1975 Brutally Simple Daily Driver

Looks great! a Tyre cover or trasharoo would be a simple fix for that spare wheel.

 

Nice fab work!

 

Thanks! Feels like I’ve been out if the game for a while. Not that I really have much lined up for more projects right now, but I definitely had that thought of, “still got it!”

 

I like the offset, if the top was off, you could reach into the ice chest in the back. Is your jeep color indian ceramic? Sometimes it looks like it.

 

Ha! In the past I’ve told people that it’s “close to a factory color” but in reality it’s super roached out single stage red paint. At one time it was known as “Pinky” but it kind of grew out of that dumb name. Then I scrubbed it with Comet and it was red again! Looked great for about six months. Been thinking about doing that again and then clear coating over it. Unfortunately the body seems to be more bondo than steel… it gets what it gets and it’ll appreciate it.

 

Oh ok. I went through the pink remarks for my jeep in the 80's, but they seem to have tapered off, after I answered "indian ceramic" about a million times.

 

Trying to get another project scratched off today. The giant square hole in the dash had to go.




Then just my luck I remember why these switches have been sitting around forever. One of the blue switches plain doesn’t work and the orange one has to be just in the right spot. The plan was a switch for a USB port (empty hole) and a separate switch for interior lights and a rear light. Guess they’re just place holders.

 

Really like the tire carrier, great idea for the hinge...

 

Thanks!

 

Nice work on tire carrier! Now if the Jeep wasn't pink!

 

“Indian ceramic”.

 

If that makes you feel better.

 

Started on rock sliders and frame tie-ins for the cage today. Not sure when I’ll get back to everything but I like getting all the little fiddly bits done first so I can just crank them out when the time comes.




Sliders are 2x2x1/4”… which is way overkill. Frame extensions are 1.5x1.5x3/16”… which feels about right. All of the other swoopy bits to tie the cage into the frame in four spots is 1.25x3/16” tube… which works out nicely for fitting tightly into the rear wheel well. Once again, this is all stuff I’ve had kicking around for a while so it’s all clearly the right material. Don't think I’ll tie the sliders into the body. Probably just outrigger style extending out from the frame.

Truth be told, I've got a bit of a deadline in my head. See... a few weeks ago, one of my old wheeling buddies from Minnesota informed me that the gang was going to be out in Moab during the second week of April. Then the other day, a local friend of mine (who has never been a part of the off-road community) comes up to me and asks, "What's the deal with the first week in April out in Moab? Some EJS thing? Another friend of mine invited me out in his old Jeep. You should come!" So... now I've got it in my head that the universe wants me out in Moab sometime in early April and I've always had a soft spot for a reckless road trip in this little rig. Stay tuned, I guess.

 

I'm no personal to judge someone on a road trip in a CJ.
My only advice tho is to pack lots of filters and fluids especially socks, underpants, water and gear oil.

 

My old wheeler was a ‘98 Cherokee that I’d drive everywhere. Still have all my old gear that would live in the back! Not sure it all fits in a CJ though.

 

CJ road trip??

http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/148941/

http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/115928/

 

Perhaps another notable thread on the horizon. Definitely some heavy hitting big shoes already here.

 

Big step forward today! I made the drive a half hour up the road to my buddy’s place. I know that doesn’t sound terrible, but it was a big eye opener for just how bad this engine has gotten. Uphill, into the wind, while trying maintain 50 mph feels like the end of the world!

My buddy married into a very interesting family that runs deep with AMC goodness. His late father in law had his garage set up pretty well and it’s like a time capsule from when he was building engines and tinkering.




He loved that AMX. It’s originally a 290 car but it’s sitting on a cart. The current engine is a 304. Not sure why the original was pulled. There was two 4.0s and most of a 4.2 in the garage too. I think the plan was to build one stroker out of the three for my buddy’s wife’s high school truck.



These are good people.

Anyhow… my engine. We did some horse trading and settled up today. Two of the engines I’ve already been through. I should’ve taken notes so I ended up going through one prior engine again. The 4.2 was mostly there but it clearly has a ton of miles on it. The first 4.0 was pretty clean, also had a ton of miles on it, but was just a long block.



Lastly was the other 4.0 that I hadn’t been in yet.



Both of the 4.0s had an AMC stamp on them so they must’ve been from an ‘87 to early ‘89. This one being fully dressed looked pretty good but was also very caked with oil. After digging into it I found a dirty engine that showed signs of lower miles but a lack of proper maintenance. The oil pan had a little more crud in the bottom than what I was hoping to find but the deciding factor was after pulling the bearing caps. There was some wear, but this was clearly the best condition of the three.

In the end I made the decision to make a “best of album” out of the three. I’ll be cleaning up and using the dirty but lower mile short block, the head from the clean but higher mile engine, and I grabbed the intake from the 4.2 to port match and clearance to fit a 4.0 head with the 4.0 exhaust manifold. And I know… I know… “4.2 intake on a 4.0 head? Why not run the 4.0 electronics?” I’ll be using the throttle body injection I put on the current engine a while back. I’ll hold on to the 4.0 intake should I want to swap all that on in the future.





Technically, the CJ already has its new engine in it!

 

A dual engine 8.2l Jeep!