Mars 1981 J-10 Laredo

[Mars]

Posting this here since the mother-ship is no more.
Picked this up in Somerset KY.









I took these the day I started working on it at the shop, note the s-10 full of parts next to it.

[Mars]

The plan was to fix the obvious issues I knew it had and drive it.

*power steering pump ( and new lines )

*radiator

*full tune up

*fluids

While I worked I said such nice things to whomever designed the meathook of death as I would repeatedly take my hat off and knock my glasses off my nose in a single fluid motion.
In fact I got lots of practice, I could even do it while I had my hands full, wrestling with the power steering pump.



Pump.. check!


I had noted on a thread about vin decoding that according to mine, this truck came with a I6.
I didnt really pay much mind to it as it now had a V-8 and I assumed that the conversion was done properly.

Here's my new radiator.



and the one I removed.



You would think the fact that the shroud laying on the new part looked tiny by comparison that may have run a bell.

nope.

It wasn't until I went to drop my new part in that I noticed.
The I6 core and a V8 core are different. As is the battery try. ( not the part but how it's installed. )
Being a packrat paid off as I had a pristine V8 core and a spare face panel, and they were even the right color!

So I put it on the ground..


And started to take it apart.

[Mars]

Sooooo a day that i figured might last three or four hours turned into an all day sucker.









Managed to yank the condenser and drier without breaking anything, but the part was toast.


little tweaking, and a fair amount of cussing..



Went to the local hardware store and replaced the crusty core to frame bolts. Was not confident in using them again.

Thinking I was done for the night after buttoning it up, I dropped my new radiator in and *thunk*

I decided to re-use the original face panel and gave it no further thought.





I broke out my cut off wheel and now have a "custom" face panel.

I bolt the rad in and I know it's a bit high, it's also on the truck!
I'll deal with it in the morning.


and with my best Borat impression.. GREAT SUCCESS!!

[Mars]

The next morning, I finally got to my oil change.

This was a well thought out and executed operation.







I do like the "oil down the diff and get oil everywhere" feature AMC built into these.

[Mars]

After I got done taking my oil spatter and floor dry shower I dropped the radiator to the correct height and start plumbing it in.





I re-used the elbows from the previous radiator, and cut off the lines. Used trans cooler rubber line
and fuel injector clamps.

Worked pretty well for a bit but has developed a leak, it's on my to do list.

With the new core came a new issue.
The battery tray won't go back where it was, nor will my brackets.




I decide to just tuck it in a tight as I can and roll with it.
Drilled a new hole and re-used as much hardware as I could.

The rest of that day consisted of getting the truck running, using a breaker bar to get the plugs to budge was the highlight of my evening.

After a close call ( the truck nearly slid off the rack on me ) I quickly re assemble the rolling stock and put it back down.
I had been diagnosing a no headlight issue for a little while and I guess I was more tired than I thought, and attempted to move the truck off the lift.
Heard a strange sound and the truck died.
Hopped out to find.


Rookie mistake and could have been a costly one.
After that I shut the doors and hit the road.

[Mars]

Didn't get a ton of sleep, I was up a good part of that night obsessing.

I came in the next morning determined and just a little giddy from too much caffeine.
Printed off the wiring harness from Oljeep's site. Darn handy!


And set about fixing my no lights issue.
The previous night I discovered the interesting way AMC wired the side markers/turn signals.
They used the high element of the turn signal to complete the circuit of the side marker, it flashes and the side marker goes out.
If you don't have a good connection to the bulb in the socket you get flickering side markers.
But I'll get back to that.
Another thing i discovered ( this was before the benefit of a diagram ) is that the headlight and marker/turn circuit are seperate aside from a common source.
A failure in one system won't affect the other.
Since I was getting juice ( a tiny trickle ) through the headlamp sockets, I reversed my light and to test grounds. They checked out.
So I went upstream to the switch, full voltage in and out.
Next was the dimmer.



I know this isn't a big deal to most of us as far as fixes go, but I know how much you guys like pictures.

This plug is also on my to do list to replace.

I suddenly had headlights but no brights. I also wasn't happy with my still flickering side markers.

[Mars]

So I had headlights, running lights and signals.
But I would say there were about 70% of actual functionality.



Still had no high beams.
Tested again and I had good power, and it was switching like it was supposed to.
Removed the bulbs to test the actual lights and promptly snapped a terminal off..

And promptly stuck it back on.


NO high element, both bulbs the same way.
What could have caused that? Hard short?

[Mars]

Random puppy sighting..


Anyway, After I got back from the parts store for two new headlights.. man those got spensive!!

I started cleaning up the shop and on my tool cart I had some turn signal sockets from a 96 Tahoe and a turn signal bucket off my jeep..

The wheels started turning..

Hmm..


Hmmmmm..


Hm!!


Side by side comparison


Wiring.


The colors of the wires will vary depending on what end of the vehicle you pulled them off of.
I did mine while the wires were hot so I didn't mix them up.
Black is ALWAYS ground.
Touch the different leads together with the running lights on.
If the element just barely lights up, you've touched it to the high element.

Here's installed and on. Just make sure you give yourself some slack on the wires.



Nice and bright and no more flickering side marker. This socket is also in every parts store, so real easy to get new ones.
Kinda proud of myself on that one

[Mars]

Started poking around on the battery and the charging system.



I don't recall the exact numbers. But there was serious voltage drop to the body and from the solenoid to the battery.
Started by taking it all apart, cleaning and seeing what could be saved and what needed replaced.
Then my wiring OCD kicked in.





When I was done, not only did it look slick, it only offered the natural resistance of the wires.

Dropped the hood and took it for a ride.
Drove great! Didn't wanna stop
After some frantic pedal pumping and a long string of expletives I got her back under control.
What I took for having brakes in the gravel lot was really a frozen caliper and a barely functioning master cylinder.
The rear slaves were non-op as well. So bringing this beast down from 60mph on one caliper was.. interesting.
Got her back to the shop and took some pics.


Wanted a shot of both my trucks. And actually got one once my hands stopped shaking long enough to work the touch screen on my "smart" phone.

I swear my "smart" phone rides the short bus.
Pulled her back around front for a solo pic and made this movie.


Click it to play


Near death experience aside, I couldn't have been more pleased

[Mars]

After a rash of thefts and vandalism at the shop I brought her up to the house where I could tinker in peace.

I got to work on getting the rest of her together, starting with the giant hole in the middle of the dash.







Never used a sawsall on a dash before.. and apparently neither had the guy who put that radio in.

So I got creative..




Then I got desperate...


Then I hoped like crazy I didn't just set my dash on fire.


Once I wiped off the residue from the galvanized panel... ( I forgot to grind it off ) Don't look too awful.


It was kind interesting how he had the previous radio in.. he had ripped out the clock and ash tray to hang little hand made brackets off the studs
to kinda sling blade that sucker in there.. it had a certain genius about it. And just went to show how far someone will go to do the wrong thing.

So after getting my radio in.. and let me tell ya it looks awesome in the dark!

I take it over to the car wash, I've devised a plan to clear the leaves and whatever else is in my heater box by using one of those giant vacs there.

So there I am in the midst of a VERY busy DIY car wash, getting nothing but weird looks as I yank the hard nozzle off the end of the hose and then remove my blower motor.
I manage to work it in past the mixture door and run it across the bottom of the core.. I hear all kinds of acorn shells being pulled through the hose.. the noise earning me even more unwanted attention.
And then I hear the fluffy stuff being sucked out.. I even manage to work the hose back behind the core and hear even more stuff coming out.
I go and go till I hear nothing else, even thumping on the heater box with my other hand.
Satisfied i re-install my blower motor and stick the nozzle back onto the vac.
Once I hop back in my truck I flip the selector to heat, and hit the fan. I had heat!!
Smiling I hit the key to start it and... CLICK!!

A long string of expletives ensues... apparently jeeps cause Tourette's syndrome.. who knew?

So I call for a friend to jump me since NOBODY at the busy car wash will..

All it needed was a little juice and it fires right up. But as I drove it home I had less and less power to the point that I'm sitting in my driveway, hit the brake pedal and the radio cuts off cause the lights came on.

So it sat for a few days while I did other things.

[pyro]

awesome build...jealous of your seats and grille. I destroyed that glovebox light on mine trying to put in my radio and now can't find a replacement. damn.

[leadsled01]

Now that is an entertaining post!!!

[Mars]

Leadsled01, Thanks! I do try to entertain. The saga isn't over yet.

Pyro, I'll keep an eye out if I run across one I'll shoot you a PM.

So while it sat for longer than I wanted I did some reading.
And sent a few PM's and everyone was more or less agreed that I needed to bypass my voltmeter in the dash and that would probably solve my under/no charge issue.

I read through the IFSJA tech archives and there was a great pictorial article about putting in a modern gauge that would re-route the high voltage out of my dash and give me a working display.























This mod would be a HUGE pain without a dremel. If you don't have one or can't afford a good round file would work too.
Total cost of this mod was $13.99 the cost of the new gauge.
Word of warning, don't waste your time going anyplace but autozone for this gauge. They don't have it.
I cruised O'reily, Advance, Carquest and KOI, and no joy.

How it's hooked up:

Both the big red and big yellow wire go to the positive terminal, and you supply a ground.
It will be active at all times, and according to the original poster it's only going to pull as much as your radio memory.
Not a big deal if you drive it a lot, if it sits a solar charger or a trickle charger might be in order.

You will also need to put a wire from the back of the alternator to the battery side of the solenoid so it will charge.

[Mars]

The rain at this point has pretty much shut me down, I didn't know Ohio had monsoon seasons but apparently they did this year..

I finally get my cluster re-installed but was unable to get the mod completed that day due to rain.

Couple days later I got a break and was able to get the wire on the back of the alt.
Gauge worked perfectly and with the wire installed it was charging at 14.6v at idle.

I take it for a few short hops around the house before hopping on the highway to get over to the title bureau and D.M.V. before they closed.

The truck ran great, I of course made sure I had brakes after a total failure of the Master Cylinder one night gave me a scare.
Both Calipers in front and a new MC, along with new slaves, shoes, hardware and drums in the rear.. I had me some brakes!

So I get there and park, walk in and get the out of state inspection that was me more or less reading the vin to the girl under the awning who refused to get wet.
With that done I was able to transfer my title and get my hard plates.

On the highway headed home there was this loud bang from under the hood! And I started to loose speed.

I did the check, steering, brakes, power.. still running.

Giving it gas made it angry but it would accelerate, so I made it go to the next exit. Then made it go to the house. I was not going to stop on the side of 275 in the pouring rain with a dead truck.

It was going to make it home or die trying!

It croaked in the driveway as I let off to slow down, but eventually re-started and i was able to park it.

With the constant rain and my aggravation I didn't even wanna go near it for a little while, but as soon as the weather cleared ( 4 days later ) I got out there on it.

I had done some more reading and found a post with similar symptoms to mine, he had a clogged pushrod that starved the rocker for oil. The rocker eventually seized and snapped off.

I figured I had tossed a rocker by the way it felt, and my experience with olds engines. If any of you guys have been into an oldsie rocket, the AMC looks VERY familiar, even the bridge overs have the same part numbers ( No joke )

I run it and can hear a ticking that I trace to the left side of the engine. Pull the valve cover and see nothing wrong at first. Everything seemed to be in order.
So I start feeling around on the rockers and pushrods and find..



This came from intake on #4.

So I dropped a new pushrod in and went to re-assemble and the bridge was also twisted so I replaced those parts as well.

Started the engine and the tick was gone but had a definite miss, intake #4 seemed to be moving normally but exhaust #4 was barely moving, and the more throttle I gave the better it moved but still not correct.

[Mars]

That's where I left it, winter closed in and the idea of being bent over under the hood of that truck with ice forming down my crack did not appeal to me.

So I spent my time plotting and planning.

Ristow can attest to my constant questions.



Plan:
*Tear down to short block and send heads out.

*Replace into and carb.

*Install HEI

*Install one wire alternator

*Install Serehill's headlight upgrade

*Install roll bar

*Fix various leaks

*Drive the darn thing

I've also been poking at various things during the winter downtime.
Scored a clock and a unbroken cluster.

Cleaned it up and ordered some goodies from BJ's





I'll be replacing the face of my existing cluster with this one, should look great installed

So I wait again for the rain to stop so I can get moving on this..

[Mars]

Random photo from school.. sad they needed to post something like this in the hall.

[serehill]

Really nice J 10!! Going in the right direction. Hey AWSOME DOG. That sign doesn't belong anywhere but the trash. Are you serious educators put that in a school. No wonder they think they have too. I can think of a sign they need in their office. But I have a feeling they are not smarter than a 5th grader.

I do want to answer the question though. FIRE THE TEACHER THAT HUNG THAT POSTER should help shatter the illusion

Define etiquette the makers of this poster don't know what that is.

METROPOLITAN ETIQUETTE AUTHORITY REALLY?????.

[Mars]

Thanks man, and sad but true. That was in the hallway just outside the cafeteria, right next to the main staircase and elevators.

You couldn't miss it.

[Mars]

Amazing what happens when you get a little sunshine..

Got the roll bar test fit. Had to squeeze it onto the rails.


The plan is to get this powder coated, and see if I can find a brush guard to go along with it.

[Bricker]

Roll bar will look great on your truck. I have enjoyed reading your adventures of bringing your nice truck back to life. Great motivation for my 81 Honcho that's sitting in the woods waiting on more time and money. Keep it up!