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You all have to forgive me, I have built, and wheeled a JK (all bolt on fab) and have built a turbo drag import during the fast the furious craze. But I have never touched old school muscle. So learning as I go.
This will be long and pic intensive. First I will share what I found from my dad’s Facebook page.
And here she is as she sits in my driveway. Probably 80% complete. I have been going over things trying to figure out what all has been done and what needs fixed. The heads are not aluminum like I originally had thought he told me. They seem to be standard heads. The block checks out for a 327. Still working identify which Holley 650 carb is on there but I think it’s a double pumper. I originally wanted to remove the carb and go with a throttle body injection kit but changed my mind. I think I want to keep the carb and learn it. It also has a GM Turbo 400 mated to a Dana 20 with dual stick conversion.
It has several leaks but I have found them all. Both diffs are wet but not dripping. I think it’s a Dana 30 up front and an AMC20 rear. It has dual remote oil filters and it’s leaking oil from the fittings at the oil filter adapter. The drivers side valve cover is leaking enough to leave oil pooled in the intake manifold on the drivers side… although it could be the crank vent also which has no kind of catch can. The Transmission was leaking bad! The entire undercarriage was covered in ATF. I fixed that today. The universal drain plug had no teflon tape. Easy fix and was low about a quart and an half.
First order is cooling. It’s got no shroud, just a flex fan. It’s fine on the highway but traffic in south Florida it starts getting pretty hot.
I got rid of my timing light about 5 years ago thinking I will never need one again! So ordered a timing light and vacuum gauge. Once it’s warmed up the idle is at 600 rpm and it try’s to die at sop signs and lights unless it’s in neutral. Once the timing light gets here I will check the timing and adjust as necessary then bump the idle closer to 750-800.
Next need to figure out something for the floor. It’s Bed lined but here we wear flip flops a lot lol and after 30 minutes of driving you can cook an egg on the transmission tunnel lol. Combined with the header location, open drain holes, open shift boot areas the floor gets crazy hot.
Probably going to do a poly fuel tank. Regardless I need to drop the tank and find out why I can only get 10 gallons of gas in.
So I picked up one of those $170 jeep to SBC 3 core radiators on eBay. It “should” bolt right in. but… the 10” fans were garbage! So grabbed some Spal 1375 CFM 11” fans from jegs. They just barely fit on the shroud. I had to cut the fan hole an 1” bigger and drill new mounting holes. I also added some closed cell foam strip to the bottom edges to seal the shroud to the radiator for the spare holes I filled them with JB weld and used aluminum tape on both sides. I will be using dual 70 relays triggerd with a 190 on 175 off and 200 on 185 off thermostatic switches. I am also putting a manual toggle switch on the dash
Out with the old, in with the new. Somehow the wiring looked much better in my head. But all works and fans turn on when expected. I Spect I may need a beefier alternator at some point.
Next up is the gas tank. I was having issues with random fuel starvation. It felt like I was running out of gas. It almost felt dependent on going up hill or down hill. Adding a couple gallons of gas always seemed to solve the issue. The other day I could barely get it to go above 1000 rpm. I suspected a sending unit, the tank looks like it has never been down so figured I would start there. And sure enough! The fuel line literally crumbled in my hands. It was probably sucking air or collapsing. Sending unit honestly looks fine but I will replace it anyway once the new one arrives.
1986 CJ7 Laredo:
258 w/Howell TBI, HEI Ign., Dana 44 Front w/Detroit, Dana 44 Rear w/Discs & Detroit,
NP435 Trans, Dana 300 T-case w/twin stick
1969 Bronco:
351W, D44 high pinon front from full size, 9” full size rear, NP435 trans and Dana 20
Careful when you push the tank back up into position. It’s really easy to pinch the rubber fuel lines against the body’s underside cross channel.
You can see it from driver’s side. Ask me how I know
Careful when you push the tank back up into position. It’s really easy to pinch the rubber fuel lines against the body’s underside cross channel.
You can see it from driver’s side. Ask me how I know
Your not the only who's garnered that information from experience. A trip home from Paducah Kentucky to Central fl took forever. I replaced the fuel pump, the carburetor, the fuel filter and more because at highway speed the CJ would die. It turned out to be a pinched line from the tank from when I changed out the tank pickup /.sending unit.
Not a good time but a learning time...
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