1980 J10....Sportside conversion

[GreenMachine]

I traded a 98 2wd long bed chevy for this J10. J10 supposedly just needed a carb rebuild to run... The chevy was a old delivery truck that I had been paying insurance on and not using. Really didn't have plans for it other than to get it running and driving.

I still have the grip spurs but unfortunately they are badly dry rotted.
I rebuilt the carb and got it to run...


The rings are so bad it blows the dipstick out of the tube.

While I decided which way I wanted to go on the motor I decided to address the squishy spot in the floor on the drivers side (I noticed that it was missing some original floor pan before I traded).












Floor pans are now solid.

[GreenMachine]

Redid the rear drums with all new parts.


Cleaned up and out the gas tank with new hoses and lines.








I ended up buying this to put in it.. It didn't come with the fuel injection stuff and had suffered a front collision and all the brackets were bent or broken (broke the harmonic balancer). I still plan to use the 5 speed though at some point.

[GreenMachine]

So I ran across this little Gem,....


And by gem i mean rusty hunk of crap. I have always wanted a sportside.. I was 5 when they came out and I remember seeing the ads on TV and there were a few around growing up. I probably could have found a better bed to start with but what would be the fun in that? I got it for $600 and it is a v8 4spd from the factory truck. Got it running in about 10 mins off a 5 gal gas jug and it didn't even smoke (doesn't leak either but that might be because everything is rusted to whatever it is touching). The bad news is it was a 304 and not a 360. I have decided to use it though as I have everything needed to swap and it runs...



I pulled both motors and the bed. I have the motor mounts (the factory welds were a joke) swapped and I am putting a intake and cam in the 304 and changing all the seals before I put it in.

Here is where I am at now.

[Carnuck]

Did you get the newer style intake with it? Balancer is easy (I have a pile of those) and '91-99 intakes and injectors are easy too. The FSJ mounts go in a different place than TJ ones so that may be save-able too.

I ended up buying this to put in it.. It didn't come with the fuel injection stuff and had suffered a front collision and all the brackets were bent or broken (broke the harmonic balancer). I still plan to use the 5 speed though at some point.

[GreenMachine]

It's a 01 motor and it didn't have the intake. Someone got there before me. I'm not going to get rid of it as it might find its way into my 56 willys. It's just not going in the J10.

[Carnuck]

The earlier intake will bolt up.

[Strode]

Great project, looking forward to updates.

[Carnuck]

Somehow I forgot to add the earlier intake bolts up but won't clear the FSJ brake booster.

[GreenMachine]

New cam, lifters, timing set, intake, and water pump installed. All new gaskets and seals. My cabinet is down for upgrades and I am waiting on a guy to sandblast the sheet metal so I can paint it and put it on and it will be ready to go back in.



Also scored this for a bumper to be made later.

[GreenMachine]

Have not updated this in a while. I bought a CJ6 and I have been spending all my wrench time on it. I have it road worthy and spent a little time on the J10. Got the engine and transmission stuck in. I am modifying a Chevy master and slave for the clutch (01 XJ 5 Spd).

[GreenMachine]

[GreenMachine]

Transfer-case, cross member and drive-shaft are all in. For some reason the rear drive-shaft fits but the front measures too short. I'm going to put some effort into getting the front drive-shaft to slide apart farther but if it is too short I have a longer one I can shorten. Was able to use the stock cross member, just had to drill new holes for the XJ transmission mount.

[GreenMachine]

80's Chevy slave cylinder plate mocked up.

[GreenMachine]

It's running... Still have to wire in my gauges and having a un expected hole fixed in the radiator... Got a new set of shoes and painted my slots...


Oh yeah 4" super lift installed.

[GreenMachine]

Went with white faced speedhut gauges this time around.