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Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:50 am
by lobie
4/3/12

Got home and went to back it in the garage and the clutch would not disengage. My son (8 yrs) helped me bleed it so I don't think all the air is out. I let it sit while talking to the neighbor for about 30 min. Jumped back in it and the clutch worked fine. Must be some air in it.

All in all, it's running great and the wife even complemented on how well it road. I'd tell a joke but I won't.

Jeepguyp just asked me "what's next?".
Well a couple of issues.... The clutch. Also I have a worn out battery that won't stay charged. I'm not sure if the alternator is charging cause when I drove home tonight (dark outside) the ammeter was on the negative side. eg. no charging going on will diagnose it in the next couple days.

I think I'm also going to tackle the AC. On the short 8 mile venture to dinner and back you could defenently tell the cab was much warmer than the outside air. And it's "cool" outside (68 deg). So in June at ECI it going to be in the 90's. Air is on the list.

Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:51 am
by lobie
4/3/12

Just a side note: this will be an ongoing project. My first goal (or stage 1) was to do the swap and get it back on the road. This jeep is far from finished but I want it functional and something to enjoy. It will never be a show vehicle. In fact I don't real care for a nice paint job as I'd rather be in the wood s with it. The next stage will be floor pans and maybe I can talk jeepguyp into setting up temporary paint booth in his shop to paint the jeep. We'll see.

Getting smaller:

AC
front drive shaft
spare tire/wheel
rock sliders
shift boot
tc boot
fix rear window

Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:52 am
by lobie
4/24/12

Its been a few weeks since I got it driving. Guess I'll update y'all on some stuff.

Ran fine for a while. The had some overheating issues. New thermo and pump. Still had some issues. Found out that I was loosing water. One of the caps for the heater outlet on the engine was leaking

Otherwise everything seems to be fine. Still need a front drive shaft and going to try and get that this wk.

Started cutting out some rust in the floors. Stopped and decided just to do the whole floor pan. Got the holes covered up for now so I'll do them in the near future.

Going to drive it for a while and enjoy it. Work on the body here and there. Maybe some paint in the fall.

Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:52 am
by lobie
4/25/12

Ordered my drive shaft this morning form Carolina Driveline. 1350 CV shaft with spicer parts and greasable joints. Also had to get a flange for the TC. Going to try and take it on some trails this wknd.

Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:52 am
by lobie
4/27/12

Got my front drive shaft today. Looks good and beefy. Guys there enjoyed looking at the jeep. Just makes all the work so much better!

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Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:53 am
by lobie
4/29/12

Put the drive shaft in and my boy and I went for a test drive. Nothing special just a short power line. He kept wanting to go thru the mud. I'm not a mud person but I let him drive thru some small ones. Made him happy. :fsj:

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Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:54 am
by lobie
5/15/12

I broke it!

Last wknd we went to Gulches in SC for a couple days. I went up a trail I had no business going on but it was fun. I spun the rear axle and broke the welds from the perches. It was really my fault. I didn't finish welding the perches all the way. The ears on the drive shaft are bent. Pretty easy fix.

The rear springs are starting to really sag and we are in the process of buy a camper. The hitch weight is 700 lbs so I had some new add a leafs in the garage and installed them. Its about an inch too high but it should settle a little. Its stiffer in the rear now and should be good for the camper with a load distribution hitch.

Check my website for pics and a video.

Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:54 am
by lobie
6/13/12

Been at URE since the 8th and did some trail cleaning on Dickey Bell (CFSJC adopted trail). Went to grab a beer can from the ledge and the front tire went up and the rear found a hole. This is the result.

Body pretty messed up. Looking for a new one. Guess I don't need paint right now. Lol.

I'm in the woods. Trying to get pics uploaded

Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:55 am
by lobie
6/13/12

Here they are:

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Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:56 am
by lobie
7/5/12

After lots of debating the cummins chief has come to the end. I am keeping both but they are getting a divorce. I wanted to have an all around use vehicle for road, towing, and off road. With the height of the vehicle (and the short wheel base) it doesn't pull my camper all that great. Plenty of power, just not as stable as I'd like it. Off road it's not the best. High center of gravity and tons of weight in the front.

Now there's things I could do to shift the weight around but consists of lots of work. I believe Resbum's build with the engine sitting farther back is a better option.
I have bought a 1987 R20 suburban with a 454 and 400 tranny. What a tank! The wheel base is ideal for pulling the camper. I will be leaving it at stock height and use it as my tow rig. My son calls it "the bus", rightfully so. The cummins is going to go in the burb with an allison 2wd tranny. The 454 and 400 will go in the jeep.

Somewhere in this tread I stated that I like to change my mind a lot, I'm holding to that statement.

PS: anyone looking for a Getrag 5 speed tranny let me know. Just rebuilt with new bearings and syncros. Its for sale on 4bt and cummins forum website.

Re: 78 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:00 am
by lobie
TODAY

It was a fun build and I learned a lot. I ended up selling the suburban and bought a 2500 Cummins.

I do now have a 77 Wagoneer 401. The Chief has had parts pulled/sold from it. I also have a LQ4 6.0 that I have been building in the last couple of months. It will probably go in the waggy. I plan on using the one ton axles I put in the Chief on the waggy. We'll see.

Did I mention, I change my mind a lot.........................

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:07 am
by ross80truck
Lobie, Glad to see that you brought this build thread over here. There is a lot of good information in this build. Good luck on your next build!

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:42 pm
by Resbum
Thanks lobie for updating/moving the thread over here. Now that I have mine saved from IFSJA I need to finish the process and get it in here.

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 6:26 pm
by lobie
It's not over.........

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 10:20 pm
by Stuka
Ok, no clue how I missed this!

Sorry to hear about the Cherokee! Tough to see something you put so much work into get smashed up. But at least you got the other waggy :)

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 4:43 am
by lobie
Going diesel again. Some how I just can't get away.

Stuka wrote:Tough to see something you put so much work into get smashed up. But at least you got the other waggy :)
Yes it is but I enjoy the work. I'm in the hunt for a cummins for the Waggy. Have all the parts just need an engine. May go 4bt. We'll see.
I'll start a new thread.

EDIT: Decided to go LQ4 6.0...... Maybe another project.

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 7:29 am
by ross80truck
What happened to the motor in the Cherokee?

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 8:07 am
by lobie
ross80truck wrote:What happened to the motor in the Cherokee?
Sold it the end of last summer.

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:38 pm
by 2326davis@gmail.com
I've been through the thread a couple of times and have a question, how did you mount the 6BT?

Re: 79 Cherokee Chief Cummins 6bt with ford one ton axles

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:55 pm
by Stuka
2326davis@gmail.com wrote:I've been through the thread a couple of times and have a question, how did you mount the 6BT?
He made custom mounts. You can barely see one of them in the second photo on the first page.