The ballad of the old J-10

[Turk919]

Going to have to forgive me on this first post. Trying to post on a phone and get the pictures how I want them, should be better on the second post.

Hey guys, I’m still pretty new here, but I wanted to share a project I have been working on with you guys, if anyone is interested I will try to keep the updates coming as I progress with the project, if not, oh well.

I grew up riding around in my dads 79 J10 that he bought new, it’s been around the house forever and I have a lot of fond memories of that truck, I have always tried to keep an eye out for parts trucks to be a donor for his, I had always wanted one to call “mine” as well. About 2 years ago I came across this black truck in Youngsville and worked a deal out with the owner to pick it up. The back story on the truck was the guy that owned it was driving it down the road and it shut off and never would restart, I figured it had jumped timing as AMC’s are known for, just a timing chain right? ... famous last words.

So with cash in hand I go to check this truck out, pop the hood... hmm. Hooker Headers, Edelbrock Aluminum intake, AC... nice. Walk around the truck, nice 33’s and rims and a 4” suspension lift. That’ll do. Some cash handed over and some paperwork and she was on the truck.



Couple days go by and the tinkering starts, checked compression and the numbers sure as hell look like jumped timing, get it down to the shop and pop the timing cover off.

Chain. Is. Perfect.

Well heck.

Off come the heads to reveal the pistons. 2 are good, 5 have pieces missing, and one has a half dollar sized hole in it. Safe to say that the engine is trashed, my attention goes to the 401 we have had sitting in a frame for 15+ years, so the swap starts.

Going to continue on another post so I don’t lose everything and can get the pictures right.

 

[Turk919]

So, over the course of a weekend the 401 gets plopped in. For a motor that has sat for years, she sure was eager to breathe again. Little distributor adjustment and some fresh fluids and that lumpy cam I hadn’t heard since I was three feet tall was sitting there patting away.


Ah it was a fun 5 minutes.


Jumped in the truck, backed her out of the shop and away we went to go terrorize the neighbors. I learned a few things in the following time.

Check your brakes.
A T400 won’t shift without the vaccum lines hooked up.
And check the drivetrain of a truck before running 30+ miles an hour.

Lemme splain.

First lap went ok, had a driveline shudder and a kinda clunking sound on takeoff. Brakes sucked, had to pump the pedal up to get her to slow down, that didn’t stop my ignorance and ability to manually shift the trans on the column, and man did that engine sound good so we got to rolling a few times. Pulled it in the driveway and got out to inspect the noises.

Here is where it gets fun, upon my inspection:

Rear brake line wasn’t extended for the lift and popped.
Rear axle had aluminum lift blocks that had buckled and caused the rear axle to rotate under load.
Transfer case was ffffffff’d
And to top it all off the front axle was grenaded.

So, head hung low, I drove her back down to the shop and started thinking about what to do about this mess.

So, a little facebooking and I come across another good truck. - Now I know this is an offroad page - But I wanted this truck to be nice, be able to do both, and still clean up well. So, another couple hours of driving and I end up with this truck following me home.

The first adventure made me look a little harder into the second truck, got me a good deal too. Transmission was trashed and I knew the bed had some issues, but I had a plan for that. Got her home and on some rollers so I could start tinkering. I had big plans for this truck but had to figure out how to go about it. I was able to get the truck running pretty easily and start on a list of what needed to be addressed.

I had a truck that was botched up with a nice lift, tires, and engine. And a nice bodied truck with a bad trans, a quadratrac t-case (hate ‘em) and a stock 360. I also had a spare T400 and Dana 20 transfer case sitting in my shop. See where this is going?

 

[Creekin]

Congrats on getting a J-10.
Really cool you have a 401 in it.
I have been looking for a 401 for my CJ (Have a 304 now, a 360 ready to go in, but the best would be a 401)

 

[Turk919]

Last post for the evening, a guy has to work to be able to empty his pockets into a Jeep.

I learned with the black truck that a lift, 33’s and a heavy V8 don’t play well together, so in an attempt to be able to get both my lard ass under the truck, and get the engine out of and into the truck, I decided to swap the lift but leave the small tires on. So with them sitting a few feet from each other I started swapping suspension components.

Gotta appreciate that Carolina Squat right guys?

Eh... I kid.

A day later and one hospital trip down, the rear of the kit was installed and she sat kinda proud with her tiny little tires.

More to come in the following days. Again, if you guys like what you see I’ll try to keep the posts coming.

 

[upnover]

Keep posting, your writing style is entertaining! Not to mention, always had a soft spot for the J-Trucks

 

[Turk919]

Congrats on getting a J-10.
Really cool you have a 401 in it.
I have been looking for a 401 for my CJ (Have a 304 now, a 360 ready to go in, but the best would be a 401)

According to my dad, the wife of a mud truck racer went to an engine builder and said “Every time I go down the highway, people pass me, I want to be able to pass anyone”, he built the engine and she ended up getting divorced and never picked it up. Another racer got it for his wife’s CJ and she apparently almost turned it over in a field, so it came back out and my dad purchased it. If you can find a 401, they are very torquey, not to mention everyone will envy you, haha.

Keep posting, your writing style is entertaining! Not to mention, always had a soft spot for the J-Trucks

I have to laugh at myself sometimes, I try to keep people entertained. I wish I could save all these trucks, but finding them at a decent starting price is a challenge. They start to play on relationships too, so I work when I can. Haha

 

[ghost]

Nice! I too love a good J truck. My Uncle had a Hancho. Have some good memories in that thing with my Cousin.

 

[Turk919]

Hoping the weather will break and I can get the J10 into the shop to pull the trans and case. Dad picked this Q code 428 Thunderbird this week so I’ll give him a hand getting it running today. Hopefully will have an update on one or the other this afternoon.

 

[amcjeepman]

I will definitely be following along, rooting you on. I have a J Truck that 2 projects away so hopefully it will see some love eventually. Nice to have a 401 laying around and a TH400/D20 combo as well sound like a really nice J Truck Drivetrain.
Keep us posted.

 

[Turk919]

T-bird needs battery cables and power window switches. So not much got done on it today. Got my J10 that I’m selling running even smoother after replacing the fuel filter. Someone want a Jeep?

 

[Scooter402]

....Someone want a Jeep?

Don't tempt me! I've always been in love with Jeep trucks... I'd have an exceptionally hard time trying to explain this one to the wife.

I'm loving the build. Keep the updates coming!

 

[Turk919]

Don't tempt me! I've always been in love with Jeep trucks... I'd have an exceptionally hard time trying to explain this one to the wife.

I'm loving the build. Keep the updates coming!

If there was one to get, it’s this one. If I had known about this forum earlier I would have a build thread on this truck too. I got it in sad shape but she had potential, got it to where you can jump in it and drive it wherever for the most part (headlight adjuster needs to be repaired) But this one will hopefully be sold to fund an engagement ring and parts for my other truck. I was asking $4200 if someone was inspired, everything on this truck that I did was done right.

 

[Turk919]

Little update:

Been busy with life stuff and dads T-Bird. Got my brown truck moved to my uncles so it will get some street time with a for sale sign. Getting closer and closer to just keeping it.

Got dads T-bird running with some new battery cables and some fresh gas, most everything works which is nice. Needs the brakes fixed.

Rolled the project truck down to the shop, she isn’t wanting to run right at all currently but I’m not super concerned with that right now, more focused on the trans. Going to get a Cherokee frame out of the shop, strip the D44’s and lift off and sell them, then get an ATV I have out of the shop so I can get the trans pulled. I’ve collected a lot of junk over the years and it’s biting me in the ass now, I need to throw a lot away.

 

[orange150]

This looked familiar

 

[Turk919]

Yeah, he was supposed to list that truck a week ago, haha. Hoping to get it sold soon so I can buy other parts I need to continue with the Honcho. If you know someone looking, I’ll work them a deal.

 

[Turk919]

Little progress this weekend, I decided I needed my shop cleaned up a lot before pulling the Honcho in. We have had a project Cherokee Chief sitting in the shop for 15 years with a T400 and Dana 20 installed, it used to also hold my 401. I got all my junk out of the way and nabbed the trans out of the frame and got to tugging on it as the brakes were locked up.

Out and in the back of the tow truck. Dana 20 on the left, 2 speed Quadratrac on the right.

I had read with the swap that the crossmember needed to have some fab work done to drop it into non factory equipped J10’s, looks like someone already did that. I want to replace the bushing so I’ll pull it apart and check the welds and construction, then it’s time to hoist it up.

And since the tow pig did so well getting the frame out of the shop, she got some new (to her) door panels. Not perfect but much better than bare. I swear, if no one buys this truck it’ll be restored after a while.

 

[Turk919]

Pulled the Honcho into the shop yesterday with the help of a buddy and dad, weather was perfect for tinkering. Driveshafts are out and the trans should be out this week. Getting closer. Ordered a set of 16.5X12 Weld Scorpios and determined I can’t get them to fit sadly, so oh well. Hopefully some better progress updates in the week or two to come.

 

[Turk919]

Progress update!

Finally had a weekend where I wasn’t in Greensboro with the girlfriend. (Someone please buy the brown truck so I can call her my Fiancé, lol)

Pulled the interior and carpet out of the Jeep this morning, had to reveal the inspection plate. If you have a J10 and have never pulled this plate but pulled the engine or trans, I’ve been there multiple times and holy hell this plate makes life easy, mine already has the hole cut out for my D20 shifter, so all I have to do is cut the carpet and add the rubber boot when I twin stick it.

Plate out, worst part was there is a single bolt under that vent up top, about an inch of room to work in but you can unbolt the vent with relative ease. You also have stupid easy access to all but 2 of the bell housing bolts. Normally there are 5 but since this trans has been out before, apparently they went back with 7.

Bolts out and lines unhooked, ready to drop.

Dropped, went with a secondary jack to make sure the trans jack could handle the extra weight at the back.

And finally out, behold all my other junk. Hopefully the trans going back in works fine and I can get rid of the other two to a local guy that likes Quadratracs.

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have the new trans in, maybe. Was hoping to clean up the trans and crossmember some before installing them.

 

[Turk919]

Little more progress done this afternoon.

My dad was a stone mason for over 18 years, and a very good one. He always told me on jobs that the back side of a display always needed to look good and presentable, because you never knew who was going to look, I’ve tried to carry that over with everything I do, especially this Jeep.

The crossmember is solid on this truck but was hideous, trans and tcase wasn’t looking much better. Couple hours with some brass wire wheels and paint and I think she looks a lot better. The mount was shot too so it got a little love from energy suspension. Not completely done on the trans yet but I’m a lot happier with it. She’s back under the truck and will hopefully be back in tomorrow.

 

[Turk919]

Just one picture from last nights work, it was raining like hell so nothing better to do than work on Jeeps in the shop. Trans is in, most everything is hooked up, just need to install the driveshafts and tighten the crossmember bolts, then check/add fluid and give her a test spin. After that I’ll decide if I want to leave this motor in or continue with the 401 as opposed to putting it in Dads. Did find out after all that work that the lower starter bolt on the trans had the threads pulled out some. Top bolt is tight and holding well so fingers crossed on that, seems like every time I do a project I end up with another thing on the list to check before starting.

 

[Turk919]

Little update, realized both driveshafts were too short so I need to take them to fleet pride and have them extended. Hopefully will knock that out this week.

Ended up working on my JKU Sunday, she’s had a cracked exhaust manifold for almost a year and I finally broke down and fixed it, only an hour and $100, went really easy.

Also, yay! Kinda. A little bittersweet. I said goodbye to the brown J10 today, gentleman in Saxapahaw had to have her so we met today and did the paperwork, he seems happy with hit and his grandson will hopefully grow up loving Jeeps. I sent him home with a tonka J10 to play with.

 

[Turk919]

Getting back into working on these old girls, updates to come.

 

[Turk919]

As promised, update time.

Honcho is Nekkid. I found a guy in Reidsville with a good bed, so I swapped him my junky one and cash for his good one. He wanted to do a custom project so it’s a win-win. BJ’s fuel tank and a new sending unit are going in, as well as a new rear cross member that got bent trying to tow the truck before I got it. TH400 needs to be rebuilt so I have a master rebuild kit and a shift kit ready to go in when I pop the trans out.

Peek of the new bed:

And as if I didn’t have enough stuff on my plate, I had backed my dads 79 in the shop to work on it. It loses oil pressure when it warms up and the release bearing was a little iffy. Thought about putting my new timing cover on and letting it roll for now but that’s not how I like to do things. Few hours later the engine was out and on the ground, nabbed a stand on marketplace for $50 and am going to pull the truck out of the shop to clean and degrease the engine bay, then work on the engine and install either it or the 401. Lord help me. Work switched us out to 7 days on, 7 days off rotations so I can tinker as long as I have beer and parts to install.

 

[Cameronswmp9]

Turk, Where are you at in Garner? I grew up there and some of the pictures look familiar, but I can't place them.

I grew up off Aversboro, but familiar with all of Garner from all the time I spent there

Trucks are looking good, and I like the old 'Bird!

 

[Turk919]

Turk, Where are you at in Garner? I grew up there and some of the pictures look familiar, but I can't place them.

I grew up off Aversboro, but familiar with all of Garner from all the time I spent there

Trucks are looking good, and I like the old 'Bird!

Grandma lived off lakeside drive actually and went to the Presbyterian church on lakeside and 50.

I actually live at 50/42 but am all over garner.

Edit: I didn’t see your name till this morning. We’ve actually met before. I bought the AR assembly from you in Cary in September of last year. I’m CarolinaColtCollector on CFF