2wd drag Cherokee build thread

[Woodchomper]

So much for my math skills. 4.250-4.165 does equal 0.085 over not 0.095 over. Sometimes the simple stuff bites you. I could calculate the bore size based on the stroke but not subtract two numbers. Anyway sounds like you have a plan. I can't wait to see this engine in action.

[Ghinmi]

Made a little more progress on the rolling chassis. Rear suspension is nearly done. I converted it over to coilovers and made adjustable trac bar mounts. None of the off-the-shelf stuff was up to snuff so it's all custom. Still need to notch the frame for up-travel and whip up a rear sway bar.






Also threw the new motor in so that I can start working on headers and front suspension/streering.

[AMC4ME]

This should be a 9 second runner!

[bmax65]

Ghinmi.....wow!

Ghinmi....

Wow. What an animal mill. Love that it is NOT Brand X. Nice to see AMC get a bit of attention, instead of 24/7 LS or 350 swaps.

Getting smoked by an 'old grandma wagon' would probably not go over well with most of the Stang/Camaro/fat front tire Civic crowd.

9 seconds...hmmm...could a NT Wag (no tubs) go that fast? I don't have any real knowledge of these things. I'll be happy just to get the 4WD in my Wag working again.

Best of luck with your stuff, it is fascinating to read about and to see as well. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Ghinmi]

So... this hasn't been updated in quite some time. Things kind of ground to a halt when I had to start over from scratch with the Wagoneer.

Good news though, I'm ready to get fired back up on the project. Expect to see updates again in the coming weeks. I also purchased a different engine/trans combo that I'm pretty excited about. Will post pictures/specs when it's sitting in the shop.

[twisted frame]

Very exciting news. As we always see on the boards: I wish I were closer - not only to see this thing eventually run but also because I saw you were getting rid of some AMC stuff. Curious - do you ever run a non-automatic for drag racing or any kind of automatic that you shift?

[Ghinmi]

In the Wagoneer I have a manual valve body in the th400, there's no automatic shifting and I have to click every shift. I used to run a floor shifter but switched to the factory column shifter this year. I've modified the detents a little bit to make it easier to get positive shifts. Much more convenient than reaching down for the floor shifter.

The Cherokee, although not set up for drag racing, will see the drag strip from time to time. It's getting a 6 speed stick.

[Ghinmi]

New engine/trans are here. 375 hp 5.7 Hemi and TR6060 6 speed stick out of a 2010 Challenger RT. I have it on good authority that these can make pretty decent power with a cam and bolt-ons.

[Ghinmi]

Trial fit of the engine. Everything fit pretty nicely, just had to clearance the frame in one spot for the alternator. Got started on engine mounts, hopefully finish them up tonight. They're almost the exact mounting locations for the AMC v8 so not much work needed.

[Ghinmi]

Did a little more fitting work, got the motor dropped down another inch or so. The oil pan is even with the bottom of the crossmember so that's as far as I want to go.









Then got to work on a transmission mount. Came out pretty good I think.

[Ghinmi]

Yanked the front springs out so that I could measure for wheels/tires. These pictures show rough ride height but clearly the wrong tires. The fronts will stick out about as far as shown but the rears will come out another 2" or so. The rear wheels being sunk so far in makes it look like the rear isn't centered but it is. Going 275/40r17 front and 315/35r17 rear on 17x9.5 and 17x11 ZR1 replicas.

[Ghinmi]

The tires showed up today. I ordered them yesterday at 5:00 pm and they were here today at 11:00 am. Wow. Still waiting on wheels and ordered adapters today.

[Ghinmi]

Just goofing around with the tires tonight.

[DarkMonohue]

Holy $hizzle. I didn't know this place was overrun with Powerball winners.

Watching those parts pile up is just...depressing.

[Ghinmi]

I wish I won the powerball. The project up to this point is mostly spare parts I had laying around and the rest financed by selling others. Trying to take this mountain of pieces and parts and consolidate down to two functional Jeeps and minimal clutter. The benefit of having this project take forever is that I've been able to take my time buying things and wait for used parts or big sales. There's no way I could afford this at full price.