1977 Jeep 401 Wagoneer (Wedding Wagon)

[SOLSAKS]

photos look great Side by side
not too big at all

garage is cool
esp. with those grilles and signs on the wall, making it yours !!!

take care of yourself
and keep the posts coming

great project.

dave in NC

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Thanks Dave!

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Not alot has happened on the Wagon, removed the roof rack and roof stripes, and the grill. I also removed the rear bumper (no picture) it wasnt too bad since I had it off recently. Now the front bumper is fighting me, all was actually going well until the last bolt holding it on to the frame is just spinning its keeper. I will post picture specific to this once I get it off.

The nice thing is after taking off alot of trim, I am not finding rust.





I am still working on window trim, but its tedious so I take breaks, and then get frustrated with other rusted jeep parts

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Still dont have the front bumper off need to buy a tool (cutter).
But I can say now I have all other trim off the Jeep!
Next will be finding and marking all the rust, which I will say right now is pretty minimal yay! Shortly after that I will finish gutting the interior and glass.

[rang-a-stang]

Taking it apart is fun, huh? Make sure you label EVERYTHING and don;t throw ANYTHING away until it is all back together. Sure looks straight! As sad as it looks without trim, it looks super straight! Excited for you guys to get it painted!!!

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Taking it apart is fun, huh? Make sure you label EVERYTHING and don;t throw ANYTHING away until it is all back together. Sure looks straight! As sad as it looks without trim, it looks super straight! Excited for you guys to get it painted!!!

It sure is fun, other then trying to find a place for everything...more on that later.

Here is my attempt to be organized. I have numbered every piece of trim, and then drawn myself a Legend/Key for each section.



Now progress has been halted due to the afore mentioned lack of space for all this stuff. Not having enough storage in the garage, after we found out that "attic" storage is impossible, has put a hold on progress until I can get some house stuff finished. Go figure LIFE getting in the way, huh sounds familiar. This means I had to prioritize some things and figure out all our next steps.
So the new list is as follows:
Build a fence around our yard (had this on order just waiting on delivery)
Build or buy a small shed (this will clear out our "yard" stuff from the garage)
Buy another Costco Storage Rack to put Jeep parts on
Organize some of the new things weve boxed up into an indoor closet.

Then and only then will I have room to work again...
Then we will finish the 401 build as I will need to pull things off the 360 to complete it, once the 401 is done and the 360 is out, I will resume the disassembly and rust repair to get the body off to paint.

Phew that was alot, and with no juicy pics sorry all. Just wanted to keep you all informed. Progress is being made just not quite on the Jeep yet also I am in contact with a machine shop and will hopefully drop off the 401 block in the next 2 weeks to have some light machining done.

[rang-a-stang]

... also I am in contact with a machine shop and will hopefully drop off the 401 block in the next 2 weeks to have some light machining done.

[SOLSAKS]

do not do what I did !

I did not know that some machine shops
do not check for cracks in heads or block

my 360 was installed on frame, then cab/bed lowered onto frame
then engine wipes cam,...
engine is cherry picked out,....
engine rebuild again,.....
now engine is leaking coolant apparently from heads !


I have learned the heads are prone to cracking,....

demand everything is checked well for any problems....

at this point I feel I should have stuck with original plan to buy a new GM crate 350,... never had any problems with the 2 I have. but went with keeping it original,.....

dave in NC

[Wagoneer Taylor]

I hear you SOLSAKS.

Since I am taking the block in for a possible cracked cylinder I will be sure to ask that they check the rest of them.

Sorry for lack of updates, dang house projects are taking more time then I expected.
Also the Machine shop I'd like to use is open during this wierd time but I have been back at my day job for the last several weeks and have not had time to take the block over there

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Holy Cow it has been almost a month!!!

No excuses here other then life gets in the way, been working on the fence around our new house. I am 1/3 done, yay! Gosh been hard to find good weekends to get it done, with rainy weather and varies weekend functions my wife signs us up for .

I am also extremely sad to say that we lost our 12 year old Golden Retriever (Parker) recently, this was especially hard on my wife who raised him from a puppy since she was 14.

Finally to the Wagon, I got a grinder and using it and trusty large drill bit and got the front bumper off. I had to grind the head off of one of the carriage bolts off then with the "bumper" off I was able to grind/drill out the head of the other bolt that was the real culprit for getting the bumper "bracket" off the frame.
Pictures below:



Secondly, the block is at the machine shop!!! Solsaks I will take your advice and have them check the whole block over.
The guy I talked to said, well this has to be the cleanest block I've ever recieved! (of course I had it to the point where I was going to put it back in the car before the crack I found) but that was a nice pat on the back.

[rang-a-stang]

YYYEESSSSSS!!!!!! An awesome update! Well worth the wait!!! Did he say how long he needs the block?

What is that box on top of the block? Are those new bearings in the block already? You sure he's going to keep a close watch on them and not damage them?

[Wagoneer Taylor]

YYYEESSSSSS!!!!!! An awesome update! Well worth the wait!!! Did he say how long he needs the block?

What is that box on top of the block? Are those new bearings in the block already? You sure he's going to keep a close watch on them and not damage them?

haha thank you!

The box on top just has the main caps and bolts in it.

He did not say how long it would be, but he is going to look into the crack for me, probably mag the cylinder. and take measurements of everything so I know what parts to buy.

Then obviously if it is a crack they will do the machine work as well

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Heard back form the machine shop. The crank was measured and is dead nuts on at 10 thou under, the block is 30 over but pretty loose across all the cylinders so we will be taking it to 40 over.

Over all I will have them hot tank the block, sleeve the cracked cylinder, bore it 40 over, deck the head surfaces, and put in cam bearings. Looking at about $500 which Im pretty happy with.

The unfortunate part is I was hoping to reuse my 30 over pistons, so I will need new 40 over pistons.

If anyone has some 40 over 401 pistons I'd be interested?
Also I wont need my 30 over 401 pistons and will be selling them.

[bkilby]

Bummer. I scrapped my .040 pistons because no one wanted them. $500 sounds like a descent price for all that too.

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Bummer. I scrapped my .040 pistons because no one wanted them. $500 sounds like a descent price for all that too.

ahaha I was too little too late, no worries