Hello all! In an effort to make real the saying of "shaking off the rust," I have bought my first Jeep in over ten years, and it is a thoroughly rusty 1979 Jeep pickup. I'm completely new to the FSJ scene, and mostly new to AMC-era Jeep - I only owned an 85 CJ7 and 88 MJ in my teens back in the 2000s. Am an old fart from JF and am posting on some other forums to get as much insight as I can.
Seller stated it's a J-10 with a 360, 3-speed GM THM400 auto, Quadra-Trac, and Dana 44s. Fair bit of rust. Speedo, temp, and oil pressure gauges work; gas and amp do not. Couple of vacuum lines have rotted. The fuel filler and breather tubes to the gas tank are cracked and leaking. Engine has a problem with overheating. Seller installed a new carburetor and new alternator in the past year, and stated the transmission was rebuilt sometime in the past four. Everything else is a mystery.
I'd like some help figuring out if the specs above are accurate based on photos below, and what would be the most sensible game plan to tackle the issues it does have.
Right now, the engine feels like it runs pretty smooth and is firing all cylinders. Oil pressure ~35 at warm idle, ~70 under throttle; black as tar and needs to be changed. Oil pan looks like it may be seeping. Occasionally has a hard time idling once warm and has an issue with slowly overheating when driving under 30 or over 40; when in that speed range, it'll still climb to about 2/3 to 3/4 the way up the temp gauge. The fan seems to be the correct cupped 7-blade design, but it's missing a shroud, and no idea on if the clutch is doing what it should. Radiator is old slam full of rusty water. No idea what water pump it has or if it has a thermostat.
Transmission shifts into all three gears very smoothly and on point, fluid is clean and looks fresh, but either it or the transfer case is leaking. Drove up to 55 without hesitation, no flaring, and surprisingly the truck drove straight without any wobble.
No clue if 4WD is behaving as it should or not, and unfamiliar with Quadra-Trac or how to properly check.
Rust. From what I understand from the bit of research I've already done, there are some common trouble points on these trucks? Here's what I've found so far:
- The full width of the bed at the front nearest the cab has rotted all the way through the floor and cross-member beneath by about 2" front to back, dangerously close to both frame mount points. The respective frame mounts already seem fairly compromised
- The rear leaf springs seem pretty caked in rust
- There are a couple of points on the frame between the cab / bed and cab / firewall that have the black coating fully peeled away and caked in rust, but ball-point hammer suggests they're not fully rotted? Or am I hard of hearing?
- The usual holes in the floor of the cab near the door hinges and along the sides
Right now, in my head, I figure I need to replace the filler and breather tubes for the gas tank first since they're leaking uncomfortably close to the exhaust, then I need to address the overheating (thinking flush > radiator + hoses + thermostat > water pump) and figure out what can and cannot be done with the rust. Do I have that about right or no? What other things should I be looking at if anything, and what realistically can be done with the rust, provided aesthetics are irrelevant here? Plan is not to restore - I don't have that kind of income nor do I think this is a good candidate - but to use as a hunting truck during the mild winters here in the deep south.
Link to photos
here - I'll add any as needed upon request.