Home of J10 Mike's front bumper

[cu4whln]

Hello ! 'Lookin Good !

Sappy -

So - looks like you're making some good progress. Yep, 120 miles apart. We will have to see whose Jeep is ready first, huh ?? lol

I like that color a lot ! I'll be watching your build.

Jim

[sappy76]

I haven't reported in lately since I've been spending all my free time cleaning/painting the underside (pretty boring stuff and not too pretty). Added a 1" zero rate block to the rear and mounted the rear calipers. Yesterday I just received my Howell EFI kit. Yes, wifey is not too happy. I'll post pictures after this weekend.

[Elliott]

I note the Astro van hydroboost, nice swap.

[manimal]

WOW, looks great!

[COLOFIREMAN]

Very nice, love the red color!!!!

[sappy76]

Well I've come up with a new name for my project: "What goes on must come off and go on again".

I purchased my Howell EFI kit to be CA compliant since I may eventually end back up in San Diego where my wife is from. My Jeep is a 1976 and the cut off is 1975. To meet CARB, I need to retain the EGR valve. Unfortunately my 401 Edelbrock intake does not have the EGR option, however my original 360 did have the EGR Edelbrock. So, as my new name states, pull off the non-EGR intake from the 401, pull off the EGR intake from the 360 (on my J10 frame), clean it up, repaint, and reinstall.










Now for the next part. Mike's bumper needed to be modified to allow a winch to be installed without cutting the radiator support. I pulled the bumper and extended the brackets. Next I reinstalled and checked the fit with the winch. I'll need to pull it again to repaint.











Finally, the last thing to start thinking about replacing is the axles. I have a J20 yearning to donate it's HD44 and D60 w/ 3.73s. My goal is to be able to swap tires/wheels between my Dodge V10 and my Cherokee. I just bought a set of Mastercraft M/T 33"x12.5x16.5" for $350 and put them on the Dodge. The tires on the Cherokee are BFGs AT/TO 33"x12.5x15. I just picked up a set of 15"x10" 8 lug rims for $85. I guess I'll have to grind calipers a bit to get them to fit properly. I haven't measured everything for the axle swap and would appreciate any inputs.







I'll be selling the J20 in the future. Not sure if I'll part it out or sell with the Cherokee axles. (I bought a new plow for the Dodge V10.)

[sappy76]

Not exactly a paint booth, but hey it works.

This weekend was time to pull all the engine accessories, sand blast, and repaint. I don't have a spray booth but the Jeep isn't exactly show quality either. Repainted all brackets, radiator, a/c pump, alternator, and new 8 bolt wheels. I also installed the Howell wiring harness and am getting ready to finish running the '79 engine harness. I also have a 7 circuit weather proof harness for all the extra lights/stereo/CB. (Definitely takes longer than expected, especially when my 5 year old son wants my attention. Note: Only take on a project like this if you have a lot of help and no family commitments )

[sappy76]

Exhaust done, getting close to starting it

This weekend we made the exhaust. Used mandrel bent pieces from Summit, 2 1/4" pipe from the exhaust shop, the Flowmaster 2- 2 1/4" in , 1 - 3" out, and the hedman headers from the 83 Cherokee that donated the 401. The exhaust took the better part of Saturday and tucks in very tight. So far it doesn't look like it will hit but time will tell. We made it to be removeable in three pieces from the collectors and from the 2-1 muffler using band clamps. I'm going to paint the whole exhaust with VHT ceramic exhaust paint (hopefully it will hold up).







Also completed cleaning, fixing, and installing the '79 harness and installing all the engine accessories. Just need to plug in all the wires, top the fluids, reinstall the Arrow 35 gallon fuel tank, and the Howell Fuel injection. Should be able to fire it up this weekend assuming time is available. (Slow but steady.)

[sappy76]

No new picts, but the engine is now broken in. Man, that 401 sure sounds like it wants to pull. My buddy and I have built three other engines in the last two years and nothing compares, not even the 400 sbc that we put in my '57.

The Howell fuel injection is awesome, not a single stumble or even the slightest hint of carbon.

I feel like I'm on the down hill grade now that the engine/trans/transfer case are working. Next it will be to finish the interior wiring, install the windows, test drive it, and then pull it back in for a HD44/D60 upgrade.

Now that I've got all the components reinstalled I don't need my "model" anymore (J20) and will be pulling the axles and start parting it out. (I slammed the hood the other day and a 4"x2" piece of the inner fenderwell fell to the ground. (Due to cost, I've decided to use a true trac in the front that I had laying around and I scored on a power lok for the rear for $100.)

I'll try to take some more picts but the engine compartment isn't so clean now with all the wires. (Amazing, complete rewire and added a Howell EFI and everything worked the 1st time out.)

[Chris P.]

Lookin' good!

There sure are some nice projects on here this year.

[cu4whln]

Checking In . . .

Wow !

You have made a LOT of progress.

Looking foward to seeing this sometime soon.

You should come over for the AMC show this year.

Jim

[sappy76]

It's been awhile since an update.

I've been busy with spring arrival, a lot of chores around the house along with soccer practice, so progress has been less than impressive.

Here's an update from several weeks of tweeking.

The Howell system is up and running with my old Jacobs OmniPak (I relocated the ECU from the kick panel to above the radio.) I added an extra coil from my "juice box upgrade" as a backup in case the Jacobs goes down on me.



The 401 sounds strong with the headers and the Flowmaster 50. I've got the headliner mounted and inside lights wired.

I just mounted the Rhino lights and fog light and I've altered the dash around the radio to mount a couple of special items. (Hopefully it'll turn out as I hope.) I need to do some touch up painting since I had to fill some gap, weld in mounting tabs, and cut some more metal. (I keep changing my plan as I go along. Makes for double the works sometimes.) I added a second fuse panel near the kick panel to run all the extra accessories. I now have switches mounted with relays for the driving, fog, and roof rack lights. The fog and driving lights can be run in the normal mode, off the dimmer switch, or can be power off the parking lights in case I want to run the fogs only (helps with winter driving.)


I had to do some extra surgery on the floor pan since my quadratrac modulator was bad and I didn't want to pull the exhaust and cross member to access it. (I cut a hole in floor pan, made the swap, and rewelded it within an hour.)



My buddy and I spent one Saturday stripping down the J20. Most of the parts are going to my buddy who has help me a lot. Part of the deal includes him helping me rebuild the D60/HD44 which will include a PowerLok in the rear and a TracLok in the front. I swapped my old Edelbrock carb for the wheels shown in the picts.


I'm looking forward to the last week of June when my wifie and son will be going out to San Diego to visit family for 3 weeks. I should be able to finish it by the time they get back.

[Elliott]

Those fog lights look perfect in there!

[Long&Low]

Nice work and perfect color. I hope to have my fog lights mounted tomorrow.

[jaber]

Its coming along very nicely!

If I were closer, I might have taken that J-20 cab for you....