1979 J10 Project

[91blaze]

After much searching, I managed to find a titled J10 only an hour away from me and for only $450. Once you see the pictures, you will know why. Anyone who posted in my other thread knows about the non titled J10 I was trying to get which led to me finding this truck. I will be picking up the titled '79 truck Sunday and the '80 parts truck sometime next week. These pictures I have are from the Craigslist postings.

1979 J10:


1980 parts truck:


So, basically I'm going to swap all the non-rusted parts from the '80 to the '79 and sell off the leftovers. I will be turning the rusted '79 bed into a trailer. The '79 has a 360 V8 and 3 speed manual transmission while the '80 has an inline 6 and manual transmission.

I will keep you guys updated as often as possible. Please follow along because I know I'm going to need some help along the way since this is my first Jeep.

Just realized that the '80 is a shortbed while the '79 is a longbed so I'm going to use the '80 frame and transfer the engine, tranny, t-case, and cab over.

[nc wagoneer]

Both of those trucks are 79's!!! If the one truck was an 80 it would have a black pignise and it has a chrome pignose It looks like the brown one is a lwb and the grey one is a swb, how do you plan to put a swb bed on a lwb frame if that's what it is???

[91blaze]

Both of those trucks are 79's!!! If the one truck was an 80 it would have a black pignise and it has a chrome pignose It looks like the brown one is a lwb and the grey one is a swb, how do you plan to put a swb bed on a lwb frame if that's what it is???

Bottom of first post:

Just realized that the '80 is a shortbed while the '79 is a longbed so I'm going to use the '80 frame and transfer the engine, tranny, t-case, and cab over.

I will check the VIN of the '80 to see if it's actually a '79 when I get it.

[addicted]

Both of those trucks are 79's!!! If the one truck was an 80 it would have a black pignise and it has a chrome pignose It looks like the brown one is a lwb and the grey one is a swb, how do you plan to put a swb bed on a lwb frame if that's what it is???

The grill doesn't mean squat on these old Jeeps. Any of them will swap from any year with very little work in most cases. For instance my first FSJ was an '80 J10 swb with a 360/727/NP219 and it had a chrome pignose on it.

[austinaubinoe]

Pretty sure the black grille became optional in 1980 for a sportier look. The chrome was still standard. I wish I was picking up 2 J trucks!!!!

[91blaze]

Well.. the guy with the parts truck isn't answering his phone, I hope he still has it. I just talked to him yesterday so I don't think it's gone already. I really hope I can get the parts truck because it's the only one I can find in the state without rust holes throughout the body. This is why I hate living in the "rustbelt".

[Headhoncho]

Both of those trucks are 79's!!! If the one truck was an 80 it would have a black pignise and it has a chrome pignose It looks like the brown one is a lwb and the grey one is a swb, how do you plan to put a swb bed on a lwb frame if that's what it is???

Check to see which side the front pumpkin is on. Driver side= '80 Passenger side= '79

My '80 came with a standard chrome grille. No black inserts.



JR

[tgreese]

Can you weld? Shortening a LWB frame is easy. Jeep uses the same frame rails for LWB and SWB. So you just free the components from the frame, cut the extra off the back end of the frame rails, and weld everything back. Of course, you'll have to shorten wires and brake lines and the drive shaft. The SWB model is more desirable for a daily driver pickup... but you have to put the tailgate down to haul sheets of plywood.

So the "80" is not titled? If it is, you might want to skip the '79 V8 LWB truck. The transmission in the '79 is a T-15, which is a good strong transmission, but it's a 3-speed. It's the strongest 3-speed that was ever made AFAIK, but it was only offered as the base transmission with the 2V 360 - never with the 4V 360 or the 401. So it's strong, but likely not 401 strong. And it's a fairly slow shifting transmission too, due to its heavy gears (for a 3-speed).

If the SWB truck is a '79, it will have a truck 4-speed, the T-18. If it's an 80, it will have a passenger car transmission, the T-176. The T-176 is still a nice transmission, being a repurposed Ford top loader, adapted to a transfer case. The T-176 is an easy-shifting transmission, and adaptable to lots of different transfer cases.

If I had my choice, I would go with a six-cylinder combination of some kind. The six has a lot of hop-up potential... check www.JeepStrokers.com for how to build a hot multiport 4.6L AMC six.

[91blaze]

No, the '80 is not titled so I'm going to buy it for parts. I'm having trouble communicating with the guy who owns the '80 so I might not be able to get it. If I don't get the '80 I'm going to be mad because up here in Indiana it's impossible to find a non rusted J10 for less than $2k. The '79 is already agreed upon at $450 which is a really great deal even though it's rusted pretty bad. The parts I should need for the '79 are the bed, left front fender, doors, grill, and bumpers. Everything else is in pretty good shape. Right now I'm just waiting to hear back from the guy with the '80 as to whether or not it's mine.

[nc wagoneer]

Personally because of how nice the truck is and the engine/trans combo in it I would go through the effort to just try and title the 80

[Tinkerjeep]

Personally because of how nice the truck is and the engine/trans combo in it I would go through the effort to just try and title the 80

Good idea, but he's found that to be impractical...its all in a seperate thread though.

[91blaze]

Personally because of how nice the truck is and the engine/trans combo in it I would go through the effort to just try and title the 80

I tried but the BMV said it couldn't be done.

[91blaze]

I'm so pissed! The guy with the '80 sold it right out from under me after I had already made an offer. I've been trying to make a deal with him for several days now. I told him on Friday that I would pay $400 for the truck and he said that would be enough, but he wanted to wait and see if anyone else would make an offer. Then he takes the offer from some random guy off the street today. Most people I deal with treat selling something on Craigslist as a "first come, first serve" deal, not like an auction.

So now my plans are all screwed up. Here are my new plans I guess:

1) Look over the truck and see what can be saved. I already know the bed is way too rusted to use on the truck and besides, I really want a shortbed.
2) Find replacement parts. I already know I need a grill, bumpers, doors, pass. fender, and bed.
3) Shorten the frame for the shortbed.
4) Go from there depending on how things are working out.

I plan on completely disassembling the truck to do a restoration. I will attempt to patch the frame where it needs to be and put por15 on it. Also plan on rebuilding and possibly upgrading the engine while I'm at it.

If anyone knows where I can find parts for the J10 let me know. I live in Madison County and have been unable to find any J10's in the junkyards around here so any help would be appreciated greatly.

[Southern Gorilla]

Have you considered using fiberglass where possible?

http://stores.zmjeeps.com/Detail.bok?no=146696

Probably no cheaper than steel. But at least it would never rust out.

[91blaze]

Have you considered using fiberglass where possible?

http://stores.zmjeeps.com/Detail.bok?no=146696

Probably no cheaper than steel. But at least it would never rust out.

Too expensive for me. I plan on finding everything as cheap as possible and I'm not worried about it rusting. As long as you take care of a vehicle and take precautions, it won't rust.

Thanks for the suggestion though.