New from WA state.

[kennewick]

Hello out there.
I have been salavating over a local 76 WAG 401, t400, quad, straight axel:p I recently sold my 2001 Cherokee and sorry I did that. But this WAG gots me going for 800 bucks. has some rust around the rear wells not real bad yet. Very straight but needs intervention soon. I got the 401 running for just a moment and it's all there. What do you guys think of this?
I have shop skills and presently have 12 motorcycles 5 of which are in the tear down stage, and comming along real nice with my 73 F100 ford 390 C6. (total basket pulled out of a dirt pile last year) I know you all are Jeepers but a honest thought would be welcome.
Thanks.:thumbsup:

[Brizio]

Welcome neighbor!!! :)

[The Colonel]

Welcome!

:worthless:

[710 Burner]

Sounds like you know what to do if you run into a problem. Watch out for frame rot around the fuel tank.

Unrelated... well sort of, does anybody else know the FSJ FAQ link on the home page is a bad link?

[Tad]

...does anybody else know the FSJ FAQ link on the home page is a bad link?
Thanks for the headsup, there seems to be several things wrong on the home page.
That was written by John Jacobs (member here), here's a version that contains much of that same information.
http://www.studiosells.net/ifsja/fsj_faq.html
There are several other versions out there also.

[HD_JEEP]

Yes we like the pics here the more the better... Big Jeep wave to you :thumbsup:

[kennewick]

I would still like to know what you think of that Wagoneer. Also the 401 engine. I don't own it yet but I will try to get over there and get a pic of it. Here is a pic of my Ford and a couple of my bikes. Where is the gallery on this forum?

[dan1488]

Welcome from Eastern Washington. The 401 is a good engine and sought after, and for the price it sounds like a good deal. Good luck on the purchase but be worned these things multiply:D

[CJ the noisemaker]

these things multiply:D
one may eat other non-FSJs :)

And to the OP, hope you get the Wag!

Welcome from the Sierra Nevadas (soon to be Valley of the Sun)

[men in black]

Welcome aboard from Michigan :thumbsup:

Whats your plans for this wagoneer?

[PlasticBoob]

You're going to love your new Wag. The 401 is a torquey beast with a forged crank and rods and an extremely high nickel content block, but the TH400 sucks up a lot of its power, and the axle gearing is quite high (you probably have 3.07s).

AMC engines can be made very reliable but there are a few steps to take to get there; do a search. My shortlist is: true double roller timing chain, Bulltear nickel-plated timing cover and oil filter adapter, internal oil line to the rear main bearings, and most important for the short-term: ditch that crappy Prestolite distributor and ignition system!!

Also, I believe your year had the funky Motocraft 4350 spreadbore auto-warping carburetor (early 401s had the squarebore 4300), that's probably leaking as we speak.

As for the TCase, check the chain tension (it probably needs a new chain), and make sure the double cardan joint on the front driveshaft is in good shape. When they let go, they usually knock out a chunk of the transmission.

By the way, I have a '64 Thunderbird sitting at my grandma's house with a fresh TBird 390. :drivin:

[kennewick]

Welcome aboard from Michigan :thumbsup:

Whats your plans for this wagoneer?

Well I would like a mostly stock looking appearance cloaking a killer inside. I like big displacement and from what I have read about the 401 I get a bit gitty. When I crawled under the rig and saw a truck I wanted it. I will start by getting it running and driving then pick a rebuild direction. I don't have a 4X4 for winter right now so I at least want to be ready for this winter.

[kennewick]

You're going to love your new Wag. The 401 is a torquey beast with a forged crank and rods and an extremely high nickel content block, but the TH400 sucks up a lot of its power, and the axle gearing is quite high (you probably have 3.07s).

AMC engines can be made very reliable but there are a few steps to take to get there; do a search. My shortlist is: true double roller timing chain, Bulltear nickel-plated timing cover and oil filter adapter, internal oil line to the rear main bearings, and most important for the short-term: ditch that crappy Prestolite distributor and ignition system!!

Also, I believe your year had the funky Motocraft 4350 spreadbore auto-warping carburetor (early 401s had the squarebore 4300), that's probably leaking as we speak.

As for the TCase, check the chain tension (it probably needs a new chain), and make sure the double cardan joint on the front driveshaft is in good shape. When they let go, they usually knock out a chunk of the transmission.

By the way, I have a '64 Thunderbird sitting at my grandma's house with a fresh TBird 390. :drivin:

I know the smog time set has to go. I noticed the low compression mid 70's. Not the worst thing for me as I have seen several Ford 360's with low compression with 400K on the clock. This unit has every service record from new. What solutions to the TH400 do you suggest? With low static compression I have not seen in the past much help with a high lift cam as the overlap kills the dynamic compression and the stock cam is best. When tear down comes piston selection and cam selection can be sorted out. On my truck I just pipe tapped the cross over on the mani for egr and inseted a plug. Not sure how that looks on the 401. I also noticed that dual exhaust was worth 20 HP and more than 20'# so opening up the nasal passages will be top on my list. How good is the stock 4V mani? and Exhaust manis. I hate headers for all the obvious reasons so if the stock manis are good I would rather go that route. Those dog leg heads seem like good design. Where can I get more info on the oiling mod? I am getting that
"I gonna poop my pants feeling already"
..:( .....:o .....:eek: .....:p .....:D .....:rolleyes: .....................

I used to have a 67 Ford Fairlane 500 GT Ranchero with a 390 in it. I was dumb to get rid of that...

[fulsizjeep]

Welcome from SW CO. :thumbsup:

A 76 Wagoneer with running 401 and a little rust sounds like it could be worth $800. A 401 can be amped up pretty good with the right parts and $. The ignition system on a 76 would be something to upgrade because it is the worrisome Prestolite used on FSJ 75-77. It is pretty easy to upgrade to the 78 and up Duraspark ignition or an HEI distributor. The intake is a spread bore design for the Motorcraft 4350 carb. A lot of folks are going to Edelbrock Performer intake with choice of 4 bbl because good 4350 carbs are getting hard to come by. One of our 401s has the stock spreadbore intake with square bore adapter to a Holley 600. That works pretty good too. Stock exhaust manifolds breath very well.

Good luck with the hunt. :fsj:

[kennewick]

Welcome from SW CO. :thumbsup:

A 76 Wagoneer with running 401 and a little rust sounds like it could be worth $800. A 401 can be amped up pretty good with the right parts and $. The ignition system on a 76 would be something to upgrade because it is the worrisome Prestolite used on FSJ 75-77. It is pretty easy to upgrade to the 78 and up Duraspark ignition or an HEI distributor. The intake is a spread bore design for the Motorcraft 4350 carb. A lot of folks are going to Edelbrock Performer intake with choice of 4 bbl because good 4350 carbs are getting hard to come by. One of our 401s has the stock spreadbore intake with square bore adapter to a Holley 600. That works pretty good too. Stock exhaust manifolds breath very well.

Good luck with the hunt. :fsj:

Thanks thats good info. I purchased the rig today. I was sure it was just a carb problem. For the price they threw in a battery and delivered to my house and parked it in my security yard next to my shop. I put in the battery, I could tell the choke was way out of adjustment, I sprayed starting fluid in the carb and it fired right up. Within 5 mins I had it running. The motor doesn't smoke and runs very smooth. I shut it down and added a 1/2 quart of oil, checked out the carb and adjusted the idle screws runs real good, idles. It has a bit of bog at part throttle but revs clean when warm. According to the on board guage it had 20# oil pressure when fully warmed up. It has a brand new set of wild country meats that are at least 800. Motor was complete and unmolested except for the air pump was disconnected at the pump and blocked at the exhaust manis. No cut wires completely stock. 2 into one pipes all original. Cancer only at the rear wells. front seats are leather but ripped at some of the seams but the rear seat is in good condition. All glass is good and back wind works. No AC. The 401 is tourqey. Stoked!!! I'll post up some pics tomorrow.