1985 J20 Project Restore/Build

[RAMBLINFSJ]

Sorry to hear about your uncle. The thought of family and friends passing away scares to crap out of me.

As for your thick skulled shopmates, they're just not going to get it. They're just convinced that no one but the Big 3 can manufacture an engine block. They will probably tell you Studebakers had Ford engines, Packards had GM engines, and Internationals had Chryslers (IH did at one time use the AMC 401 and the AMC 258 I-6. How about that!!!). There's no point in even arguing with them anymore.

[GrCherokeeL]

The J4000 was just pre 74, the 74 and up J10/20 were better equiped for towing and hauling since they had better axles and brakes, Suspension was improved around 76. Your 8,xxx GVW is the heaviest made, and unless you're doing regular heavy hauling you may want to consider different springs for a better ride.

Yeah...I'm still having a little trouble understanding why its so heavy. I sure would love to haul heavy loads with the truck, but right now it's looking like it'll be the work truck/ play truck/ 2nd daily driver.

I don't know what to do about the springs, I don't want to replace and get different springs to make the ride better...and then haul something big and not be able to support it you know?

[lunchbox1671]

But I don't know how reliable and long lasting the AMC 360's are.

They are very reliable and long lasting. Any engine is reliable and long lasting with proper care and maintenance.

They have good power, decent economy for an older v8, can be built up just like any v8, and are tough.

AMC also built a little 4 cylinder engine. The later version of this engine was actually used in Dodge Dakotas up until around 2002. AN AMC ENGINE IN A DODGE. Let your classmates stew on that one for a bit...

[RAMBLINFSJ]

The engine in my wagoneer has almost 300,000 miles. My Matador wagon and J20 are well over 150,000. Very durable engines.

[GrCherokeeL]

Sorry to hear about your uncle. The thought of family and friends passing away scares to crap out of me.

As for your thick skulled shopmates, they're just not going to get it. They're just convinced that no one but the Big 3 can manufacture an engine block. They will probably tell you Studebakers had Ford engines, Packards had GM engines, and Internationals had Chryslers (IH did at one time use the AMC 401 and the AMC 258 I-6. How about that!!!). There's no point in even arguing with them anymore.

Thanks, yeah...losing my uncle happened so fast. Originally I thought he passed away because of dumb mistakes, but then my family found out something today about what actually happened so...it just made things 100 times worse. It sucks that he's gone, and it makes me feel terrible even thinking about it. But mostly....I've tried blocking it out as much as possible, because I don't like being sad and thinking about what I could've done to prevent it from happening.


Yeah, sadly my fellow classmates won't listen to what I have to say even when I'm right and they're wrong. I can't talk to my auto teacher about engines because he's a Chevy guy as well.

Yeah, I've decided I'm not going to argue with them about it anymore. It's pointless, and it just ruffles up my feathers and gets me angry haha.

The engine in my wagoneer has almost 300,000 miles. My Matador wagon and J20 are well over 150,000. Very durable engines.

Just as good as the 4.0 I-6? Just older engines, but that's pretty much what the engine evolved from anyways? An engine is an engine, and right now...I honestly don't know how many miles are on the one I have on my V8..but it runs pretty good.

I know my moms Chev has 235k on the original engine and everything else, the Chevy guys were like "Oh my god! It's all original and so clean!" and then I told them.

"Ah, it's a Chevy with a 350 engine, I thought Chevy's run a long time anyways? Go take a cold shower!!" Guess those Chevy guys don't have as much faith in their trucks as I thought they did haha.

Although today I did get two guys talking about my Grand Cherokee with 197k, they were like "Can you believe how nice some of these things still work under this Jeep with so many miles!" I was like "Duh! It's a Jeep! I've been trying to tell you guys that Jeep stands right beside a Chevy like they're best friends"

Congrats with having that many miles and still going!

[GrCherokeeL]

They are very reliable and long lasting. Any engine is reliable and long lasting with proper care and maintenance.

They have good power, decent economy for an older v8, can be built up just like any v8, and are tough.

AMC also built a little 4 cylinder engine. The later version of this engine was actually used in Dodge Dakotas up until around 2002. AN AMC ENGINE IN A DODGE. Let your classmates stew on that one for a bit...

Oh I plan on babying this engine as much as I can (keeping up with the maintenance) , I'm clueless about how many miles are on the actual engine. But...my guess is that if the previous owner bought a new odometer for it...wouldn't they want to buy something as close to the original miles as possible? I did look on the back of it, and it says it came of a 1985 Grand Wagoneer. I guess another way I could kinda figure out what the mileage could be at is by buying a carfax report.

[GrCherokeeL]

Alright! Now my update for the week.

Sadly not a single thing has been taken care of on the J20 this week, so its officially sat for 2 weeks. Believe me, it's driving me insane and I decided to talk to the one guy whose helping me out with this Jeep. We argued for a bit, and he said he'll get to it when he can.

The one thing he doesn't really understand though? I've had a bad weekend, I need to take my mind off things and just focus on my Jeeps. Working on a Jeep always distracts me and puts me in a good mood.

So, since I couldn't really do much on my J20...I decided to put on the sticker I bought for it a few days ago.



The valve cover decals came in as well. They're red, white and blue and say 360, if that doesn't say its an AMC engine, I don't know what will.



And since I needed to bring a little sunshine to my day, I decided to work on my baby Jeep today. One of the guys sat in my Jeep and we went out for lunch before class started, we went over some stuff on our way out of the college and automatically I get told something is clunking really loud in the rear end.

I thought it was normal because I had a Jeep, I got used to the rough ride.

Well, I decided to take a look at the rear-end today and found out one of the control arm bushings(?) was tore up and cracked, I wasn't sure if that was the cause...but I figure it'll need to be replaced soon.

$21.00 per bushing and I need two of them, plus a ball joint for the top. Yeah...I'm going to wait on those for a little bit.

I drove to two different parts stores and figured out the prices on shocks. Lets just say for a decent set of shocks...it was going to cost me between $240-280 for four. Yeah, tell me about it, I slammed the brakes on that project.

So I drove across the road to the Jeep dealership, and talked to the parts department. $147.02 later with brand new mopar rear shocks...the baby Jeep got spoiled today. Lets not forget the $55.60 it took to fill up my tank as well.


The rear end of my Jeep handles a little better now, not as noisy...but..still drives like a Jeep.




The rear shocks did need replacing though, they were original shocks and when you go to push down on them, they didn't push back out slowly like it should. One was leaking. Ah well, they did good for 197,000 miles.

Sorry for the update on the wrong Jeep, it's still part of the family though!

Oh, someone in class did bring in a TJ Wrangler, and one of the guys said to me "Nichole, you need to drive your Grand Cherokee into a swamp and get a Wrangler"

I told him "Who needs a Wrangler when I got a J20. I'm pretty sure my truck can go off-road better then a baby Jeep. The good thing about the wrangler is that its smaller and can get around easier. Otherwise, a Wrangler would not be able to store every extra part that goes with the J20 that is currently laid out from the back seat and filling the cargo area as well in my Grand"

[RAMBLINFSJ]

I am a Full Size Jeep Guy 100% but I wouldn't darn try to follow a TJ offroad unless I had a winch. One of my good friends has a TJ and there are unbelieveable offroad. Very hard to play "follow the leader" with a TJ. Really, the Cherokee would have an easier time following.

By the way, AMC V8's don't wear as bad as other V8s before the block casting has so much nickel in it. They just don't hardly wear so they last a really really long time.

[GrCherokeeL]

Anyone know of a good sandblaster that will do good on frame and body work?

Debating on saving up for one since I know bringing it to someone else will cost a lot. And since my J20 is just sitting in the automotive cage at the college I'm debating whether or not to bring it home for a while and try fixing up the frame and body.

It's probably a really bad idea since I know transporting it takes borrowing my neighbors 18ft trailer and a good friend's chevy truck...and there is that possibility that the truck may sit and never get worked on again.

But I believe in myself a lot and know I won't let the truck sit. I'm pretty sure at this moment I'll get more work done with the truck at home instead of seeing it every time I go to college just sitting there..

If I did decide to go with this plan, I'd bring it back to the college after the frame and body work has all been taken care of.

Not sure what color to paint the truck, paint the original color back on...or go with a whole new color.

[lunchbox1671]

If it were me, I would get it running well and drive it for a while so I knew what I was dealing with. Use it as a truck for the time being and dream/plan while you learn more about it, IMHO...

[GrCherokeeL]

If it were me, I would get it running well and drive it for a while so I knew what I was dealing with. Use it as a truck for the time being and dream/plan while you learn more about it, IMHO...

I was going to bring it home and work on the exterior, because it just sat for 3 weeks with no work done to it at all. But I changed my mind today.

[GrCherokeeL]

Well today as I drove in about 1.5 hours early before class, one of the guys in my class told me the one who has been helping me with my truck will finally work on it today.

I found out a while later that he really didn't want to work on it today, my friend just made him work on it cause he knew how much I've been wanting my truck to be worked on.

The body mounts have been fixed, and now the cab is sitting pretty good. Just gotta figure out the bed a little bit more. Found out my truck had a lift on it too :/








How the truck sits now, it's leveled better.



And then there's the seat, I have no idea if this is original or not, it's in good condition for its age...except for the driver's side.




As shown in the first few pictures, there's a lot of rust. It's not terrible, but if you hit the underside of the Jeep or hit the frame...it's raining rust. The underside of the bed is very good, the wheel wells and the sides...need some work. I've been told to just get an entire new bed for it...but I'm a little stubborn and seem to think it can be fixed.

The floor panels on the driver side and passenger side need to be replaced. The back of the cab is rotted out. All in all, most of the guys in my class think my truck is a piece of junk but it keeps me smiling anyways.

[lunchbox1671]

It appears the body is pretty well eaten away by rust. In that case, if it were me, I would make a good (mild) mudder/crawler out of it with little regard to looks and keep an eye out for a more "cherry" j-truck. That way i can use all my good components on the better pickup.

-OR- Fix the cab and make a flatbed out of it. This will minimize rust repair...

You can fix up the body if you desire, but it appears you will have a LOOOOOONNNNGGG road ahead of you.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fine jeep and I would drive the hell out of it. However, I wouldn't put too much money into something that will cause extra work. Either way, we will help you out the best we can!

[GrCherokeeL]

It appears the body is pretty well eaten away by rust. In that case, if it were me, I would make a good (mild) mudder/crawler out of it with little regard to looks and keep an eye out for a more "cherry" j-truck. That way i can use all my good components on the better pickup.

-OR- Fix the cab and make a flatbed out of it. This will minimize rust repair...

You can fix up the body if you desire, but it appears you will have a LOOOOOONNNNGGG road ahead of you.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fine jeep and I would drive the hell out of it. However, I wouldn't put too much money into something that will cause extra work. Either way, we will help you out the best we can!

Would you believe me if I said I wanted to repair all the rust spots, even if it will take me forever to do it? Yeah, I could find a better looking J-truck...but around here up North? One in decent shape? I've seen a few but the owners are smart enough not to sell.

And I can't complain about this truck cause I got it for free. The previous owner did wish me good luck and told me "There's a lot of body work to be done" I realized that when I got it, and every time I go to auto class I get told how bad Jeeps are and how ugly mine is.

Working on this Jeep, or my Grand Cherokee keeps me sane though. It relaxes my mind. It's in pretty rough shape, but my stubborn side isn't too worried about the two holes in my pockets now and how much money I'll be putting into this, cause the end result, will hopefully be great.

One of the guys in my class told me my Jeep would be awesome if it had a flatbed, but would you tell me I'm silly that I wanna fix the whole bed because I want everyone to read the name brand on the tailgate. Otherwise...no one will know what in the world it is.

In all honesty though? I don't care much about how it looks now...I just thought it'd be nice to get the rust spots repaired, cause not many Jeep owners would do it..but I want this truck to last a long time and not rust out to pieces.

Fixing this Jeep will prove to me that I wanna be a Jeep mechanic and also do body work as well, cause I hope to one day open up my own shop and help fix and bring back as many jeeps I can.

[lunchbox1671]

Okie doke. Get a few hundred dust masks, couple pairs of safety glasses, ear protection, a sawzall, angle grinder, cutoff wheel and 100 disks, air chisel, 50 paint/rust grinding wheels for a drill, GMAW/GTAW/FCAW welder, a bunch of sheet metal and scrap iron, a ballpeen hammer, paint, a gun, a TON of free time, and LOTS of elbow grease.

Enjoy!