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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2022 9:00 pm
by SJohn
rocklaurence wrote:OK, just thinking out loud. These FSJ wind shield [WS] frames rot and leak. Partly because of the trim screw. Partly because of the old gasket design. Has anyone modified the WS frame to allow a bonded/glued in WS? I know they do it on Hot Rods etc--what's involved in mounting the glass without the BIG Rubber gasket?
I've got plenty more rust problems for you to solve! Come on down to Dallas hahaha
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2022 9:18 pm
by SJohn
Continuing to dismantle this thing, unfortunately uncovering more and more rust. Very discouraging. Not giving up just yet though - one door gutted and I'll go ahead and share my plans for the front doors. The plan is to build single piece front windows much like sonoraed has done on the Fast Eddie J10.
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2022 3:09 pm
by sierrablue
Yeah, I know the rust can be discouraging (when I was 7 I got an '88 GW from my uncle, 401 TBI with 31s...when I was 15 I was going to fix it but there was some major rust on the frame I didn't want to deal with). But then they took off in price and I took a welding class and now I wish I had it back, if only to restore and sell again.
Glad to see somebody actually swapping a decent engine into one of these (I don't care how much you like the LS or how much power it makes--bottom line it's still just a fuel injected, pushrod, 90 degree V8)...if I'd had the money/time for wiring, I'd have probably swapped a Ford 4.6 DOHC into mine.
But ultimately I want to go EV on it anyway, though, and with any luck I can do that when this B350 finally gives up the ghost (before anybody gets mad, don't worry--I'm not going to make it a modern digital car; just get rid of the engine/transmission/fuel tank/exhaust/cooling system with a more efficient, quieter, and cleaner setup).
So you've got an engine with a torque problem but are planning on a 6-speed anyway--are you going to run 4.56s or 5.12s or something to help it out, since you have two overdrives anyway?
Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2022 3:46 pm
by SJohn
sierrablue wrote:Yeah, I know the rust can be discouraging (when I was 7 I got an '88 GW from my uncle, 401 TBI with 31s...when I was 15 I was going to fix it but there was some major rust on the frame I didn't want to deal with). But then they took off in price and I took a welding class and now I wish I had it back, if only to restore and sell again.
Glad to see somebody actually swapping a decent engine into one of these (I don't care how much you like the LS or how much power it makes--bottom line it's still just a fuel injected, pushrod, 90 degree V8)...if I'd had the money/time for wiring, I'd have probably swapped a Ford 4.6 DOHC into mine.
But ultimately I want to go EV on it anyway, though, and with any luck I can do that when this B350 finally gives up the ghost (before anybody gets mad, don't worry--I'm not going to make it a modern digital car; just get rid of the engine/transmission/fuel tank/exhaust/cooling system with a more efficient, quieter, and cleaner setup).
So you've got an engine with a torque problem but are planning on a 6-speed anyway--are you going to run 4.56s or 5.12s or something to help it out, since you have two overdrives anyway?
Turbo, 2wd and weight reduction is my plan for the low torque conundrum. The rust seems to be tackling the weight reduction already hahaha.
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2022 5:23 pm
by sierrablue
Let's see...single turbo 2JZ is about 450 lbs (same as the Buick 350 actually), 6-speed is 170 lbs absolute tops, which, no tcase...vs. a 600-lb V8/170 lb (dry) 727, 90+ lb transfer case, plus probably 50 lbs easily from the front end and driveshaft...
Yeah, I'd say you're saving some weight
I'm sure you've already done all of this math though...
Minus another 100 lbs in scaling off the frame and floors
And if you swapped it to narrow track (since I see the flares are rusted out anyway), you could get fiberglass narrow track front fenders, eliminate some wind resistance, AND shave some weight off the rear axle
Don't worry I'm <mostly> joking on these suggestions. Looking good!
Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2022 9:38 am
by rocklaurence
Regarding the bonded windshield, I was thinking the same thing about a frame but it would be a composite frame. That could be made with epoxy, PVC and a router. IDK. My shop truck WS frame is starting to bubble up. Ill have to pull the glass and fix it soon
Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 7:10 pm
by SJohn
Not much progress, but got a few things done. Front seats are finally out, the floor is so rotten that when removing the passenger seat, I pulled the back left nut/support through the floor with the seat. All the bolts, but one came out, and even after several attempts at welding a nut onto it, it would not budge and broke off below the floor. Not set on plans for seats, but probably won't be using these, so they will likely be for sale soon. The intake, wiring harness, and accessories have been pulled off the engine and waiting for an engine stand to continue the tear down.
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2023 8:33 pm
by SJohn
The Cherokee is just about completely stripped for blasting, just have the door guts and seat belts left. The engine is on a stand finally and will hopefully start amassing parts for it soon. Still on the lookout for crown vic parts, it seems the F100 guys have driven the prices of the front ends way up.
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2023 6:39 pm
by SJohn
Picked up some cheap non vvti rods and pistons for the 2JZ today. Unfortunately, 5 minutes before arriving, the seller found that one of the rods was bent (they were still in the block prior). Went ahead and took them home for a great deal.
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:27 pm
by sierrablue
Interesting that it was bent and they had no signs of it before; just all of a sudden look down and it's bent.
Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:35 am
by SJohn
sierrablue wrote:Interesting that it was bent and they had no signs of it before; just all of a sudden look down and it's bent.
They were still in the motor up until 5 minutes before I showed up, so the seller thought they were good until he pulled them. He was honest about it and was obviously not trying to scam me.
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:18 pm
by SJohn
Got an exciting package in the mail this week from J&W Jeep! I asked for the top section of the doors and they promptly cut some off a Jeep and sent my way! As mentioned before, I plan to convert the front doors to single piece windows and this will be the most important part of the puzzle. I want to reuse the original divider bar as well as keeping the same felt all the way around the top of the glass so I am going to replace the thinner front sections with these cut out top sections. This will also allow for a similar install and removal process of the new glass as the original. I will shorten and move the divider forward, then remount it to the inner door skin like it was originally. Hopefully that all makes sense!
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:33 am
by Yeller
Makes sense to me, like the plan
Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:48 pm
by SJohn
This week's marketplace deal - a toyota R154 5 speed! Also included in the deal was a new clutch and flywheel, clutch pedal, master cylinder, and cable, and shifter. All new still in the boxes!
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 10:31 am
by SJohn
Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 5:00 pm
by SJohn
One of these is not like the others...
Square easy-outs on the way to extract it after I get the head off. I was hoping to have it off this week, but upon removing the cams, I realized that the head bolts use a special 12 point star bit that I don't have. It seems Toyota is fond of using odd fastener heads, lots of allen head bolts (I was lucky I just so happened to order a new set of metric and standard allen key sockets last week), torx and inverted torx bits etc. Interesting discovery/hack I found - the intake cam gear bolt is a 10mm allen but hidden behind a 14mm allen cap. Of course, my set didn't go that big, but I discovered that a 3/8" - 16 bolt head fits perfectly in said allen key. Running two nuts on the bolt and marring the bolt threads created an improvised allen key!
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 6:00 pm
by Yeller
Necessity, the mother of all invention
Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:53 pm
by SJohn
Yeller wrote:Necessity, the mother of all invention
If only I had a 12 point star head bolt!
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 8:42 pm
by SJohn
Pulling the cams was a process in itself, the cam caps have to be removed in sequence to avoid cracking the cam. Cams and valve train look good so far. Besides the broken spark plug the only other concerning finding thus far was the lower timing belt cover. It appears the harmonic balancer wore through it. I hope this is just from a bad harmonic balancer and not a crank issue.
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Re: 1981 Cherokee Chief - Rustard - 2WD 2JZ
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 4:07 pm
by SJohn