74 Chief Restore

[bkilby]

Hi folks. I bought this Cherokee Chief on 1-7-2016 as a project vehicle. The PO had the engine rebuilt, put it in the Jeep and stopped. The trans and tcase were out of the vehicle when I bought it. I decided to pull the engine back out, go through it a little and clean it up (paint). I got to a point that I needed to order a couple of parts so I decided it was a good idea to pull the body and get the frame sand blasted and that's where I'm at now. I just got it back from sand blast today. What started off as a "put it together quickly" plan turned into a frame off project. Lol! Anyways, just thought I'd share some pics and info of our progress.

[bkilby]

[bkilby]

The frame as it came back from sand blast. I chose a self etching primer, just happened to be green. Looks cool now but will be satin black when done.
I found a crack in the frame just behind the DS front spring hanger that will get fixed tomorrow. All in all, besides the previous owner snot welds, the frame is in great shape.

[Auburnmark]

Nice shop.. nice lift.. no reason not to do frame off Looks good so far, great progress. I'll be watching. Smog exempt 401?? Lucky guy!

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Looking great! Wish I had the resources to do mine like this.

I found a crack in the frame just behind the DS front spring hanger that will get fixed tomorrow.

Pretty common on these FSJs, my frame has cracks all over it as well. I just bought a welder to repair them.

All in all, besides the previous owner snot welds, the frame is in great shape.

Funny, but those booger welds are more than likely factory. Quality control at AMC was pretty terrible. The welds that are supposed to hold the seam together on the front passenger section of my frame don't even cover the seam so it's literally just loosely held together by the front shackle mount.

[Strode]

Nice !

[bkilby]

Nice shop.. nice lift.. no reason not to do frame off Looks good so far, great progress. I'll be watching. Smog exempt 401?? Lucky guy!

No such luck here. It is an original 401 Jeep but the 401 is gone and a 360 took its place. I have no idea where the original engine is.

[bkilby]

Funny, but those booger welds are more than likely factory. Quality control at AMC was pretty terrible. The welds that are supposed to hold the seam together on the front passenger section of my frame don't even cover the seam so it's literally just loosely held together by the front shackle mount.

I was wondering if some of that was factory welds. They (or someone) used a real splatter box. Lol! I know things like the shackles, spring hangers etc are not only riveted but welded too. Some not so good. I'll be fixing that up soon.

So, I need new bushings for the springs and shackles. Anyone know where to get Urethane? It seems the rear springs are a bit funky on their size of bushings.

[Auburnmark]

No such luck here. It is an original 401 Jeep but the 401 is gone and a 360 took its place. I have no idea where the original engine is.

Ahh.. oh well nice rig anyway. Surprised to see the stress crack in frame. Now I know why they beefed up these frames around year 77 (I think).
BJ's should have the bushings you need.

http://www.bjsoffroad.com/Poly-Rear-Spring-Bushing-Rear-of-Rear-Spring-1974-1991_p_1341.html

[bkilby]

Thanks for the link! I'll have to call them to see if it's the correct size. If the pic is accurate, i don't think it'll work.

[bkilby]

So as it turns out, BJ's doesn't have the Urethane bushing I want. Seems nobody does. Looks like I might have to buy the stock rubber replacements. I have the Prothane body bushings ordered but it looks like they're going to be wrong too. Oh the joy. Frame has been painted, just waiting to figure out the bushings so we can put the body back on the frame.

[cu4whln]

Stop slacking off Brad!

Get to work !!

[bkilby]

Stop slacking off Brad!

Get to work !!

Yeah yeah. Am I not moving fast enough for you? Lol!

[bkilby]

Great news for me. I found a local shop that ordered all the suspension bushings that I need. I should see them in a couple of days. As I was on the phone, I'm Googling part numbers and came across a thread on this site where someone already posted all the part numbers with dimensions that I need! Doh! Lol! Oh well, I book marked the thread for future reference although I've solved the problem already. Buying suspension and body bushings for a '74 is not easy.

[SJTD]

Doesn't BJ's have the body mounts?

I thought the only difference was the number of mounts and the kit came with enough for the earlier bodies.