First off I would like to thank all the individuals that posted tech articles on using the Ford Contour dual electric fan on the jeep-cj forum http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/ and the jeep forum http://www.jeepforum.com/ Both have been invaluable in the build of this CJ7 and would have been a struggle otherwise. I am including lots of pics, so any questions are welcome. The radiator is an all aluminum Champion 3 row core, model CC583B. This thing is a work of art, quality all the way. Purchased through Ebay store. http://stores.ebay.com/theradiatorgalaxy/ Fast shipping and great packaging. This fits with no

modification at all. We added elbows for the transmission cooler lines for a direct route to the hard lines. 1/8 x 3/4 aluminum strips were added between the radiator mounting flange and the grille to give some clearance to the upper tank so it would not rub on the grille. Just a precautionary measure. These strips would later become advantageous in securing the mounting blocks for the electric fan. OK the fan. 1998 Ford Contour 4 cylinder dual electric with shroud. Cost us $20.00 at a local u-pull.
http://www.joesusedautoparts.com/GrebleUP.html I can not begin to describe how perfect this fits the radiator. Again, thank you forums. Fits in between

the tanks and the mounting flanges like it was engineered for it. We trimmed some relief for the welds on the sides where the flange is stitched welded to the core. Once that was seated, measurements were taken to utilize the factory Ford mounting tabs. This is a slightly different approach from what we have seen, some fastening through the core, but this way was chosen for ease of install and future replacement. A word on replacement of junkyard parts, especially with newer cars. It is always good to document the VIN off the car the part was taken. Alot of times you inquire about a part at the parts store or dealer and they want the

VIN due to mid year changes. This way you have a better chance of getting the correct part. Jeffrey milled mounts from aluminum blocks then the wedge for the lower mounts cut in on a bandsaw. I know everybody doesn't have access to a mill, but there is no reason these could not have been fabricated with just a saw. 1/4 - 20 threads were tapped so they could be mounted to the radiator flange through the previous mentioned 1/8 x 3/4 aluminum strips that were countersunk for 1/4 - 20 flat head stainless screws. The upper blocks have a 5/16 stainless stud installed in them. Once these blocks are mounted to the flange the radiator can then be mounted to the

grille. The fan assembly can then be mounted simply by lowering the bottom tabs into the the lower wedges then slide the upper mounts into position over the studs and secured with stainless washers and nuts. We will later switch to a stainless nylon lock nut to prevent having to tighten too excessively on the plastic tabs and then won't have to worry about them working loose. There is about 1/2" clearance between the acorn nuts on the water pump pulley (we could have more if using regular nuts). Plus the dual fan gives more clearance than a single fan would have. On the transmission cooler lines, we chose to go with barbed nipples and plain hose

rather than have special hoses with crimped fittings. These always seem to leak and this way it is just a simple matter of cutting a length of hose and clamping it. Jeffrey has some decisions to make on fan controllers, there are plenty of options out there.

In the Jan. 24th. post I described how the fiberglass body was narrower where the windshield mounts and how we put shims behind the hinges to take up the space. After some thinking about that, it was determined that it would be a rust trap between the shims and hinges. Plus if the decision was made to go with stainless hinges it would not work so well. The alternative was to build out the body with fiberglass. This was done by roughing the gel coat in the area of the hinge and applying a layer of resin. After that hardened (and it does get hard) sanding and filing it down to a satisfactory straightness would be labor intensive. So being a machinist, my mind

gravitated towards milling it. Well since I can't mount the body into a milling machine. I decided to bring the milling machine to the body in the form of a hand held router. A piece of plywood was cut with an access hole a bit bigger than the area to be cut, then clamped to the body. A straight edge was then fastened to the plywood as a guide to slide the router against. The hinges were fastened to the windshield and a measurement was taken between the two sides then transferred to the cowl. 1/16" had to come off each side. The router was set to that depth plus the thickness of the plywood, and strapping on a mask the cut was made. Surprisingly

the material came off in chips rather than a more harmful dust. The whole rig was transferred to the other side and repeated. We ended up with perfectly flat mounting surfaces the correct width for the hinges. The windshield frame was test fitted with no side movement. Plus it saved ware and tear on this aging body.

Had to find something else that I could do that was a one man project, so I tackled the cowl to grille support rods. The originals were bent and rusted so I scrounged up some 3/8" square stainless from the scrap barrel at work. Turned the end and threaded them. Jeffrey had previously made up brackets from aluminum angle and polished them that looked pretty cool. Since the battery tray was already mounted I had to make sure there was enough vertical clearance for the battery to the underside of the support rod. Mounting the brackets with the leg down and the rod end on top gave the most clearance. A 3/8 rod end and jam nut was screwed

onto the one end, mounted to the bracket then measured for length at the grille end. Cut that to length, turned the end and threaded it. Using a jam nut and acorn nut for visual effect was utilized on that end. Now since he polished the brackets, I'll wait till he gets home to polish the stainless rod. Hey, gotta let something for him to do.

Needing a battery tray, but not wanting to spend the money, Jeffrey opted to see what was laying around my vast inventory of "hey I can use this some day" stash. As it turned out I had saved 3 of these trays from a machine shop I worked at, oh probably 27 years ago. These were a part we made and got scrapped for whatever reason. One I mounted on my garage wall to hold my battery charger, so had 2 extras. Turned out to be the exact size of the original rusted out tray. So he put his fabrication skills to

work and came up with this version. The tray is stainless steel so should hold up for a while. Angled supports were welded to the sides then bolted through the firewall with a support plate on the inside that can be threaded into. A bottom support was fabricated from, you guessed it, "hey I can use this some day" inventory. In this case, a stainless tube from a ladder rung of a long torn down play gym that I had built when the boys were young. The ends were flattened, drilled and bent to the proper angle.

The upper end fastens to the underside of the plate and the bottom end rests, and is bolted on top of the floor to firewall seam lip, making for a very solid and stable platform for the battery. A hold down will be made upon deciding on what battery will be used. Most likely a G.M. style freedom battery with side posts. The starter solenoid will be mounted underneath the tray out of sight, making for tidy wiring.

In the name of utilizing usable space, the emergency brake was mounted to the left of the driver seat. This was initially done to free up more usable space in the center console. There are pros and cons on this. The original was foot operated next to the left kick panel. A con would be that the passenger could not operate it in the event that the driver couldn't, or performing a bootlegger turn, and a pro would be keeping the passengers hand off of it or, being able to grab the lever without reaching across the driver seat while your standing outside watching your pride and joy roll away. We used the Isuzu brake cables of which the right side was long enough to reach the

left side and the left cable was shortened by Air Brake & Power Equipment in Pottsville, http://businessfinder.lehighvalleylive.com/14436970/Air-Brake-and-Power-Equipment-Company-Pottsville-PA These guys do a lot of oddball stuff that you normally wouldn't know where to go to get done. These cables were then routed to the area in front of the left wheel opening where the floor kicks up. The Isuzu bracket was utilized to mount to the body. We preferred a handle from a Subaru since it floor mounted without protruding through the floor and the cable exited directly out the back whereas the Isuzu would have gone through an opening in the floor. Also the Subaru handle didn't stick up as high. The connecting end on the Subaru handle was not compatible with the Isuzu, but that was just a matter of disassembling the handles and swapping the adjuster cable and connector. A cover will be fabricated to hide the cable and connector on the inside.

Throttle cable was next on things to do after body install. We had the original cable but for some reason it was about an inch too short. So I ordered up a new one off Ebay (seller 4wheel.drive.hardware) for $16.99 This measured longer and was actually for our application. Excellent quality, fast sevice and great price. Now having a fiberglass body poses some problems when it comes to fastening hardware that normally got fastened to sheet metal. Fiberglass is thicker, so the firewall end of the cable would not snap into place. There is a modification plate made with a square hole for this purpose https://www.google.com/search?q=jeep+fiberglass+body+thottle+cable&oq=jeep+fiberglass+body+
thottle+cable&aqs=chrome..69i57.15162j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=
210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#q=jeep+fiberglass+body+throttle+cable&tbm=shop&spd=0

I,m thinking, why can't you just cut out the square hole in the metal firewall that we kept? The curvature of the fiberglass body seemed to match the metal one pretty close. So I cut out the hole in no particular shape figuring I could trim it later. If layed against the inside of the firewall the curve matched perfectly. Shell Valley did a good job here. http://www.shellvalley.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category
_id=137/home_id=-1/mode=cat/cat137.htm

This mod might not work for other fiberglass bodies, but worth cheking into before making unnecessary puchases. The square hole was then traced and drilled out to a diameter matching the diameter behind the square on the cable. I tapped 4 holes for 10 - 32 thread and fastened the plate with stainless button head allen screws from the outside. Then pushed the cable into place through the round hole into the thinner square hole. The other end was also without problems due to alignment with the carb linkage. It appeared too low and was pulling down on the linkage and I couldn't figure out why until Jeffrey reminded me that we had used a 1" carb

 spacer. Duh! That meant the throttle cable bracket had to be moved up the same amount. This could have been accomplished by putting a spacer between the intake and bracket, but wasn't pleased with how it would look. I optioned to cut and lengthen the bracket for a more factory look. The bracket was cut and a piece with matching strengthening rib was fabricated and welded into place, some grinding, filler and paint, along with some stainless mounting bolts and the problem was solved. Now the cable pulled the linkage straight.