Good morning everyone!,
I have been looking for a project for my daughter and I for this winter. She is 15 and really interested in mechanics right now, so I thought this would be a great daddy daughter project.
Years ago I had a 97 TJ with the 4 Cyl, ran for 6 years, swapped in another 4 cyl then a SB350 with TH 350 trans advance adapter to np231 full width 79 bronco axles 5:13 gears 6’’ long arm anti sway yards yadda yadda. Also had an 89 Dodge Raider nursed it back to life, wish I still had it lol. I’ll do my best to search the threads before I ask a question. I used pirate 4x4 when I did the 350 swap, some users can be pretty hateful. Not saying anyone here.
On this 79 FJ, it’s had a poor resto job done from the dash back, debating on finding a tub or just make it look cleaner and roll on. What i mean is, body panels were bought and put over rusted panels, tailgate area has a solid piece of sheet metal running across it. Thinking of at least removing that and bolting an a non oem fold down tailgate.
Frame needs some patches at rear body mounts and rear brace. Ive seen that all those can be purchased and welded in. Not the best welder but I can do a fair job, shiny black paint helps!
Front half of the body is mostly good! Pin hole rust along nose of hood and bottom of grill at hinge mount.
So the motor runs/drives. Blowing smoke at startup, could be dirty carb it sat for 3 years, bad timing etc. Regadless I want to at least do a top end rebuild. My daughter is excited to take it apart. I was wondering though, any tell tale signs that the bottom end needs work? I don’t see any metal in the oil, no knocking. I’m going to do a compression test today, check timing and maybe clean up the carb and see when I’m getting smoke and exactly what color it is.
I’d love to buy a power steering kit but the instructions seemed a little intimidating…
Body is coming off the frame, clean strip rust treat, thinking 2.5’’ lift I saw there is a lot of combinations to try and get a soft ride (reasonably soft it is an FJ). Anything will be better then the current blown shocks and old springs.
Anyway that’s my intro, Any help ruling out the bottom end would be great. And maybe I just do a full engine rebuild I just feel like that’s a little more invasive than I am comfortable with not sure the difference in $$$ top end vs complete.
Looking forward to posting some build pics
Steven
I have been looking for a project for my daughter and I for this winter. She is 15 and really interested in mechanics right now, so I thought this would be a great daddy daughter project.
Years ago I had a 97 TJ with the 4 Cyl, ran for 6 years, swapped in another 4 cyl then a SB350 with TH 350 trans advance adapter to np231 full width 79 bronco axles 5:13 gears 6’’ long arm anti sway yards yadda yadda. Also had an 89 Dodge Raider nursed it back to life, wish I still had it lol. I’ll do my best to search the threads before I ask a question. I used pirate 4x4 when I did the 350 swap, some users can be pretty hateful. Not saying anyone here.
On this 79 FJ, it’s had a poor resto job done from the dash back, debating on finding a tub or just make it look cleaner and roll on. What i mean is, body panels were bought and put over rusted panels, tailgate area has a solid piece of sheet metal running across it. Thinking of at least removing that and bolting an a non oem fold down tailgate.
Frame needs some patches at rear body mounts and rear brace. Ive seen that all those can be purchased and welded in. Not the best welder but I can do a fair job, shiny black paint helps!
Front half of the body is mostly good! Pin hole rust along nose of hood and bottom of grill at hinge mount.
So the motor runs/drives. Blowing smoke at startup, could be dirty carb it sat for 3 years, bad timing etc. Regadless I want to at least do a top end rebuild. My daughter is excited to take it apart. I was wondering though, any tell tale signs that the bottom end needs work? I don’t see any metal in the oil, no knocking. I’m going to do a compression test today, check timing and maybe clean up the carb and see when I’m getting smoke and exactly what color it is.
I’d love to buy a power steering kit but the instructions seemed a little intimidating…
Body is coming off the frame, clean strip rust treat, thinking 2.5’’ lift I saw there is a lot of combinations to try and get a soft ride (reasonably soft it is an FJ). Anything will be better then the current blown shocks and old springs.
Anyway that’s my intro, Any help ruling out the bottom end would be great. And maybe I just do a full engine rebuild I just feel like that’s a little more invasive than I am comfortable with not sure the difference in $$$ top end vs complete.
Looking forward to posting some build pics
Steven