Its me again, I got the Rig and found out some more stuff...

[79 FSJ]

I was able to look at it a little closer, and notice the nifty Low Gear option under the driver seat. :D YEAH!!! I guess that is a good thing...

It has a nice set of 31x10.5 BFG's, well 3 of them, the other is 235-70x15... I need to get that changed out.

I got more of a story on the vehicle from my mother, she said the lady that traded the FSJ in was a resent widow, and it was her husbands Jeep, it sat for 6 months and her car died, and was towed to the junk yard. The used the Jeep as her trade in, and bought a 98 Cherokee...

It has a nice brush gaurd on the front and heafty reciever hitch on the back...

The one thing that I need to figure out is the door locks, I only have a Ignition key, and no door key... accually I have not tried the put that key in the ignition either... it looks like a regular GM Ignition key... would I be better off replacing the door cylinders, or having a lock smith cut me some keys... I know with my 65 Mustang I can replace the cylinders for about $10 each...!!

Anyway, I able to get under it a little more and noticed some plates and stuff under it, kind of like skid plates... are these stock..??

Well that is about it for know, I will try to get some pics this weekend so you all can see it...

Thanks for all your comments and help so far, you guys have beed a great resource.

Dave
:D

[78WagLimited]

79 FSJ.. The ignition,door locks and tailgate are keyed the same.. and yes the skid plates are stock.. and yes :D the low range is great.. sounds like a great find! Good luck :D

[Hump]

Just like 78WagLimited said, try your key everywhere...it will work. Unlike GM and Ford, one key is all you need.

[79 FSJ]

I will check it out, I tried to put it in the driver door and turn it, but was afraid to force it... know that I know that it is the same key I will spray some lube in there and give it a try...!!

Thanks

[JINGA]

Great Jeep!

By the way, when I got mine the driver's side door lock did not work from the outside. (And the passenger's inside door handle didn't work!!)

(I should also mention that replacing a door lock is WAY easier than replacing an ignition switch.)

Since I wanted to keep one key to do everything, when I replaced the door lock cylinders, I swapped the tumblers(?) from the old ones into the new ones. This worked great. The only really hard thing was the new cylinders had a MUCH longer shaft than the old ones. (It's a rod with a square cross section used to do the unlocking.) I needed to use the new ones, so I just cut them to length.

The whole process isn't too hard if you're patient. Another problem that has developed on my rig (and I've read about others with this) is that the door "self-locks." Meaning the little knobby inside that you pull up to unlock the door just sort of "falls down" on its own. Sometimes mine falls down immediately, like even faster than I can pull the door handle. Getting out of the Jeep is now a two-handed operation. My point to all this is if you're going to have your door apart replacing a lock cylinder, consider doing a pre-emptive strike on that little knobby so it doesn't start self-locking on you.

Also, how are your dew-wipes and the vent window weatherstrippings? Again, if the door is apart, it might be nice to do it all at once.

Jeff

[Bob Barry]

Sounds like a real find. Quickly get an equal-sized fourth tire, and another as a spare, or else you'll fry your QT clutches in short order once you start driving around like that.

The door-locks are held in with a clip that slides through a slot in the door-jamb side of the door itself; a little pull with some pliers and the locks pop-out, if you need replacements. If the locks are not frozen, you can sometimes pull the locks themselves and take them to a locksmith to have a key cut for the existing tumblers.

When I got my Cherokee, I thought I'd have to replace all the locks, as the only key I had was an ignition key frozen in the column. Some WD-40 and tugging actually freed that up, and I found the door key lying under the seat. smile.gif So root around in the truck and see if one is lying around under your seats...

Sounds like you picked up a sweet truck for $900.

[79 FSJ]

Bob, thanks for the info on the locks, that sounds similar to the lock on the old Mustang doors. I will try some oiling with the trusty WD40 first and go from there...

I am really stoked over here, it is turning out to be better and better... I can't wait to get some pics for you guys to see it. That will also help you give me more advice I think, I really think this thing was well, being that it is in pretty good shape cosmetically.

After I get it on the road the first thing to take care of is that odd ball tire on the rear... just like you said Bob... That tire looks new, still has the mold release agent on it from the manufacturing process, I think it was put on to they could move it.

It has been raining here for 3 days straight, I hope it lets up this weekend so that I can get out there and get it going...

Well, thank again...
Dave

[ August 31, 2001: Message edited by: 79 FSJ ]

[Erix Jeep]

FYI,,,, I bought my '85 with a broken door key and no spare. Just today I removed a lock cylinder from the passenger door (Less wear) and took it to the locksmith. Cost me $28.75 with two sets of keys. That is here in CA by the way, shop labor was at $55/hr.

The locksmith also told me it is still possible to order the original lock cylinders. They come uncoded, the locksmith would need to recode. Estimated about $125 for all locks and coding. (Ignition, doors, AND tailgate)

[fas2c]

Sounds like a great rig!! Juice up the locks as Bob had stated and search for a spare key. Mine only uses one key for everything. My drivers side lock was problematic, it kept locking me out. So I tore apart the door and used some tape to keep the locking mech from dropping. Good news, no more lock-out. Bad news no more locking door ;)
good luck
fas2c

[egalt]

Coding is so easy.....you could do it yourself with a small pair of needle nose. You can go down and usually get the cylinder 'keys' from any jeep dealer, they never change. (you can just pull out the key with the needle nose - be careful not to lose the small spring below it. From memory, the uncut part of the key is zero working down to the deepest cut being (I think) 5.