1979 Cherokee Chief Restoration

[JuniorFab]

I appreciate being added to the group. I recently purchased a 79 Wide Track Chief on a whim. The title and the ODO both state less than 20k original miles but I am yet unable to confirm this. The Chief still has the dealer sticker lower left on the tailgate indicating it was purchased in Hacketstown, NJ. From what I have been able to determine the original owner lived in the San Diego, CA area for several decades before it found its way to Yuma, AZ. It has all the indications of being parked for a very very very long time. I am not really a FSJ guy but this rig is just too cool. I have loads of experience in restomods and custom builds, mainly desert rigs due to my location. My plans are to get everything working, cherry out the drive train and the interior, but leave the remaining patina in place. There are a few spots with cancer but in my climate, it would take another 30 years to extend the rot another few inches.

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[JuniorFab]

Still amazed that every piece of trim is there. When I purchased this Chief, I was shocked that everything was there except the front marker light lenses. After I got it home, I found the marker light lenses in the glove box!

[will e]

Welcome to the club! There are a few of us from Arizona on the board. You'll find it is a great place for encouragement and information. We have some fab guys in Tucson, a quadtrac expert in chandler and a used parts guy up in globe!

As November gets closer watch for TITD. It stands for 'Thanksgiving in the Desert'. It's an annual event where we meet out by Florence and camp the weekend before Thanksgiving. Saturday night we have a Thanksgiving potluck with Turkey and all of the fixings. It's a great way to meet a lot of FSJ folks and usually there is half a dozen or more FSJ's too.

[JuniorFab]

Thank you, it will be a while before I can show up anywhere with a running and driving FSJ. lol Attached are some more images of the Chief as I got it. First the engine bay. I removed the air cleaner before taking pictures, it was sealed up. The dust was thick!

[JuniorFab]

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The interior had almost an inch of dust along all flat surfaces. The headliner had fell from the roof in a million pieces. Everything had succumbed to the heat. The rear window was off its track and the crank had the lock cylinder removed. It was a real challenge to get the tailgate open. The flooring was rubber mat cracked up from being dry.

[JuniorFab]

Sorry about how the images are showing up. Trying to learn how this system works. Will the images always show as a click link rather than simply being shown in the thread?

[will e]

You can show up at TITD without a Jeep, lots of people do. It's more about having fun together and enjoying the beautiful desert. The weather is usually perfect. It will be a great way for you to check out some of the local builds and meet some of the local guys who do fabrication and sell parts.

TTFAB WORKS http://ttsfabworks.com/
and
eviltwin fabs http://www.eviltwinfab.com/

are both located in Tucson. I think some of there stuff is available on BJ's offroad too. bjsoffroad.com

[JuniorFab]

Evidence that this Chief is in fact super low miles... the belts have AMC logos on them. You can still see the dealer inspection sticker on the windshield too. Also cool, found a bottle of visene in the glove box with an expiration date March of 87. lol Title says 12k miles, matches ODO. So far, I am a believer.

[rocklaurence]

Thats a Classic Survivor and with the manual transmission. Id restomod it with EFI, A/C and 5 speed

[JuniorFab]

Thats a Classic Survivor and with the manual transmission. Id restomod it with EFI, A/C and 5 speed

I am still a bit unsure if it actually has only 12k miles on it. No signs of 112k miles type of wear on anything but the engine is a bit oily for having such low miles. Who knows, I have never seen what a vehicle looks like after being parked for 40 years. The trans is very greasy but the T-150 is famous for the oil seal being installed backwards at the factory. The engine is a bit greasy as well but the plastic valve cover appears to be damaged and was leaking oil.

The engine was locked up but we pulled the plugs and squirted some ATF in each hole, let it sit, try to turn it, repeat. It took some convincing but the starter finally turned her over. It wouldn't start. The journey continues...

[JuniorFab]

So.... we got it to turn over fast enough to start but obvious valve train issue. Not sure if we bent the tie rods or if another had done so before we got here but several are bent as you can see from the pic. Found out why exterior of engine is greasy... plastic valve cover had a spot that was melted causing oil leak. Wondering how hot the engine had to get to melt the valve cover and if the bent push rods are related. Also learned from pulling the lower radiator hose that the cooling system is plugged up with corrosion. Expected from sitting for decades. The I6 engine in this thing was used forever in JEEPs.... Already found a donor out of a wrecked 1984? JEEP CJ7.

[JuniorFab]

We removed the engine from the Chief, as well as from the donor CJ. All indications are that this is the first time the engine has been separated from the transmission. We got them on a cart side by side.

[JuniorFab]

The corrosion from the original engine setting for decades is crazy. Check it out. Couple comparisons to donor engine with same parts. Wow!

[JuniorFab]

The fuel tank was rusty on the inside. We used electrolysis to get it cleaned out, painted it up, installed a new pickup and sending unit then hung it back up with all new rubber hoses and fuel lines. The metal fuel lines were plugged solid with decades old fuel. We ran the new fuel lines using insulated clamps. Failed to get images of the electrolysis set up. We used solar panels.

[JuniorFab]

After we got the back window lowered, we got to work on cleaning up the interior. It was a mess with decades of dirt and dust and thousands of pieces of the headliner that disentigrated and fell everywhere. We got the rubber mat type flooring out and gave it a good wash down. Check out that 41 year old rear seat. Looks like it was never sat in!

[JuniorFab]

We also got the donor engine cleaned up. My son runs a company called Impeccable Coatings. He does a lot of Cerakote. The Cerakote was applied to the exhaust/intake manifolds as well as the valve cover and a few other parts. The engine will be super clean!

[rocklaurence]

Looks like it will be up and running soon

[letank]

Welcome to the asylum. Impressive find. Looks like water was the preferred coolant... as for the carb, time for a motorcraft 2100 swap so you do not have to deal with the computer controlled Carter BBD, many post on the CJ forums about this swap

[JuniorFab]

Got the donor engine cleaned up, painted and installed along with newly Cerakoted parts. The engine will be like Jewlery sitting in this 41 year old, possibly super low mileage survivor. Cerakote provides amazing corrosion protection, and there are versions that are not effected by heat. If you are interested in learning more about Cerakote, let me know and I will get you connected with my son Jake who runs Impeccable Coatings here in AZ.

[JuniorFab]

The Chief had a cool wooden shift knob. I have no idea if it was OEM or not. Absolutely had to clean it up, stain it and get some clear on it. Turned out awesome. Probably do the entire interior around the shift knob! lol