1978 Cherokee Chief Build

[ttravis5446]

My awesome parts haul from the U-pull it yard over the weekend.
Factory Air Cleaner
Evap Canister and Bracket
Vacuum Nipple for Brake Booster
Fresh Air Knob
Blank for Empty Passenger Side Clock / Ashtray Spot
And some Vintage Colorful Colorado Mudflaps.

Not bad for $20

 

[marshal]

I'm so jealous. I hate you with every ounce of my being

 

[csclifford]

Dang, this is sick.

I'm really looking forward to this!

 

[ttravis5446]

There won't be much happening this week on it because I'm out of town for work. Does anyone know of any out of the way junk yards in eastern Wyoming, eastern Montana,or western North Dakota that might have a good stash of old jeep parts?

 

[Dusty Wagoneer]

http://www.montanaoverland.com/index.htm

 

[ttravis5446]

http://www.montanaoverland.com/index.htm

I would love to make it up there one day, but that's a 9-10 hour drive from where I'm at in eastern Montana.

 

[ttravis5446]

So I have been thinking a lot about this project lately and I think my OCD is starting to take over. I have been looking online for ideas and inspiration and I think I've got my plan figured out. I am drawing a lot of inspiration from the stance and attitude of the JP magazine project called Project Monkey Bus. Maybe not the roof rack or the push bar, but the rest of it I like.


My plan as it is in my head right now:
Rebuild 360 with MSD ignition and Howells TBI
Rebuild TH400 or swap in T-18 ---Haven't decided yet, could go either way.
Swap Quadratrac for Dana 18 or Dana 20 if I can find a cheap Junkyard Wide Track 44 with non offset diff to rebuild.
Rebuild Front and Rear Axles with probably a rear OX Locker
4" Lift with 33's. I really liked the Duratracs I had on My F150 so I may go back that route.


I like how it looks on the 35's with 6" lift but I don't care for the way it drives. I drove another local one over the weekend that had a 6" BJ's lift and 35's and I still wasn't crazy about it. I am saving up money for the big stuff now and slowly collecting junkyard parts right now.

 

[BKCowGod]

Sigh... I miss my FSJ's. I will tell you, the widetrack D44 is a beefy axle, but I will never forget the time my rear wheel and halfshaft went rolling past me down an offramp. 4" and 33's is a sweet spot for these trucks - when I got it, the brown one was lifted about like yours is now and it was just terrible to drive. I dropped it and it became a much more livable truck.

and

 

[ttravis5446]

Bkcowgod, that Cherokee looks sweet. That truck looks awesome too. My first FSJ was a J4000 I had 7 or 8 years ago and I miss it a lot sometimes, even though it was a total POS.

 

[soaringeagle]

I always 4" suspension lifts and 36" tsl's on my chiefs. Your offset diff and a center output to case like a Dana 20 will work fine. If you can find them a tf727 with a Dana 20 works well. I used get a tf727 out of an 80's fsj and a tf727 and dana20 from a scout. Install the scout output shafts in the jeep tf727 and bolt on the Dana 20

 

[redthies]

I found as both you guys have, that once you go over 3-4" lift, things get ugly. My friend and I had identical F350s. I went 3" and 35s, he went 5" and 37s. His truck is way looser than mine, almost to the point of uncomfortable to drive.

Love the FSJ pics!

 

[ttravis5446]

I always 4" suspension lifts and 36" tsl's on my chiefs. Your offset diff and a center output to case like a Dana 20 will work fine. If you can find them a tf727 with a Dana 20 works well. I used get a tf727 out of an 80's fsj and a tf727 and dana20 from a scout. Install the scout output shafts in the jeep tf727 and bolt on the Dana 20

I was crawling around under the Jeep this afternoon looking at things and thinking some more. If I were to go any direction but a passenger drop rear drive shaft T/C I would completely have to redo the dual exhaust as there is no way to fit a centered drive shaft on the T/C end with both mufflers and the fuel tank there. It seems like it would be a tight fit with just a drive shaft and the fuel tank. I'm not really much of a GM guy but I think I'll keep the TH400 over the TF727. My only experience with a TF727 wasn't very positive and that was behind a puny AMC 232. I know its probably a good tranny, my judgment is just tainted against it. If I come accross a Dana 20 behind a TH400 in the wrecking I'll grab it just to see. Everything around right now is either T18/D20, T400/QT or 727/QT. We'll see what comes up in the next couple of weeks.

I think I am going to sell off the 35" KM2's pretty soon and start pulling the engine/tranny/TC next week. After driving it around the block today I am thinking about finding some different seats. The clapped out factory seats are definitely done, the hinges are so worn out on the drivers side that I feel like I'm laying all the way back. I don't know if it'll be later model Cherokee Seats or some kind of nice Aftermarket seats.

 

[ttravis5446]

Here is a crappy pic. You can see how bad the drivers side exhaust would interfere with a centered drive shaft. That pipe is already closer to the fuel tank than I would like.



I also found a pic of my first FSJ from 7 or 8 years ago. It doesn't look horrible in the pic but that thing was worn out bad. Bed was barely there, floors were gone. front diff was bad, power steering pump was bad. It finally died when the 360 threw a rod.

 

[kickingprop]

LOVE these old Chiefs... been trying to find one since I sold my scout a few months ago.

If you decide to go fuel injection and dont want to shell out the $$$ for a Howell kit. Check Binderplanet for the GM TBI conversion they wrote up for IH 345's. It'll work just the same on a 360. The guy who wrote it goes by Bill USN-1 I believe. Probably the most thorough explanation of the conversion on the web as long as you dont mind doing some junkyard searching for the TBI, computer, and a few other things.

On the transfer case...the 727 when well maintained is a pretty solid transmission and you can rebuild it in your garage over a weekend. (There are videos of the complete teardown and rebuild on Youtube).

I'd personally be inclined to go to a center drop TCase like a Dana 300 behind a 727 and just find a centered rear Dana 44 from a different FSJ. Just my $0.02

Time to start searching the texas craigslists for Cherokees...

 

[ttravis5446]

LOVE these old Chiefs... been trying to find one since I sold my scout a few months ago.

If you decide to go fuel injection and dont want to shell out the $$$ for a Howell kit. Check Binderplanet for the GM TBI conversion they wrote up for IH 345's. It'll work just the same on a 360. The guy who wrote it goes by Bill USN-1 I believe. Probably the most thorough explanation of the conversion on the web as long as you dont mind doing some junkyard searching for the TBI, computer, and a few other things.

On the transfer case...the 727 when well maintained is a pretty solid transmission and you can rebuild it in your garage over a weekend. (There are videos of the complete teardown and rebuild on Youtube).

I'd personally be inclined to go to a center drop TCase like a Dana 300 behind a 727 and just find a centered rear Dana 44 from a different FSJ. Just my $0.02

Time to start searching the texas craigslists for Cherokees...

Thanks, I'll look into that stuff.
There are a ton of decent Cherokee's for sale around here lately for some reason. Too bad its such a long haul from Houston.