Intro with a build thread.

[Jakemd98]

Hey y'all... I'm not new to jeeps but i am definitely new at FSJ's. I recently purchased an 87 Grand Wagoneer with no motor, and later a AMC 360 to go in it. And now the fun has begun.

[Jakemd98]

Day 1-3:

Picked up the 87 waggy a few weeks back...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0417100700.jpg
Jeep has 31's on it, and pretty much all the grand wagoneer stuff...

Then i got me a motor from voodoo customs.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0508101703.jpg
This motor has been bored to .060 over (maybe), has had head work done, a 4bbl edelbrock intake, Malory ignition, and slight cam. I also purchased headers, but learned yesterday that they wont work for a Wagoneer. So i got me some stock manifolds to go on it for now.

A few days later i got my carburetor in the mail
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0508101703a.jpg
a holley 670 street avenger.

Then i did some work to the DR door. and repaired the window that decided to break on me while i was messing with the door.

The next day i addressed the 4wd switch.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0513100956.jpg
it seems to me that the people removing the motor decided the 4wd vacuum switch was not needed. I ended up grinding the tube by the transmission, and drilling it out. then took a hack saw to the piece in the picture. After that i put some vacuum hose between the two lines and re-installed the piece pictured. I am hoping it holds. if not i will go a chief set-up. I also installed new spark plugs on it.

Now as for yesterday, i replaced the valve cover gaskets and the intake manifold gasket. The intake manifold gasket was fun, and kinda scary. My first one ever, so i hope it holds.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0515101634.jpg
The motor looks really clean. I ended up taking some time and really cleaned out everything from the intake. And if you look towards the center of the block, it appears that when the motor was rebuilt it had a 5th oiling hole machined in.
after installing the gaskets i removed the water pump. One of the bolts was broken off in the housing, so i am letting it soak over night and hoping the PB does it's magic. the manifolds will go on tomorrow as well and i will be getting some transmission bolts at some point tomorrow. The plan is to have the motor sitting in the wagoneer and bolted down. I also just ordered a thermostat housing, and will be searching frantically for a alternator.

The goal for this jeep is to be running by Tuesday.

[Jakemd98]

Sunday:

Motor is in! got the manifolds bolted up, the motor mounts installed and the water pump installed. The bolt that was broken didn't come out with out a fight. I ended up cracking part of the housing the water pump connects to just by trying to turn the bolt with an easy-out. It was a small enough crack that i fixed it with JBweld and then put in a bolt and nut for that spot. Tomorrow i will run and get a few longer bolts that i need for the water pump, because the new one had thicker casting and needs slightly longer bolts. I also had to grind the casting down on the bottom to get it to fit. Today i also ordered an alternator and dip-stick w/tube.
The flex plate and torque converter were installed, and motor was lowered into the jeep.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0516102328.jpg
Up next is a few random bolts, the torque converter bolted down, and the transmission tightened. i hope to also have the exhaust finished by tomorrow as well as the carb on and all the linkages in place.

[addicted]

Welcome.

You really need to slow down with your engine install, you are going to make the rest of us look bad. :p

[710 Burner]

I tightened a bolt. Does that count?

[budojeepr]

I checked for more oil leaks. Then took a break...

Nice work BTW. We're going to need video and audio when you get the GW running.

[The Colonel]

Welcome!

It's nice to see another FSJ is going to be running again.

[Chris P.]

Ha! I was in Wilmington on the 1st and saw your Jeep sitting out there along the road.

Welcome!

[skinnyD]

You are making alot of us look bad:mad: . Slow down a bit there huh? Ha, just kidding. Welcome from Maine!

[mike12]

NICE POST AND GOOD PIX.AND I LIKE YOUR GWN ITS GOING TO BE COOL WHEN DONE.:thumbsup: MIKE 12 OUT

[PlasticBoob]

Hi there. Why did you get a Street Avenger and not a Truck Avenger? :confused:

[Jakemd98]

Thanks for the welcome guys. I am just on a huge time crunch, GF is out of town this week and i need to drive it to Raleigh on Monday. We will see how that goes. I'm still waiting on a few parts yet so it may be the end of the week before she is running, we shall see.

As for the street avenger vs the truck avenger. I wanted a manual choke which i think the truck avenger is only an electric. also this wagoneer will only ever see street use. It's use will be a nasty/cold day driver (I have 2 other summer vehicles), as well as a tow rig for my TJ. So the street avenger will do what i need it to do quite nicely.

Chris P. that's awesome! you have family/friends in springview?

[Jakemd98]

ok update... NOT GOING TO BE RUNNING BY TOMORROW. lol... but then again it is a Jeep.

Today the rain killed me. I did a lot of running around town and collecting more parts. So far today i got the transmission completely bolted up and in along with the starter. Just have to get the torque converter bolted to the flex plate (waiting on the bolts). I also got the transmission linkage all hooked up (i hope) as well as emptied the trans fluid out and replaced the filter. I had a little help today and my buddy bolted the power-steering pump in, and i replaced some of the smaller bolts on the water pump so i could get it to torque down (new pump has thicker casting). then i Got hit with a lot of rain so i called it a night after that.

Tomorrow i will put the trans-pan back on and fill it with fluid. once that is in i will get the torque converter bolted up and the exhaust on. After all that i will start to tackle the wiring harness and the oil filter and sending unit (bad design). And if i have time before work i will wire in the new fuel pump and get all the vacuum lines hooked up. looking like the new dead line is Thursday... i hope.

[mattmopar440]

Make sure you get a vid of that old beast coughin into life :D

Also welcome from Chicago

[Chris P.]

Chris P. that's awesome! you have family/friends in springview?

Yes, my sister lives on the other side of 117. We were just riding around that day and happened to see it sitting out.

[HD_JEEP]

I know what you mean about weather issues. Same here with my build. Big Jeep wave from Arkansas :thumbsup:.

[76FSChief]

welcome! as others have mentioned it is great to see another Jeep coming back to life. Keep up the great work and keep us posted on progress.:fsj:

[Jakemd98]

thanks y'all... this a very friendly forum, y'all got a nice place here.

so for today got the torque converter bolts just to find out that the flex plate and the torque converter needs to be realigned. No biggie right? well turns out the weight on the flex plat is hitting the torque converter bolt mounts causing it to not rotate completely. So now i need to loosen the transmission and try to get it all re-oriented.

other than that today i replaced the trans oil filter and oil and the t-case oil.

[Jakemd98]

Today's update: rain :mad:


If anybody in ILM wants to come over and show me how to wire up this thing let me know. i'm off work all day tomorrow and hope to get her close to finished by tomorrow night.

[Jakemd98]

alright... transmission is in. had to separate the motor and trans about 1/2 an inch and rotate the torque converter 270 degrees. After that it bolted right up.

After that did a few random things (filled the PS pump, bought some bolts/parts... ect), i noticed the transmission is leaking, so i will have to remove that and try to get the gasket seal.

other than that.... i put in the electric fuel pump. Had to drop the tank, get all new fuel lines, and routed the wire into the cab. did a quick test with the battery and she pumps the fuel like a champ. The tank was a PITA to remove, but i am pretty proud of the install, i ended up running the hot wire through the wiring harness cover that runs brake lights and what not, so it is well protected and super clean.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0520102217.jpg

Now back to it... going to try to get the tank back in and then redo the trans pan.

[710 Burner]

Are you gonna be able to reach that fuel filter with the tank in?

[3nellieb]

you got that thing runnin yet?...hahaha lookin good Jake.pulling my motor tonight and should have the new one in tomorrow and running by the end of the weekend or monday. bring that thing by when its running.:drivin:

[Jakemd98]

Are you gonna be able to reach that fuel filter with the tank in?
well that was my concern too, that's why it is placed behind the cross member that the gas tank is next to. It's basically on the section of frame that is next to the spare tire. So it should stay pretty protected from debris and be easilly accessed. Because trust me, i dont want to drop that tank again any time soon

And john, man you may have yours running before i do lol. I should be getting close, alternator came in the mail today. i was up till 3 this morning putting that tank in so i didn't get to the trans, but that will be easy enough. Just have a lot of little odds n ends to take care of. I still need to wire in the secret fuel pump switch (shhhh dont tell anybody...). But no worries man, as soon as she's running i will bring her by. unfortunately unless a miracle happens i dont see the waggy making the Raleigh trip on monday, but we shall see.

[3nellieb]

Jake we may end up with our swaps about the same time.I just checked the forcast for this weekend and its not lookin good.I could pull the jeep in the garage but then i would have no room to work on it.I finally got every part i need and now looks like i wil be wating on the weather to change:banghead: I'll get the old out tonight and see what happens this weekend. if you need a hand give me a shout.

[Jakemd98]

update from a few days ago...
I installed a lot of little items, such as engine grounding strap, trans cooler support, dipstick. I also built an off-road wagon for my mom.

biggest task of the day was wiring up the rest of the fuel pump. I finished up the rear and hid most of the visible wire, then i wired it into the cab (in my own special way) and it works beautifully!

Now for my issue i have. I cannot get the trans pan to seal. I have already wasted $25 worth of ATF on the first time around . second time around i used RTV on the gaskit and it sealed much better, but i noticed that the seal in the driver back bend is pushed out from between the trans and pan. So i need to figure out what to do about that one. (y'all have directed me towards the solution on this one! :thumbsup:)

and for my final trick of the evening i put the carb on the intake!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0523100150.jpg

the next day i went to connect the throttle linkages to the carb, but i realized that i needed a few extra pieces to get this carb to work for christler applications. so i ordered them yesterday and hope i see them tomorrow or the next day.

That's about it. Just waiting to get access to a junk parts jeep to get a few more parts and hopefully will have the jeep running soon.

[3nellieb]

update from a few days ago...
I installed a lot of little items, such as engine grounding strap, trans cooler support, dipstick. I also built an off-road wagon for my mom.

biggest task of the day was wiring up the rest of the fuel pump. I finished up the rear and hid most of the visible wire, then i wired it into the cab (in my own special way) and it works beautifully!

Now for my issue i have. I cannot get the trans pan to seal. I have already wasted $25 worth of ATF on the first time around . second time around i used RTV on the gaskit and it sealed much better, but i noticed that the seal in the driver back bend is pushed out from between the trans and pan. So i need to figure out what to do about that one. (y'all have directed me towards the solution on this one! :thumbsup:)

and for my final trick of the evening i put the carb on the intake!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0523100150.jpg

the next day i went to connect the throttle linkages to the carb, but i realized that i needed a few extra pieces to get this carb to work for christler applications. so i ordered them yesterday and hope i see them tomorrow or the next day.

That's about it. Just waiting to get access to a junk parts jeep to get a few more parts and hopefully will have the jeep running soon.




hey sorry i missed ya this weekend had some very important things to take care of. callled about the parts waggy today and hope they still have if they do i will be going out tonight to look at and hope bring home, which the wife will love( she doesnt know yet).

[Jakemd98]

alright a few small up-dates...

New plastic gasket is holding very very nicely... so i finally have fluid in the trans. I also changed the engine oil.

I then cleaned up the wiring by the fuel pump, and finished the wiring in the cab. It is run off a fuse panel with a 10 amp fuse run to a kill switch then run to the pump...

I started hooking up the vacuum lines and fuel lines to the carb and a the throttle linkage. I then ran the pump and located the leaks and fixed those. I am going to grab more chain so i can hook up the cruse control and i am waiting to get to a junk jeep so i can get a plastic bushing for the kick-down linkage.

I found a few bolts and put the t-stat in, and i also routed the choke along with changed to the lighter spring for my secondaries...

Other than that i am in the process of changing out the diff fluids and trying to locate a few more parts so i can get this thing on the road.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0527101127a.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0523100151-1.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0526101546.jpg

[Jeepguy77]

Looks great so far, The fuel line going to the carb looks pretty clean, and I like the shiny carb on the blacked out engine.:D

[Jakemd98]

Alright friends... I have been working on the jeep little by little now. Just replacing hoses and what not. About a week or 2 ago I decided to go with an HEI unit for a lot of different reasons. I ordered a Skip White HEI and am very pleased with the quality of it and definitely pleased with the price.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0615101116.jpg
I had flower's metal works fabricate me an alternator bracket, and then i put my own spin on the install. Basically I had the rear support bracket fabricated and then made my own spacer to go between that and the alternator. If you are familiar with this AMC design, i basically combined the 2 ways to install an alternator.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0624101521a.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0624101521.jpg
And then I put the fan on (with a new fan clutch) installed the radiator and shroud and hoses and slapped the belts on her.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/0625101556.jpg
Basically at this point all i need to do is make sure my TDC is compression and not exhaust and then set the timing. Also i need to get the exhaust "pieced" together for the trip to the exhaust shop and inspection facility. It's looking like monday she will be on the street!

[Jakemd98]

alright guys and gals the waggy is officially using gas as of today. I got the motor to fire and am pretty close on the timing.

It was definitely a challenge though. I had to wrestle with the exhaust for a few hours... something about pipe not lining up and flex pipe and clamps and saw-zall and cussing, I am so glad that is "done". It will be going for a full exhaust hopefully this weekend, needless to say for now, it works. after getting the exhaust done i plugged in the wires to the dist. and turned the key. Upon the first time firing her up i realized there was 0 oil pressure, so i pulled the dist. and borrowed a priming tool to see if i couldn't get some oil pressure. after a minute or so of priming and no oil pressure (i routed a mechanical gauge into the cab to see) i removed the oil filter to see if anything was even going into there. Results: not a freaking drop. So i then disassembled the oil pump and bought a rebuild kit (despite the gears looking bran new). After assembling the oil pump i packed it full of vaselin and put her back on the motor. I ran the priming tool and in less than half a second i had oil spewing from the oil filter port. after that i had 50psi at idle.

I then put the filter back on and achieved enough pressure to bog down my drill.

Now that i had that fixed it was on to the timing. With my dad's help we were able to get it timed very close to what it needs to be. I still have to tune the carb and fine tune the timing because tonight i burned through the oil gauge line and that basically put a stop to my work.

Tomorrow i will be tuning the carb and then double checking the timing and then driving her around the neighborhood. Then off to an inspection and hopefully get some plates on her.

And here's a quick vid for y'all... i have a much better one with the timing closer, but it was too large for my phone to send. So you get the 'first breaths' vid.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/th_0628101920.jpg (http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/?action=view&current=0628101920.mp4)

[Casey]

I have to admit I was tempted by that wag. I have a 401 that would have made a nice addition.

Looks like it went to the right home. ;)

[Jakemd98]

Yeah... i had talked to the owner about this waggy for a while, but didn't have the cash and to top it all off a guy from Ohio was wanting it. the owner wasn't able to get the title straightened out in time and i had gotten some cash just in time for it all to work out.

And i was tempted with a 401 that never came through! i really would have loved to have a 401 waggy.

[Jakemd98]

alright my friends... she has terrorized the neighbor hood for almost a half hour of laps today! I LOVE IT.


Just have to get it inspected and plated now. Then the full exhaust will go on hopefully by the end of the week.

The motor is nice and strong. i haven't been able to get her out and really run down the road, but i did hit about 55 in first gear and she was pulling strong the whole way.

After my initial test drive i noticed my throttle sticking a little, keeping it at 1200-1300 rpm, so i had to buy a return spring and fix that issue. The only other issue i have identified is a possible bad tie-rod end. No biggie though i will double check it all and then go get a replacement and slap it on next week.

and now for the first drive vid.


http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/th_0629101322.jpg (http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/jakemd98/Jeep%20Stuff/?action=view&current=0629101322.mp4)


I do have a few questions though. In my haynes manual it lists a lot of different timings for different year wagoneers. Mine is a 87, but the motor is a bit earlier and the only thing i have that is even close to resembling emissions is the pvc routing into my carb. So what do you think the timing should be set at? I only ask, because at my current 12 degrees advanced i am idling at 950ish, and in drive it is at 600. With full loads on (AC, lights...) it is almost choking out in drive. I dont want to bump the idle any higher than what it is so maybe an adjustment in timing will help? and just so there aren't any questions, i am running 12 degrees advance, manual choke on the carb, and the plugs are gapped at .040-.043.

[Jakemd98]

alright... Today did a little tweeking here and there. Adjusted the kick-down rod, and drove the crap out of her. I went and got a full exhaust put on at Aarons custom exhaust in town here. I was planning on running duals all the way back but, thanks to amazing NC state law, I had to run a cat... so long story short, 2.25" pipe off manifolds into a single into a cat into a mid pipe into a flowmaster into 2.5" to the tail. Over all i like the sound and the motor feels nice and tight. Sounds pretty racey when it is revved. I am pretty please with it. I may do the free flowing modification to the cat later down the road, but for now i dont want to touch it... the exhaust is way too pretty, and i dont want to waste the $145 that i spent for the cat.

Over all though it is running really nicely. I am going to play with the timing a little and see how advanced i can get it running on 87 octane with no detonation. As it stands it is roughly 12 degrees advanced and running really nicely. I may also check the floats in the carb in the next day or two, just to be sure they are set properly. Really i have no complaints with the mixture so i will leave those alone (they are set for sea level anyway).

Over all i can say that i am in love. It has been a long time since i have had a V8 and this thing is just beautiful! have a bunch of little things that needs to be addressed, but as of right now she is on the road and will have plates tomorrow (hopefully).