1983 Jeep Cherokee street fighter project

[ghinmi]

Originally Posted by grif54

I love this Jeep. My Dad had a red Chief when I was younger(mid 80's) that was a bit of a rust bucket but would go anywhere at any time. I can't believe how nice this one is, someone must have never driven it in any kind of salt I assume. These things are almost impossible to find, have actually looked in the past and could only find a few. Your rendering looks like it has the chief graphics? I am going to keep an eye on this build for sure

It seems like everyone has childhood memories of early Cherokee/Wagoneers, cool to hear yours too. I'm no exception either, my neighbor had a broke down '79 J10 that sat beside the barn and we always played in it. This Cherokee has a unique story as to why it never rusted. It was apparently purchased in Florida and shipped to Italy and used as a Department of Defense vehicle. From there it came back to the US and was parted out. I bought the shell for (I think) $600. Not a bad deal. The rendering has the "S" graphics that everyone calls "Chief" graphics. A chief would have the black "Cherokee Chief" billboards and not the Indian stripe. I'm still on the fence, at this point I'm thinking of just trying to match the new panels to the patina'ed paint and leaving it as-is. We'll see...

Originally Posted by MoparCar

At first I never viewed this build because of the title. I was thinking Jeep.... Why waste your money. I was wrong! This is an awesome project and one of the most underrated on this site. Keep it up and the updates! Love it.

I can't blame you at all, lol. Jeep stuff kind of has a reputation for being redneck-ish (not that I'm not, ha). The build isn't for everyone but as long as it turns out how I envision, I'll have a smile plastered across my face the whole time and that's what matters. Thanks for the kind words!

Originally Posted by SuperB70

Great build. Great attitude.

Havent seen any MS-system build here. Been playing with MS for years.

Are you gonna run turbo with stock motor?

I was all geared up to do the MS3x route and then I ended up getting roped into buying the Holley HP unit. I happen to have a really good Holley resource local to me and the support is what swayed my decision. Since I'm going cable driven tb, I don't need the Dominator and the cost is pretty competitive with the MS3x.

Yep, the plan is to run the turbo on a more or less stock engine. I only want 500 whp and the cheapest way is 8ish psi from a turbo. I was planning on upgrading the cam but it's $750 for the cam alone, then springs, etc. The ridiculous engines can stay in the other Jeep, I don't want to goof with this one. Stock with a little extra will be fine. The other plus side is if something ever goes wrong, any 09+ truck motor will replace it for cheap and I can be back on the road in a couple days.