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Author Topic: CJ front end swap on a YJ  (Read 12330 times)

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Jesse-James

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CJ front end swap on a YJ
« on: June 10, 2009, 07:46:03 PM »
Well, this started out of need for tire coverage. My cut up front fenders were getting looks from the cops and to be honest the rooster tails in the rain were getting old. After hunting for rust free YJ fenders for a few months I gave up when I found a deal on a complete front end from a CJ7 for a nice price.



First step was disassembly.




Next was trimming the CJ fenders to fit around the shock towers. Cut a little, check the fit, repeat.




Once I was able to line them up after trimming, I couldn't believe how well they fit. The bolts/holes from the fenders to the tub and even the supports lined right up. The hood was a direct bolt on as well.






The resiviors for coolant and washer fluid bolted up like they were meant to be there.


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Jesse-James

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2009, 07:46:41 PM »
Got the fenders in place with a couple bolts in.





Time to start on the grill. Biggest issue was the steering box. Had to notch it to clear the lines. I'm going through cutting wheels like candy.





Now it's fitting a bit better.



From what I've read the radiator was going to be the biggest hassle so I decided from the beginning to use a CJ radiator for a better finished look and so it would be a bolt in...or so I thought.

The CJ rad is in front.



I ended up having to notch the mounting bracket to clear the steering box as well.



Since the YJ is an auto I have the trans lines through the radiator, figured it was a good time to eliminate that (especially since the CJ rad. was from a manual) so I got a trans cooler for a motorhome, 26,000 GVW



Installing the rad. and the mounting holes did not line up so I ended up using two of the drop brackets from my body lift to remedy it.



Another issue I found is that on the YJ the upper hose is smaller on the radiator side (1") so took a trip to Buy Right Auto, they were awesome at finding me a hose with two 1 1/4" ends. Not many stores can do anything without the computer these days, but they could.



Next was the fan shroud, this had to be notched as well.



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Jesse-James

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2009, 07:47:03 PM »

All that was really left was lights, the headlights were straight forward , but the park/turn lights have two wires and the YJ has a three wire socket. Just don't reuse the ground from the YJ wiring and all is good.





And the before and after




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Offline smashcoast

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2009, 08:14:22 PM »
looks nice with those round headlight's!

That would be the only way I would by a YJ, to fit a CJ grill.
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Offline Bounty Hunter

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2009, 09:35:58 PM »
Nice job, great writeup.

Instead of modifying the inner fenders to clear the shock towers, consider installing a set of shock towers from an '88 F250, only $15 each from the Ford dealership.  I put them on my YJ and run some insanely long Bilstein shocks with them.  I welded mine on, but they can be bolted as in the pic.
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Offline chrisfranklin

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2009, 10:41:38 PM »
Wait a minute, which is the "before" again?  And does the swap involve going from poser-to-square or square-to-poser?  I always get that confused. :wall: :lol: 
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Offline neale_rs

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2009, 07:28:00 AM »
It looks good. 

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Offline chardrc

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2009, 07:16:44 PM »
and this helped tire coverage :puzzled:.. lol looks good.. but i still don't get the hole nonflatfender cj thing...  :wall:
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jcsanders79

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2009, 07:19:18 PM »
Can this be done with only the grill or is the hood & quarter pannels needed?
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Offline FourbangerYJ

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2009, 07:57:23 PM »
 :thumbsup: Well done Sir! I like the look of CJ's.
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Offline Jeffy

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #10 on: June 11, 2009, 09:35:58 PM »
Quote from: jcsanders79 on June 11, 2009, 07:19:18 PM
Can this be done with only the grill or is the hood & quarter pannels needed?
You need the hood but you don't need the fenders.  Although, you'll have to do some extra drilling and squeezing as the CJ grill is narrower then the YJ's.
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Jesse-James

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #11 on: June 11, 2009, 10:13:37 PM »
Quote from: chardrc on June 11, 2009, 07:16:44 PM
and this helped tire coverage :puzzled:.. lol looks good.. but i still don't get the hole nonflatfender cj thing...  :wall:

Kinda hard to mount flares to this...



I have a set of 7" flares to put on, got the first one done.

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Offline aw12345

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #12 on: June 12, 2009, 05:06:38 AM »
once you hit it with some paint it will look very nice, next project a tire carrier for the back before the tailgate comes undone, might as well since you have a fair amount of spare time for the time being
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Offline oldjeep

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #13 on: June 12, 2009, 06:30:04 AM »
Looks good, but I don't understand the "couldn't find rust free YJ fenders" part.  They cost $106 brand new at certifit, why bother looking for used junk?
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Jesse-James

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Re: CJ front end swap on a YJ
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2009, 07:02:31 AM »
Quote from: oldjeep on June 12, 2009, 06:30:04 AM
Looks good, but I don't understand the "couldn't find rust free YJ fenders" part.  They cost $106 brand new at certifit, why bother looking for used junk?

Never heard of them, all I could find at the time was cheap Chinese crap for $150ea. I posted several wanted ads and got no leads.

Ah well, I'm glad I did things the hard way. :lol:

Quote from: aw12345 on June 12, 2009, 05:06:38 AM
next project a tire carrier for the back before the tailgate comes undone, might as well since you have a fair amount of spare time for the time being

Did that last year.



« Last Edit: June 12, 2009, 07:03:23 AM by Jesse-James »
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