So I have a 1977 Jeep J20, which is nearly the same as saying "I have a rig that's actively trying to self destruct"
My genius tailgate mod. Copyright pending...
I'm thinking of filling the crack with spackle and painting it maroonish to match the truck, with "JEEP" decals but all mis aligned and falling over..
Mandatory Engine picture:
the Astute among you might notice the significant lack of vacuum lines... I should probably properly rig the vacuum advance to the CTO but bigger problems keep slowing me down on simple things like that.
The Bones: D60 rear, D44 front, diff gear appears to be 3.73, TH400 tranny, BW1339, AMC 401 (w/ Edelbrock performer intake, Street Demon 625 4bl carb)
Supposedly the trucks story goes something like old dude bought it new, drove it some (roughly 35k miles), old dude dies, truck sits in barn/carport for many years before widow sells it. 2nd owner supposedly drove it for pretty long commutes, decided a 4' long glass pack was a good idea, rigged the worst car stereo system I've ever seen and in general has made my life more difficult. But I've always wanted an FSJ with a big V8 and now I have one. Winning!... sort of.
From what I understand from my BW1339 it seems to be full time 4x4 which makes the vacuum powered selector pointless besides to "lock" equal power to front and rear during "emergencies" lol. It's already a heavy truck with a low compression v8.. I would like to make it full time 2wd and select 4x4 at will. For economy... and burnouts.
Current problems in order of priority:
-Windshield Wipers: I have a new motor, a new switch but the correct wires have disappeared into the tangle of FUBAR wiring and something was blowing every fuse I put in the fuse box before I removed the switch (I had thought it might have been the switch itself not grounding properly). Considering I live in Seattle this IS actually kind of a big deal. I'm considering making an entirely separate circuit for the wiper blade motor and bypassing the fusebox altogether.
-Headlights: Speaking of bypassing the fuse box, I was trouble shooting the headlights, replaced the switch and currently have the strange problem of them working... randomly. Not like, on and off during a drive but more like they either work or they don't at will for seemingly no good reason. Because of this problem I actually purchased a cheap accessory light harness off amazon and some cheap LED fog lights to keep the cops off my Expletive Deleted!Expletive Deleted!Expletive Deleted!.
-Weatherizing: I'm trying to figure out what would be some good weather stripping for the door jams, any advice/suggestions much appreciated.
-Fixing the Doors' "Hang": I don't know how else to put it but both doors are no longer lined up properly, they barely close at all, I tried the old guess and check method of loosening and tightening things but nothing I tried seemed to work, any advice here is much appreciated.
-Brakes: Busted a hose and replaced a master cylinder recently, mean to replace the other hose when I can figure out why my passenger rear drum refuses to bleed a drop.. once that happens I'll be replacing the front pads as well.
-Exhaust: Someone did a very poor job of clamping in a huge glass pack, so exhuast leaks and it's god awful loud, which I tolerate because I know it must piss off every prius driving hipster in Seattle, but I do plan to put in hedman headers with 2.5" tubing after the collectors, H pipe and two turbo mufflers with side discharge, somewhere before the rear tires I'm thinking currently. Plan on doing all the welding myself with a fleabay mig.. we'll see how that goes. Even if I had power for my stickmate (which I don't in an apartment) it would go right through tubing. If the mig gets floor plans welded in and the exhaust done, it'll be worth it.
-Doors 2.0: I have new cylinder locks for the doors but haven't had the time to figure out how to install them. It goes somewhere on this list but maybe not here.
-Gas tank: likely cracked, fill tube actually falling apart, gas gauge inop. (Solution: Pickn'pull 20 gallon or bigger gas tank, eventually)
-Battery Disconnect Switch: I already have the bits and piece I just haven't quite decided on a good location at the moment.
-Bushings: Basically 40 y/o rubber needs to go. If anyone knows of a good source for a "kit" or bushing pack that mostly works for this application I'd love to be steering in the right direction. Found on BJ's, just about 400.. hell to the nah
-Power Steering and Gearbox: basically same as above, except I'll be buying rebuild kits and attempting my hand at learning something new for both tasks. Same goes for the front calipers as well.
-Rear Calipers: because drums are annoying. I dislike having to do more than pull off the tire to inspect the system for wear.
-Glove box: the moldy card board had to go but I ordered the wrong plastic replacement (much too small) getting the right size and installing is on the list. Found one that might work on a site called "Team Grand Wagoneer" which has been surprisingly full of parts I want... Like weather stripping made specifically for our doors that fit perfect, no modification or pure fabrication required. Splurge item... eventually.
-Radio: it has the factory one but it's been disconnected for who knows how long, PO had the worst installed head unit and wiring I've ever seen, seriously. Installing something that isn't too flashy and "modern" looking in the factory location is ideal but it's low on the priority list.
-Headliner/general sound proofing: I may as well not have a cab at all for what it sounds like on the inside, and at 60mph I get that weird sheet metal wobble sound from the roof. After patching interior sheet metal I'll probably lay some bed liner down for heat/sound/corrosion purposes.
Wish List/ low priority-high want:
-Install "new" (undented) roof
-Taller ring and pinion gears
-Locking difs
-TC with low range and the ability to remain 2wd most of the time
-Engine rebuild ^compression ratio (wish not because price but because time)
-Wiring harness (ditto)
-Bucket Seats and new carpet
-Floor pans welded in, small dents hammered out and holes in side panels cut out and patched up, leading to the eventual..
-Primer, probably rusto-red because that's fairly close to the factory color anyways.
-Lift
-Tires
I constantly have questions and so I believe this is where I'll ask them. I'm fairly handy with tools, there's not much I can't do given enough time, tools and money. Unfortunately for me all of these are in limited supply, I am not "cheap" but I will attempt to save as much money as humanly possible by doing anything I can do myself. My time does come at a premium these days, between work and college, but not usually enough to warrant the 100 american pesos an hour mechanics charge, plus overpaying for parts.
I'm a big fan of unconventional solutions. I don't need everything to be "made for" my rig, if I can find some leaf springs for a good price that are the right size from XY application then hell yeah I'm using that instead of the 550 bucks skyjacker wants.
I'm not sure how pictures work on here, photobucket has become a filthy hell hole of internet ads and shenanigans so I'm looking for alternative methods of posting pictures. For now though, everything I have done so far should have pictures in this Drive Folder
Things accomplished: Blower Motor cleanup, heater core exchange, fixed push button "heater" "defroster" mechanisms (latch spring for holding the pushed button in place missing, spring from ball point pen working for now) replaced wiper motor, installed fog lights and independant fog light circuit, installed edelbrock intake and street demon carb, HEI distributor install, custom made street fire wires (msd), rear main seal replaced, oil pan leak remedied, master cylinder, passenger front brake hose and more.
My genius tailgate mod. Copyright pending...
I'm thinking of filling the crack with spackle and painting it maroonish to match the truck, with "JEEP" decals but all mis aligned and falling over..
Mandatory Engine picture:
the Astute among you might notice the significant lack of vacuum lines... I should probably properly rig the vacuum advance to the CTO but bigger problems keep slowing me down on simple things like that.
The Bones: D60 rear, D44 front, diff gear appears to be 3.73, TH400 tranny, BW1339, AMC 401 (w/ Edelbrock performer intake, Street Demon 625 4bl carb)
Supposedly the trucks story goes something like old dude bought it new, drove it some (roughly 35k miles), old dude dies, truck sits in barn/carport for many years before widow sells it. 2nd owner supposedly drove it for pretty long commutes, decided a 4' long glass pack was a good idea, rigged the worst car stereo system I've ever seen and in general has made my life more difficult. But I've always wanted an FSJ with a big V8 and now I have one. Winning!... sort of.
From what I understand from my BW1339 it seems to be full time 4x4 which makes the vacuum powered selector pointless besides to "lock" equal power to front and rear during "emergencies" lol. It's already a heavy truck with a low compression v8.. I would like to make it full time 2wd and select 4x4 at will. For economy... and burnouts.
Current problems in order of priority:
-Windshield Wipers: I have a new motor, a new switch but the correct wires have disappeared into the tangle of FUBAR wiring and something was blowing every fuse I put in the fuse box before I removed the switch (I had thought it might have been the switch itself not grounding properly). Considering I live in Seattle this IS actually kind of a big deal. I'm considering making an entirely separate circuit for the wiper blade motor and bypassing the fusebox altogether.
-Headlights: Speaking of bypassing the fuse box, I was trouble shooting the headlights, replaced the switch and currently have the strange problem of them working... randomly. Not like, on and off during a drive but more like they either work or they don't at will for seemingly no good reason. Because of this problem I actually purchased a cheap accessory light harness off amazon and some cheap LED fog lights to keep the cops off my Expletive Deleted!Expletive Deleted!Expletive Deleted!.
-Weatherizing: I'm trying to figure out what would be some good weather stripping for the door jams, any advice/suggestions much appreciated.
-Fixing the Doors' "Hang": I don't know how else to put it but both doors are no longer lined up properly, they barely close at all, I tried the old guess and check method of loosening and tightening things but nothing I tried seemed to work, any advice here is much appreciated.
-Brakes: Busted a hose and replaced a master cylinder recently, mean to replace the other hose when I can figure out why my passenger rear drum refuses to bleed a drop.. once that happens I'll be replacing the front pads as well.
-Exhaust: Someone did a very poor job of clamping in a huge glass pack, so exhuast leaks and it's god awful loud, which I tolerate because I know it must piss off every prius driving hipster in Seattle, but I do plan to put in hedman headers with 2.5" tubing after the collectors, H pipe and two turbo mufflers with side discharge, somewhere before the rear tires I'm thinking currently. Plan on doing all the welding myself with a fleabay mig.. we'll see how that goes. Even if I had power for my stickmate (which I don't in an apartment) it would go right through tubing. If the mig gets floor plans welded in and the exhaust done, it'll be worth it.
-Doors 2.0: I have new cylinder locks for the doors but haven't had the time to figure out how to install them. It goes somewhere on this list but maybe not here.
-Gas tank: likely cracked, fill tube actually falling apart, gas gauge inop. (Solution: Pickn'pull 20 gallon or bigger gas tank, eventually)
-Battery Disconnect Switch: I already have the bits and piece I just haven't quite decided on a good location at the moment.
-Bushings: Basically 40 y/o rubber needs to go. If anyone knows of a good source for a "kit" or bushing pack that mostly works for this application I'd love to be steering in the right direction. Found on BJ's, just about 400.. hell to the nah
-Power Steering and Gearbox: basically same as above, except I'll be buying rebuild kits and attempting my hand at learning something new for both tasks. Same goes for the front calipers as well.
-Rear Calipers: because drums are annoying. I dislike having to do more than pull off the tire to inspect the system for wear.
-Glove box: the moldy card board had to go but I ordered the wrong plastic replacement (much too small) getting the right size and installing is on the list. Found one that might work on a site called "Team Grand Wagoneer" which has been surprisingly full of parts I want... Like weather stripping made specifically for our doors that fit perfect, no modification or pure fabrication required. Splurge item... eventually.
-Radio: it has the factory one but it's been disconnected for who knows how long, PO had the worst installed head unit and wiring I've ever seen, seriously. Installing something that isn't too flashy and "modern" looking in the factory location is ideal but it's low on the priority list.
-Headliner/general sound proofing: I may as well not have a cab at all for what it sounds like on the inside, and at 60mph I get that weird sheet metal wobble sound from the roof. After patching interior sheet metal I'll probably lay some bed liner down for heat/sound/corrosion purposes.
Wish List/ low priority-high want:
-Install "new" (undented) roof
-Taller ring and pinion gears
-Locking difs
-TC with low range and the ability to remain 2wd most of the time
-Engine rebuild ^compression ratio (wish not because price but because time)
-Wiring harness (ditto)
-Bucket Seats and new carpet
-Floor pans welded in, small dents hammered out and holes in side panels cut out and patched up, leading to the eventual..
-Primer, probably rusto-red because that's fairly close to the factory color anyways.
-Lift
-Tires
I constantly have questions and so I believe this is where I'll ask them. I'm fairly handy with tools, there's not much I can't do given enough time, tools and money. Unfortunately for me all of these are in limited supply, I am not "cheap" but I will attempt to save as much money as humanly possible by doing anything I can do myself. My time does come at a premium these days, between work and college, but not usually enough to warrant the 100 american pesos an hour mechanics charge, plus overpaying for parts.
I'm a big fan of unconventional solutions. I don't need everything to be "made for" my rig, if I can find some leaf springs for a good price that are the right size from XY application then hell yeah I'm using that instead of the 550 bucks skyjacker wants.
I'm not sure how pictures work on here, photobucket has become a filthy hell hole of internet ads and shenanigans so I'm looking for alternative methods of posting pictures. For now though, everything I have done so far should have pictures in this Drive Folder
Things accomplished: Blower Motor cleanup, heater core exchange, fixed push button "heater" "defroster" mechanisms (latch spring for holding the pushed button in place missing, spring from ball point pen working for now) replaced wiper motor, installed fog lights and independant fog light circuit, installed edelbrock intake and street demon carb, HEI distributor install, custom made street fire wires (msd), rear main seal replaced, oil pan leak remedied, master cylinder, passenger front brake hose and more.
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