[TJTony]

Hey all- finally going to do some work on my CJ, which i was considering getting rid of a few months ago. Anyway, a little background-

1985 CJ-7 Laredo, 258 4 speed, Dana 20 rear, bought it locally late in 2007. PO had rust work done on the body, and as far as the eye can see, the frame is solid. Only mods/updates that were done when I bought it were an Optima red-top battery, smittybuilt rear bumper, and the interior was line-x'd. Last winter I decided to do the head gasket (bad idea) and it was pretty nasty inside the engine. Looked like poorly mixed unbaked brownie mix. Cleaned the head and the block as best as I could, but had trouble getting the exhaust manifold back on, so had to have it done by someone else. Unfortunately, it always bogged down at 3000 RPMs, and never had much power. My last jeep was a 97 TJ 4 Cyl, and I was pissed my CJ didn't have more cajones. Anyway, my plan was to fix it up and make it a reliable daily driver, and eventually make it close to show quality. The Carter carb (keep your comments to yourself, Carter lovers!) always was a PITA, and the starts were bad. Big shocker, huh? About 2 months ago, I went to start it up, and once it finally started, it was backfiring under the carb. Could be part of the ignition, who knows. After bothering the omnipotent ones on these boards, I decided what to get. Finally got the funds to get the carb I wanted, and it got delivered yesterday. I am going to put in the Weber 32/36 DGEV K551 (best price I found was carbsunlimited $300 w/shipping), a Holley 1-5 FPR (Jegs) and a Holley fuel pressure gauge (Jegs). Yesterday and today picked up the parts for the TeamRush upgrade at Napa. Here is my parts list with links:

-Weber 32/36 $289.95 http://www.carburetion.com/Weber/Dataresults3.asp?Kit_Nbr=K551&Model=1- CJs / CHEROKEE
-Holley FPR $27.99 http://www.jegs.com/i/Holley/510/12-804/10002/-1
-Holley FP Guage $25.99 http://www.jegs.com/i/Holley/510/26-500/10002/-1
-Napa distributor cap $34.99 http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=ECH&PartNumber= FA136&Description=Distributor+Cap
-Napa rotor $5.99 http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=ECH&PartNumber= FA159&Description=Distributor+Rotor
-Napa cap adapter $10.99 http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=ECH&PartNumber= FA139&Description=Distributor+Cap+Adapter
-Napa spark plug wires $31.49 (Belden Max) http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=BEL&PartNumber= 700444&Description=Spark+Plug+Wire+Set+-+Premium
-6 Autolite plugs (stock replacement) $8.34
-Sealers, clamps, etc $20

Was going to do the ignition coil, but going to wait a bit and see how this goes. Total of what I have listed is a little over $450. I could have saved a few bucks here and there, but I prefer to use only new parts and didn't want to got to every parts store in the tri-state area to get the best price. As far as steps to follow and other useful information, here are links to posts and sites that I am using:

http://www.junkyardgenius.com/ignition/jeep/jeep06.html (TeamRush)
http://www.jeepz.com/forum/engine/16904-tfi-ignition-upgrade.html
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/weber-32-36-install-write-up-382309/ (carb install)
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/erratic-fuel-pressure-carb-normal-597787/#post5615148 (FPR setup)
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/how-nutter-bypass-522262/ (nutter bypass)

From what I've found, these are the best and most informative sources. Thanks again to JeepHammer, CJChet, Mike Romain, ElvisV04290, Felonious monk, and any others I may have forgotten, for providing the existing info on these boards and offering other advice. These guys know their chit.

Hopefully by Sunday I'll be driving in the snow we're supposed to get.

[TJTony]

Got the jeep running and it's driveable- not sure how much the timing is off, I've never done it, and tried to adjust it based on sound. Same with the carb. I don't like the valve cover breather hooked up to the carb- too much blowby. I also put the MSD blaster 2 on, Advance Auto had it for $40. After I had put everything on and started it, I still had the backfire under the carb. (The plugs I had put in last year were all shot). Took the valve cover off, a rod on the second cylinder was out of place. Fixed that, no more popping. Got the stall when i put the brakes on (even without moving). Not sure if i have the vacuum hoses correct, will ask for help on that this week. I plan on doing the nutter, I've just gotten so confused on the diagrams for the hoses- hey, I sit in a cube all day. Anyway, the worst thing is that when I am driving and floor it, it chokes up. I'm guessing it's an air mixture problem, just don't know if it's the carb or the vacuums, or because I haven't done the nutter. Any ideas?
Go Giants!

[Bakunin]

Don't you have a timing light? That's the only way you're going to get the timing dead on.

You've got to adjust the timing, then the mixture, then recheck timing, then mixture...until you get it right.

[TJTony]

No, no timing light- I turned the distributor until it sounded ok. I'm learning as I go, and was planning on bringing it to my mechanic for the timing. What are the rpms supposed when not moving?