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1970 Restomod Build

Jeep is still in the shop. New muffler is on. Still working on the kick outs for the roll cage.
Been on a buying spree. Kyle had posted this ad in the for sale section. We went over the hill and were able to purchase. Guy had to liquidate everything for a marital status change. He had machine shop receipts for a rebuilt long block and a 218/218 Comp Cam. Also came with a dual plane manifold, New Holley 390 carb in the box and a Advance Adapters Buick to T18 bellhousing. I have a friend that can pull it apart, check everything and reassemble. Rather be safe than sorry.
I was still contemplating which direction to go with my poorly running engine. This puts the project back on track.

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Made a trip to the bay area the middle of the week for this. I didn't need another Jeep but you know how that goes. Had been watching it for weeks, He had lowered his price so we moved on it. I will start a separate thread on this one.

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707Jeeper said:
That's a good idea. I will put that on the calendar for next year. They are definitely built for that. They just recently had that event.
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My brother in law lives in Korbell and he always sends me videos and pictures... I'd like to try it sometime in my C7 Grandsport
 
Old girl is surprisingly solid and in good working order. Buick motor runs good and has torque for days.
 
Jeep made it home on Friday. Mechanic came to the same conclusion on the engine that the cam is flat. Replacement motor goes in Monday for a teardown and check before it goes in the Jeep.

Some buddy shots of the two Jeeps together.
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Took a break from the Jeeps for some maintenance on some of the other stuff in the barn.
Pulled my sons mini trucks out and gave them the once over. Blue truck needed front brakes. White truck was good to go. We built these 10 plus years ago. One day he will have a shop so they can go to Oregon.
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Yamaha Side x Sides came out for a full service and new batteries. These did not get out at all this year. In sand mode for Dumont Dunes at Thanksgiving.
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Can't wait for the white Jeep to be 100%.
 
Had to do my chores and mow the field before getting back on the Jeep this week.
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Finally back to work on it.
Removed the roll bar and gave it a fresh coat of paint. Still need to anchor the front and tie it to the frame.
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Simplified the transfer case mount. The stock 69 mounted to the frame with a rubber isolator. It worked but this is more accessible. Need to weld up the 3 old mount holes.
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Installed the overdrive and shifter linkage. Getting ready for the seat notch. Mocking up the seats and seat brackets. I keep reading older threads for inspiration. Width is good just need to get them low enough.
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Started on the seat notch this week. Went with 3". Seat goes to 1/2 of touching. I am 5'8 so it is just barely into the notch for me. My son is taller so he will see the benefit.
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Started fresh with the seat bracket. The plastic gas tank was a quarter inch taller than the metal one. Tank set the tone for how low I could get the seats. 1" square tubing, CJ Frame bushings and some 1 3/4 flat bar. A hundred times of taking it in and out and it finally came together. Going to use tractor pins to make the seats removable. Just short of getting the tool box lid straight up and down. Going to figure out a small console / drink holder while we are here.
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The final mock up. These are the low end Mastercraft seats. Was able to make the seats lower than the brown bestop seats and keep the Mastercraft sliders. Passenger seat passed the wife test so we are good to go.
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Next week is finish welding and painting the notch. Always seem to run out of mig gas on a Saturday.
Received an all good from the mechanic on the engine. Looking forward to getting that back and swapped.
 

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Thanks for the hard work on getting the new site up and running. So glad to be back.

Some finish up pictures of the seat install. Kyle gave me the heads up to bevel the corner for clearance.
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Used some generic c10 lowered rear bump stops for the rear of the seat.1970 - 309.jpg

Bought a stock seat latch from Partsdude. added a pull to the tool box.
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Am able to get the seat tilted forward and access the tool box. Seat slips out quickly if needed.
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Added some beverage holders. These were blems from dog fox and i added the cup inserts.
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Decided to quit being stubborn with the column mounted tach. I really wanted to used that setup but it blocked the key and part of the speedometer. Went with a Stewart warner unit to match the existing gauges. Much cleaner.
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Going to have the new engine installed by the shop so I can keep working on the green Jeep. Pulled the winch and anything in the way for the motor swap. Parts CJ7 had a stainless bumper so it was cut down until the winch bumper goes back on.
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Had an extra set of Bestop soft doors. I removed the vinyl and made a set of hard doors. Going to add some door bags to them in the future. When I make a set for the green Jeep i will make them shorter with some contour.
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Jeep made it home yesterday after the engine swap. The shop had it longer than expected. Back on track for this years Rubicon anyway.
Had a few set backs while at the shop. The DUI wouldn't let the engine rev past 3000 RPM. It was suspect on the old engine. Partsdude shipped a new distributor here in a couple of days. Had the shop reset the Novak adjustable throw out bearing. I had it close but now is spot on. The swing pedal for the clutch came apart and needed to be welded.
Today was getting all of the parts I had taken off back on the Jeep. All went back together without any issues.
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Went with the Holley 390 carb and 4 barrel manifold to break the engine in. I have a Affordable Fuel injection system in a box ready to go. I doubt I will attempt fuel injection before the Rubicon. Went over the entire Jeep checking bolts and connections. So far so good. Will do it a couple of more times before the trip. Inventoried all tools supplies and spare parts to reacquaint myself with everything. Made a list of items to add and loaded it all in the Jeep.
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Throttle control was on the Jeep when I bought it. Moved it to a straight line to the carb. Works great.
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Added another trailer to the fleet. 24ft Versatile 14K drive over fender trailer. Was able to pick it up at the factory in Roseburg Oregon. Maiden voyage will be hauling both Jeeps to the Rubicon. It will also be good for the side by side trips when taking two cars.
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Plan is to rack up road and off road miles to sort out any issues. Will be nice to be able to drive it again.
 
I picked this Jeep up originally for my build. Original prairie gold paint. V6, 3 speed, 4:88 gears. Very original down to the smog pump. New brakes and a strong engine. Guy I bought it from used it on a ranch and it was a ranch Jeep prior to that. I went to register it and that got complicated in a hurry. I found the white Jeep and moved forward with it. Plan was to sell this one but I can't bring myself to do it. I really like the color of the Jeep and it wouldn't take much to straighten it out and repair the rust in the rockers. I have accumulated a bunch of parts from the two other builds so a stock plus rig could happen. Registering it is possible it will just take time.

Jeep Trivia, Both this Jeep and the White Jeep came with the Jeep lettering in gold. The VIN number difference between this Jeep is only 77. This one is registered as a 69 and the white one as a 70. Windshield is from an older Jeep. Rear tire carrier is unique.

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Spent some time working through the trip list of tools and spare parts. Found a nice list on the site that was helpful. Always trying to keep as many useful items on the Jeep while conserving space. Installed a scissor jack jack under the hood. Not so much for recovery but very handy for a quick tire change. Most of the tools in the Jeep. Since I plan on taking this jeep and the Green Jeep on the Rubicon this year I can later split the load between the two.
Camping gear is up next. Found that some of the equipment had disengaged or looks terrible. Ordered new chairs and a tent to start with. 1970 - 324.jpg

Once it quit raining I was able to start shaking down the Jeep and rack some miles. First trip was to the beach. Was able to drive along with ease and the temperature never went over 170. The old motor would overheat quickly and never had enough power to get on top of the sand. Tightened up a fuel line and greased the front hubs. A good first test.
Next day was highway. Highway manners are great. Steering, suspension and brakes are very good. Shifts well. Only feel the locker once in a while. Drive along 60-65 straight and true. Idles at 650 RPM and crawls well.
Now we get to the down side. Jeep feels boggy and is very slow to accelerate over 45 MPH barely holds 60 MPH in overdrive on flat ground. Runs but should be running better. Looked at the fuel gauge and found the rear tank was almost empty. Filled it up and calculated it is only getting 6.3 miles to the gallon. That's a big problem.
Stopped by the shop that installed the engine and asked about jetting. They had changed the main jets to 64's and it's at two degrees of timing. We had discussed earlier that it might need further tuning.
Jeep was built with a new in box Holley 390 that I installed the off road kit on. Spring loaded needle and seats, Metering block vents and a bowl vent tube. Engine is built to stock specs with the exception of a 218/218 Comp Cam and an Offy intake. Only short block parts off of the old engine were valve covers and oil pan.
Going to start working on tuning starting with carburation. I went over a few forum builds and have come up with these specs as a baseline.
5.5 power valve
#25 Squirter
#50 main jets
Smaller accelerator cam
Lighter secondary spring
Check that it is getting 34 degrees of total timing and increase initial timing appropriately.
If anyone has a tip on tuning or other components that need inspection I am open to suggestions. Rubicon trip is nearly here so hoping I can solve these issues in time. Thanks,
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I was going to say, I think I had main jets around 50 on my last 390. And it still was rich at 6500 feet. Those things do suck the gas, and I returned to a 2G on Nick's jeep for that reason.
 
I've been slowly tuning my V6 with a Holley 390. I installed an AFR gauge so I could see what's going on. I have no idea what cam is in the engine. Probably stock.

Right now, I'm at 47 jets, the lightest secondary spring, a 5.5 power valve, and 32ish degrees of timing all in. It's so much better than it was out of the box.

I'm still seeing it getting into enrichment when cruising at 45mph, so I'm going to try a 4.5 power valve, and I may go to a 46 Jet to see if it gets too lean. The longer term plan is fuel injection so I can just push buttons to tune things.
 
Ordered up an AFR gauge and some Holley parts. Going to try and tune what is there. If that fails I have a rebuilt 2G that can go back on. Thanks for the help.
 
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