Background...
I bought my jeep 28 years ago as my first vehicle and drove it all through high school and college (10 hours each way!). It was a great budget car and it has never been worth ($) to anyone else what it was worth to me, so i kept it even though it has sat parked for years at a time over the past 20 years. She still runs, but not well. I babied the Carter Carb for years then finally replaced it with a Webber 32/36. That worked ok for a while but then got finicky and it wouldn't start reliably (eventually found the Nutter Bypass and that helped a ton).
Regardless, I figure it is time to get her running and looking good again. I'll try to post updates with my progress. I'm very open to thoughts and suggestions from those of you that have been down this road before. I'm not planning to go crazy with the rebuild and I'd like to keep it looking mostly stock but with more power and most importantly reliable.
Plans:
I already replaced the brakes (rotors, drums, and new brake booster - WOW! it stops now!)
Bodywork (starting with floor pans and minor rust in the bed)
Engine - Thinking 350 or LS, but definitely fuel injected
Transmission - It came stock from the factory with Automatic Transmission. (any thoughts from the community on keeping auto vs. changing to Manual?)
Repaint (probably frame off)
Wheels/Tires
Sounds simple, right?
I bought my jeep 28 years ago as my first vehicle and drove it all through high school and college (10 hours each way!). It was a great budget car and it has never been worth ($) to anyone else what it was worth to me, so i kept it even though it has sat parked for years at a time over the past 20 years. She still runs, but not well. I babied the Carter Carb for years then finally replaced it with a Webber 32/36. That worked ok for a while but then got finicky and it wouldn't start reliably (eventually found the Nutter Bypass and that helped a ton).
Regardless, I figure it is time to get her running and looking good again. I'll try to post updates with my progress. I'm very open to thoughts and suggestions from those of you that have been down this road before. I'm not planning to go crazy with the rebuild and I'd like to keep it looking mostly stock but with more power and most importantly reliable.
Plans:
I already replaced the brakes (rotors, drums, and new brake booster - WOW! it stops now!)
Bodywork (starting with floor pans and minor rust in the bed)
Engine - Thinking 350 or LS, but definitely fuel injected
Transmission - It came stock from the factory with Automatic Transmission. (any thoughts from the community on keeping auto vs. changing to Manual?)
Repaint (probably frame off)
Wheels/Tires
Sounds simple, right?