1979 Cherokee Chief

[78 WIDETRAC]

The idea behind this thread is to maybe not build it, but get it put back together and on the road. (It does run)



So far I have reassembled the exhaust, rotted cat and muffler.... added a new cat and aftermarket muffler, new exhaust gaskets at manifold to pipe both sides.



I removed to spare tire gas tank, This thing is why it was probably parked, super rusted fuel, that was able to feed lots of rusty gas into the factory tank. The rear of the Jeep came up a good inch at least.



I removed to factory coffin tank, skidplate etc... I have an original clean oem tank ready to go in.


I need filler hoses for a 79. I may be able to make the bj's 80-91 kit work.



I put the provided tailgate on, stripped the wood decal off, I reinstalled the buckets and rear seat. Replaced the column with a tilt. That was not as easy as it should have been. Odd little things change year by year!


The wheels had six locking lug nuts per wheel and no key. They have been removed. I cleaned up the wheels a little so they are more white than rust colored.



I installed the radiator permanently installed the shroud, installed the battery tray.



Removed what looked like dealer installed A/C . It was not connected in the engine bay just sitting in there. It rode 90 miles. I'm kind of surprised I didn't notice how loose it was.


When I bought it.









At my house.








Minus the extra gas tank. and a little buff on the paint.

[rang-a-stang]

...The wheels had six locking lug nuts per wheel and no key...

BBWAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! WTH?!?!?! LOLOLOL!!!!!!!! Those are EXPENSIVE!! 24 locking lug nuts is like $150+ in lugnuts!!! How'd you get them off?

Wow that thing is straight!!!
Your passenger flare looks rusty but the driver side looks solid! True?
The black on the lip of the flares (both front and rear); is it painted on or vinyl like the Chief stickers? My filler hose on my 79 is clear Vinyl hose you get in bulk at a hardware store. If you want a picture let me know. It was there when I bought it 3 years ago and has been going strong ever since.

[babywag]

yep fuel fill hoses are nothing special.
we used carquest & napa bulk fuel hose on my dad's 79...wasn't expensive.

[78 WIDETRAC]

BBWAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! WTH?!?!?! LOLOLOL!!!!!!!! Those are EXPENSIVE!! 24 locking lug nuts is like $150+ in lugnuts!!! How'd you get them off?



I bought a kit of lug nut removal gizmos off of amazon. They worked pretty good.


Wow that thing is straight!!!
Your passenger flare looks rusty but the driver side looks solid! True?
The black on the lip of the flares (both front and rear); is it painted on or vinyl like the Chief stickers? My filler hose on my 79 is clear Vinyl hose you get in bulk at a hardware store. If you want a picture let me know. It was there when I bought it 3 years ago and has been going strong ever since.

The black lip on the flare is a decal.


Yeah send me a pic of that vinyl tube. The reason I even asked is because of the diameter of what I took off looks way larger compared to the 80-91 hoses.



It is pretty straight, and yes that flare bottom has rust and the other side is solid. The guy gave me a repair section off of a rust free flare. The has floor pan the rust, also the under side of the roof has surface rust. The floor pan is not as bad as the 81, but bad enough to drop things on the floor and have to go retrieve it from the driveway under the jeep.

[78 WIDETRAC]

yep fuel fill hoses are nothing special.
we used carquest & napa bulk fuel hose on my dad's 79...wasn't expensive.

This is why I was asking. The one I pulled out is larger in diameter.












Thanks for the tip about bulk fuel hoses.

[78 WIDETRAC]

I finally reinstalled the fuel tank and hooked up all of the hoses. This means it should start and run on its own. (HAHA that didn't happen). Turned into a why won't it start day. I did get it figured out after all of the smoke from the local fires rolled in. What was I thinking...... Just because I drove it off of the trailer with a gas can set up the po put in place to show that it ran and moved doesn't mean crap after a couple of months have rolled by. !!!



I need to change the transmission pan gasket and check slack in the chain and the q-trac fluid level.

[78 WIDETRAC]

It's running pretty good, High idle due to a messed up intake gasket on the front. Probably back also??? I changed the trans pan gasket, filter and fluid. Drained the main case on the 1339 and checked chain slack. I would say 5/8"- 3/4" I refilled the case with fresh q-trac fluid. I have to work out the bugs before I tackle the chain. I'd like to do the tourqe bias test also.



Because of the vacuum leak and high idle I have no or very little vacuum to the booster and..... with the q-track low engaged I damn near took out my GF's car that was behind it in the drive way. Luckily it died.



It was a good day in the driveway working on jeeps.

[78 WIDETRAC]

It's running good. My vacuum leak was a fitting that needed teflon tape on the intake. My brakes still feel like there is no vacuum assist. The fluid looks terrible so that could have something to do with it. I need to flush and bleed at the minimum.



My blinkers, tailights, brake lights & side markers did not work. It was bad bulbs and dirty sockets. I have it all working again.



My coil was super hot and leaking. It was mounted on it's side. So I found a factory bracket and another good coil in my stash. It's upright and good now.



Unfortunately, I need to replace the o-ring on my trans dip stick. Where can I get one? TH400. I thought it would come in the new filter kit. It doesn't.


I hope DMV opens soon so I can get this registered and out on the road.

[chubbinius]

Nice, you are cranking along on it!

Cool, too that you are working on multiple FSJs at once!

[rang-a-stang]

I ordered that O-ring from rock auto. I got two of them and doubled them up. I also skinned it a little with RTV. That was the final step to keep my dipstick from leaking.

[78 WIDETRAC]

Nice, you are cranking along on it!

Cool, too that you are working on multiple FSJs at once!

Luckily they have all been minor issues to get running. A rusty steel 2nd fuel tank is probably why this one was parked. Plus it helps to have lots of random spare parts in my basement to swap things out.





I wish I had some local property that was my own to mess with them. It's nice to have my friends property to store and work on one. His wife would not be happy if all of my jeeps were there.

[78 WIDETRAC]

I ordered that O-ring from rock auto. I got two of them and doubled them up. I also skinned it a little with RTV. That was the final step to keep my dipstick from leaking.

I was at napa the other day and forgot to ask for the o-rings. I've kept my eye on the leak. It is minor compared to the original o-ring & pan gasket leak combo.



I've been working on the brakes since they are non existant. New master cylinder on next is to have my daughter help me flush bleed them, then swap out the front pads and pull the rear drums to see if there is anything left on the drum brake shoes.

[78 WIDETRAC]

I'm still working on this one. I need to replace the alternator. Still need to get to the brakes, It needs exhaust manifold gaskets.


What surprises me is that the gas gauge works, the temp gauge works, the blower motor works, and if not left for more than a week, it starts relatively easy.



I put on some wide chrome spokes.To me they just look great with wider than stock wheels. the tires are 31x15.5x15 terra type.

[rang-a-stang]

They do look super cool! The wide rim and tire combo with the stockish stance looks mean! And the chief stickers!!