The 1978 American Motors Jeep J10. It’s got a 4.2l inline six, modified with a 4.0 head, HEI distributor, Clifford intake, and Weber 38/38 carburetor. It has a Borg-Warner T150 3-speed transmission on the floor, with a rebuilt Ford T18 4-speed waiting to go in. It has a Dana D20 transfer case, and Dana 44s front and rear. I’ve had many adventures with it, broken it in various ways, and continue to improve it.
Buying It
I was in the market for a truck, and knew I wanted something interesting for my meager budget. It had to be a stick, it had to be something I could tinker on, and 4WD was a plus. I did not want a Ford Ranger (just not a huge fan, particularly after having done a clutch on one with a friend). I almost sealed the deal on a ’60s Dodge, but that sold before I snapped it up… which was probably a good thing. A local J10 caught my eye. It was in too rough a shape to consider, but it got me thinking. Finally, a fortuitous Craigslist ad led me to a $1400 J10 out in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A young woman was selling it for her father, the original owner. The ad specified that it was not running as it likely had a bad carburetor per their mechanic. I got VERY excited, and reached out immediately. I was probably the first to do so. She was reluctant to take a cash deposit to hold it until I could get out to Marion, NC to see it, but she agreed not to sell it.
She was true to her word, and I was able to get out there and buy it from James, her father. He was the town lawyer, a gentleman farmer, and owned a beautiful vintage BMW motorcycle. He’d replaced the loyal J10 with a new Toyota, and didn’t want to see the truck he’d bought new in the late ’70s to rot in a field. I paid asking price (I can’t buy cars worth a damn – thanks, Dad), and we went to the bank to get the original title signed over and notarized.
After I paid him, he put the battery on a charger while I tackled the carburetor situation. I pulled the original Carter BBD (infamously unreliable) and swapped in a Motorcraft MC2100 that I’d bought as a kit off eBay. He brought the battery back, then headed off to do some errands. By the time he came back, I had it running. He said it sounded better than it did when new! I said it wasn’t too shabby for an IT guy.
I attempted to move it, and it drove forward just enough to destroy a dry-rotted tire. James felt terribly guilty, and insisted on returning $100, even though I told him I had planned on new tires anyhow, and was already getting a bargain.
It sat there for a week or so until I had poor Jess drive me back out to pick it up. I had four Goodyear Wranglers that I’d purchased off Amazon, literally by cashing in a bucket of change at the CoinStar machine over at the local Harris Teeter. We got out there, and I retrieved the factory spare tire from under the bed. Got it mounted (the jack only fell over once!), and drove it out of the field.
I got down the road a little ways towards the local garage when the heater hose blew apart. Someone had bypassed the heater core by looping the two heater hoses together with a PVC coupling. The PVC had softened and deformed until the clamps loosened. I put it back together in a church parking lot, and finished the drive to the shop, an unamused Jessica following the whole way.
At the shop, they mounted the tires and topped off the coolant. The truck made the trip to a friend’s housewarming in Fayetteville (what’s a little detour in a truck that you know nothing about? No foreshadowing there…), then home again. It had a major exhaust leak, the clutch didn’t feel great, and it definitely needed a good cleaning, but I was in love.
Oh, yeah, the heater core ended up being a mouse’s nest. Whole thing was packed full.
My Misadventures in Baltimore
I foolishly attempted to drive my (relatively) new to me truck to Rhode Island for a high school reunion. It started overheating before I hit Virginia. I nursed it along to Baltimore, where it finally blew up. I was just a few exits away from one of my closest friend’s home, and he allowed me to have it towed there. He and his family welcomed me on a Friday night, amused by the site of the flatbed rolling up with the truck on the back. They lent me their RAV4 (which I later fixed in the form of a thank you) to finish the trip, then put me up for a week while I replaced the radiator and head that I had destroyed. I found a $50 head off a ’90s Jeep 4.0 which I pulled (in the dark, in the woods at some guy’s house…) and slapped that on. It got me home. I’m a pretty smart guy, but man can I be dumb.
Suspension
I knew the suspension was pretty tired on the truck, but it was confirmed without a doubt when I was carrying a load of debris to the landfill. I had just shy of a ton (over)loaded, and, on one turn, realized that the tire was scraping the bed! I took a good look, and it turned out that, not only were the leaf springs shored up with helpers and held together with exhaust clamps, the entire rear axle was riding on a pair of very tired air shocks. I ordered some leaf springs, planned out replacing the rotted rear shackle boxes with some Dorman Ford Ranger mounts (an online suggestion that worked beautifully), and got some replacement shocks.
When the rear leaf springs finally showed up a number of months later (that’s a whole other story), I got to work. The mount install went nicely, the leaf springs went in fine, and the shocks… well, the shocks were a couple of inches too short. Thanks to a suggestion from another Jeep owner online, I went with a pair of shocks for a Chevy Blazer which fit beautifully. The rear axle was now firmly planted.
Having learned my lesson (and learned of BJ’s Full-Size Jeep shop), I ordered different front leaf springs and new shocks for up there, and did the front as well. The truck now rides on fresh suspension all the way around.
Brakes
Well, I let the fronts go to the point that all the fluid leaked out of a seized, ruined caliper, and I got to drive home with no brakes whatsoever. That was fun. I can procrastinate like nobody’s business. During the brake work, I also removed the “Warn-O-Matic” auto-locking hubs (I’ve found an OEM rebuilt kit, and will be putting those back together), and put on regular ol’ Warn twisties. I had done the rears when I did the suspension, and had plumbed in new lines back there, so it now has fresh brakes all the way around. I think the rears may have been original, as the knockouts for the adjustment wheel access were still intact.
Clutch
The truck had the original clutch, which had seen decades of hard labor. It had also seen driving lessons for James’ daughters. It had to go. When I got in there, I discovered that the pressure plate had gotten so hot, it cracked in multiple places. And that the one I had to replace it was the wrong part. I put the old one back in out of necessity, but have got the correct part ready to replace it when I make the transmission swap. Part of the clutch linkage – it’s all rods and levers – also fell apart. I crudely modified it to use a Heim joint.
The Floors
AMC, in their infinite wisdom, had installed a rubber floor mat that covered the cab floor. Of course, it had a sort of soft, cushioney fabric backing. This backing held moisture between the rubber mat and the metal floor, trapping it there. The floors were so rotted, the mat was melded to the rusty metal in some places, and the road was clearly visible. Having no metalwork or welding experience, I, naturally, decided to tackle the job. Please contain your laughter.
Cylinder Head, Round 2
When I put the head on in Baltimore, I knew it was temporary. There are some extra water jackets in the 4.0 head that need to be sealed off, and I hadn’t had a way to do so (I’d read that marshmallows or green packing peanuts could be stuffed in, then JB Weld used to fill the surface, but I didn’t have the wherewithal to do that). I eventually bought a rebuilt and properly flux welded head off eBay and tackled the job. The crudely modified stock intake gave way to a Clifford, the MC2100 (in it’s third incarnation?) was traded for a Weber 38/38, and I attempted and failed to fit a stainless header (it didn’t fit), so the stock 4.0 tubular manifold continues service. The truck also got a new exhaust system (from professionals) at some point along the way to replace the horribly cobbled together bits that had held since my Maryland Misadventures.
Miscellaneous
Some random shots, including loading up for a LAN party (!), some suddenly destroyed fuel hose that nearly started a fire, and other odds and ends.
