I've co-owned with my brother a 1973 Jeep Wagoneer for about three years now. The project hasn't progressed too fast, but there is something going on all the time. Plan is to get roadworthiness inspection done for it ASAP, so that we can actually drive around a bit. I've found that's the best way of keeping the motivation up.
It's an ex fire brigade vehicle, originally used as command vehicle by the fire brigade at Pori, then relocated to volunteer fire brigade at nearby village of Lyttylä in 1981. Coincidentally, I was born that year. Here's a pic taken sometime in '70s.
Well - it was sold to a private owner in 2000, years took their toll, hi-viz paint faded, et cetera. When we bought it, paint was flaking off in palm-sized pieces, rear window was MIA, it wasn't charging at all, transmission side axle bearings sounded like a coffee grinder, idle was very rough and behaviour on higher RPM's was rather erratic as well. On the positive side, the body has very little rust and there's only one dent.
We ordered and installed a carb repair kit (it's a Carter YF) and now we have smooth-ish idle and somewhat sane behaviour on higher RPM's too. When installing the repair kit, we noted that the fire brigade guys didn't trust the automatic choke and replaced it with a manual one. In the process, they've apparently used angle grinder to remove the automatic choke unit housing. Also, they've thought that no-one needs high idle with cold engine, hence there's no linkage whatsoever to open throttle when you pull the choke open. Because of this, it requires a certain choreography to keep the engine running while cold, as the mixture is too rich on normal, low idle.
Also, the ignition timing was apparently way off. When I was preparing to adjust this, I noted that the crankshaft pulley had been replaced with one without TDC marking on it. In frustration, I just turned the alternator way counter-clockwise - like thirty degrees or so - and was surprised to note that this remedied much of the running problems. For now, this was good enough. In future, I'll find out the TDC and make a proper marking for it.
It's still not charging, we're trying to figure out what to do about it. The alternator is not original, but some unknown model with internal regulation. Whoever installed that has also installed a new battery light on the dash. Battery voltage comes from this light all the way to the regulator in the rear of the alternator - we checked this with a multimeter - but the regulator is apparently dead. The battery light does not light up because there is no connection to ground from the regulator with engine off but ignition on. Ideas about replacement alternators are more than welcome. I've understood that '74 and newer models have a different alternator.
The rear window... now that's another story. This one has had the manual mechanism in it, but it is broken. The central sprocket has apparently worn to the point where the arms only move a little before the spring resistance is too much and it starts jumping over teeth. Also, the glass is still missing.
Here's a pic depicting the current state.
