Re-vamping old iron

upnover

upnover

Grumpy, decrepit Old Man
Moderator
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Morganton NC
I have a 1979 FSJ Cherokee(Wagoneer with only 2 doors) I got from my son.
Specs
Jasper 258 with ~60K~ on the clock
3 speed. Dana 20, Dana 44's front and rear

I knew it had some issues when I bought it. Josh had started cutting out the floor pans. It was eat up bad with rust.
I sent the tires and wheels it had with the J truck I sold.

I went to Southern Tire in Glen Alpine and bought 4 235 re-treads. Lil noisy, but can't wait to see how they do in the snow.
My good friend Rodney(toymaker) came over Friday and helped me sheet metal the floor. I wasn't after anything real pretty, just functional. Wanted to get rid of the Flintstones effect.
We got the floor in, and I took the seats out of the CJ crawler and bolted them down.
They are a little low, so I will be raising them up in the near future.
Went for a test drive and found that the shifter was stuck in 4wd high. I called my good friend Steve(89wrangler) who just happens to have heat in his garage and a lift:) . Took it down there and we got the shifter box off the Dana 20, only to find out the issue was four loose bolts. Back together and shifts fine now
On the way there I did notice that my lights were dim. We checked it and the alternator isn't working. So I will be putting a donor one I have kept in it today. Also found drivers side front axle u-joint is toast. Will be doing that today too. Engine is running a bit rough, so will be chasing down that issue. I am thinking vacuum leak of plug wires.

All in all it's not anything worth a lot, but will do me for what I want, getting me from point a, onto point b and c

No pics right now, but soon

Oh to do's are
T-176 maybe??? If I find a Dana 300 cheap
Carpet
Head liner
Tune up
Valve cover gasket
Raise the seats in front
Find a rear back seat
Fix or cut out some of the body rust
Would be nice to re-gear it to 4.10, has 3:54 in it now
I have a set of lift springs for the front, gonna run blocks in the rear(this ain't a trail rig)
When the lift is on it, I have a set of 32X11 Maxis Buckshot radials I want to throw on it.
Would like to find a set of early Jeep Aluminum wheels(not the Honey cone style) Only reason is that I like them.
 
upnover said:
...Would like to find a set of early Jeep Aluminum wheels(not the Honey cone style) Only reason is that I like them.
Click to expand...


These?

ashop.autobahnpower.com_images_Jeep_20wheelN.jpg
 
upnover said:
?
Click to expand...
" I called my good friend Steve(89wrangler) who just happens to have heat in his garage and a lift"

think he was commenting on this
 
I had issues with the shifter, it's stuck won't shift, I ordered this from www.jbfab.net
didn't want to spend that much but as it is right now, I am still snowed in
 

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Well, in the attempt to get the t case in 4 Hi somehow messed up the case. So I was on the hunt for another 20. I called Chris (Novocaine) in the mountains asking advice, and he put me on the trail of Mike(Burrelsjeep). I called Mike, and his father n law had one, mated to a T-18. I didn't really want to drop the coin on the whole thing, but in all honesty, it was a good deal, So now I will fix some of the gearing issues with a new to me T-18 and Dana 20 going in.
Then I got to thinking, I am going to spend more than I thought.
Shorten rear drive shaft, lengthen front drive shaft.
Cross member work? dunno yet
New Clutch, pressure plate, and release bearing, resurface flywheel.
Oh well, I am looking forward to getting it back on the road.
David Minton,(3DKrawler) of Minton's automotive in Granite Falls is doing the work
 
Should've let us know what you needed... I know of a dozen D20's within striking distance!

OTOH, the T-18 should hold it's value pretty well & give you a lower 1st :D
 
Sounds like "fun"!

I love FSJs. I always find myself gravitating back to them from all the other 4x4s.

WT or NT?

The 258/T18 combo is nice. You won't win any races, but the torque and gearing seem to match well. It never seems to lug around like the 302/np435 combo in my bronco.

PICS!
 
I assume Narrow Track, since there are no flares on the rear.

In the shop right now, will get pics as soon as I can
 
Pic's of said re-vamp?
 
Still in the garage, so still no pics.

It would have been out of the garage if..... Someone in the auto parts business stocked AND had a listing for a transmission mount for a Jeep with a T-18
Every auto part place I visited only had one listed. For the three speed or auto. No one had anything close to what I need. So I used the old friend Google and wahlah, there it was. So it's ordered.
Putting the T-18 in the Cherokee has had it's trials, or maybe I should say modifications.
IT appears that when we get the mount, we will run out of boxed frame area. David said he would just cut a piece of pipe and put in there to sure up the mounting of the cross member.
As noted before, I had to shorten the rear shaft, thanks to Landon of Beardbuilt shafts. The front I think I can make a late model Cherokee front shaft work, but have not actually measured it yet. The front needs to be static at 30.5"
Also, have to re-do the plate that covers the shifter area. The T-18 sits back about 5 inches or so to the rear. Nothing some sheet metal can't fix.
Also as noted before I will be putting the twin stick shifters in too.

I have posted in the wanted to buy, looking for a set of comfy seats. I was not pleased with the seats I took out of the CJ for long rides.

I still have yet to find a rear seat either. I am thinking about putting a CJ or YJ rear seat in there, just so I have seating for two, should I take the G-kids with me somewhere, which I do plan on doing.

Carpet, has yet to be located and the headliner is still not existent. What I need to find is a Jeep with blown engine, in other words cheap. Oh wait, I had one... and it's gone to the crusher, but it offered little of what I needed.

Leslie and only took it out for that one ride, but we both agreed that seats, carpet, headliner, and a console would really help in the comfort area.

I look forward to taking it on some mild wheeling trips, if nothing else, pulling the pop up and just doing some camping.
 
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