Jeep Cherokee Widetrack Revival - with questions for the experts - Stoffregen Motorsports

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

The original distributor. It blew up. Literally grenaded inside the cap. I know...many of you told me not to waste time with the original distributor, and you were right. Instead of wasting any more time with this one, I decide it was time to swap in an HEI ignition. I wanted a DUI brand HEI, but they were eight weeks out for delivery. Summit racing had their brand in stock, and at less than half the price. Guess which one I bought.

Installation was going to be a snap, until I realized that the gear on the original distributor had lost some teeth in the explosion. I fished out what I could from the timing cover, then blew the remaining bits into the oil pan, and drained the oil. Nothing came out... So as a safety measure (and instead of dropping the oil pan) I bought and installed a magnetic drain plug, which ideally, should find and grab the remaining metal shards.

If any of you have ever installed an HEI in a domestic V8, you will know that there is no one way to clock the distributor. After many minutes of searching the web for pics of an "AMC V8 HEI install", I decided to wing it. The two pinch points are the vacuum advance and the electrical connector at the pickup. Those both needed to clear things on the engine. After fitting it a couple different ways, I found many ways not to install an HEI.

Once it was in place, I joked to my friend who was helping in the shop that day, thay we didn't know if the distributor would be spot on, or 180 degrees out. You can guess what we found out. The bang that came out of the engine was so powerful that my helper crawled out of the inside of the Jeep holding his ears, and my new shop pup was nowhere to be found. The resulting blast also blew up my brand new muffler. Bummer...

After we re-stabbed the distributor, it fired up and ran great. A timing light verified the timing to be 12 degrees advanced, and a test drive was next. Now if you had told me that an HEI would actually make more horsepower, I would not have believed you. I tell you what, it does, at least by my seat of the pants dyno. Throttle response is improved and there is no more popping from the carb under medium load. I'd call that a success.

Pics.






Muffler pic.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Here's a shot of the repaired gauges in the dash. I don't mind not having the metal overlay. I might even replace it with a wood grained on instead.



And for the budget minded... my new center console with cupholders.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

It's a driver! Been driving it for a while now. My only complaint was the right rear axle shaft, whcih was bent, but has since been replaced. I'll show pics of that next.

Next to it's stable mate. I'll never sell the Rover, but the Jeep may be on the block someday.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Been knocking things off the to-do list, in an effort to make the Cherokee daily driveable. Clunks and noises drive me crazy so I've been addressing those one by one. The roof made tons of noise, and that was because the felt strips that hold the roof up had shrunk and hardened over the years and the metal was rattling against the hardened surface. I took each of the roof bows out and cleaned them up, then installed them with a thick bead of seam sealer on top of the felt. I also pushed them up as hard as I could before tightening the bolts. That did the trick for the roof.

While I was at it, I installed two LED dome light assemblies. One in the stock front location, and one in the rear cargo area. Man those things are bright.

Lots of other little things have happened too, like removing all the dried pine sap from the hood and roof and giving the paint a good polish. One big item that got checked off the list is the wheels and tires. With the original wheels powder coated and new BFGs installed, the truck looks great, but it also rides nice and quiet. Amazing what new tires can do for the ride.

That's all, Just thought I'd give you guys a quick update.

 

[SkiWill]

I'm impressed with the split muffler. I'm surprised I never managed something like that. As for the hp increase with the HEI, that's what consistently running on all 8 cylinders will do for you.

I forgot about that sheetmetal drum sound from the roof. Once when a headliner came down I looked at the "structure" and thought to myself, "better keep the rubber side down on this one."

Happy to hear it is still coming along. Regarding your Land Cruiser ease of maintenance comment, that was certainly a part of the design. Make it easy to service anywhere in the world. That wasn't exactly Jeep and UAW's priority in the 1970s. I don't really have time to work on either at this point in my life, so I'd take whichever was more fun to drive. It's been nearly 25 years since I've been in a comparable 60s series Cruiser. I would consider the Jeep Cherokee ride to be "character building." Not sure which is better. I think there's only so much one can do with leaf springs.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Ironically, it's not the first muffler I've blown up...

I do love driving this rig. It's pretty darn comfy and the road manners are about as good as one could expect from an old full size truck. But, something about the layout makes it feel more like a big 'ol car, which I love.

 

[SkiWill]

Ironically, it's not the first muffler I've blown up...

I do love driving this rig. It's pretty darn comfy and the road manners are about as good as one could expect from an old full size truck. But, something about the layout makes it feel more like a big 'ol car, which I love.

Now that you mention it, mine was very comfortable on smooth pavement kind of like riding in Grandma's old Buick. Corrugations though, not so much. I loved those seats. If they came with a decent headrest, they'd have been perfect. Kind of like sitting in a lounge chair, except mine I found after years had such severe rust on the mounting brackets it was about as safe as sitting in a lounge chair unsecured in the vehicle too.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Been there. Test drive a fresh build without bolting the seat down = something everyone should try once in their life.

One of the best cars I ever owned was a 1982 Buick Electra Park Avenue that my grandparents gave me. The car was stolen from them and then used in a series of heists and then crashed while being pursued by the law. My grandfather had it repaired and "got a great deal" from the body shop who only charged him $800 to do the body work and paint. It looked like a $5000 repair though, which is telling of the times. My two older brothers and I flew to Georgia and then drove is back home using the lonely roads home to CA. We had a radar pointing forward and a radar pointing to the back, plus the binoculars and a police scanner, which allowed us to hit the pedal to the metal all the way across Georgia, the tip of Florida, then Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. It was a truly epic trip with many stories to tell. I had long hair at the time, and my brother showed tattoos along his arms, and at one point my oldest brother donned a pair of colorful corduroy golfing pants that my grandfather gave him before we hit the town... in northwestern Texas. I swear, it felt like a scene from Easy Rider with all the good ol boys eyeballing us. Funny how hair, tattoos and clothing can send the wrong message. To this day I feel like I had more in common with those old farmers than they would like to admit.

Anyway... full size Jeep reminds me of land yacht Buick. In a nutshell.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I've said it a few times already, but I'll say it again. I am surprised and shocked at how one vehicle which appears so nice on the outside, can be so thoroughly worn out underneath. Almost everything that circulated, pumped, rotated, or propelled in this truck has had to be either replaced or rebuilt since I brought it home.

The right front axle shaft still has a broken ear, so 4wd still is not being used. Something I need to remedy soon since winter is here. Also, the right rear axle shaft had a slight bend to it, and I thought about chucking it up in the lathe to machine is straight, but I don't have enough tooling for the lathe to grab the shaft in the right spot. I elected to replace the shaft instead.

A good used shaft was sourced from JW Jeep in Antelope. New wheels bearings and a thick diff cover were sourced from West Coast Differentials. Using my slave labor, we went to work to replace the bent shaft and bearings on both axles. New studs were also installed and the diff was checked for wear while the cover was off.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

There are still a ton of things I need to snap pics of for you guys. Like the new wheels/tires. The new LED dome lights, new H4 Hella headlights, etc. I'll get to snappin' today and show you more of what we've been doing on this awesome rig.

I really do love driving it.

 

[Jim K in PA]

3.54:1 final - not a bad general duty ratio for stock size tires. I know you were tempted to stuff an E-locker in there . . .

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Yeah, with the TH400 non-overdrive three speed auto, and 33" tires, it does fine around town, but I wish it had longer legs for the highway.

I don't plan on any hard trail use, so low gearing is not required. It will be used mostly for snow. And I can't wait for there to be enough of it to go blasting around up Wentworth Springs Rd!!! Our Dodge Cummins used to play that role, but the Jeep is now going to take over the part.

 

[SkiWill]

Yeah, with the TH400 non-overdrive three speed auto, and 33" tires, it does fine around town, but I wish it had longer legs for the highway.

I don't plan on any hard trail use, so low gearing is not required. It will be used mostly for snow. And I can't wait for there to be enough of it to go blasting around up Wentworth Springs Rd!!! Our Dodge Cummins used to play that role, but the Jeep is now going to take over the part.

I had a '77 with the 401 V8. Best snow vehicle I've had. My LR4 comes close but is too heavy. The Cherokee was insanely good. You'll have plenty of fun, and lucky you, you live in a state without salt so you'll actually be able to enjoy your Cherokee in this role for years to come.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

We use sea salt on our roads here in CA. It tastes better.

 

[Zeep]

Those old Cherokee's are rare as hens teeth, here in Michigan. The road salt ate them up years ago!