My ´74 Cherokee

[vanaisa]

I am Cadillac man mostly but had always soft spot for those old Jeeps.
I had few years ago ´97 Wrangler, but this was somehow too new for me and too small, to use it for plowing for example.
We dont have much old Cheros/Wagoneers here, so i was lucky, to find one from Sweden.
She was sold new there, back in 1974, has metric speedo and seatbelts. Two owners and was sitting there last 2 years, outside. :mad:
All original, exept new alternator and some strange wiring for european lighting (yellow turns, parks in headlights etc), 258cid, 3speed manual, Dana 20 transfer case and D44. Oh yes - great creamy colour interior and AC too.
I repainted body, cleaned interior, changed few bits and things and basically thats it! What a easy car to work with, compared to Cadillacs. :)

Next jobs are to made plow for winter, 4.0 head/MPFI install and re-newing AC system. And maybe something more, what i dont know jet.

Here she is:

http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/Chero_maal.jpg

http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/2.jpg

http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/3.jpg

[jaber]

Welcome to the land of empty pockets and unfinished projects....

You found a beautiful Jeep to start with, congtrats.
Speaking of Cadillacs, I just put a '79 Caddy 427 into one of my J-20s and then put fuel injection off a 454 Chevy onto it. :thumbsup:

Glad you found us....:thumbsup:

[vanaisa]

Thanks! Tell me about unfinished projects - still trying to put together my ´67 Eldorado and ´65 DeVille convertible. :D
425cid you mean - these must be pretty cheap in your side world (and gasoline also)?
Yes, i searched long time - soon i move to countryside and there i need good reliable plow/forest crawler. Our rural roads are not for Cadillacs :mad:

[Brizio]

Welcome!!!

Congrats for your Jeep, looks very very nice! :)

[suzq044]

That is an interesting rear bumper... aftermarket covered by stock pieces?

[vanaisa]

Yes - swedish are notorious to carry all kind of stuff around ;) It seems to built tough, welded to frame.
I must fabricate something similar to front, for plow winch. And i like those original shiny bumper ends.

BTW - russian car Volga has almost similar grille and they made also 4x4 models:

http://carbl.com/im/2007/06/1.jpg

(Volga GAZ-24-95 is a redesigned serial Volga GAZ-24)

[vanaisa]

just got back newly upholstered front seats - nice :cool:
Old vs new:

http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/iste2.jpg

http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/iste1.jpg

Now i need new carpet and must paint steering wheel, then interior is done...

[skinnyD]

Welcome to the forum. Nice ride!

[fulsizjeep]

Welcome from SW Colorado! You have a nice looking first year Cherokee.

That Volga looks like how I always pictured a Rambler American with 4WD. :D

http://www.illinicollectorcarclub.com/pics/64rambler_johnson_sm.jpg

[The Hammer]

I am Cadillac man mostly but had always soft spot for those old Jeeps.
I had few years ago ´97 Wrangler, but this was somehow too new for me and too small, to use it for plowing for example.
We dont have much old Cheros/Wagoneers here, so i was lucky, to find one from Sweden.
She was sold new there, back in 1974, has metric speedo and seatbelts. Two owners and was sitting there last 2 years, outside. :mad:
All original, exept new alternator and some strange wiring for european lighting (yellow turns, parks in headlights etc), 258cid, 3speed manual, Dana 20 transfer case and D44. Oh yes - great creamy colour interior and AC too.
I repainted body, cleaned interior, changed few bits and things and basically thats it! What a easy car to work with, compared to Cadillacs. :)

Next jobs are to made plow for winter, 4.0 head/MPFI install and re-newing AC system. And maybe something more, what i dont know jet.

Here she is:

http://cadillac.pri.ee/74Chero/1.jpg

http://cadillac.pri.ee/74Chero/2.jpg

http://cadillac.pri.ee/74Chero/3.jpg

Very cool!!!!!

[Wayne]

Welcome, nice jeep.

[vanaisa]

Todays job - installed vent-window-windows. Traded for newer GW front seats i had.
I am lucky sob, i guess :)

http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/akenuus.jpg

[vanaisa]

we have ca 40cm of snow and prettyy cold weather now. Great for wheeling and forest trips. Downside is, exhaust manifold (already welded few times) cracked again :mad: So if anyone have one and bothers to ship it overseas - i need new one.

http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/lumes.jpg

[1jeep4me]

Welcome from Dallas Texas.

Slap some headers on it.

I love Cherokees glad to see Cherokee owners world wide.

[vanaisa]

same thing - ebay sellers shipping costs arm and leg :) I am not welder myself unfortunately. I try here on our local shops - maybe they can do job for me.

[joe]

Nice Cherokee. Since you're planning to ad a snow plow, I'd forget the hot rod fluff of adding a 4.0 head. Keep the 258 running well and plow away. Adding a 4.0 head is like adding whitewalls to a tractor. Enjoy it for what it is and get some real use out of it. Save your money for the Cadillac fluff.

[letank]

Good find, Welcome from California.

Any details on the funny european blinkers system. I have been thinking of using separating the blinkers from the stoplights, and the original set up is a bit unusual and I am curious to see what has been done overseas.

[palexand]

Very classy color combo...and the rear deflector. Very nice ride! Amazing to see so many offshore instances of these Jeeps. They truly are loved. Best of luck to you! And welcome. This forum has high caliber people.

[palexand]

Welcome to the land of empty pockets and unfinished projects....

You found a beautiful Jeep to start with, congtrats.
Speaking of Cadillacs, I just put a '79 Caddy 427 into one of my J-20s and then put fuel injection off a 454 Chevy onto it. :thumbsup:

Glad you found us....:thumbsup:
I think Jeff means a 472ci...am I right;)?

[amcpsycho2]

Welcome from Wahoo,Nebraska,USA!I love your Cherokee!I have an exhaust manifold for your a '74 258 6 cyl.If you'll PM your e-mail address to me,I'll send your pictures of what I have.
I've sent MANY AMC/Jeep parts overseas,I sent a crate that measured 4'X6'X7' full of parts,including a 401 V-8 to Sweden.I've sent parts to Finland,The Netherlands,Switzerland and others.I will ship a manifold to you in Estonia,if you want one.Pm me,and I'll see what I can do for you.
psycho

[J.J.]

Welcome aboard.

[vanaisa]

joe - i agree. somehow i like roughness of this Jeep - no fancy electronics, one barrel carburator, all mechanical stuff - simple and easy to use and work.

letank - european blinkers are pretty easy in fact. In this one it was already done, but basically you just put yellow bulbs behind backup lenses, cut off blinker wire from its original bulb socket and connect to added yellow bulb sockets. And in front, you must cut one wire from brake switch too - otherwise yellow bulbs are also lit when brake is pressed. I have done this in my newer Cadillacs - without it we cant pass our inspection (MOT?)

amcpsycho2 - great! Finland is our neighbor - 50miles across the sea :) PM sent. So you have been busy spreading FSJ parts across europe :thumbsup:

all you guys - great forum and i have enjoyed reading it - lots of useful information and great rebuild stories. And of course great rigs, i got lots of ideas what to do to my Jeep (when i get more time/money, hehe) :D

[vanaisa]

few days ago i finally found ´91 XJ Cherokee for head/injection install. But now i think, it is wiser to build stroker right away :)
I have full 4.0 engine with all accessories, wiring, computer and all other bits and parts. $214 :cool:
My 4.2 engine is old and tired anyway and now, in snow, poor mileage also. Exhaust is cracked, carb needs rebuild - i better put this money to block machining, gaskets, bearings etc and get fresh, rebuilt engine with lots of torque.
Cheap SOB i am, so my route is this - 4,5 stroker without any fancy and expensive parts (http://www.bc4x4.com/tech/bryce/stroker/stroker.cfm)
Car is ca. 100miles away, but i try to get engine off within week or so.

Stay tuned.

[vanaisa]

Does anyone have 4.0 wiring diagram, converted to FSJ?
Original newer Cherokee wiring has too much unneeded wires - i need basically only wiring for injection, starter and alternator....

[vanaisa]

Some slow development in stroker build

freshened head (well, needs paint of course):
http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/pea_valmis.jpg

next will be engine block - bored safely +0.030
Wiring/relay box is also sorted and labeled, needs just unused wires removed.

[vanaisa]

sad day, problems with rear propeller shaft.
Help me!
Does those parts/kit (# in red boxes) available anywhere in your side of world?
Our parts shops didnt have them. #..!"%,s&¤,%€$.f...

http://pic.cadillacclub.ee/Ain/74Chero/tagakardaan.jpg

[Jim Blair]

That looks different from most I have seen. It looks maybe like the front driveshaft for '73 and older here with Dana 20? Which end is that? Tcase or rear axle?

Did you check http://bjsoffroad.com ?

If it's a quadratrac, the front shaft on the early ones was sometimes like that too. I would change the yoke and put a later style shaft in.

[vanaisa]

it is rear driveshaft - ´74 Cherokee, 258cid, D20, 3speed manual T15. And it is tranny side end.
BJ dont have this part sadly.
Is it wise to make this rear shaft too like newer, normal shafts? Advise please...

Yesterday i just took front shaft off - double cardan joint was shot, now it is in shop - they rebuild it for normal single-joint end. Now rear too - i´m pretty pissed :(

[vanaisa]

help me out - are those standard size bearings or ovesized?

mains -
C L M
3186676
3 3

http://hot.ee/cowgod/raam.jpg

rods -
3186672
500
2 3 something (2?)

http://hot.ee/cowgod/keps.jpg

[mud89]

If they are stock and oversized, you should have a specific letter stamped on the engine (as said in the TSM)
Did you measure the journals ?

[vanaisa]

they look stock - "A.M." and all. just wanted to be sure.
Engine is 1980, as previous owner said, i have only crank and rods, they are for my stroker build. Slowly hamstering needed parts.
So still i need measure, i hoped there is easier way (=lazy me) :D

Thanks mud89!

[Jeepguy77]

For the driveshaft maybe you could get an output yoke from a newer Dana 20 and get a driveshaft that uses a regular u joint at the transfer case, I've never seen a drive shaft like that before but you learn something new everyday.:thumbsup:

Btw nice Cherokee if I had a 258 I would have definately tried to do the same thing you are with the engine swap:cool:

[vanaisa]

yep, driveshafts are both "normal ones" now - one shop here redid them. no more wimpy double u-joints. ;)

[Jeepguy77]

Wait did you get rid of the double cardan front shaft? The double cardan is actually a type of cv and has less vibration than a single cardan. A single cardan joint is not considered a cv because the velocity changes with angle.

[vanaisa]

yes, they removed this double part, changed cardan tube with correct lenght and welded all together.
Angles between transfer case and front axle are OK. I am not doing any deep offroading either, so i am not concerned about suspension flexing etc. And with slow speeds 4x4 there are not any vibrations anyway.
I try to find pictures - how both driveshafts are done - picture explains better than my poor language skills :)

[Jeepguy77]

Hmmm I've just never really seen anyone who switched a double cardan shaft to single. It seems that most go from single to double. I think the vibrations would probably be noticeable if you had qtrac.

[vanaisa]

well, i had all those red-marked parts pretty shot and unrepairable (in reasonably price anyway) and i couldnt find any new parts from your side also.
If car was AWD, then i of course would try to stay in original systam but it is not.

http://hot.ee/cowgod/esikardaan.jpg