Hey folks. Growing up, my mom drove a 85 Jeep XJ. Navy blue with the fake woody sides. So I’ve always kind of kept an eye out for a nice unmodified one. Well, yesterday I found one and today it’s in my driveway.
Picked up this 1985 2 door Cherokee Chief. It’s the AMC/Renault collaboration before Chrysler got involved. Has the carbureted GM V6 with 181k km. One owner! Old guy bought it new in 85 and only drove it in the snow.
Needs a bit of love, like new rubber. But he kept it serviced and running all these years.
I won’t be doing any hard wheelin’ in it because I want to keep it stock. But it’ll make an excellent logging road and camping rig.
PS. If anyone has some 15” tires they want to get rid of, hit me up.
That thing looks sweet! It’s gotta be hard to find that car in such good condition, congratulations. Do you need to do any restoration work on it?
I'll probably "restore" things as they break. Right now it has a bit of rust and bondo that I'd love to fix but don't really have the tools or abilities to do body work. There's some shoddy wiring from the owner installing trailer wiring and fixing stuff over the years that I'Il clean up. He "upgraded" the stereo at some point and installed an aftermarket tape deck! hahah so if I find an original unit I might put that back in. And there's a bunch of little stuff like one of the window knobs is held in place with a screw and and the door interiors are sagging a bit. So yeah, I'll probably tinker with it but I'm not skilled enough to say I'll be restoring it.
Hahaha never knew an aftermarket tape deck was an option 😝. That sounds sweet! I’m sure before long you’ll have way too many hours invested in tinkering with it.
That's so baller. I love old 80's and 90's oddballs like that. Definitely keep it clean and stock!
Looks amazing! I just bought a 2 door manual Cherokee! Mine is a 98. Love the old school graphics on yours
Thanks man! I’m doing some work on it right now. Did a full tune-up, new belts, distributor, wires, plugs. Replaced the suspension (it was all original). And now I’m waiting for a new carb to arrive. I’m swapping the original Rochester Verajet for a much better Weber. Excited to have it driving again. We’ll have go for a drive once it’s running!
Sounds good man! Sounds like it'll be so awesome once you've got it dialled.