Hi guys and girls. As may be obvious from my for sale thread, the fiesta project has died a death. Which means I shall be concentrating on the vehicle below, with dads help. it’s an 82 jeep Cherokee chief. (W/T) As a car its not worth a whole lot. It holds more sentimental value than anything else. Frankly if I wanted the money its worth the best part of 4 times in bits than it is as a whole car. I know 99% of its history I can go back as far as 1988 in paperwork. Its been my uncles first….then parents….then mine . it was manufactured in late 82 (found the build sheet) and hit our fair shores on a cold day in January 83. It then went straight to Howes Motors. Which were the official place for a right hand drive conversion. Rather than the pikey method of linkages behind the dashboard. Any modifications are period. They’ve all been on there 20 plus years. Carb and inlet, headers, cam etc. its done a whole 78k miles in that time. The nudge bar has been on since it was converted…the ones they make now are clumsy and dog ugly.

It does have its bad points. The roof might as well have a PG tips tag on. They’re notorious for it. But that is the only place mines gone bad. Ive checked the others. That’s a time consuming repair various bits will need looking at and or replacing before I use it again. Plus some bits I wanna change. A suprising amount of stuff is available. The euro specific stuff is a bit harder to come by. Ill update this tread as and when I get stuff done. At the moment its in store. Im just waiting to get it moved home so I can begin.



Comments welcome.

That's quite a beast, love the 80s 4x4s, they had so much more road presence.
Its great that its been in your family for most of its life.
What engine is in it?

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AMC 360. (5.9 in metric)......with mods. the std twin choke it came with would be at home on something half its displacement. the emissions gear it came with has long since gone. its actually no worse on juice than a modern grand cherokee. steady 70-80 sees 18mpg....12-14 toddling about. heavy town work. about 10... before you all scoff. its not a daily....its just for me to bomb about with when i want to.

the 440 (7.2) is a direct swap pretty much mounts wise...inlets and exhausts are different on 'big block' but my 360 was rebuild at about 68k (nothing wrong with it apart from needing a serious wake up call) and its on 78k now or something like that... so i dont see the point of that just yet

The pejero my dads selling does about 19mpg so it's not much different to others makes either.
Its the way it looks that's brilliant, proper muscle, I bet you feel king of the road in it.

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Jam, that is epicccccccccccc! Love it , so much character to it.

*subscribed to topic*

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Rest in peace Ben "Jam" Elvin. Gone but never forgotten.

that black grille is know as the 'muscle' grille they had some others.....'rhino' (reads fucking pig ugly)...'egg crate'....'booby' the black muscle grille imo is the best looking one....they did it in chrome aswell. and thats gimp my ride garish.

ive had it in my rear view mirror....and it certainly has a presence. its nice to drive but its a fudge monkey to judge where the n/s/f corner is. ive already twatted the door frame with it! no damage done to the car all you see is bonnet. ride is pretty firm. not sure if it that got buggered about with in its early life aswell. but theres very little roll. totally different to something like a range rover....point and squirt motoring.

the original cast iron manifold makes an excellent wheel chock i might add.

Cheers Ry. theres a handful about. a mix of left and pikey rhd....and a few like mine... guy at the specialists i use nearly wet himself when i said what i had
fingers crossed i should be cracking with it in the next month or so.

not popular with the postman....4 boxes of lighting gear arrived this morning

2 new headlamps. originals have fell to bits. thankfully these were used for nion 25 years so theyre not hard to get hold of...........and you thought fords were tight
4 new spotlamps. 7". you cant get the ones that are on it anymore and i couldnt be bothered hunting. im tempted to get some cheap HID's in there. we'll see. might mount the old ones below the bar....not sure yet.
2 5 3/4 inch lamps and mounting buckets to go behind the grille for whats called 'ghosting'

the buckets will need a slight mod to take the sidelight fitting.(yes theyre assembled ready to fit already ) but thats for another day....and ill need to make 2 tabs for the inner 2 spots. and if i under sling the others 2 for them....

was thinking about a set of pimpin wheels in hilux fit....same stud pattern. i thought great. offsets wrong and will foul the steering linkage. glad i found that little nugget out before i parted with any cash. looks like ill have to look stateside for those

Jam.

What a beast, i like

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Audi A4 Cabriolet 2.5TDI 163 Sport
Full Interior Lighting Pack - Puddle Lights, Footwell Lights, Door Markers, Handle Ambient Lights, Air Vent Illumination, Armrest Illumination, Roof Ambient Lights. Auto Dim Rear View Mirror, Cruise Control, Full DIS, Genuine 6 Disc CD Changer in Glovebox, RNSE, Remote Windows, Parrot Bluetooth, Storage Pack, Full Leather, Heated Mirrors

not much to update. ive been having a bit of a rough time with treatment and stuff so this has taken a back seat. soon as the MK2 goes ive got a space for it at home which makes things easier in general.

most of what ive had to do has been boring things like finding certain types of bolts and screws....found a uk importer for the wheels i want...and theres a new a/t pattern i like

about all really. ill get you some pics when i can

I look forward to the pics.

Hope all is well with the treatment.

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Look forward to the pics Jam

Hope all goes well with the treatment

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that is fuckin' huge!

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fifi

well. time for an update. well its not an update. more an admission all ive been doing is bouncing between hospitals and not getting anything done apart from amassing bits in boxes.

got one lot of bits winging thier way from the states...some more stuff from ebay. and ive got to go to the specialists and pick up a load of brake bits.

bits from america.

Ally screenwash and header tanks
oil filler neck
temp sender
front hub nut socket
under hood insulation kit
Very sexy diff guards

Ebay
Toad with anti jack, glass break and microwave prox
loud horn kit
misc led switches

specialists
Front discs and hubnuts
rear drums
front slider pins and pads
rear shoes. cylinders, clips and springs
braided hoses
door switches
track rod ball joint
set of belts
and exhaust man gaskets and manifold wrap. theyre not ashleys so the wont split and blow like a cheap whore!

that leaves the interio and stereo. which i cant do till ive done the roof. recaros to be adapeted onto the leccy bases. new carpet in black, sound deadening material, poly bushes, and to redo a load of plumbing and wiring under the bonnet......then its rims and tyres and i can use it again

that list looks huge. but its not just me doing it so its not all bad.

sounds good jam!

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RIP BEN ELVIN (JAM) 6.6.84 - 3.10.12 - Gone but not forgotten - The below sums you up chap

oh and most importantly. a new battery so i can fire the bloody thing up!

Wow that thing is massive !! Hope things come along for you mate

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Awesome.

Makes my Trooper look like a Fiesta (errrr, sorry)

What torque does that bastion put down?
.....screw it we'll have a tug of war!
Tractors at dawn!

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AUTOBAHNSTORMERS
Some people are like slinkies. Not really good for anything, but bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs!

From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it.

For those that are interested, i have been talking to Ben's Mum, and will be going to at look Ben's Jeep to see what's involved in finishing it. Loraine is over the moon to finally get in touch with me, as Ben had mentioned my interest in helping him, and as it turns out she was trying to find me anyway! I hung out with him at the Essex Jeep Meet last September. apparently two days later he went into hospital and never returned home. So this is a big deal to me, as we had spent a long time talking about finishing his Jeep.

I've had three of the beasties in the past (as well as various other Jeeps), so know my way around the big fella. Bodywork is not my strong suite though, so if there is anyone knowlegable who can assist patching, it would be appreciated.

I have agreed with Loraine that Ben's Jeep will NOT be scrapped, or parted out, or end up with anyone who would do that. (Lot of people have the drivetrains and bin the rest for their own offroad projects).

It should be finished, got back on the road, and perhaps even attend a few shows. I'm willing to get stuck in, but i may be asking for help. I know i can count on you.

Tim.

Nice one mate

Do the big man proud

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RIP BEN ELVIN (JAM) 6.6.84 - 3.10.12 - Gone but not forgotten - The below sums you up chap

Been out to meet Tony and Loraine, looked over the Chief, and had a long talk with them about what the future holds. The result of this is that Ben's Jeep (AKA "Freddie") is now mine.

Quite a bit to be done, first of which, and most important is to repair the roof. It has several rust holes that will need to be cut out and patched ('filler' is not an option).

I'm looking for help from people who are knowledgeable and can do this kind of work, or 'know a man who can' at a reasonable price.

Thanks.

Tim.