And it begins

I'm new around here, starting work on my newly acquired very stock 73 SuperJeep. I'm taking lots of photos because I'm understanding that my posts will be useless without pics. I'll figure out how to upload eventually.

Before rolling it out of previous owner's garage and driving home I had quite a bit of work to do. Radiator was shot beyond repair (disappointment #1) so I installed a new one, along with all hoses, thermostat, and rad cap. This revealed my second disappointment: heater core was bypassed. The hose runs from pump to back of engine. Heater core must have blown out so the driver just did away with it.

Changed oil, filter, tranny lube, t-case lube. Black as coal but no big chunks. Worst magnetic drain plug was the tranny, which is what I'd suspect. But the tranny shifts fine so I aint skeered. Cases even seemed to retain fluids so maybe the seals aren't shot.

Changed cap, rotor, plugs, wires, point, condenser. NAPA sells a pretty cool point/condenser assembly where the condenser is integral to the point assembly so there's one less wire to connect and one less part to mess with. I've never changed one without changing the other so it makes sense. Also, all of the components were made in USA. Borg Warner for everything but the cap and wires. They were NAPA brand and also made in USA.

Changed air and fuel filter. Changed the chunk of hose down by the steering box once it started blowing gas onto the exh downpipe. Seemed like a good idea. I stand by my decision.

Before doing the work I had to pour gas into the carb to get it to fire and it still didn't run that great. Now it fires right up. The leaky fuel line allowed gas to drain away from the carb so it took awhile to reprime. Rusty old fuel filter probably didn't help either. I'll probably change fuel filter again after running a tank or two through it.

Disappointment #3: Engine smokes pretty bad. Acts like a cylinder or more is loading up with oil at low revs but it clears up when you run it awhile. When you stop at a stopsign it'll load up again from running at idle. #7 plug had a lot of chunky crap around the porcelin and caked to the cathode. Other plugs didn't look too bad. At first I thought it took a hit but couldn't figure out how that could happen without knocking a hole in the piston. I think the crusty chunks are combustion deposits and carbon. I'm hoping #7 is the smoker and that it's due to bad valve seals and perhaps worn guides. With 51K on the meter I'm thinking the bottom end should not be smoking, unless the engine was overheated (a possibility given that the radiator was a filthy seive). I'm betting it's something wrong up top. Given the amount of crap on #7 plug I'm tempted to pull the heads and have a look around. Might as well have them magnafluxed and get a valve job while they're off.

Next step will be to change the diff lube and steering box lube, and pump some grease into u-joints. That'll take care of all lube. Then I'll have to figure out the engine problem. I think compression check is in order. If compression is good that should pretty much confirm valve stem oil leakage. Any other source of oil in the cylinder(s) would be accompanied by poor compression.

No sense spending real money on tires, brakes, etc until I have the engine running well. There are plenty of little cheap things to keep me busy when the project inevitably overruns my paycheck. Underhood wiring needs some attention. Battery and starter cables are ratty. I'm hauling about 5 lb of cherry seeds and mouse nest on the intake manifold. Need to confirm vacuum line routing. The whole thing needs a good cleaning inside and out. Eager to mess around with that gasoline fired aux heater under the driver's seat. Which reminds me: buy a Class B/C fire extinguisher.

Chilly

I acknowledge that this post is of marginal value without pictures.

 

Chilly,

It sounds like you have your work cut out for you! Pics are important, but you show above average proficiency at a written description. I just about spit my coffee out when I read the part about the cherry seeds and birds nest, haha!

When it's at idle and smoking, are there any crazy noises coming from the engine block or head?

 

yes, as stated... pics are important :twisted:

 

You guys and your pictures. Didn't your reading class teachers make you read any of the books WITHOUT pictures?

Engine doesn't shake, rattle, or hum at idle, except that I think that one cylinder is fouling and starting to miss. I'll read the plugs when I have time to get back at it. Drove it about 10 miles yesterday and five miles today. Right bank owns the misfiring cylinder. That's one advantage of true dual exh: you can split the deck in half by listening to each side. I'm not sure it's a miss, might be a sticky and/or burned exh valve. A miss is the absence of a pop, this one is making a different kind of pop. I think the head needs to come off. Gotta get my garage floor poured before I start tearing this thing apart, though. Lots of other work to keep me occupied until then.

Chilly

 

Welcome! Sounds like you got your work cut out for you. Keep checking in, this is a great forum. Good luck, Doc.

 

Chilly, I forgot to mention that a lot of jeep owners on this forum have installed a Mojave heater with great success, something I want to do in the near future.

 

Mojave looks like a worthwhile fix. I'll pull the heater box and see what I'm working with. New core is only $45, then I'd have that toasty blast of factory tropical warmness Jeeps are renouned for. Not sure I'd want to lose the defrost function with the Mojave, though I suppose one could duct one of the round plenums up to the windshield.

 

The heater in a '73 is already pretty good compared with the pre-72 heaters. If you clean out the leaves and dirt from the cowl vent and inside the heater box, and the fan motor runs, you'll be ok. The heater controls on these are usually broken - someone sells at least one replacement cable, but you're best off to repair the under-dash control bezel if it's there (rather than trying to find a replacement).

The aux heater is something you might need in the winter in, say, Minnesota? Most of the rest of the country, you're probably fine with the stock heater. Where are you located? I presume this is a V8 (heads plural).

Pics... it's the technology. We get used to being able to see the subject as well as reading about it. No substitute for good writing though...

 

Vintage Jeep has OEM harnesses. Also just saw an ad for painless that advertised "custom harnesses" for the intermediates. Don't know if this is truly custom or just another way of saying universal. They didn't have a '73 specific harness when I checked last year. I love the Superjeep paint job. Does yours have the red top?

 

I had an original cloth wiring harness made for my Jeep. It was 10 years ago but I think it was an outfit in Maine that usually does military wiring harnesses. They did a great job and it is exactly like the original.

I always loved the Super Jeep. Looking forword to seeing the pictures!!!

Is your Jeep a V8??

 

Yeah, it's a V8. I've been doing some cleaning before I get too busy with anything more involved. Don't like wrenching on filthy stuff. Paint is responding well to buffing compound. Well enough that I don't think I'll bother with bodywork this year. I'll just get it mechanically sound this year. The snap-in carpeting looks like dark gray wool, and it's in really nice shape after hosing out the racoon crap at the local carwash. Tranny pops out of reverse but that doesn't bother me too much I guess. Engine smokes like crazy but oil pressure (30 psi at idle) seems OK? I think? One cylinder seems to be down on pressure judging from the sycopated sound when cranking it with the starter. I'm hoping it only needs the heads refreshed. Got the gas heater out of it and might try to fire it up in the driveway away from anything I care about. Ditched the half-eaten driver seat and moved the passenger seat over. Toolbox isn't rusted in the least. Most of the ugly underhood wiring came out when I pulled the JC Whitney air horns and hot lead to the gas heater. Peeled the top off and will probably toss it. Maybe someone wants a worn out top with yellow windows? It'd make a decent pattern if someone wants to make a replacement. All metal hardware is in good shape but Bestop doesn't make a replace-a-top for the intermediates.

Chilly

 

Mmm. No difference in the top between an early and an intermediate, but maybe they don't sell the canvas for the earlies either.

 

Yep, you have to buy the Tiger, or Supertop.

Hey....Supertop for a Super Jeep...do I smell a theme???