Strode 1982 Cherokee Laredo

[Road Trip]

Is that snow on the vehicle outside the garage door?

[Strode182]

Not snow... we're finally into warm weather here. It stilled snowed in the mountains last weekend, tho.

[Strode182]

Continuing the updates:

I found another solution to the rear window defrost switch & timed relay problem.

I was pokin' around the junkyard and found a rear window defrost switch in a 90s Explorer. I liked it because it had a picture of the defoster and a light, which was better than me having a blank switch and adding a light.

So I pulled it out, and I got to looking at it. It's too big for just a switch. So I took it home and sure enough, the entire timed relay is built right into the switch. It took awhile for me to figure out the wiring, but it works like a charm. 9 minutes on-time. Plus, I can turn this one off by hitting the switch again, and I couldn't do that with the other relay.

This switch will not work on a stock setup with the relay in the tailgate. You'd have to redo your wiring like I did. But I'm pretty happy I came across this.



I also grabbed the fog light switch, and it has an indicator light too. They'll match in my dash. I'll put them both where the rear window switch and the defroster switch used to go, and have to cut the dash to make them fit. And I'll just find another place for the power tailgate window switch.

[Strode182]

I've been doing wiring for a month or so. Most of the time has been spent staring at a wire bomb and pondering.



I picked up several power distribution/relay boxes from 90s Cherokees, and used the terminal ends to build one box that I thought would work for all my needs. Problem was, I didn't know when I started exactly what I needed in relays.

So in the end, my box won't work for all the relays I need. I'll still need external relays for the lights, foglights, rear lights, and the door actuator relays. I should have planned ahead better. Live and learn.

It took alot of time. I will never complain about endless, repeated sanding again. I found a new chore to dislike more.



I bought a MetriPak kit and made new terminals where needed.

[Strode182]

I did the voltmeter conversion, and the CS144 upgrade using Mdills bracket. I redid the electrical using MADs ideas, which made sense to me. I blew apart the engine compartment harness, and eliminated what wasn't need and respliced wires to fit where I wanted.

Everything is routed over to the drivers side and thru the PDS. The big red wire goes thru that now and is protected by a 60 amp fuse. The yellow isn't used. I put in a 100 resettable circuit breaker before the PDS.

It took alot of time. Did I mention that?

Turns out, I didn't need that external fuse box for the amp, since it has it's own fuse in the PDS. If I hadn't already cut the wire, it wouldn't be there.



I really tried to get the wiring neater than stock. I'm mad at myself because I'll have to put more external relays in. I still might blow the PDS apart again and redo the wiring for what I need. I don't know if I'm that mad about it though.





** I'm seeing stuff right now I need to clean up more.

[Strode182]

I did cut the dash for the new Ford switches I'm using. Again, wish I had known so I could cut the dash before I painted it. I scratched it above the foglight, goll-durn it.

Rear window defogger on the left, foglights on the right:



And I put the new rear window switch on the right side:

[Strode182]

I put everything together enough to get the engine running in the chassis. Which was a big step enthusiasm-wise, but then became a real PIA.

It was all dialed in on the dyno, but when I put everything on it, it wanted to idle at 2000 rpm. I turned the timing down to get it to idle normally, and that made it retarded timing. I thought my timing marks were way off. And the idle speed screw wasn't even touching.

So I started this thread:

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=166682

(*I need to update that thread, because Rich is thinking the Tee from the canister is upstream of the PVC, and I found my original, and it isn't. So there will be some more added to that thread)

Ristow, Rick, & Rich helped me out. Mike correctly thought it was probably a vacuum leak.

Long story short, it took me a long time to discover the vapor canister has too weak a spring, and 1 1/2" of ported vacuum triggers it to open the can to air. This manifold leak would only show up when I put everything back together and put ported vacuum to the canister. So it was a hard one to find.

Edit: I also found that my throttle linkage was pulling back on the carb just sitting. So I had to fix that.

So my new canister has a weak spring, and I'll need to delve into that. I don't know if I can pry the top off of it without screwing it up or not. Plus, I might have to choke down the outlet to a smaller size.

Anyway.....it's running in the chassis. I still need to dial it in a little more to see exactly how much advance I'm getting where, and then of course drive it and see if it needs more or less timing. I messed with the vacuum advance adjustment before I knew what I was doing, so I need to revisit that.

It was running so durn hot when it had retarded timing, I thought it something was really wrong. The Doug Thorley headers with the ceramic coating still look brand new, and I'm very impressed with them. But from the Y pipe back it's chrome, and I blued them up pretty good. Oh well.

The dash is in, I don't know if I'll keep that particular dash or not, but the wood grain looks good in my color scheme. The gauges all work. (Tim, I found out some of my gauges would not work until I grounded the wiring harness to the rear lights which are not on yet...I hope that wasn't your problem)

The charging system using the MAD scheme and the trouble light seems to work good, and the CS144 is comes on charging after a slight delay after startup, as it should.

I have ZERO leaks as far as I can tell now, so I'm tickled about that (knock on wood). I did drop the transmission pan TWICE because it was leaking, before I discovered that it wasn't the pan leaking, but the filler tube neck in the case. So I redid that, and while I had it off the 2nd time, got the good neoprene pan gasket from the dealer.

It's up on stands, and I can run it thru the gears and the 4WD and it seems to be working correctly. The clacking noise from my rebuilt transfer case disappeared, and I still don't know what that was about. Brakes seem to be good, no leaks.

I'm going to run it around the block one of these days, just to see what other problems show up.

I've already used up most of my vacation for this year working on this, so I don't know how much progress I will be making. The to-do list isn't getting any shorter. Having it on the road by spring of next year would be satisfying.

I didn't want to start trying to put in the alarm system until I had it running, so there's that to do.

Big things to do are put on the rest of the front end, build the subwoofer box, paint it of course, then all the weatherstripping, glass, carpet, seats & upholstery.....it goes on and on.

[Strode182]

Well, I did alot more tuning, and got some personal help from Ristow on my settings.

The Bulltear HEI has a little plate with hooks that limits vacuum advance. It's the double hooked little thing on the vacuum advance here.



It was set to D (most limiting) and I've now got it on B. There's also the allen screw inside the vacuum pot, that I messed with that using a pump. I chased more vacuum leaks. My snorkle flap system tested good before, but now wouldn't hold vacuum, so I disconnected that. And the vacuum dump valve for the EGR went away.

On my other thread about tuning, Rich said his vapor can tees into the PVC valve on the upstream side. I found my original, and it does not.



I removed my tee into the PVC line for the out end of the vapor can, and put a nipple on my snorkle. So now it will dump into the snorkle when it opens at a stupid low vacuum, and shouldn't mess with the tuning.


The can can stay for now, I think's it's not an issue if it dumps in the snorkle. If somebody thinks that's a bad idea, let me know.

[Strode182]

So this Sunday morning at 6am, for the first time in the almost 2 years since I've owned it, I drove my Jeep.





WHSII gets away with driving a bare chassis, I figured I was safe. I strapped my doors shut and crawled in from the back.

Should of worn some goggles.




It did pretty good. The transmission isn't kicking down, so I was pretty disappointed in the acceleration, then I put it in 1st. Acceleration is very brisk. No complaints there, it gets with it. I don't know if I'm on the mark or if there's more there, but if that's it, I'm very satisfied. Burned some rubber even.

I thought I had the transmission kickdown adjusted right, but that needs some work.

What's troubling is that the park pawl does not engage. It was engaging on the jackstands. It might just be the linkage, it's not getting enough throw.

[Strode182]

The ride is a little jouncy with the modified (some springs removed) 4" lift. I might go back and see if I can loosen the leaf spring bolts after I've driven it a bit. But it's not bad at all. It reminds me of driving a CJ5 I used to have. I probably have another 500 lbs of stuff to put in it.

Good thing: Brakes. I put the dual diaphram booster on it. Feels good, stops straight.

Good thing: The steering is nice and tight. My alignment is off of course, because I've replaced everything. But the front end feels good and tight too.

Bad Thing: The transmission kick-down and the parking prawl are bad things that need attention. I hope the prawl thing is just a short throw on the linkage.

Good thing: Still zero leaks. It's hard to be prissy if it's leaking. It's so unprissy. But not seeing any leaks, and I like that. The chassis and body seem tight. It's hard to tell when it's a big motorcycle with a roof, but it seems really solid.

Good thing: Cooling seems to be up to par. When I was tuning it and the timing was way retarted, I really was starting to think the .080 overbore on the 401 was a mistake.

But I think it'll be fine. I don't have a shroud on it now, we'll see.

I put a 27-2 battery in it, if anybody is interested. I searched for what people were using, and I didn't see that one. I had to shave off the ends of the battery tray, and it fits good with the stock hold down. Rated at 810/1000/135

Edit: I got the trans linkage adjusted better, and the parking prawl engages good now. Also adjusted the kickdown linkage, and it's better.

[Atla]

Awesome! Congrats on getting to drive it around!

You've delved way past my point of knowledge and understanding into your rig though, I read through your last few posts and it pretty much blew my mind as I had no idea what your talking about. :p

[Stuka]

I am sure you mentioned this, but what front seats did you use?

[Strode182]

I am sure you mentioned this, but what front seats did you use?

They are out of a 98 Explorer, details on page 5. I love those seats. Took a little bit of finaggling to get them in.

[Strode182]

I'm hoping (!) to get this final painted this month, so I'm in a blitz to finish up things that I've been avoiding.

I had to pound out the dents in the tailgate from when I stupidly dropped it on the frame horns. It wasn't too bad, but it was worse than it looks in these pictures:



I tapped them out, but then fill, smooth, sand, prime, sand routine....







Got it mounted and gapped as good as AMC standards would allow. I'm at the stage now where I can't find anything (like some stuff for the tailgate!), even though everything is in baggies.....somewhere.

[Strode182]

I hope to someday have a Safari rack, and I want lights forward and back. So I wired for the lights and put good connectors on them. It's thru a grommet and siliconed good.



I also got a temperature, compass, & auto dimming rear view mirror, and I wired for that. It makes my wife happy to know the temperature, so....there. I like not being blinded by people behind.

This is an example of the amount of extra wiring I have in 1 B pillar. The other one is just as crowded.

[Strode182]

I got the hood mounted, so now all body panels are on.



I ordered a leather wheel cover and put it on, and painted my junkyard blue wheel brown.

[Strode182]

I never liked that you can see the pie plate holes thru the grille, and the wiring/hoses/stuff.





So, I found some plastic hoops just bigger than the pie holes, and epoxied some black sun screen material on them, and painted them black.



Then I just screwed them on in front of the pie plate holes.

Ah, much prissier.



Getting close! I hope! When I get some paint on this thing, I'll really feel like I've turned a corner.



It definitely needs some bigger tires. I've been pricing tires and yikes.

[Strode182]

Hey! It's PAINTED!











Finally, finally, finally.

As it ended, I didn't paint it myself in my garage. After trying more than once by myself in my garage, my friend Justin strongly suggested we use his friends paint booth. His friend is Don Diltz, owner of Painted Dreams. He has an amazing shop with some really cool stuff in there.

http://www.painteddrms.com/

So we took it to Don's shop on Friday night, and on Saturday Don mixed up his Sherwin Williams basecoat/clearcoat to match the Summit single stage gold and brown that I had already painted.

I had it in mind how I wanted to do the stripes and I layed it out with Don, and he changed my design a little bit. I like how it turned out, it's what I had in mind but better.

Don shot the most of it and my friend Justin shot some. They asked it I wanted to shoot some clear and I said no thanks, don't want to go backwards here.

I am very happy that I got it straight. Don even said he was pleasantly surprised at how straight it was. High praise from a high-end pro, so that made me feel good.

Next is color sanding the whole thing and polishing it so it will really pop.

I'm not done with the exterior. There are a couple more 'finishing touches' in store that I will do after I get it sanded and polished.

Woo Hoo, it's painted, and I believe a corner has been turned.

[Austin4x4]

That looks really nice!

[REDONE]

I'm not done with the exterior. There are a couple more 'finishing touches' in store that I will do after I get it sanded and polished.

"Scorpion" Decals!!!

That looks amazing!