1978 Cherokee Chief Restore/Build.

[Jeeptchr]

Lol, . That's about right! The wife's walker is 16.1 and he looks small compared to Topper. We board currently in a barn of quarter horses, and all of the trails through the woods are not trimmed high enough for us. Now that its cold out I'm hoping that I'll be able to get some more "jeep" time in rather than riding...

[Cassidy]

Wives and horses what can you do. my wife and her Clydesdale. Definitely cuts into my jeep budget.

[Jeeptchr]

Lol, yeah. I think I'll end up building a horse barn in the spring...

but onto the important stuff!

Here's some pics of the frame!




The Lizard skin with Sound Control and Ceramic Liner pre Urethane topcoat.



Urethane gloss U500 Topcoat over the lizard skin. I didn't shoot a primer, as I talked to Lizard skin and they told me it wasn't needed. I didn't scuff it, just blew the dust off and shot it. It's been a year or so since I shot any urethane. it turned out ok for the most part, as it was only to cover and make the Lizard skin easier to clean. I'm actually not sure what to think about it. There are some dull spots, but I didn't reshoot any of it at this point. I figure most of the firewall will be covered anyways by misc stuff and the motor.

Opinions?

[Jeeptchr]

Did I mention the wife left town for the weekend? I've been able to get a bit of shop time this weekend After shooting the urethane, I unloaded the frame and laid in part of the new SS brake lines and disc proport valve I picked up from BJ's along with the urethane body mounts.
They aren't clipped in because I don't have the new clips yet (kinda forgot to order them) and I haven't located the old clips yet.


Earlier I found where the center of gravity was.. turns out it's in a different spot if the the doors are off. I was grabbing anything handy to counterweight the front end as I took it off the rotisserie. 1 12k winch and 2 propane tanks later..



When I was cleaning the threads on the two body mounts behind the seats they spun on me, turns out that the correct spot to drill out to acces them is the round recess.



I test fitted the modified NOS Trailblazer tank. It'll be a little higher than this pic with the planned poly bushings. I made a sturdier mount on the front than was included, and on there rear I switched to two flanges vs the single flange in the center. It kinda concerned me that it was only held up by two bolts front and rear in the center.

[Jeeptchr]

So I thought I'd do a couple of videos so everyone could see the difference Lizard Skin Sound Control before and after coating. Here are two video's I uploaded to youtube. the first video is a bit long, but it actually has 4 different video's spliced together. I didn't edit them, so please excuse the unprofessionalism
I'll post this in the modified forum also.

Inside roof of Cherokee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHbQnawUqY

Transmission pan comparison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ncHHs2wdgk

(tried to use the youtube tag but I couldn't figure it out... go figure

[Jeeptchr]

Wow, realized I hadn't posted any updates for a while. Things have been a little bit on hold, I did get the Vintage Air Gen IV bought so I could test fit it, and have been gathering parts to rebuild the front axle. But spending time and finances on the jeep has taken a back burner to another project... We just (Feb 6th) bought a house with some acreage and a shop on it. so for the last month I've been doing a quick remodel on the house. i.e. floors, interior doors, paint, and all new trim. I moved the Cherokee over yesterday I'll admit, I'm probably more excited for the shop than the house! it's 4 times the size of what I have been working in,

So I'm hoping to get some time this spring to get out and work a bit on the jeep, but right now I have a few other priorities i.e building fencing and a horse barn.... (don't want to give up any of my shop space for the horses ) in the meantime, I'm figuring slow but steady process, it'll be really nice being able to bring the suburban that I'm pulling the LS from over from where it's being stored and put it side by side in the shop to swap parts over! I'm basically ready to make the motor mounts and set the motor right now drivelinew wise.

[19714x4waggy]

Any update. I want to do the under side of my 71 wagon,

[sfriend]

Did you lizard skin the inside top or did you do the head liner, or both?

[Jeeptchr]

I did the inside roof, I have a headliner that I'll install over the top

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[Nikkormat]

My 78 has the same rust path, I think it might be a paint adhesion problem from the factory.

[HeavyMetalThunder_81]

What happened to this project?! Any updates?

[Jeeptchr]

It's still in process, unfortunately it's been on hold since we bought the new place a couple of years ago. I got the horse fence it all done, retaining wall done for the horse barn(still don't have the barn up), temp loafing shed built, tools and equipment partially moved up from the farm. Full time job and full time side business have definitely slowed me down.. Etc.

This retaining wall set back the barn project quite a bit, there was 37 yards of concrete in that wall and the piers that you can't see.


Oh and the biggest reason the project has been on hold.. last august we welcomed Maverick Allen into the world. That's definitely changed priorities a bit. I lurk on here when I get a chance and post occasionally.


I'm hoping this winter to get things going again, I need to at least get the frame of the horse barn up so I can get the Cherokee to where I can move around it. I've been stockpiling lumber that I've been able to buy worth the money (reject from a truss company). And the Cherokee is in behind that...
Hint on the Cherokee location, it's under the orange rc jeep



I've still been collecting parts, still have the ls driveline and the j20 running gear, have the motor and trans mounts. Just need to be able to get to the jeep... oh and I want to get the radiant heater hooked up. so Maverick and I can work out there this winter


Brad


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