Adding to the herd... Need advice

[duncanstives]

This will be kind of long so bear with me:
So my buddy bought a house and is getting rid of his J10 project so he has more money for the house. I recently also bought a house but am planning on BUYING his J10 project because I am dumber than him (though I do make a bit more money AND a bought a much cheaper house)...

Anyway... He bought the J10 for $700 with a brand new set of 31in MTs (can't remember exactly what they are but they look like they should wok great). Engine and transmission are very strong but after driving it home (30+miles on the freeway... Yikes :eek: ) we discovered the frame was basically rusted through in the back and was pretty much held together by the wooden flatbed... Since the body was not much better in places he decided to make some dramatic changes and cut the whole rusty part of the frame off shortening the truck A LOT and replacing the back section with a super beefy custom frame/bumper... Also did a shackle flip and inboard at the same time. Front is planned to be SOA... So basically I am looking for advice on two things:
Should I buy it?
What trasfer case will bolt up?

Here the specs:
$700 (the same he paid for it)
Truck is shortened to 108"
Frame is repaired to way better than stock... This is a big selling point because it is done RIGHT... He is a perfectionist and I helped with the whole proccess so I know what I am getting.
AMC 360... Used to have a 258... The PO swapped it in... Not sure on minage but it runs very strong (roasts the back tires on dry pavement EASILY and its a 2bbl), has good oil pressure with no significant blowby.
Th400... Works
T-case is quadratrac I THINK... The PO said something about it being swapped to chevy t-case but it LOOKS like a quardrarac (even got vacuum lines to the glove box e-drive switch). Problem is it does not work... 4wd won't engage and someone put in locking hubs at some point in the past which may have caused damage if it was ever run with them unlocked... I am kind of assuming this thing is a lost cause.
Back axle is AMC 20
Front is D44... Might be a chevy one but it has flat topped knuckles and my buddy has already had them machined for high steer and installed the arms :D . Also fresh u-joints and all bearings... Done by a proffessional heavy equipment shop.
Other stuff: Front quarter panels and hood are absolute swiss cheese, front portion of the frame is not rusty, needs new back springs (my buddy made bastard ones to get it up in the air but it will need new ones), front SOA hardware is all there (perches etc) plus a whole bunch of 1 ton TREs and other stuff for setting up the steering. Also like 5 spare carbs that came with the jeep... LOL. Interior looks pretty nice and is in decent shape.
One final plus: It come with a custom plate that says J10...How cool is that?

So... Should I buy the thing? If I do buy it what t-case can I put in that will be cheap, easy and good for wheeling and not much else?


And.. Heres the pics:
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs598.snc3/31527_433890855490_742425490_6022440_342974_n.jpg
As it sits... Back lifted, front awaiting SOA.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs538.ash1/31527_433889990490_742425490_6022423_5762370_n.jpg
Back part of the frame now...

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs598.snc3/31527_433889700490_742425490_6022421_5716536_n.jpg
Back part of the frame before... He DROVE it home like this :eek:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs538.ash1/31527_433890225490_742425490_6022427_3221598_n.jpg
Yeah :thumbsup: (arms are a little rusty because they were put on about 6 months ago but nothing a little cleaning and a can of rustolium won't fix).

What say the experts?

[Gambler68]

Sounds like the QT was put in Edrive and left that way..is the front driveshaft still hooked up?

No stock engine will roast tires on pavement with a QT in normal 4WDHI. It could if it was locked in edrive and the front is disconnected. Regardless, I'd plan on pulling the QT and tossing it in the parts pile and source a known good runner to replace it.

anyways, looks like 700 bux worth of stuff there. Little work and it'd be a keen little trail rider/woods beater.

[AlsChopShop]

i would buy it and part it out or use the parts myself.

Al

[duncanstives]

Sounds like the QT was put in Edrive and left that way..is the front driveshaft still hooked up?

No stock engine will roast tires on pavement with a QT in normal 4WDHI. It could if it was locked in edrive and the front is disconnected. Regardless, I'd plan on pulling the QT and tossing it in the parts pile and source a known good runner to replace it.

anyways, looks like 700 bux worth of stuff there. Little work and it'd be a keen little trail rider/woods beater.

Front driveshaft was hooked up but getting no power... I have no idea if it is stuck in e-drive but remember that the back of the truck is a lot lighter than before thus making the tire roasting more plausible. Also the ratio is 3.73:1

[duncanstives]

i would buy it and part it out or use the parts myself.

Al

I could recover my money but I think I'd rather have it whole:
front axle $200
Rear axle $100
Engine $200
Transmission $100
Tires $300
Scrap $150

$1050 total... Not worth it considering the labor involved in taking it apart... I think I would sell the tires and put it into a set of new tires..

[duncanstives]

Anyone have any ideas on a replacement t-case? Preferably one that does not need a different length rear driveshaft the rear is already modified for the truck so I would like to not have to do it again... The front will need o be changed for the SOA anyway so I don't care about that).

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Some problems I see with your post...that rear axle pictured is not an AMC 20, its a dana 44 and a Q/T will not spin the tires since it is a full time transfercase unless it was converted with a part time kit...
Cheap replacement for a Q/T? Another Q/T unless you want to tear down the trans and swap tailshafts like I did.

Id say buy it and wheel the piss out of it then part it out...

[duncanstives]

Some problems I see with your post...that rear axle pictured is not an AMC 20, its a dana 44 and a Q/T will not spin the tires since it is a full time transfercase unless it was converted with a part time kit...
Cheap replacement for a Q/T? Another Q/T unless you want to tear down the trans and swap tailshafts like I did.

Id say buy it and wheel the piss out of it then part it out...

You're right about the axle... I wrote the post from memory then went and took the pics before I clicked submit... Oops.

As for spinning the tires: Yeah.. Thats the problem. Something is wrong with the QT and no power will get to the front :(
I kind of like the simplicity of a part time case so I would LIKE to swap one in... How hard was the tail section swap on your transmission? What transfer case did you go with?
If its really difficult I will just buy another QT and maybe just get a part time kit for it so I can have something other than a really exspensive selectable locker in the front.

[Gambler68]

If the front is getting no power..it's locked in E-drive and the QT is toast as far as ever being a 4WD tcase again without a rebuild. Done it. To replace it with another type of tcase will REQUIRE either a different transmission (your option being a Th400/d20 combo) or gutting your existing transmission and replacing the output shaft to hang a different case on your existing Th400. Plainly put, a QT output Th400 has one option: a QT tcase. $$$$ to change. cheaper to find a D20/Th400 combo and swap that in. Cheapest option is to find another working QT and rehang it. Anything else will run you the purchase price of the truck, besides swapping in a Th400/d20 combo. I think I covered it. :D

I could spin my 33x12.50 MTs with my old dead QT case locked in 2WD and the front shaft removed, drove it around like that for 6 months. I thought you meant all 4 tires. You wont be doing that with a properly working full time 4WD QT.

A part time kit for a QT is about 600 bucks, fyi. I have one installed and love it.

[duncanstives]

Sounds like my best bet would be get another QT and put it in and then buy a part time ket eventually. Second best would be getting the th400/d20 combo but that would involve taking the transmission out which would be a pain.
So having never owned a QT equipped vehicle: I know they are great on road in inclement weather but what is the concensus on wheeling? Would one of these things hold up to pretty hard wheeling on 37s? The rig will be lightened up enough that I hope to be able to use the same 37in humvee tires I am putting on my other jeep and still have the d44s survive. Gears will probably be 5.38 since it won't see much road use.