QT manual conversion. (Maybe ST too?)

[Keebler]

High all. I just bought two Wagoneers.

1985 GW 360 Selec
1875 Wagoneer 401 Quadra

Now. I live in Bottineau, North Dakota and drive 70 miles to work in the snow and Ice. EVERY DAY.

I have a delima. The 85 is my daily driver, its automatic/stock. And is only getting 11mpg.

The 75 is inop. The prev-owner says its ignition is shot....

I'm a complete newb to jeeps. but I love my jeep with all my heart.

I love the look of the 75 better than the 85. But its inop. Also. I'm used to driving a manual and dislike automatics. (Just a personal thing.)

So I hear about conversion and I'm happy. So I wonder now. What is the general price and time range for the conversion, And what should I do it on. I'm leaning to the Quadra Trac, since its INOP anyways. But I don't know how well a 401 is on gas Compared to the 360. And how sturdy it is... Hell. I just don't know. What do yall think. (Prior to owning a jeep. I drove my wife's 04 Civic. But she needs it now.)

Any help and info would be appreciated....

Oh, and they both have the typical rust problems.

[J4GRAND]

What conversion are you referring too? There is no manual trans that will bolt up to the QT in your 75. I don't think the 401s do any worse mileage-wise than the 360s and it is a stout engine. I would try to get the 75 up and running; you probably have the prestolite ignition that was a big problem in mid-70s models. Lots of conversions available for the ignition to get it up and running.

[pb]

I second the fixing the '75. I love the QT in the snow.

[letank]

<<<he 75 is inop. The prev-owner says its ignition is shot....
>>>

do you have sparks.... at the plug.... at the coil... or nothing....

pull the cap..... and see what it looks like...

the easiest is to get a distributor for a 74.... with points.. (about $50 with lifetimne warrenty) and later put a pertronix ignitor

but ignition means that the ignition switch on the steering column is shot.... so you need to tell us more

does the engine crank... and does not start.. or no crank

[quikclimber]

go with the 75 and 401...i had a lot of trouble with mine at first...but now that it works good the thing is awesome. the quadratrac with the differential splitting power to the front and back was awesome in the snow and ice, with 3.54 gears and the th400 i would get 12 or so mpg at 65mph on the highway. if your looking to get better highway mileage consider swapping in the th700r4 or the newer version with lock up torque converter and you should see an improvement in mpg. you can get the adapter for the 401 to tranny from www.bjsoffroad.com . good luck

[Cherokee-Kid]

I would suggest looking into the technical section of this site. You should read about what is stock and available through-out the years of these vehicles. It may shed a little light on what you have and are wanting.

[Keebler]

Originally posted by Michel:
<<<he 75 is inop. The prev-owner says its ignition is shot....
>>>

do you have sparks.... at the plug.... at the coil... or nothing....

.... so you need to tell us more

does the engine crank... and does not start.. or no crank

I haven't tried turning it over. And the prev-owner didn't give much info other than it had been sitting for a year, and it was blown. It doesn't have a battery, and during the towing, the 75 rolled off the car dolly, going forward. Afterwards, it was leaking oil (or other fluid) rapidly. We took the rear drive shaft off for towage, could it have been that? Or bad oil pan.

So the prognosis on the 75 is to keep it Automatic and not worry about manual?

Is it possible to convert the 85 GW to manual, regardless of the SelecT, or should I just leave it alone as well and try to return it to its original splendor?

Also. The Odometer says 90k miles on the 75.... After looking over the Wag. Unless the prev owner never left the state of ND, I don't see how its possible to retain such low milage on such an old vehicle. If its original miles, I'll be happy. [img]smile.gif[/img] Have the Odometers been known to go out on that year?

Sorry for such the ramble, but I truely appreciate all the info provided. I've already started drawing up plans for the 75 overhaul. [img]smile.gif[/img] Gonna be a Snow Beast/ Daily Winter Driver.

[ October 20, 2004, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: Nicca ]

[Bobbo]

Hey hey hey another ND man! Not many of us here!
I would say get the 75 going ASAP! winter is about here man! QT is my favorite in the winter time. The 85 will make a nice daily driver in the milder seasons. I have a 78 cherokee with a 401 and I put on a new carb and ignition upgrade and now I get 14 MPG, I really dont think it gets much better than that for a old 401 CI fulltime 4x4. But, my 84 with a 360 and a part time case only gets about 11 mpg as well, but I have not yet worked on the motor either, but I dont expect to get much better than that 14 mpg mark.
As far a if the 401 is reliable, if its taken care of they are a better motor than the 360, so if the internalls are in good shape, it will be fine for a long time.

[Bobbo]

I guess I have nothing to offer on the topic of converting from auto to manual, as I am a auto prefering man myself. Sorry.

[fulsizjeep]

4 years ago we bought a 77 Wag. It had not run in 5 years. We had it tagged and insured and running for right at a $500 investment. The 401 never got below 14 mpg on the highway until we put the lift on... The Prestolite ignition really isn't that bad. By now, it probably is not original. We went thru several on the 77 because we went to Autozone for their cheap Wells electronics. Then we spent twice the money for a Borg Warner unit that looks identical but it works! I am partial, get the 401 running.

Oh, and Welcome to the Madness!

[Keebler]

I'm trying. I'll post pictures asap.

It hasn't been more than 5 weeks since I've owned my first Jeep, and now I've spent more than $300 just doing fluid changes, filters, tune ups and towing. And my wife is already wondering what she got her self into. And I'm not about to stop.

Bobbo: Heh, with only 660,xxx people in this state, its pretty uncommon to see someone else out and about in the real world.

About the two Wags. Do they both run 235/75r15 wheels?

And what kind of ignition should I use? Or most recommended?

[ October 21, 2004, 08:34 AM: Message edited by: Nicca ]

[Bob Barry]

You can run those tires, or up to 31"x10.5". Your choice.

The full-time 4wd options (which you want for the driving-conditions you describe) were only available with automatic transmission on the Jeeps, so nix any idea about converting to manual.

Others have noted the challenges of the BID ignition system. Read up on repairing it before you do anything, or else you'll sink a lot of money into it and still likely not have it running.

As for $300 in fluids and filters, that's the best investment you could ever make in these trucks. Make sure all the vacuum lines are in-place and connected properly, that all leaks are taken care of, that all wires are tied up out of the way, bypass the ammeter in the dashboard (do a search in this forum on that topic if you want to find out why), and you should get great service from these vehicles.