Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives 1977 Jeep CJ7

I stumbled on one of these with a 258 6 cyl, stick and a 4" rough country lift. I know nothing about jeeps but they look fun and like they are fairly easy to work on. Anything I need to know about this before I jump? 4K is the asking price.

I had a Wrangler with that engine. For me it was a good experience. Okay on the highway and good off road but it isn't what anybody would call fast. Fuel economy isn't great cause you are driving a brick. I think 15 mpg was about it on the road. Carb can be a problem but there are other carbs that work well on that motor. I used the one we had mostly for hauling our dogs to field hunt tests and bird hunting. Never had any major mechanical problems with the motor, trans, or differentials. Brakes are not the best on any of the earlier CJ5 models I had.and the CJ7 isn't any better.

Unless you need the lift to clear big tires I wouldn't want it.

I owned a 1978 CJ7, inline 6 258 but mine had auto transmission with full time 4 wheel drive. It would go about anywhere I wanted to but never seen a 4 wheel dr that would go when the wheels did not touch the ground. The 6 had lots of torque on the low end so idling would get you thru most holes. The folks that owned it previously will determine the service you will get. The transmission may be your weak point. Gears and clutch. You can't buy an decent atv for 4K. Best of luck

The 3 speed manual trans (T-150) that was in these Jeeps from 1976-1979 aren't the strongest, but with a six cylinder you should be OK. I have a '78 CJ5 with 304 v8 and grenaded the T-150 3 speed. After that, I swapped in a T-18 4 speed, which are bulletproof transmissions, as well as having a "granny" low (1st gear). If it is a clean Jeep, $4k doesn't seem so bad a price.

For what it is worth after I posted yesterday I checked prices on CJ7 models on Craigslist and Ebay for prices. At $4K it is a steal unless it is rusted out and has a salvage title.

I think it was E P Barnum who said,(theres one born every minit) lol.
By the time your finished with that thing you will be broke and still not have a good Jeep.
Go into debt and buy a newer Rubicon and have a much better vehicle you can enjoy right now instead of working on and throwing money at for the entire time you own it.
Ask me how I know that. I paid $600 just for a T 18 trans 15 years ago, and spent lots of hours scraping the grease off and cleaning it, then paid to have it installed. Just one of the many many items I wasted my money on.

New Rubicons are close to $60k!!! At least that's what was on the one I looked at at the dealer last Saturday. Instead, I bought a super clean 2006 Rubicon for $14k. Nice part about it, after I got it home and begun crawling around underneath it, I found it has a Dynatrack 44 front axle which (according to the Dynatrack website) start at $5100 and go up from there depending on options. It was nice to find that jackpot lurking underneath!

As for swapping in a T-18 into my '78 CJ5...I took the easy way out and had a 4WD shop do it. All up it was $900 out the door...of course, this was back in 1990!!

JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket!!!

Well I did say (newer), lol
Agreed, they are very expensive due to all the yuppies down here in Florida buying them.
I have an excellent cond 06 unlimited Rubicon, hard top, auto, with just under 70 k on it that will be going up for sale very soon.

Chit yobuck, I was looking for an unlimited! Had to settle for a "normal" Rubicon!

"I paid $600 just for a T 18 trans 15 years ago, and spent lots of hours scraping the grease off and cleaning it, then paid to have it installed."


"As for swapping in a T-18 into my '78 CJ5...I took the easy way out and had a 4WD shop do it. All up it was $900 out the door...of course, this was back in 1990!!"



IMHO unless you can do the work yourself it's almost not worth it. I was into '76-'79 CJs (collected some '80+parts to) for quite a few years. Started a project a few years back but had to give it up. $600 for a T-18 even that long ago is ALOT. But then hobbies usually are expensive. LOL I've got a T18 ('76) with a dana 300 out of a turbo diesel Scout attached and both CJ5 drive shafts I'd let go for that.

I grew up working on a 1964 Ford F100 out of necessity. It was satisfying but I always had to hurry up and get it done as I was without transportation until I fixed it (and it broke quite a bit). I do basic maintenance on my trucks now, but I hate when stuff breaks down. Of course, I have never had a strictly 'play' vehicle such that I can afford to let it sit until I can get to it if it breaks.

I just inherited a 2001 Yamaha Big Bear quad that needs some work. That may scractch the wrenching itch for just a bit. I just hate having a car broken, I know what's wrong, and I even could possibly fix it but I don't have the mega computer needed to reset everything. Thanks to all for the advice so far.

I have had three jeeps (CJ5, Wrangler, and Grand Cherokee) and three Land Cruisers (FJ40, FJ60, FL62). I could have bought one of those 60K Rubicons for what I sunk in those six.

258 6 cyl's are tough engines.

If you want it buy it, if you think it's a good money decision the answer is hell no.

Well, you can see what I did on my 71 CJ5, 71 CJ5 build, dammit Dave!

That being said the later Jeeps have a lot to offer, you can put as much money as you want into it or not. It all depends on what you want to do with it. I am more the old school Jeeper, but I have had both an 84 and 86 CJ7, 4K for a 7, if the body is good is a great start.

In high school, I bought a 79 CJ7 with 20,000 miles when I bought it and most of those miles were supposedly behind a motorhome. Mine was a 304 two barrel and three speed. Gas mileage was surprisingly good. Low 20s on the highway. The drive train held up despite my consistent abuse but the vehicle was not great, even with low mileage. Mine had lots of nitpicky problems and oddly ate master cylinders for some reason. Lots of electrical issues, including some strange problems such as the marker lights coming on when braking (most CJs on the road at that time did that). Mine was unstable and scary above about 50 mph, but part of that may have been the highways I drove at that time, which were rutted by oilfield transport trucks. My friend had a CJ5 with a 258 and rolled his a couple of times but it kept going.

It seems that once a month or more I was working on something on that vehicle. I never wanted a vehicle more when I bought it and was never so glad to see one go when I sold it.

Jeeps are just like a woman , every time you take it somewhere you have to buy it something.

The 258 was a great engine...if it has a t18 4 speed it's a gem...the 3 speed tranny was junk ..if it has a 3 speed plan on changing it.
If it's an automatic your good they used Chevy tranny...that's about all o recall..

Jeep means Just Empty Every Pocket😹. In that era frames were rotted bad, gas tanks also, and the body for that matter. I ran a 77 CJ 5 in the oil fields axle deep in mud day after day. The only real trouble was brakes and u joints. If you find a good one go for it.
I have a 1991 Jeep YJ now basically the same as the CJ 7, but it's just for pleasure.
Lots of parts available on EBay.

I've got a 76 CJ7 with the v-8 and positrac or quadratrac, whatever the heck they call it. I've done a lot of work to it, and paid to have a little more done. It was gifted to me and I think including new Good Years, I have $3,500 in it. Frame is solid, doesn't leak much, and is fun to drive in the summer. Its just for fun so far though I may trailer it for hunting camp sometime.