'Da Chief . . . So it Begins again

[cu4whln]

Here we go again.. after much searching, have finally picked up a project wide track.

1977 Chero with 63,000 miles.
BJ's lift with 33" MT/Rs
Original 401 with a Holly carb and Doug Thorley headers [Runs great]
Turbo 400, D 44s of course.. with 3.54 ratios
Quadra Trac. Suspect it has a Mile Marker kit in it as it has Warn locking hubs? [ Have to figure that one out]
Dual tanks, Ac - works !? Man windows, power rear window that works slow
Older resto work is showing through, but the overall condition of the body is very good. Frame is solid.

This time, I am going to take the SLOW road.. do the safety items like brakes.. and enjoy the Jeep as I develop my plan for this project .... starting my parts needed list already.

Original TX car, then AZ, then Virginia. Now Michigan.

More to follow SLOWLY

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[ZiRiu]

Very clean. What color schemes did the Chief's all come in? I see the orange and blacks quite a bit.

[bwwhaler]

Awesome

Can't wait to watch this one... I'm sure you will build another awesome FSJ.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Well, I'm excited!

[j2sax]

rust demons in MI

As soon as those MI rust demons get a whiff of this sheetmatel they gonna come gunnin for it so be careful!

Looking forward to your build!

[8man]

Great start!

[polarfire]

Very nice!! Is Jeep Corporate helping on this one? If you sell that front winch bumper please let me know! I've been looking for one!

Subscribed!

[men in black]

Subscribed!

[cu4whln]

Very nice!! Is Jeep Corporate helping on this one? If you sell that front winch bumper please let me know! I've been looking for one!

Subscribed!

Absolutely not! This one is going to be a slow work in progress in my home garage. I will be farming out some paint work, local rust and paint repair. Other than that, I want to do a lot of the work myself and show what can be done with the basics.

For now the basic plan is to do what I can at home.. until I decide to do bigger things. I actually want to enjoy this thing on the road a bit as the build plan evolves. this is planned to be a weekend cruiser of sorts. Time will tell of course . . .

And .. I am looking for good 3 pc chrome bumpers.. when I get some, you can certainly have the front bumper. I want a stock look on this one.

[cu4whln]

Step one:

Send the white Waggy down the road .. Heading home to Chicago now... all fixed up and ready to drive.

Was getting 7.8 mpg. Removed the vacuum stuff, got the right plugs, wires, cap, etc ....did a full proper tune up with "Old School" mentality..

Now getting 11.5 to 12 mpg. Oh yes! lol a huge improvement...

Now have a open space in my driveway.. and soon garage to start the "work", er - "FUN" !

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[cu4whln]

Brakes !

Oops.. noticed some brake smell when I test drove this thing.. so, have to make it safe. If the Jeep does not move, no problem.. if it does not stop ? Problem! Always start with brake inspections..

So - jack up the Jeep.. and I can't even turn the tire? Uh oh! So I remove the tire and look.. Hmm. All looks normal.. release the bleeder to make sure the master is not stuck.. nope, all normal. just a bit of fluid draining normally. The caliper/pads are definitely dragging.

So I pull the caliper bolts.. and pry, pry, pry the caliper off the rotor.... Houston, we have found the problem! As soon as the caliper is off, rotor spins freely. Scratch one caliper.. OK - have to order pads and calipers.. check. Other side works, but going to replace both.. and get the rotors turned.. they actually look OK.

So - hubs with a Q trac? Figure there must be a Milemarker kit installed in the t-case? The hubs spin the prop freely when engaged.. so it must have a 2WD mode. Hope it's the overdrive one! not sure how to tell if this has the kit or which one. Previous owner had no idea.

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[cu4whln]

Testing . . .

Looking at the paint, it has some serious dull spots.. so take a bit of cutting compound and polish a small area.. shines right up? Looks like some elbow grease is in order...

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So get out the orbital foam pad polisher... and try a bit larger area.. can you tell where I stopped??

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[cu4whln]

As this is a Garage Restoration of sorts.. I plan to do a bunch of labor intensive projects to fix'er up a bit. Maybe someday I'll attack some serious restoration, but for now, I want to enjoy this thing....

So - not wild about the wheels.. and the body color accent with some rusty old chrome. Hmm, wonder what it would look like if I painted the center black? And - get the chrome cleaner out and polish up the wheel as best I can for now.. here's a before and after pic .....

Before:

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In process .. primer, then semi gloss black..

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And the somewhat finished look .. without the center cap cover. Need to find some new ones.. they may not clean up. Again, a bit of work, but I like this look better than the tan centers. now, 4 more wheels to go!

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[8man]

That wheel looks much better.

[cu4whln]

And the "surprises" continue ... Hmmm

So, figure I can get home early enough to do some work on the pending brake rebuild .. then- Start to pull the hub.. Hmm, what? can't seem to get the drive flange off? That's strange... fiddle with it for awhile, can't figure it out.

Take a closer look, and the WARN hub cap says "Lock-O-Matic" ? What the heck is that? Find a hidden snap ring, but it still won't come off. Ooops, dark is here. So no real progress.

Now I have to do some research on these weird locking hubs? Some kind of manual / automatic hub design? I've never heard of this before. That's strange.

I did figure out the Jeep has a Milemarker part time kit.... had to get the bolt off the axle shaft, but it kept spinning. So - start the Jeep, engage the hubs, flip the vacuum switch.. and Waa-la! All locked up. So I guess the t-case is working. Good.

Of course, none of this matters as I cannot drive until I get the rotors off to fix the brakes. Hmm