BKCowGod's 1980 Cherokee Chief Build Thread

[Harmgrissom]

so um... did this get sold or something. Totally confused in the last half dozen posts. lol. Its a great looking build and a great idea to boot i.e. a budget build showcasing the potential in spite of expense ( or lack thereof )

 

[Average Dave]

Yeah about a year ago. I decided after doing some work on it that I might as well continue the thread.

 

[Average Dave]

Then

Now

Did some wire rerouting and mounted the msd.

 

[BKCowGod]

Ah... much better! That wiring was quite the rat's nest.

Now

Did some wire rerouting and mounted the msd.

 

[Harmgrissom]

Cool - thanks for clarifying. Loving this build - inspires me to go check out available wagons & Wagoneers locally.

If I can put in a "request" if you don't mind - I'd love to see pics/video of it on the trail for comparisons w modern rigs. :shakin:

 

[BKCowGod]

A few pix can be found at my site, kuhgott.com
Check out "Stanislaus Nat'l Forest" thru "More Jeep Stuff" - the orange J2000 is the same basic 4x4 and there are a few shots throughout.

Cool - thanks for clarifying. Loving this build - inspires me to go check out available wagons & Wagoneers locally.

If I can put in a "request" if you don't mind - I'd love to see pics/video of it on the trail for comparisons w modern rigs. :shakin:

 

[Average Dave]

I've only got a couple pics of it posed on rocks and what not. No video because I cant find my camera so everything is takin on my cell.

 

[Average Dave]

All right another day of work complete

Now that the weather is getting warmer I realized that the heater in the jeep was constantly pushing hot air into the cab. Seeing as it gets 100 plus out here I decided there was NO WAY I was gonna let there be any unnecessary heat come in. So today started with me taking the A/C and heater boxes out of the jeep to find out what the heck was going on.

thats pretty much what it looked like a hollow dash. I will say that this was way easier then any modern car I have done dash work on. after I pulled it all out I traced it down to stinking heater flaps which I couldn't really photograph because they are inside the heater box after a little tweaking I got them back into working order and put the whole thing back together but not until after zip tying any loose wires I could get my hands on.

 

[Average Dave]

Found the source of all my exhaust noise frustration.

So I packed up my tools and headed down to Good ol' Pick and Pull for their half price weekend. After getting there and the guy behind the counter telling me that they didnt have what I was looking for I went onto their lot and found two FSJs within 30 feet of each other both with the manifold I was looking for.

Side by side of the old and new old manifold.
While I was there I noticed they had some stock mirrors, they turned out to be power but I decided to give them a go. I got them home and mounted them up.

I like an idiot didn't check if the mirror switch actually worked so now my smokin' deal is gonna cost me more then I had intended trying to figure that problem out but they look pretty nice

 

[Tejasol]

After driving a Waggy for five or so years, I will tell you that those little side mirrors are one of the few things I truly dislike about it. They are really inadequate. Eventually they will be replaced.

Nice thread. I am shopping for ideas for mine. I have the interior removed right now and am trying to decide how I am going to put it together. It's hard to choose a configuration and stick with it.

 

[Average Dave]

They are quite a bit smaller then the ones it had before so it was quite possible that I'll end up hating them I was just looking for a little cleaner look. If I do end up hating them I kept the old mirrors around so I'll just weld up the holes for these mirrors and put those back on.

 

[blackjack12982]

Wow, that's an outstanding looking FSJ! Everytime I see a nice FSJ, my mind goes crazy with ideas thinking that I need another...

 

[Average Dave]

All work and no play makes for a boring jeep.

Well I realized recently that I have been working on the jeep waaaay more then actually driving it. So I jumped in and picked up my nephew for a day of fun at the 4x4 park near our houses. As luck would have it the park was closed for an event the next day. So we ended up out on an old dirt road me and my buddies used to four wheel on when I was younger. My nephew who was underwhelmed by the idea of driving on anything that was not a paved road actually seemed to enjoy it even though he was trying to hide it. I had so much fun that I took my girlfriend out there the next day. I didn't think to get pictures of any of the good obstacles or the creek crossing because I was to busy enjoying driving on them but here are some photos.