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Brief History
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OK, where to start…It began life as a 1979 j20-7600 GVWR, 2 bbl carbureted 360 cid, GM-TH400, Quadratrac w/2.56 low range, Dana 44 Front, Dana 60 Rear w/3.73s. 3 row radiator, “heavy-duty” 63 amp Alternator, power steering, power brake, no AC, bucket seats, non-power windows/locks, No tilt column, AM/FM/CB radio, cruise control, fiberglass topper, 8 bolt 6.75x16.5 steel wheels(stock on ¾ tons) and Goodyear Extragrip (tractor…heh-heh) tires, and two-tone tan on brown paint complete with chrome side window trim. Whew.
The original 360 was dumped at low miles in favor of a balanced/ blueprinted .030" over 401 AMC w/ Edelbrock Performer intake/ cam/ lifters/ valve springs, TRW forged 8.75:1 pistons, Cloyes double roller timing set, (the best single improvement to make on mid 70's and up AMC v8s…the stock timing sets are crap!) pocket ported heads. A smog era (reverse idle mixture screws) Holley 600cfm sat on top of it all with a CA 192 Fram air-filter and cut down filter housing. Thorley Tri-Y headers and dual exhaust emptied the cylinders quite efficiently…no Cat…don't need one here.
An Alaskan pop-up camper was on it for a number of years in the 80's (my Dad owned it then.) and 4" lift blocks were added to level the bed.
I bought it from my dad in '96 or 7 and got rid of the lift blocks, Now:
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Vehicle
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1979 Jeep J-20
Hood, face panel, grill, and headlight buckets pulled off 4 separate trucks, 67, 68, 69, and 70-78 respectively…(I think). 2 inch recessed headlights and off-road lights mounted behind home built covers (speaker grill material and custom built rings).
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Engine
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2 years ago I rebuilt another 401 to the same specs as above but with 9.6:1 c/r, which will only run on 91 octane now, dang it, should have thought of that before I ordered the pistons…oh well.
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Carb
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Holley 600cfm
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Transmission
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GM-TH400
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Transfer Case
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Q-trac has a MileMarker part-time conversion kit installed about 15 or so years ago
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Axles
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Dana 44 (front),
Dana 60 (rear)
Warn locking hubs replaced the tired MM hubs that were installed w/ kit.
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Pinion & Rings
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41-11 (3.73)
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Tires
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Had: 305/70/16 Good(Bad)year Wrangler MTs. The directional tread was neat looking and I figured it would resist cupping…which it pretty much did. I got pretty good traction in mud and deep snow in 4wd but having no weight in the back-end and open diffs gauranteed lotsa wheelspin
Has: I pulled the bouncy, egg-shaped, no-traction-getting-in-2wd MTs off and put some used Pro Comp ATs, they ride better than the Goodyears EVER rode.
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Wheels
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16x8"steel spoke wheels
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Suspension
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Front- 7 leaf standard
Rear- 2 leaf standard with 1" add-a-leaves and 1" blocks to restore some degree of aggressive stance to the sagging back end after I got rid of the 4" blocks from when the camper had been on it.
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Fuel
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91 Octane Gasoline
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Other
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After the Thorleys cracked apart 3 or 4 years ago I put some Hedman 4>1 headers on it and I've had exhaust leaks ever since. Flange to head leaks mostly…even with Copperseal header gaskets. I guess the flange is just too thin and flexes around the center 2 exhaust ports too much.
I moved the Dad-built, (in '82), steel, 32 gallon, gas tank behind the rear axle to aid in the weight distribution, thus helping decrease wheelspin.
The exhaust was on the right side of the truck( dual 2.5 inch w/ Turbos) between the frame rails and not very strait running, so I frankensteined it and ran 1 pipe down the inside of each frame rail, dumping directly out of the mufflers about two feet in front of the rear axle.
I built a new passenger floorboard out of stainless steel sheetmetal. It had become see-through from years of wet carpet covering the floor. The driver side hasn't been done yet due to not enough patience on my behalf.
The bumpers I built out of 5.75(?) C-channel.
Oh yeah, the rear drive shaft was custom rebuilt so it would balance at 3300 rpm.
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General
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That about covers it. It has no serious trail time but has been out in the toolies on many occasions and been stuck a few of those times…high-centered every time. Usually in several feet of snow. Buddies are a very valuable asset, especially if they own a heavy duty 4wd truck, or a shovel…either way. Pant-pant…I'm outa breath now.
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