1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

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Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

I started my FSJ obsession back in '98 when I bought a ten-year old Grand Wagoneer, which my wife then made her own, so i bought a '78 Cherokee 4-door for myself. After about twelve years of intensive modding, I had to whittle down my collection, so I've been FSJ-less for the past ten years.

Since I'm over fifty now, and wanting a pickup I could register as an antique, I kept my eye open for a J-truck that wasn't rusted beyond repair, which is hard to find up here in New England.

Well, I finally found an '87 J-20 that came from Colorado via New Hampshire that was amazingly free of horrible rust. It lived its life as a plow-truck, but must have been parked inside when not plowing.

I started by de-plow-trucking it, and have spent the past two months, when weather and work permit, getting it roadworthy and ready for inspection.

I've since rebuilt the carburetor, changed the hoses and fluids, and now have to completely rebuild the braking system.

I thinks this image will work (please let me know if nothing shows):

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twisted frame
Posts: 637
Joined: Wed Mar 27, 2013 9:41 am
Location: Massachusetts

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by twisted frame »

Great looking J truck, Dr, especially the bed!

Are you keeping the 360 or swapping? I remember your Cherokee had a big block. I think it was an Olds? Maybe Buick.

Glad you're back in a FSJ!
73 J4000. 360, MC 2100, T18A, D20, stock closed knuckle Dana 44 front, 60-2 rear. Warn Lock-O-Matics, Warn/Belleview electric winch, true duals with glasspacks, old-school front diff skid plate, used 265 Toyos on 16" AR wheels.

will e
Posts: 5097
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2012 8:21 am

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by will e »

Look at that! What a nice looking truck you've found and a great way to get back into the FSJ world. Thanks for saving it and for joining and posting pictures. We love pics! You'll find this is a great place for info, advice and encouragement.
81 Waggy 'WILL E' Retired
82 Cherokee WT - SOA/SF/high steer/Alcan springs/agr box/Borgeson steering shaft/AMC 401/performer/holley TA/HEI/BeCool/727/ALTAS (2.0/2.72/5.44)/D60 Snofighter(Yukon Zip,hubs,stubs,4.56)/14 Bolt (FF,BF shave, Discs, ARB,Artec Truss)/MTR 37X12.5/Corbeau XRS Baja & 5 point retractable harness/Hella Aux lights/tuffy console/killer32 sliders/Evil Twin bumpers, rack and roll cage/WARN 8000/TT Fabworks steering brace/dual batts/custom TC skid plate/ARB fridge

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

twisted frame wrote: Wed Feb 26, 2020 9:03 pm Great looking J truck, Dr, especially the bed!

Are you keeping the 360 or swapping? I remember your Cherokee had a big block. I think it was an Olds? Maybe Buick.

Glad you're back in a FSJ!
The bed is amazingly solid for this area.

My Cherokee did indeed have an Olds 455. It was a great motor for what I wanted, but now, I'm going to keep it stock for a while. If I were ever to go with something else, it would be an aluminum fuel-injected V-8 with an overdrive transmission.

Glad to be back!

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

So, I've done the brakes, the fluids, the hoses, the carburetor, and removed all traces of the plow setup.

I finally got to pull the front seat and carpet to see how bad the floor was, since it has been up in New England as a plow-truck for close to twenty years.

Surprisingly, the floors are solid! There is surface rust on the driver's side, but initial scraping does not reveal any serious rust-through.

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The passenger-side is amazing for this area.

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There is a crack in the rear floor behind the driver's-seat that I'll have to weld up, but it doesn't need full floor-replacements like all the others I looked at before this one.

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There was an amp mounted under the passenger-side seat, fed by an unfused 6-gauge cable coming through a hole in the firewall without a grommet. I have no idea if I'm going to keep it, but I'm not going to keep it there, given how much space there is under the dash on the passenger-side without an A/C unit, but at least it's disconnected for now.

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The seat is intact, but not great. I'd replace it with buckets and a center armrest if one came up, but for now, I'll just lube the tracks, clean the upholstery, and reinstall it. I think it has been recovered, but it does sag badly on the driver's-side. :(

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I'm not sure if I can save the carpet, which smells of mouse-piss. I will try shampooing it, but a replacement might be necessary.

I'm very pleased.

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

The poor bumper on my truck was bashed up at each corner, and also shifted over to the left by about 3":

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So, a come-along and a snatch-strap on a tree in my driveway let me gradually pull it out into something resembling a straighter bumper.

Here is the video of the unbending of the bumper:

https://youtu.be/HdgnpbYqiLI

and here are the results:

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It could still use a *little* tweaking, and some repro end-caps would be very sweet, once I painted the entire bumper. The corner of the bed was also pierced by the pointy corner of the bumper; I did start bending it back out, but it will need a good amount of massaging to make it good.
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Phils67
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Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Phils67 »

Not for nothing but the contours for the cab corner are almost exactly the same as the bed corner on these trucks. BJs Offroad has the replacement cab corners now so you could always weld a cab corner on the bed corner and piece in any area not covered. Just food for thought. And that truck is super solid for a northeast truck. Congrats on the find! Great score!
1967 Gladiator J2000, 1998 4.0L OBD2, T18, D20 twin sticks, D44HD/D60, Detroit lockers, 3.73s, 4wheel disc brake, FSSR, Dakota digital, etc.

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

I made some progress at remedying the botched wiring on my truck, and made some videos of the process:

Taillight wiring repair:

https://youtu.be/qUpqDZrNGCA

[youtube]https://youtu.be/qUpqDZrNGCA[/youtube]

Front Turn-Signal Wiring harness repair and housing replacement:

https://youtu.be/5vT7CcF6V6s

[youtube]https://youtu.be/5vT7CcF6V6s[/youtube]

Next video will cover the rejuvenation of the floor with POR-15; here are the results in pictorial form:

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I just put in new factory-style door seals from BJ's; they fit perfectly, and only took five minutes to install, which was good because the rain was hitting my back as I was finishing up and I wanted to keep the cab dry until I could seal up some pinholes and the seams with some seam-sealer.

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

I needed a battery hold-down; the ones from the auto-parts store did not work.

So I made my own:

Five-Minute Fabrication Video:

https://youtu.be/Eu8zTnK-Z-E

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

Here's a video of the process of making the floors look like they do in the above pictures:

https://youtu.be/YgS1kee8Ewo

twisted frame
Posts: 637
Joined: Wed Mar 27, 2013 9:41 am
Location: Massachusetts

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by twisted frame »

Thanks for creating those videos, Dr.Bob! The bumper work came out especially nice. Too bad the bench seat isn't so supportive - are you thinking of GW buckets or just something that fits well/works well from basically any kind of vehicle? I don't think GW power seats fold forward, do they? (I've actually never owned a Wag with the power, leather buckets.) Behind-the-seat access in a J truck would be useful.
73 J4000. 360, MC 2100, T18A, D20, stock closed knuckle Dana 44 front, 60-2 rear. Warn Lock-O-Matics, Warn/Belleview electric winch, true duals with glasspacks, old-school front diff skid plate, used 265 Toyos on 16" AR wheels.

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

twisted frame wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2020 7:17 pm Thanks for creating those videos, Dr.Bob! The bumper work came out especially nice. Too bad the bench seat isn't so supportive - are you thinking of GW buckets or just something that fits well/works well from basically any kind of vehicle? I don't think GW power seats fold forward, do they? (I've actually never owned a Wag with the power, leather buckets.) Behind-the-seat access in a J truck would be useful.
There's a guy here in RI who parts out Jeeps, and says he has buckets and brackets from a J-truck that will work for me; he also is just receiving a pallet of NOS parts, which I'm going to sort through with him next Saturday, so that should provide a lot of the little pieces I need as well. My bench is too smelly, some of the springs are broken, the slider track is broken, etc, so that's going in the trash or up to anyone who wants it when my new seats are in. I am aware of the difference in inner-brackets for the '80-up trucks to accommodate the driver's-side drop transfer-case, so hopefully he has that part I need. I don't want to slap in some non-folding GW seats, though they would be comfy!

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

I just finished uploading my three-part video series covering the operation and restoration of the shifter and throttle-valve linkage for the TF727 in my 1987 J-20.

Part 1- Disassembly and Description

[youtube]https://youtu.be/y6S1vmVdL18[/youtube]

Part 2- Modifying Shift-Linkage Bushings

[youtube]https://youtu.be/msj5p70jahA[/youtube]

Part 3- Reinstallation and Adjustment

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Sfzy4txmzb0[/youtube]

Here are the parts I used in this restoration, with links to the suppliers:

BJ's Shift-Linkage Repair Kit, Part Number:02-7530:

https://www.bjsoffroad.com/Automatic-TF ... _1813.html

Mega-Parts Throttle-Valve Linkage Spring:

https://www.megapartsusa.com/proddetail ... d=MP-KRS02

Dorman #14041 Shift Linkage Bushing Kit (for upper shift-linkage bushing at Steering-column arm):

https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-32111-14041.aspx

Hillman 1"x3/8"x3/8" Nylon Spacer Part # 880448:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-2-Coun ... rs/3012467

Topic author
Dr.Bob
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:57 pm

Re: 1987 J-20: from Plow Truck to Street Truck

Post by Dr.Bob »

Changed the differential fluid in my axles:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/m0d_LLItHZI[/youtube]
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