FSJ talk

[ElJefe]

Lets talk about the Full Size Jeeps. I'll start.

mine is a 76 Cherokee Chief. I bought it in 98 for 400 bucks from the guy who owns Grey Cliff Lodge.Its started out life having a 360/t18/dana20 with front and rear 44's. and a ton of rust. I got it running and drove it home stuck in low range. let me tell ya that made alot of people coming down the canyon happy.

I fixed alot of the rust, keep finding more though. the 360 was fine but smoked real bad. So I let one of my dad's friends talk me into a Chevy swap. so I put in a 383 with a th400 tranny and kept the dana 20. loved that set up till one day whilst I was letting it warm up it blew the oil pressure guage line and I lost most the oil. . so fast forward today I got a gutless 350 in there and just finishing up getting the 14 bolt in. and got a bunch of interior crap to do. My goal is to get it back on the road by spring time.

this is one of the only good pics I have of it right now on the net.
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg84/Jeepbum985/P1010020.jpg

I also belong to the International Full Size Jeep Association. www.ifsja.org Check them out.

So lets see the and hear about the big jeeps.

 

[Tacoma]

I've had
:
--a 1981 Chief, with a 258, 727, NP208 and an AMC20 that spit shafts... and was a horrific yellow/black stripe bumblebee looking atrocity with broken body mounts and no power. Got a 360 and rebuilt it, ran it for about a week and sold it to start the house fund. Purchased it in Aug.97, and was my intro to the old FSJ-list, and the IFSJA "before the split".
--an awful, burgundy 79 Wagoneer that ran ok and saw service in the winter of 98-99, and which got parted out and distributed to various members of CFSJA, IFSJA, and the fsj-list mailing list.
-- My baby, which I wish I still had: a 1978, one-owner, heavily optioned Cherokee Chief. This had a dealer installed CB, Warn bumper and winch, and the optional Trailblazer auxiliary gas tank, which I still have. This was the Jeep that I went exploring in most of all, and it was great! plenty of room for my wife and and all of our stuff. My wife abused this poor Jeep while I was gone and nearly killed it, but when the Quadratrac died, it was all over for this thing. I tried to give it away, but no one would come get it, and it was, sadly, CRUSHED.
-- a $200 reddish 1979 Cherokee 2dr, NT, with NO options except the V8, didn't even have low range on the Qtrac. I bought it thinking I would part it out... for $200, in PA. I drove it across the country and got 14mpg, best ever for me out of an FSJ, despite it leaking out of everything that could leak, and having so much blowby that I would have to stop every 300mi to empty the oil out of the air cleaner housing.... Affectionately dubbed "the Flying Tomato", this thing was shiny and nice, but full of bondo and rust, and the motor was bored already, so pretty much worthless. Sold the flawless interior complete, gave the rims and new tires to my cousin, and scrapped the pitiful shell.

In addition to those, I parted out a couple Wags. I also had a 1967 M725 with 4.56's, 36" Swamper Radials, and a 460/c6 combo that defeated my efforts to love it and use it... and currently own the shell of a 1968 M715, currently awaiting massive cash infusions and some inspiration. It might go back on Rockwells if I have the heart sometime. I am also an original member of the M715 Zone, and former moderator of the same.

 

[cheepin]

My first real 4x4 was a '77 Waggy.360/th400 /stock axles on cut 33" tires.Bought a '78Cherokee from a friend for parts.He had wreck it.It had the 2 speed t-case and bucket seats.Swapped them over to the '77.Sold the rest for parts.Also had a '66 waggy.Bone stock.Had the Vigilante 327.Was a rusty hunk.
I have always like these things.Keep up with the pics and updates.

 

[allterrain]

I had a 78 Cherokee Chief on HUGE 35's back in the day.
360, TH400, Quadratrac and 44s with a spring over.
Drove that thing all over Moab and the state for several years.

I'm pretty sure I remember Tacoma from the old FSJ list in the 90's.

Ahh, memories...

 

[Tacoma]

Ah yes... I remember your Jeep! I think I emailed you a couple times, about something, way back when LOL ...

 

[wagonmaster]

I have my addiction started with a '77 wagoneer 360 th400 kitted part-time q-trac soa d44. Then came on hard times and sold to little brother. Killed me to see him enjoying it!!! Than came a trade of a s-10 I had for two waggy's a 71 and 76. Built up the 71 360 t400 f/s d44 and 14 bolt, lockers cut top and moved up to back seat making small bed, 39.5's fuel injection. LOVED it!!! until I broke the frame in rear between spring hangers. Was totally bummed. left top rot in the corner. I also came upon a very good 77 in the meantime. Was going to steal seats for the 71 before I broke frame. Summer goes by..... My family (wife specifically) wants to go to Moab and asks if she can help me to build the newest 77! We spent the next three weekends pirating parts from the 71 and built the 77. Fourth week we towed 81 Cj7 to Moab with it and wheeled both vehicles for a week. This is the one I beat on to this day. I just sold a "Survivor" 1980 wagoneer last week that I had been holding on for the next build. It was complete with all accessories in working order and still had original hub caps! Only one dent in drivers front fender and zero rust.

 

[ElJefe]

Allterrain I remeber that pic from way back when. It was one of my favorites.

 

[ElJefe]

the first jeep I drove was my dad's 71 wagoneer I was like 5 years old. my first 4x4 was a 77 F150. then my dad's chev got stolen and he got a 79 J20. I loved that truck. so I started looking for my own, found the Cherokee. fell in love with it. But i've had some more. I traded some parts for a 73 Wagoneer from Idaho. it was in pretty good condition for its age. never got it on the road, didnt really want to deal with the four wheel drums. so I traded that for a 85 Grand Wagoneer which had such a good body. and ran pretty darn good too. that was suppose to be the wifeys rig but I couldnt get it to pass emission. so I sold that one. the this kid I work with gave me his 79 wag. that one was just a pile. I took off the good parts and scraped it out.

with my Chero I was totally happy with it with the 44's and 33 tires. then I blew out the pinion on the rear. so I went lower gears and trac-locs, those suck by the way, the front is ok though. adn then I put on the rear discs. and got revolver shackles for the front. then this guy I work with had a seizure whilst driving to work. he went off the freeway and into the cement wall at Mountain Toppers. amazingly he was fine. but he gave me his truck, well what was left of it. 76 Chevy, 454, 4 speed tranny, 205 transfer and 14 bolt rear. was gonna put the 454 in my jeep but decided I didnt want a huge gas guzzler. so sold that, scraped the rest except the 205 and rear end. so now the 14 bolt is in my jeep with 4.10's and discs. grabbed the front hubs off of the chevy and those will go on next week. cant wait to get driving it again.

I like hearing the stories of the FSJ's.

 

[ElJefe]

Wagonmaster, did you cut out your rocker panels for your sliders?

 

[spaggyroe]

I.M.O. FSJ's are awesome!
There's something about their vintage, awkward styling that I absolutely love. They came with respectable drivetrains and can be wheeled in stock form or are easily modified. Best of all, it seems like you can still pick these up for reasonable prices.

I would love to own one some day, and would go absolutely crazy for an M715.

I know the guy that got the survivor from Wagonmaster. Definitely a cool jeep!

 

[ElJefe]

I'm actually thinking of putting M715 fenders on my Cherokee and make some like flares on the rears so I can fit 37's with just the 4" o'lift I got.

 

[Tacoma]

You can fit 40's under 715 fenders....

 

[jedi]

I'm currently building an 88 grand wagon. Its got a 360, 727 thats broke, I believe a 229 transfer case, dana 44's front and rear. bought it for 600 bucks. I chopped the top, Put in an 8 point cage.( that i got from here) 36" swamper sx's (that i got from here) with a sawzall lift. ez locker in the front, and I'm going to buy a mini spool for the rear. Lots of rust, power everything, wagons are rad!

 

[spaggyroe]

I'm currently building an 88 grand wagon. Its got a 360, 727 thats broke, I believe a 229 transfer case, dana 44's front and rear. bought it for 600 bucks. I chopped the top, Put in an 8 point cage.( that i got from here) 36" swamper sx's (that i got from here) with a sawzall lift. ez locker in the front, and I'm going to buy a mini spool for the rear. Lots of rust, power everything, wagons are rad!

Pics???

 

[ElJefe]

Hey Jedi. I got a dana 44 full spool that I'm trying to sell. its bran-be new.

 

[ElJefe]

I went wheeling a couple of years ago with a guy from Georgia that has a I think a 88 with dana 44's and running 36 SX's, very capable rig, but he said he would break a rear axle shaft almost every time he went out. I think his was welded front and rear.

 

[BlackDog]

Friends when I was a kid had BMW's.. err FSJ's 81 Waggy, and then the other set had a 78 Waggy, and a 76 Cherokee Chief.. that sorta got passed around the cult headqwuarters.. err branch ( ).

Loved the CC... and had some good times in their waggy as well...

Fast forwarding to now, I inherited a titeable 72 manual trans, 360 (?) Had palns of building it.. and tyhen I sold it before I even touched a thing on it.. Buddy of mine is in Minnesota, and comes across a Cherokee Chief (remember fondness above?), rust free ID car, ended up in Minnespta by a fluke.. says he will give it to me for fuel.... I reluctantly agree, remembering the 4 mpg the Raff's Cherokee Chief got....

15 mpg from Minnesota to here later, I own a Cherokee Chief... Buff it out, med blue silver and Primer.. give it the Mrs. (X in front of that now) and then she drives it, rebild the exhaust, full tune, ... blkah blah blah.. gonna do somethig about the junk Q-trac t-case... and then she has the courtesy of putting a rod through the block before I get it done.

Wholesaled it to another buddy... and it, or pieces of it are rolling around on 38's, one tons, and 4" lift....

Would like another.. maybe one day.

 

[Paudrhound]

I owned a 78 Cherokee Chief Levi Edition, looked like allterrains in color scheme, yep good memories. Loved it, wife hated it. The old quadrajet carb sucked but it would go anywhere. The interior was all Levi blue jeans. Wife won I traded it for a Trooper

 

[Tacoma]

They didn't have Quadrajets... which ROCK offroad, they had lame-ass Motorcraft 2150's.

 

[Paudrhound]

well whatever it sucked, but the jeep was awesome.