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Chief #2!

Chief #2!

Niedhogg

Old Time Jeeper
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Location
Thor, Iowa
Vehicle(s)
'79 Jeep CJ7 Renegade with 304ci V8, TH400 auto, Quadratrac T-case, Stock 20 and 30 rears with no mods yet, not sure of the gear ratio.. 4" Softride Superlift, w/widetrac shock towers and 35x12.50x15 BFG Mud-Terrains

'76 CJ5, 232 ci, T-150 3-speed, D20 T-case, Corp. 20 rear w/full float axles and lockout hubs and Detroit auto locker, D30 front w/lockout hubs, gear ratio is unknown..
Well we found another '79 Cherokee Chief on CL this weekend. Made the long drive to take a look at it today, and wow!, is this one nice and original. If you read the last thread about the Chief fiasco we went through a month ago, then you can understand when I say that this one is cherry in comparison, and ironically it's orange as well.

We bought it! Found it in Pittsburg, and the guy has owned it for a couple yrs and bought it in Arizona, while on a hunting trip, and drove it 2800 miles back to Pittsburg! Said he had intentions of building it up but never got around to it (sound familiar?). Anyway, it is rust free, still has the undercoating, all the fender flares are solid and the paint is original and faded in spots which now has some surface rust, and the original indian print decal that wraps around is weather checked too, hot Arizona sun! Interior is nice, no tears in the seats. Has Warn lock-out hubs and the low range Transfer Case , and also has an aux fuel tank. Power rear window, which needs a track kit installed. And last but not least it's equipped with the 360ci, A/C, and cruise control. Sterring is super tight and the spark plug wires look original. The OD says 48K, maybe original, although the title says exempt, so could be! This thing is pretty sweet!
Here are a couple pics, I'll put up mre next weekend when we bring it back to the house. Pa, sucks with their title laws, need a notary public to sign off before we could take it, and no one was available today, but he has a gal that's worked with him and his dad for years on buying cars, so that's set up for next week. Oh well, here ya go!
IMAG0461.webp

IMAG0462.webp

IMAG0464.webp
:chug:
 
Cool Find!
If you need a few parts, I have a '79 Cherokee here that will be parted out as soon as I get time to do it...
 
Cool Find!
If you need a few parts, I have a '79 Cherokee here that will be parted out as soon as I get time to do it...

Cool, thanks! Could use a wiper switch, right off the top of my head, lol! We drove it home last night from Pittsburg, 4 hrs! It ran flawlessly, besides a high idle issue... ordered the carb kit today, along with everything needed for a tune up, plugs, wires, cap & rotor , oil change, new brake rotors & pads for the front (just to be safe).. Needs some vacuum lines replaced on the cruise control, and on the Transfer Case or the 4 wheel switch as my son got stuck in the wet grass and some soft ground this morning before work and 4 wheel would not engage, lol, but should be an easy fix... the front hubs were really hot after the first 5 miles when we stopped to fill it up and I was really concerned the bearings were dry, but he said he had been riding the brakes a bit coming down the hill from the PO's home to the station, so we continued and rechecked after about 50 miles on the highway and they had cooled off considerably, thank god.. Tried to order new bearings for it today as well, but Autozone didn't list any.. any help with this from someone???
 
Just a note, the Jeep in the picture is not a Cherokee Chief rather a Model 17 Cherokee "S".
 
Give rockauto.com a try for parts the corner stores dont have.
 
BJ's offroad.com was a major factor in keeping my J-10 on the road for a lot of years.:D
 
Just a note, the Jeep in the picture is not a Cherokee Chief rather a Model 17 Cherokee "S".

Yep. The badge on the back is a Cherokee badge, not a Chief badge. It most likely has an "S" in there.

IFSJA is always a good resource.

There really aren't any FSJ specific shops out there with consistently good service. Keeping your vehicle running is not always easy. But it's worth it.


But it's a good find nonetheless and it makes me jealous. I want another SJ Cherokee to compliment my fleet. It will happen one day, I'm sure. I need to finish my other projects first.
 
Yep. The badge on the back is a Cherokee badge, not a Chief badge. It most likely has an "S" in there.

IFSJA is always a good resource.

There really aren't any FSJ specific shops out there with consistently good service. Keeping your vehicle running is not always easy. But it's worth it.


But it's a good find nonetheless and it makes me jealous. I want another SJ Cherokee to compliment my fleet. It will happen one day, I'm sure. I need to finish my other projects first.

So it's a Cherokee S... no chief in the description? The badge on the rear sail panel is an indian or chief's head with an S on the bottom.:confused:
 
The Chief is an appearance package and nothing more.

The Chief replaces the Cherokee S tape stripping with two tone paint and Chief lettering on the lower body sides and tailgate.

As mentioned you have a Cherokee S
 
So it's a Cherokee S... no chief in the description? The badge on the rear sail panel is an indian or chief's head with an S on the bottom.:confused:

The badge has a Cherokee head in it, not a "chief" head. All Cherokees got one of a couple versions of that badge.

You have a wide track Cherokee S.

The Cherokee S is the base model with the least content. Aside from a lack of luxury options, a wide track S is a solid platform, especially with the 360 rather than the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l .

If you've got hubs, I'm assuming that either you have the Dana 20 , a Q-Track with the part time kit or someone just swapped hubs in and you're running the Q-Track in e-drive all the time.

In all, it looks like a really good example of the species. You should post more pictures. :chug:
 
Tough lookin Jeep. I've always wanted a J10. Can you get one of those too and add to your collection?
 
Tough lookin Jeep. I've always wanted a J10. Can you get one of those too and add to your collection?

Haha! You never can tell what I'll come home with, was actually looking on CL last night while we're in Kansas for the holidays... there are a couple prospects...:D
 
The badge has a Cherokee head in it, not a "chief" head. All Cherokees got one of a couple versions of that badge.

You have a wide track Cherokee S.

The Cherokee S is the base model with the least content. Aside from a lack of luxury options, a wide track S is a solid platform, especially with the 360 rather than the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l .

If you've got hubs, I'm assuming that either you have the Dana 20 , a Q-Track with the part time kit or someone just swapped hubs in and you're running the Q-Track in e-drive all the time.

In all, it looks like a really good example of the species. You should post more pictures. :chug:

Thought I'd show you the badge...
IMAG0461.webp

It has the Q-track with the emergency switch in the glove box, and low range on the floor driver's side of the hump, and warn lockout hubs. 360ci and a GM Turbo 400 auto. Seems pretty solid so far, made it home from PA, completely loaded down with stuff from the front seat to the talgate, and with a 12' Larson aluminum row boat strapped to the top, and it averaged 13 mpg...:D, at 65 mph. It also has an aftermarket 27 gallon auxillary full tank tucked up under the tow hitch. I'll get more pics later this week!
 

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