1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

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Icethrasher
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Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:39 pm

1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by Icethrasher »

Hi Everyone!

Just thought I would introduce myself and my J10 Pickup.

Truck background:

I recently inherited this truck from my dad, because he bought a new rig to use going up to his property.

The truck was painted in the 90’s and it was sold at an auction somewhere around Ontario, Oregon. Supposedly it had a big winch on it during the auction, but the buyer didn’t realize that was a separate auction. My dad had seen it driving around beforehand and said it was an awesome looking rig with the combo. A couple years later, it came up for sale and he jumped on it.

It was supposed to be my fist rig and was purchased for me when I was 13, but the rear axle broke back when finding parts on the internet wasn’t what it is today. An axle was made for it at a shop in Portland/Salem Oregon after sitting for 7 years, but by then I had moved out and gone to college. Before the axle broke, I spent a lot of great times driving it on back roads through the woods and high desert areas of Eastern Oregon on adventures, hunting and fishing.

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Some Truck Info:

It has the factory 401 engine with the Th400 BW1339 Quadratrac combo. The ignition system has been converted over to points and condenser, and an Edelbrock 650 carb feeding the fuel. Smog equipment was mostly all removed and blocked off by PO. Factory A/C, but I don’t know if that has ever worked, or even been charged, while it’s been in the family. It has cruise control that I was informed worked once, but it is has been disconnected since the carb swap.

The Truck Plan:

I have lots of projects, so I’m not sure when some of this will take place, but I would like to start by doing some basic maintenance and start finding some of the missing/broken parts for the interior.

Replace the broken exhaust manifold (thank you repair shop that screwed my dad when replacing the flywheel) and maybe build an adapter to delete the exhaust heat riser. Might need to rebuild the transmission and would like to replace transfer case gaskets and refill with correct fluids (not sure if it correct right now...).

Truck needs new leaf springs in the front, at least, but considering a lift. Might get some good factory height replacements, and save up for a lift kit, tires and wheels. Leaning towards the skyjacker, but a lift is definitely not a must have and might be years out.

Would like to re-jet the carb and find some easy trays to get a little more performance out of the motor without breaking the bank, but that’s also not a must have at the moment. For right now, I just want to keep it running good and maintained and use it as a fun Friday commuter and house/yard project supplies hauler.

Me:

Grew up in Burns, Oregon working side-by-side with my dad on all our cars/trucks/projects. I guess you could say I caught the “bug” for tinkering and working on my own vehicles. My dad likes to say he can “see the potential in anything, and I find that true myself. Might be why I have several vehicles and countless projects...

Headed to college at Oregon State (Go Beav’s!) and since then have worked as a test engineer for a forklift company near Portland, Oregon. Not a huge fan of the big city life, although it does have its perks, so we live outside city limits near Sandy, Oregon. Still enjoy exploring the backroads, hunting, fishing and spending time with my family. That said, I’m looking forward to my next adventure and time in the woods!


God bless and have a great Easter Sunday
1976 J10 - 401, TH400, BW1339
1974 Ford F250 - 360, Manual, 4x4
1949 GMC FC150, 270 I6, Manual
2004 Nissan Xterra, Lifted, Manual
2002 Kawasaki KLR250
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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

Welcome and enjoy the sickness. You have a nice truck with a great history.

will e
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Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2012 8:21 am

Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by will e »

Welcome! That's a great looking truck you have there. And thanks for sharing your story.
81 Waggy 'WILL E' Retired
82 Cherokee WT - SOA/SF/high steer/Alcan springs/agr box/Borgeson steering shaft/AMC 401/performer/holley TA/HEI/BeCool/727/ALTAS (2.0/2.72/5.44)/D60 Snofighter(Yukon Zip,hubs,stubs,4.56)/14 Bolt (FF,BF shave, Discs, ARB,Artec Truss)/MTR 37X12.5/Corbeau XRS Baja & 5 point retractable harness/Hella Aux lights/tuffy console/killer32 sliders/Evil Twin bumpers, rack and roll cage/WARN 8000/TT Fabworks steering brace/dual batts/custom TC skid plate/ARB fridge
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fulsizjeep
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Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by fulsizjeep »

Great story, thank you. Enjoy it and good luck on all your Jeep projects! :-bd
Flint Boardman
88 GW, 401/727/208, 5" lift, D44s/4.10s/locked up, 35s
https://jubileejeeps.org/quadratrac
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Chubbinius
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Location: SD, CA

Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by Chubbinius »

Nice, that's is a great story on the truck and how it has been a part of your family. Best of luck as you bring it back to its glory, looking forward to watching/reading the progress.
1970 1414X Wagoneer "The Pig"
-Custom Special
-Dauntless 350 V8
-D27 front/D44 rear
2006 XK (65th Ann Edition)-DD
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Icethrasher
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Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by Icethrasher »

Thank you men. Its definitely been bringing back some memories and I'm enjoying cruising it around town. Not used to driving an older truck and being the one noticed by other drivers. I'm usually checking out the oldies on the road, without being noticed by their drivers, but driving around the j10 I've been caught off guard realizing they were staring, pointing, praising the J10. It's nothing special, but you definitely don't see many FSJs on the road anymore.
1976 J10 - 401, TH400, BW1339
1974 Ford F250 - 360, Manual, 4x4
1949 GMC FC150, 270 I6, Manual
2004 Nissan Xterra, Lifted, Manual
2002 Kawasaki KLR250

78 WIDETRAC
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Location: Portland, Ore

Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by 78 WIDETRAC »

Welcome. I might have some parts you need. I'm in Portland on the east side. I'm currently working on an 81 Cherokee project.
91 Grand Wagoneer
89 Grand Wagoneer
80 Golden Hawk
81 Cherokee
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Topic author
Icethrasher
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Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:39 pm

1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by Icethrasher »

78 WIDETRAC wrote:Welcome. I might have some parts you need. I'm in Portland on the east side. I'm currently working on an 81 Cherokee project.
Awesome! Looking forward to seeing what you have and keeping in touch!
1976 J10 - 401, TH400, BW1339
1974 Ford F250 - 360, Manual, 4x4
1949 GMC FC150, 270 I6, Manual
2004 Nissan Xterra, Lifted, Manual
2002 Kawasaki KLR250

78 WIDETRAC
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Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:53 am
Location: Portland, Ore

Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by 78 WIDETRAC »

I went to Sandy twice in the past month to get FSJ parts. My build is on IFSJA. I enjoy both forums but felt it didn't need to be on both. Yeah, keep in touch. I'm sure I have extra parts to you could use.
91 Grand Wagoneer
89 Grand Wagoneer
80 Golden Hawk
81 Cherokee
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fulsizjeep
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Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by fulsizjeep »

I was looking at this again and realized the original color is Sunshine Yellow. One of my favorites. My dad had a Sunshine Yellow Gremlin. My first Waggy was a 76 401 in the same color and interior. I used to walk around in the Padre Island sand dunes in the middle of the day just to scout around and maybe find something worth picking up. I could see that yellow Jeep at my camp site miles away. Then one day I walked back into camp to find a fishing line was down. I reeled it in and the bait had been picked clean off the hooks. Dangit.

Image
Flint Boardman
88 GW, 401/727/208, 5" lift, D44s/4.10s/locked up, 35s
https://jubileejeeps.org/quadratrac
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Icethrasher
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Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:39 pm

Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by Icethrasher »

Been awhile since I posted my intro.

Since then I had a wiring cookout and had to do some repair work. Ended up pulling out the cluster and and found melted wires to and from the ammeter. Pulled off all the electrical tape and removed everything toasted.

Cab repairs and mods
- Wiring into the steering column signal switch. Bought a newer signal switch kit with an adapter and rewired the dash harness for the new connector using most of the spade connectors on the old harness(duty heavier duty compared to new ones!)
- Retrofitted the cluster to have a voltmeter instead of the original ammeter. This was pretty straight forward using the tech page article.
- Cleaned up wiring, re-taped harness, cleaned and dielectric greased all terminals and replaced bulbs. Pretty awesome to have ALL interior lights working including the cluster, ash tray, clock(correct 2x/day) and glovebox!

Under hood modifications
- Old yellow Cab power cable removed service.
- Red 10ga cable routed to solenoid post with 30amp maxi fuse.
- 4ga alternator power cable routed to solenoid.
- Organized and covered most wires under hood routed around the motor.
- New passenger side exhaust manifold with heat riser valve plate omitted.
- Sanded and painted valve covers and replaced gaskets.

Post Operation Pictures
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1976 J10 - 401, TH400, BW1339
1974 Ford F250 - 360, Manual, 4x4
1949 GMC FC150, 270 I6, Manual
2004 Nissan Xterra, Lifted, Manual
2002 Kawasaki KLR250
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Topic author
Icethrasher
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Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:39 pm

Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by Icethrasher »

fulsizjeep wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 6:43 am I was looking at this again and realized the original color is Sunshine Yellow. One of my favorites. My dad had a Sunshine Yellow Gremlin. My first Waggy was a 76 401 in the same color and interior. I used to walk around in the Padre Island sand dunes in the middle of the day just to scout around and maybe find something worth picking up. I could see that yellow Jeep at my camp site miles away. Then one day I walked back into camp to find a fishing line was down. I reeled it in and the bait had been picked clean off the hooks. Dangit.
Sounds like you have some good memories! Wouldn't trade my FSJ memories for anything!

Kind of hard to imagine the truck completely sunshine yellow now... Looked like it had a wood grain vinyl sticker down the side based on the door jams. Not sure if that was original from the factory or not, though.
1976 J10 - 401, TH400, BW1339
1974 Ford F250 - 360, Manual, 4x4
1949 GMC FC150, 270 I6, Manual
2004 Nissan Xterra, Lifted, Manual
2002 Kawasaki KLR250

rocklaurence
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Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by rocklaurence »

I have an addiction to FSJs since 1980 and jumped on the chance to get a Rust Free J10 for my son's first vehicle. He drove it for 8 years and when he relocated due to work I bought it off of him. I've had it for 2 years and have been restoring and modifying it. You can see the Shop Truck at YouTube https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Slab64
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Icethrasher
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Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:39 pm

1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by Icethrasher »

Its been awhile since my last post but work/issues on the pickup has continued none-the-less.

Upgrades/Repairs since the last post:

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1. New Temp Gauge
2. PerTronix Ignition System

I have replaced the temperature guage in hopes that it would mitigate an issue with the fuel and oil gauge. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful in the latter. Temp gauge now works as intended, but fuel gauge is dead and the oil pressure still behaves oddly. Fuel tank was replaced awhile ago by my dad and it stopped working around then I assume. I added a ground to the sending unit hoping that would mitigate the issue, but that didnt change anything. The oil pressure gauge used to read really high pressures ocassionally, and now it reads really low pressures. I am concerned that the oil pump bypass valve is sticking, or the sending unit/gauge is failing...

The bad:

Th400 Transmission needs rebuilt/replaced.

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This came up driving into work one day with the plans to pickup lumber. Started delayed shifting into first while in Drive and this took place at higher RPMs. Got to work by knew something was up but fluids were good. Went to the lumber yard after work and picked up a few hundred pounds of lumber and headed home. Thats where the adventure started... Over time it started slipping in drive when it shifted into 3rd, so i held it in 2nd for awhile until that started slipping, and then finally slowly drove the remaining few miles in 1st (UPHILL!) to make it home. Still functioned in first and reverse, but it wasnt happy. Pulled the pan and found some serious metal pieces lurking in the shadows of the now burnt ATF... Fortunately, I might have a good one that I can bolt in the interim.

The Worst(?): is

I found another Jeep..

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This is where I start to maybe lose it a little as it seems I am catching some sort of FSJ virus. Its a short box J10 with a manual gearbox, but the body and bed are in very bad shape. At first i thought "Cool, maybe swap the manual into mine with the D20 and have the configuration I would love", but over time it is becoming "What if...".

Question:

Do I swap my body motor and J20 axles hiding in my shop over to the new truck frame and build it up as a shortbox j10 jeep with a 401 motor, T18(?) and D20? Sanity check needed!!!
1976 J10 - 401, TH400, BW1339
1974 Ford F250 - 360, Manual, 4x4
1949 GMC FC150, 270 I6, Manual
2004 Nissan Xterra, Lifted, Manual
2002 Kawasaki KLR250
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Icethrasher
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Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:39 pm

Re: 1976 J10 w/ 401 “Grandpa’s Truck”

Post by Icethrasher »

Pictures added above
1976 J10 - 401, TH400, BW1339
1974 Ford F250 - 360, Manual, 4x4
1949 GMC FC150, 270 I6, Manual
2004 Nissan Xterra, Lifted, Manual
2002 Kawasaki KLR250
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