Really slow build of 77 cherokee by husker77

[husker77]

Ok so the jeep has pretty much been sitting since my last post, been busy and haven't really needed it. rstep was great and sent me a driveshaft and the seatbelt parts I needed. Got the seat belts installed, going to replace the ujoints before I install the driveshaft. Fixed the battery with some 2 part epoxy called plastiweld, it's holding up so far. My only concern is I can't get the cap off the battery to see how much fluid I lost to replace it. It couldn't have been much. I figure worst case scenario it doesn't hold and leaks a little battery acid on the fender.

Here is the battery after repair.



I need to come up with a better tray, I got a cheap plastic one from Orielly's and it doesn't really fit very well.

So most of my gauges didn't really work very good, the lenses were missing, the needle for the speedo was all bent up and the ampmeter was kinda floating around all loose and stuff. So I pulled the cluster to begin cleaning, repair and upgrading.



Count me in the fairly leary of amp gauges category



Scottsmojo sent me the lenses and a new needle, so I just need to get the voltmeter and then reassemble the cluster.

Now for my new questions...

1. Any opinions or suggestions for a better battery tray?

2. Whats the best way to reattach the lenses to the cluster, superglue?

3. If I install led bulbs into the cluster, will the dim feature work, or is there a way to make it work?

4. Are all the ujoints in the front driveshaft the same? I went to orielly's website and it lists different ones at the transfer case and axle ends, but it only says 1 required for each, that is only 2 ujoints and I obviously need 3 total.

[husker77]

So trying to get my rust bucket running again. I picked up a msd 6al plus for what I thought was a good price, $175 for a $300+ box, didn't think it was to bad. It is probably overkill for my stock 360 but hey, overkill is good.

So trying to figure out where to mount it, I always hear that mounting them inside is best to keep them out of heat and elements. I can't really find a place I like very much inside, but man there is a real nice place on the passenger side fender well.







So here in Nebraska it gets up to 110 degrees with 100% humidity, then add in the under hood heat and it makes me worry about the longevity of my expensive ignition.

[husker77]

So I worked on getting a duraspark dist in in place of the prestolite.

First I needed a tab to locate the ford large cap adapter. I used some 3/8" square stock and made a little tab. It turned out decent, I ground the top a little to much, but not to bad for only having a cutoff wheel, 3" angle grinder and cordless drill.















Then I ran into a problem, I tried to install the original gear onto the new distributor, it fits to tight to the body of the distributor so the shaft wont turn.


http://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1595

[husker77]

Well it's been a month since I started this, the weather and life really hasn't cooperated. I really need a garage.


Here is the bracket I made to mount the coil and ballast resistor. It is made out of .150" aluminum, and a second piece that spaces it out to clear the valve covers. I tapped the aluminum so I could use bolts to mount it without nuts on the backside.










The local Orielly's had a set of accel 8.8 race wires with a lot of dust on the box for only $75, so I went with them. I used the spark plugs that were in it and just reset the gap to .050 to start with based on msd's recommendations.










I had to wire in the msd box and move the battery to block ground so I did a little wiring upgrading.




So got it fired up but had to pull the distributor a couple of times to move it a few teeth to get it clocked how I want it. It seems to be idling good, then a storm started rolling in.


So that's what I got done, now for a few questions I hope I can get some help with. It's been a long time since I've messed with distributors so need some refreshing.

I plan on running the vacuum for the advance from the fitting with the plugged hose coming off of it, yea or nay?





Then I need to set the timing, my timing marker only goes to 10 degrees btdc, but my plan was to set it at around 12 degrees. If I am using manifold vacuum wouldn't I want to set the initial timing with the vacuum hooked up?

[husker77]

You guys must not be to impressed, but I will keep going anyway.

Got a vacuum gauge today. Hooked everything up and set the timing just using the vacuum as a guide. I was able to get a nice steady 15", the engine sounds to be idle nice and low and smooooothh, need to install a tach. I couldn't even see my timing mark when I tried to check it with the timing light, so not sure what it is actually set to. I will have to get a new timing light with the dial back feature, been wanting one anyway. Took it out for a spin, real pleased with the way it ran. I do seem to be fighting a tranny issue, it was a pint or so low on fluid when I got back and checked her, if she could just learn to stop marking her territory so much it would last longer.

I think I found the problem with my vacuum modulator...






Unless the vacuum can "jump the gap".


And of course I noticed my fuel pump is leaking, I guess it seen everything else doing it and thought it would join in, time to see what I can find for a performance upgrade for that.

[bigwalton]

Never set timing with the vacuum advance hooked up. What's the thinking on doing it that way?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[husker77]

Well since I was using manifold vacuum if I set it without it hooked up it would advance as soon as I started the engine, so I figure that would advance it to far. I may be wrong, but it is working for now. I am trying to find some time to do some reading on setting timing and stuff, it has just been so long since I have messed with a distributor, in a land vehicle anyway, boats are quite a bit different and no one payed me enough to do anything but factory settings on them.

[twisted frame]

Ignition upgrade looks good. I've never had a MSD box or anything like it so I'm taking notes. My truck's a bit older than yours and has the stock-for-1973 Delco points distributor still in it. At least I've learned a bit about points.

How are the brakes now?

[husker77]

The brakes are getting better, I think I didn't have them adjusted out enough and they have finally self adjusted.

If you got any questions on the ignition just ask.

[husker77]

Pulled the interior out today to assess the rust situation. So is this thing worth trying to fix all the rust?

[Strode182]

Don't get discourage if nobody is commenting. You're making progress and recording it...Keep at it.

As far as the rust and is it worth it, it depends on where you want to go with it. If you're gonna beat on it, and don't care what it looks like, then keep on. If you ever want it nice and hope to paint it someday, I'd say no. Too much work fixing the rust. Looks like they bondo'd over the rust on the drivers rear, it may be way worse under that.

Rust repair is very time consuming and some of the panels you can get, some you can't. If you don't have a shop to work on it, with a welder and all the associated tools, it could be a very long time before you get that fixed. The rust at the bottom of the windows and the C pillar for instance: You would have to fabricate some pieces to fix that. Not easily done without a shop.

If you want something nice when you're done, I'd start with a cleaner truck. That would be alot of work to fix that rust. It can be done, but it wouldn't be worth it to me. That would be a huge project to fix all that.

[husker77]

That is the frustrating part is the lack of replacement panels. I also am not sure where to start, it is so bad if I start cutting where do I stop.

I think the idea of swapping a j-truck cab onto the Cherokee frame is looking to be the solution.

[Strode182]

Is that what you want to end up with? A truck? Why would you do a frame swap?

[husker77]

I was thinking a truggy, or short, short box.



http://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4013

[fulsizjeep]

Pulled the interior out today to assess the rust situation. So is this thing worth trying to fix all the rust?

Since you asked, I have scrapped them for less rust than that. But that is me. A Jtruck cab would be fun.

[Tad]

Since you asked, I have scrapped them for less rust than that. But that is me. A Jtruck cab would be fun.

I agree.
My rig was located in both Boston and San Francisco, the rust will never go away even here.
I replaced what I could, cut and patched some of the rest, some I just cut off and tossed in the trash.
Mine will never be pretty but it looks ok from 50' away.
I can't change that, but it runs, drives and wheels.
I didn't have high expectations to start with, I tend to never finish things this involved anyway.

[husker77]

I'm looking in to a few cabs I know about. It looks like a j10 has some of the same mounts as a cherokee and the j20 matches up to the wagoneer frames. I find it weird that the front most body mount(not the core support one) would not be the same on every model.

[husker77]

So my old seats were broken and shot, been looking for something that would work as replacement. Found a 1999 Grand Cherokee at the local scrap yard a bought the seats for $40, he isn't really a junk yard but there are a lot of cars to pick through and he is pretty darn reasonable most of the time.

All the way back is about 3" further back then the stock seats went. There was plenty of movement I would have liked to have set them another couple inches back but then there started to be issues with the seat belt retracter and I was actually looking straight into the b pillar anyway so it seemed like a waste. I would have liked to have got it a couple of inches lower but as it sits in the lowest position it is slightly lower the factory seat. I need to get a tilt column, I know where there is one for $100, just need to get it bought.



All the way forward, again about 3" further forward than the stock seat. I guess if a little person is ever in the market for a cherokee I got the one for them.



I just took some angle iron, drilled some holes to bolt it to the original front seat mounting points, drilled holes for the seat and that was it. When I am sure I am happy with it I will clean it up and make it look nice. I did cut about 1/4" off the outside bracket for the seat so it would sit a little lower. You can kind of see if I would have cut much more off I would not have been able to get the nut on the bolt. When I have my welder out again I may weld the nuts to the angle, seems cleaner.





I just drilled a hole through the floor for the rear mount. I only got one, the inside one will be right over the fuel tank. I need to drop the tank and clean it up and replace the sender and hoses. When I do that I will add the 4th bolt. It is plenty sturdy.



I wasn't real happy with were the bolt came through on the bottom side. Just to let you know I did know that was what was going to happen just wasn't a lot of options. I may make a strap similar to how I did the front that utilizes the stock mounting points with studs welded to it for the new seat mounts.



This is between the seat and the tranny tunnel, once carpet is installed there will be next to no clearance. I guess I don't have to worry about stuff falling between that crack. I would have like to have lowered the seat a couple of inches but that is why I couldn't.



Clearance for the seat belt retracter.



Hooking up power and ground allows for all the movement functions to work, including the lumbar adjustment.
But they also had memory and heat, really not to worried about the memory but I hope to figure out how to get the heat to work. I pulled all 3 switches from the donor vehicle.



Next to tackle the passenger side, I see I have a problem with the front inside mount already. I will also work on making the mounts look a little more "professional" and have them all sorted out when it is time to transfer them over to the new body(that I haven't found yet).

[ProTouring442]

Good stuff! Glad I clicked on this thread.

As to the rust, something that rotted is going to take either cubic fabrication skills or cubic dollars. Maybe both.

Assuming the frame is in good shape, I'd say your looking at a body swap.

[husker77]

Good stuff! Glad I clicked on this thread.

Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement.

As to the rust, something that rotted is going to take either cubic fabrication skills or cubic dollars. Maybe both.

Assuming the frame is in good shape, I'd say your looking at a body swap.

I don't see anything on the frame to make me think there will be a problem. I have a body donor found just need to find the funds. I work part time in a body shop so when I do get it I will bedliner the underside, firewall and inside and the paint it.