New member, and a 72 Camper Special

[leetmo]

Hi everyone, I’m new here, but not new to Jeeps. I have a 76 CJ7 with an AMC 360. A couple of weeks ago, I bought this 72 J4800 “Camper Special” and have been going through everything.

It has a swapped in AMC 390, onboard air, dual fuel tanks, a Brown/Spicer over/underdrive, limited slip rear diff and a winch.




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[leetmo]

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[Yeller]

Unique truck! Welcome aboard!

If you don’t mind me asking approximately where are you located?

[leetmo]

Thanks! I’m in northern Colorado, Larimer county.


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[devildog80]

So this is where the modern trucks got the idea of tool boxes built into the bed!

Nice looking rig you have there.

[tgreese]

Welcome - cool truck! Needs bigger horns.

We like pics. And more detail about unique features.

[leetmo]

I can only add one photo per post. But here’s a look at the gauge madness that the original owner put in.

Im removing this because I hate the oil/water plumbing into the dash to make this work. Also I will repurpose the exhaust temp bung for an o2 sensor (getting sniper EFI setup).

It has (had) three fuel tanks with a valve on the drivers floorboard. I’m putting in a new MTS tank in the stock location with an electric fuel pump in the tank. I might add a second tank with a simple fuel transfer pump.

More details to come…

[leetmo]

This is under the hood as I got it. There were lots of coolant lines exterior of the motor. One from the heater outlet, with a spigot valve, to the drivers side lower block with an inline block heater (clogged). The thermostat bypass went through two carb spacers plumbed for coolant and back to the water pump. I’ve removed all that.

The water pressure gauge was plumbed from the passenger side block drain, with a petcock, to the glove box gauge. Deleted.

There was also some sort of cool air supply from the cowl, with a flap door actuated by a choke cable from the dash. I threw all that away.

You can see in the upper right there’s an old school RV battery charging relay. Removed, but added to the museum.

I’m keeping the York pump OBA system, but rearranging some of it, replacing the pressure switch, replacing the dryer/deoiler and inspecting the tank. I plan on adding a purge switch. Then I can pull on the cable above my window to honk those horns.

Im also cleaning up wiring right now. Going to a CS130 style alternator and removing the voltage regulator on the firewall.

I’ll post more as all of this progresses… EFI install, interior, stereo, seats, air horns and more.


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[Stuka]

That is a very unique looking bed!

Any idea when the 390 was swapped in? It was never an option on Jeeps.

Welcome to the forum!

[leetmo]

Not sure when the 390 was swapped in, but the purchase included the original 360, which I hauled home in the bed. The 390 has those sweet 558-2 heads though.


Here’s a look at the interior. The bench seat just has a couple of tears under the drivers butt.


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[leetmo]

I managed to mount a CarPlay receiver where the factory radio goes… without cutting out a DIN sized slot. In fact, no destructive mod have been made to the dash.

This unit has an extrusion on the front that the screen mounts to. That extrusion is the exact same size as the main hole in the dash.




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[akguy09]

I remember seeing that forsale....my wife said no

[leetmo]

I remember seeing that forsale....my wife said no

Wrong color?


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[will e]

That's a cool truck! Bring it to our Ouray invasion next year!

[leetmo]

That's a cool truck! Bring it to our Ouray invasion next year!

Thanks! I’ll look into that. Maybe use it as a towpig for my CJ.


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[letank]

Great looking truck, welcome, I like the gauge madness... quite entertaining on long drives ... but water pressure?

As for the 390, we found one installed on a mid 60's Wagoneer some years ago. The exhaust layout was quite puzzling!

[leetmo]

Great looking truck, welcome, I like the gauge madness... quite entertaining on long drives ... but water pressure?

As for the 390, we found one installed on a mid 60's Wagoneer some years ago. The exhaust layout was quite puzzling!

Thanks! But for the gauges, I just couldn’t live with the wiring nightmare behind them. And they were wedged against the duct work. Not very cool when there’s water pipe, oil pipe and high amp wires for the ammeter.

This exhaust is simple… heads are square port, but the headers were dogleg. PO filled it in with weld and then ported them. Then it’s just off to the side pipes.


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[akguy09]

I remember seeing that forsale....my wife said no

Wrong color?


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Nope, too many other toys/ projects

[leetmo]

I’ve been slowly going through everything on this truck, and now it’s time for the fuel tank and an EFI conversion.

The original tank wouldn’t stop clogging fuel filters so I got a plastic MTS tank. Is pretty close to the original dimensionally, but I didn’t feel right about using the one strap to “hang” it from the wooden bed. So I built a cradle with two straps, in case anyone is looking for ideas on how to mount one securely without bumps and vibrations wearing out the plastic.



It’s basically some perforated angle steel welded in a rectangle to secure the top, with rubber pieces to lessen any rubbing. The straps hold it snug against the frame and then I’ll bolt the frame to the metal spans under the bed.

[tgreese]

Did your truck come with a skid plate? Prior to 1980, the skid plate was optional for these trucks. The steel tank was strong enough to support itself. In 1980, they went to a plastic tank where the skid plate supports the tank. On a J-truck, no additional straps are needed; just the enclosure formed by the skid plate. Some pictures here: viewtopic.php?t=23694 Possible you could mimic Jeep Corp's mounting for a plastic tank and gain a skid plate, if not present.

BTW the MTS replacement tank will not work with the '80-on skid plate. I asked. MTS suggests on their web site that the '80-on trucks might use the tank they sell for a '79. This requires removal of the skid plate and use of their mounting strap(s).