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A little about me, then on to the jeep. I'm 32, married, have a two year old boy named Clay. My first "keeper" car (instead of short-term junkers, I mean) was a '98 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 4.0 / AW4 / 231 transfer case. I bought it at 68K, sold it to my brother in law somewhere north of 130K ~7 years later. I lifted it a little, put some performance mods on the motor, did WJ front brakes & ZJ rears - but when Clay was born, I realized it just wasn't ever going to be quite what I wanted it to be and besides, what I wanted changed w/ the baby.
So I bought an 04 Grand Cherokee Laredo, 4.7 V8. It's more comfortable, quieter, quicker, better brakes, safer for the car seat, bigger etc - but has no charisma. If I'm going to be driving junk that I have to fix all the time, I say, I at least want to something I can love.
I also have a '57 Chevy truck with LS swap but that's not Jeep so that's all I'll say about it here.
Anyway, I was at the junkyard the other day and saw a 1972 Wagoneer. They wanted $800, $900 delivered, but when I looked closer at it it was just too far gone. Floorpans, missing engine pieces, one of the doors wouldn't open past the bashed-in rocker panel, etc. So I hunted Craigslist and found the right Jeep: 1975 Wagoneer, 360-4bl. New enough to have the Dana 44 + disc brakes, old enough to be pre-smog in California (no smog tests on this one!)
I borrowed my friend's Dodge, rented an auto trailer, and drove ~6 hours north to Oregon. Getting through the mountains the rain turned to snow but no ice, though I was lucky to get back out of the hills before the road froze. ~15 hours on the road all told.
Here's the new Jeep, Vern (named after the old timer who sold it to me) on the trailer in Oregon, an under-hood surprise & the mess I made of the driveway getting stuck. Notice that the whole setup is stuck going across the entrance. Tons of fun with the hand-winch to free all of that up...
Oh- and in the last shot - Vern (the PO) had plumbed the carb to a gas can and I didn't see where things were supposed to go. Anyone know what I'm looking at and where it belongs? I take it the line plugged by a bolt should run to the filter but the other one with ~2" of hose on the end is a mystery to me.
So I bought an 04 Grand Cherokee Laredo, 4.7 V8. It's more comfortable, quieter, quicker, better brakes, safer for the car seat, bigger etc - but has no charisma. If I'm going to be driving junk that I have to fix all the time, I say, I at least want to something I can love.
I also have a '57 Chevy truck with LS swap but that's not Jeep so that's all I'll say about it here.
Anyway, I was at the junkyard the other day and saw a 1972 Wagoneer. They wanted $800, $900 delivered, but when I looked closer at it it was just too far gone. Floorpans, missing engine pieces, one of the doors wouldn't open past the bashed-in rocker panel, etc. So I hunted Craigslist and found the right Jeep: 1975 Wagoneer, 360-4bl. New enough to have the Dana 44 + disc brakes, old enough to be pre-smog in California (no smog tests on this one!)
I borrowed my friend's Dodge, rented an auto trailer, and drove ~6 hours north to Oregon. Getting through the mountains the rain turned to snow but no ice, though I was lucky to get back out of the hills before the road froze. ~15 hours on the road all told.
Here's the new Jeep, Vern (named after the old timer who sold it to me) on the trailer in Oregon, an under-hood surprise & the mess I made of the driveway getting stuck. Notice that the whole setup is stuck going across the entrance. Tons of fun with the hand-winch to free all of that up...
Oh- and in the last shot - Vern (the PO) had plumbed the carb to a gas can and I didn't see where things were supposed to go. Anyone know what I'm looking at and where it belongs? I take it the line plugged by a bolt should run to the filter but the other one with ~2" of hose on the end is a mystery to me.
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