update more soon.

I started thinking of comforts like music. I added a 24v to 12v converter/regulator. Ran an amp I had in my rock crawler to some crudely set up 6.5" speakers. I installed a Fusion MS-BT100 to receive my songs from my phone and send the music to the amp. I also add a dual USB outlet inside of my console. My amp, regulator, and other electronics are under my passenger seat.
 
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They are quite useless for storage space but they do intend serve that purpose, along with a place to mount ashtrays for the smoker in the rear.
 
In January of 2019, I had An issue one week where my clutch fluid reservoir ran low to the point that it didn’t function. I’m not sure what caused this but I replaced It with Aisin OEM parts. Sourced the master from cruiser outfitters and the slave and soft line from rock auto. Note that the slave is different for pre-5 speed transmissions.

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Nothing really new but I wanted to go ahead and mention a few things I've also added in the first 6 months.

-Front and rear bumpers from cruiser outfitters
-LED dome light and license plate lights (one of my favorite updates was the dome light).
-Changed over to Goodyear MTRs
-Bilstein 5100 & 5125 shocks

I'll update with pics ASAP

Things I need
 
mxtaco48 said:
Nothing really new but I wanted to go ahead and mention a few things I've also added in the first 6 months.

-Front and rear bumpers from cruiser outfitters
-LED dome light and license plate lights (one of my favorite updates was the dome light).
-Changed over to Goodyear MTRs
-Bilstein 5100 & 5125 shocks

I'll update with pics ASAP

Things I need
Click to expand...
Where did you buy the LED dome light? Any photos? My near perfect LJ71 does not have a decent dome light. New member - working on intro.
 
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