Full Size Jeep Network

Hi! I finally got the old Cherokee in Iceland
You may remember an earlier thread about an ex-forces V8 Cherokee with no chrome.
It took me a while but I got the beast, and I plan to improve it over time, as well as use it to explore Iceland when not at work.
I'll post pictures soon, but basically it's a good truck, with some rust issues around the bottom of the rear fenders and rockers, so I'll need some advice from the guys who used the repair panels from BJ, and also some ideas of seat cover suppliers, I saw the thread about nice covers, I wonder if they do them in black?
The interior is remarkably nice, apart from the front seats nothing is cracked or missing. I guess it never saw much sunshine!
The 360 sounds great and starts well, but I've been told that two of the four barrells on the Holley don't open... I'll have to look into this, but as it's the ones that normally only open with vacuum I reckon they might need a bit of WD40 initially then some lithium grease.
One last question: 4 speed gearbox,when i drove it, i found it very easy to grind the gears against reverse while looking for Third. Should there be a catch or a baulk to prevent mis-slection ,or, as they say " they all do that" ??!

About the shifter - it is easy to clip reverse when shifting 2-3. This transmission is a fairly slow shifter, and you need to deliberately move through the gate to 3rd. That said, there is a blocking spring in the shift top that is supposed to define the 3rd gate versus reverse. This spring is often broken, and this allows the shifter to stray into the reverse gate more than it should. With a good spring, you can still clip reverse if you try, but an intact spring will help.

For my T-18, I bought the shift top small parts kit from Parts Mike. I'm sure that they are selling a generic part they sourced from Transgo, their local transmission parts house. It is a kit specifically for the shift top - don't confuse with the small parts kit for the transmission. You could look for a source for this kit, or take the shift top apart and find a replacement spring of the same length, strength and diameter. The parts kit also comes with the core plugs to seal the shift rail bores, which you likely will not be able to reuse if you take the shift top apart.

Thanks Tim for this lightning-quick reply! I thought it wasn't quite normal
Job #1 then, get the spring!

Part 6.020-4

Congratulations! For the Holly, put a paperclip on the vacuum pod rod and place it up against the pod. The take it out for a spin and get on the gas. If the secondary's are working the paperclip will have moved down the shaft.

Thanks guys! I'll keep you posted. No doubt more stuff will appear as I get to know the truck.

On the subject of the history of the truck, the seller confirmed that it came to Iceland to serve on NAS Keflavik, which was what I suspected anyway. I now am the fourth owner, the first being Uncle Sam. Whoever bought it off the Navy did a thorough job repainting it maroon, including the interior metalwork, but left the bottom of the hood and firewall as was. The original colour was familiar to me, but I did google it just in case: USN airbase fire service. Haven't yet had a chance to open the glove box and check the stickers but will let you know. That's what I like about old workhorses, finding out what they did and how they served is always exciting.

Here's the shift top kit - http://www.americanpowertrainwarehouse. ... -sp18-50y/

Took me about a week of daily driving to stop hitting third now and then in my old Cherokee. You will get used to it.

Cool history

Hi guys, just an update. Really pleased with my Cherokee, getting used to its quirks. Done about 60 miles so far. Fuel gauge is a bit unreliable, but I hear they are often like that. All in all, she's a sweet old girl. Just got onto Tapatalk,will tryto upload a picture.
The tailgate has been modified to form a one-piece, upwards opening door, with air struts to help haul it up, and the winder is now used to lock and unlock. I guess they did that when it was used on the base, probably to speed up loading and unloading equipment. The bottom hinges are still there, they just welded top ones on. Considering finding a replacement...


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Finally figured out how to post pictures of my rig.
So far i've only covered about 110 miles, and I'm still very pleased with it. I have now got used to the gearbox quirks as well!
It looks better in pictures than in reality!


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Icetruck wrote:Hi guys, just an update. Really pleased with my Cherokee, getting used to its quirks. Done about 60 miles so far. Fuel gauge is a bit unreliable, but I hear they are often like that. All in all, she's a sweet old girl. Just got onto Tapatalk,will tryto upload a picture.
The tailgate has been modified to form a one-piece, upwards opening door, with air struts to help haul it up, and the winder is now used to lock and unlock. I guess they did that when it was used on the base, probably to speed up loading and unloading equipment. The bottom hinges are still there, they just welded top ones on. Considering finding a replacement...


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I'm curious on how that rear hatch works. Mine is only a half tailgate with the window filling the top half. Just wondering how they made it go up.

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I'll take some pictures of it and post in the next couple of days.


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Icetruck wrote:It looks better in pictures than in reality!

They all do!

Looks nice man. Ride On!

This is what the mod looks like. They have adapted the tailgate with a fixed window, with hinges at the top and very strong air shocks to help pull it up. It is very heavy! The first 20 degrees of movement require a good pull. The window winder is now the locking lever, it actuates some tabs at the bottom by the lower hinges, which haven't been removed, so i'm thinking of a retrofit at some point.


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That is wild. Never seen that before...

Whoah!

That is so cool!!!

Glad you guys like this mod. Its been done very well, and I wonder how many of these have been made. One drawback: it's very easy to hit your head on the door as you load stuff in and out of it!

Icetruck wrote:Glad you guys like this mod. Its been done very well, and I wonder how many of these have been made. One drawback: it's very easy to hit your head on the door as you load stuff in and out of it!

Looks nice! A lift would help keep your head from hitting:)