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It's been a little over a year...
Well, I've had my '76 Chero for a bit over a year now.
First off I'd like to thank everyone on the forums here. I don't post as much as I should but I do read almost everything posted here. The site has been an amazing source of information and has answered every question I've had so far (and allowed me to determine what I could do and what to have a professional do).
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In November of 2007 I bought my current addiction from a guy in North Denver for $2000... What I got was a partially finished trail runner with good body panels but needing a new bed and rear wheel tubs.
The drive train consists of a 360, T-18 4-speed with granny first gear, Dana-20 transfer case with a 2.72:1 low range, Dana-44 differentials with 3.73:1 gears front and back. Other extras include junkyard bucket seats, a full roll cage, half finished pipe bumpers, integrated rock rails, clearance cut fenders, 2" body lift, on-board air with 5 gallon tank, and a dual battery setup with full isolation.
I've had a few Wagoneers over the years starting with an '83 Grand and later a '74 - but both were pretty mild and were my daily drivers. The '76 was purchased entirely as a weekend toy... So I had big plans for the old Cherokee.
The first thing to do was get plates - which of course means getting smog checked.
I took the Jeep over to the local test house and while it passed chemistry just fine, the lack of an actual smog pump meant I didn't pass...
So I looked up a good mechanic here in Colorado via the forums here and found Charlie at JeePerformance, and had a thermactor put on the Jeep.
The second trip to the smog folks didn't work out so well either - the valve seals decided to fail just as I got to the bay for the test, and the rolling clouds of blue smoke meant I failed again. So back to Charlie's I go and get a new set of valve seals. Later I was able to put collector plates on the Jeep and not have to worry about smog pumps and such 'till 2013.
Anyways, I had to shelf the project for the summer last year due to a cost of living change (new house), but since December I've been back at it.
Last month I put a thousand dollars worth of tires on it to replace the dry rotted 33 BFG MTs... The new tires are 33 Big-O 'Bigfoot XTs', which seem to be doing quite well.
Last week the 2bbl and stack of adapters that the guy I bought the Jeep from used to make it fit on the spreadbore intake on the 360, as well as the intake itself, were removed and replaced with an Edelbrock performer intake and 600cfm 4bbl. The work was done by JeePerformance in Englewood Colorado (shameless plug for a great mechanic!)...
This week I had Scott at AA Performance Muffler, also in Englewood (another shameless plug!) put in a new exhaust from the manifolds back.
The 360 is such a nice sounding motor when it sings through 3" pipe and a Magnaflow.
Anyways, that's where I am at the moment. The next items up for replacement are all of the bushings and the shocks. At my current rate I'll get around to working on the body and interior next year.
Again, thanks all for sharing your knowledge and helping keep these great beasts alive.
First off I'd like to thank everyone on the forums here. I don't post as much as I should but I do read almost everything posted here. The site has been an amazing source of information and has answered every question I've had so far (and allowed me to determine what I could do and what to have a professional do).
--
In November of 2007 I bought my current addiction from a guy in North Denver for $2000... What I got was a partially finished trail runner with good body panels but needing a new bed and rear wheel tubs.
The drive train consists of a 360, T-18 4-speed with granny first gear, Dana-20 transfer case with a 2.72:1 low range, Dana-44 differentials with 3.73:1 gears front and back. Other extras include junkyard bucket seats, a full roll cage, half finished pipe bumpers, integrated rock rails, clearance cut fenders, 2" body lift, on-board air with 5 gallon tank, and a dual battery setup with full isolation.
I've had a few Wagoneers over the years starting with an '83 Grand and later a '74 - but both were pretty mild and were my daily drivers. The '76 was purchased entirely as a weekend toy... So I had big plans for the old Cherokee.
The first thing to do was get plates - which of course means getting smog checked.
I took the Jeep over to the local test house and while it passed chemistry just fine, the lack of an actual smog pump meant I didn't pass...
So I looked up a good mechanic here in Colorado via the forums here and found Charlie at JeePerformance, and had a thermactor put on the Jeep.
The second trip to the smog folks didn't work out so well either - the valve seals decided to fail just as I got to the bay for the test, and the rolling clouds of blue smoke meant I failed again. So back to Charlie's I go and get a new set of valve seals. Later I was able to put collector plates on the Jeep and not have to worry about smog pumps and such 'till 2013.
Anyways, I had to shelf the project for the summer last year due to a cost of living change (new house), but since December I've been back at it.
Last month I put a thousand dollars worth of tires on it to replace the dry rotted 33 BFG MTs... The new tires are 33 Big-O 'Bigfoot XTs', which seem to be doing quite well.
Last week the 2bbl and stack of adapters that the guy I bought the Jeep from used to make it fit on the spreadbore intake on the 360, as well as the intake itself, were removed and replaced with an Edelbrock performer intake and 600cfm 4bbl. The work was done by JeePerformance in Englewood Colorado (shameless plug for a great mechanic!)...
This week I had Scott at AA Performance Muffler, also in Englewood (another shameless plug!) put in a new exhaust from the manifolds back.
The 360 is such a nice sounding motor when it sings through 3" pipe and a Magnaflow.
Anyways, that's where I am at the moment. The next items up for replacement are all of the bushings and the shocks. At my current rate I'll get around to working on the body and interior next year.
Again, thanks all for sharing your knowledge and helping keep these great beasts alive.
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