1970 Custom Special

[mud89]

Beautiful wagoneer mud89. So no stainless trim and woodgrain down the sides? I thought all X models had that. Or was it a choice when ordering?

Actually the woodgrain on the body sides was introduced for the X models at the beginning of 1969 when they replaced the Supers. The earlier 68 X models were simply custom wagoneers with a Super interior (except some details like the chrome strips in the cargo area or for the headliner). Both the early and late 1414X had the V8 and the TH400.
By the way Kaiserjeeps i would like to have your impressive ability in restoration ;-)

[mud89]

Mud89, that thing is gorgeous. Great find. A new distributor is an easy fix. And if those rear quarters are "rusted" I don't even want to think how you'd describe the ones that are on mine...

Thanks Melford, concerning the distributor , i hope that there is not a mess with the camshaft gear, actually the rig is not at home, she will be on a boat soon

[rang-a-stang]

Sweet ride!!!

If I were to do this again, I would buy a totaled RAM 1500 4WD, shorten the chassis and do an entire chassis swap. Since you mentioned mostly GM stuff, maybe get a Tahoe or Suburban and do a chassis swap. It would cost alot less in the long run.

[melford1972]

Sweet ride!!!

If I were to do this again, I would buy a totaled RAM 1500 4WD, shorten the chassis and do an entire chassis swap. Since you mentioned mostly GM stuff, maybe get a Tahoe or Suburban and do a chassis swap. It would cost alot less in the long run.

Interesting... hadn’t even really considered going this route. I’m not married to GM. Was just going to do the LS because there’s so much support for it. But I’ve always been a Mopar guy. Will look into this more.

[cu4whln]

Sweet ride!!!

If I were to do this again, I would buy a totaled RAM 1500 4WD, shorten the chassis and do an entire chassis swap. Since you mentioned mostly GM stuff, maybe get a Tahoe or Suburban and do a chassis swap. It would cost alot less in the long run.

Soo .. I am thinking of this exact route. you have a build thread somewhere? My Chero is an original 401 rig .. all original.. BUT - I am thinking of selling the engine/trans/chassis off and doing this. Thoughts ?

[rang-a-stang]

Soo .. I am thinking of this exact route. you have a build thread somewhere? My Chero is an original 401 rig .. all original.. BUT - I am thinking of selling the engine/trans/chassis off and doing this. Thoughts ?

Yeah, my build is in my signature. For the time, effort, and money I have in my rig and I have a 3 speed auto, old brakes that are just about adequate, a transfer case that is unsupported (QTrack), and it is not really that reliable. For the amount of money I have in my rig (probably close to $5k for engine, efi, and other work in my thread) I could have gotten a wrecked truck to swap chassis. That nets a whole lot more than just a 300hp/400lbft 401. It nets a 6 speed auto, better brakes, newer/supported transfer case, newer steering, etc. then sell the chassis (401 goes for big bucks alone) and that helps offset the cost.

[cu4whln]

Yeah, my build is in my signature. For the time, effort, and money I have in my rig and I have a 3 speed auto, old brakes that are just about adequate, a transfer case that is unsupported (QTrack), and it is not really that reliable. For the amount of money I have in my rig (probably close to $5k for engine, efi, and other work in my thread) I could have gotten a wrecked truck to swap chassis. That nets a whole lot more than just a 300hp/400lbft 401. It nets a 6 speed auto, better brakes, newer/supported transfer case, newer steering, etc. then sell the chassis (401 goes for big bucks alone) and that helps offset the cost.

Thread Hijack.. sorry. I have read your thread before of course. Well, I think I am headed in this direction.. sort of. I am thinking of the infamous LS / trans route in the original frame. Full chassis swap is a major undertaking. Not sure I am up for that these days.

I am planning to tow our old camper on a 6,000 mile trip with the wife. Need reliability, tow power and ease of repair if required. Don't need to worry about break downs on a 6 week road trip. Some areas of RT 66 are pretty bleak these days. I found out Novak makes an adaptor to put a Dana 300 behind the 480 trans. That way I can keep the pass side drop axle.

Now back to the normally scheduled build thread . . .

[blauvelt]

[QUOTE=melford1972]

A fine machine Mr. MeLford, the contrasting belt line trim really makes the prairie gold pop. Looking forward to your impending build thread.

[lkmarsh]

Love the early build threads, too. Frame swap makes sense to me. The donors have fuel tanks
at the back of the frame? I'll be watching this.
My 69 had no stainless or vinyl on the sides, and the roof rack was long gone. So was the clock, nice score there.
Yours is the first shifter I have seen with the top release button, the others
all pull to the left to release. Tilt wheel?
Mud89, beautiful maroon color, I have the same GM mirrors, and are the turn signal clear covers aftermarket? They look great.

[melford1972]

Great find. Looking forward to the swap and outcome. I have a 69 X model in of course avocado mist ser 301289. I should probably get started on it soon.
Nice to see another X.

Thanks, Kaiserjeeps. When I'm done, it'll be no Sadie, but I'll still try to make you proud. I'm already referring to your thread a TON. Thanks for documenting all of that. You start your X yet?

Sweet ride!!!

If I were to do this again, I would buy a totaled RAM 1500 4WD, shorten the chassis and do an entire chassis swap. Since you mentioned mostly GM stuff, maybe get a Tahoe or Suburban and do a chassis swap. It would cost alot less in the long run.

Rang, I seriously considered going this route, but think I’m still going to run with the 5.3 Vortec swap into the original chassis for two reasons:

1. I read a build thread where someone went this route and they ran into issues with alignment and fitment of things like the steering column/brake pedal and the Jeep firewall and dash. When it comes to fabrication, I’m a relative noob, so that scared me away.

2. I want to keep this truck as close to original as possible so that if my son ever want to “undo” the swap years from now, he can go back to the original engine/trans. As I mentioned, I’m a recovering Mopar guy (and they are ALL about numbers matching down the individual hose clamps). So maybe there’s some of that in there too…

Yours is the first shifter I have seen with the top release button, the others
all pull to the left to release. Tilt wheel?

Lkmarsh, yeah, it has the tilt column. But someone snapped the turn signal indicator off inside of it. Hope an EZ Out will get it out easily. Didn’t know that about the shifter. When I switch to the 4L60E transmission, I’ll figure out what I’m going to do about the shifter then. Shift pattern is different than on the TH400, so I’ll either grind a gate in this shifter or go with something custom and try to get it to look stock. Cross that bridge when I come to it.

So, it’s been a while since I updated. Life has been getting in the way, as it has a tendency to do sometimes. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and is enjoying the Holidays.

This morning I said goodbye to the blue 72 Wagon that this one will be replacing. Felt kind of strange watching it headed down the street on a trailer after all of the time and work I put into it, but it’s headed to a good new home where it will be loved and driven.
IMG_3723 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr

So last weekend I finally got a chance to go up to Central California (where I’m from) to spend some time with the New Jeep. I live in SoCal, but will be doing most of the build up there. (Place to store it, a good excuse to see my mom, dad, and childhood friends more regularly, etc.)

Here’s what I found:
IMG_3633 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr

IMG_3632 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr

IMG_3628 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr
Console lights even work!

The supposedly “dead” motor ran for most of the day (more on that later). It was kind of nice to be able to drive it around for a bit with the original motor. I took it by a few shops in the Visalia area and got a range of prices. Settled on a good shop that is going to do the bodywork and respray the entire truck for me in prairie gold. They do really good work (concourse level), but they also know that I’m looking to build a driver, so they didn’t try to sell me a crazy paint job that I will be stressed out about dinging. AND they had a yellow J20 IN THEIR PAINT BAY that they had just finished spraying earlier that day. I took that as a sign.

The floors are in good shape! The weatherstripping is completely shot and the windshield is cracked, so the truck leaks and the carpets were soaked. But lo and behold when I looked under the carpet, things were surprisingly clean on the passenger side. And on the drivers side, someone had already cut out and replaced part of the rotted floorboard. So that’s one less item on the to-do list.
IMG_3637 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr

The body is in worse shape than I originally thought. The rear quarters and inner fenders are completely shot (which I knew), but the rear end had also been in an accident. So bodywork is going to be more extensive than I thought. Good thing I’m not going too crazy on the paint. And there’s also a place where the driver’s side front quarter is bowed out — looks like a tire blew out or something and messed it up. The body mounts mostly looked okay though.
IMG_3645 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr

IMG_1220 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr
A little bit of frame damage. And the spare tire is missing — which is okay because that's where the gas tank is going to go.

The wiring harness is a MESS. Which is what I expected. I've never rewired an entire car but looks like I'm going to get to learn.

The suspension needs to be completely replaced, which I knew. But once I got under it and looked at the leaf springs, I couldn’t believe how de-arched they were. Crazy what 50 years of sitting can do.
IMG_3644 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr

I’m not a big fan of closed knuckle front axles, so I found a front Dana 44 from 1979 NT Cherokee. I will be converting it to 5 lug so I can run the stock rims and regearing it.
IMG_3687 by Geoff Ledford, on Flickr

The rear axle has 3.31s, so I’m undecided if I want to just regear the front to match that, or if I want to swap both front and rear to 3.73s. I won’t be wheeling this thing (mostly driving it on fishing trips, which means freeway and fireroads) so 4.10s aren’t necessary. Anyone have any advice/experience with gearing for an LS/FSJ?

And then right before I tucked her back into storage, something in the drive train broke. White smoke came from under the truck (although not from the exhaust pipe) and the headlights started to flicker. Initially, I suspected the head gasket. But popped the hood and the transmission dipstick had popped out of the filler tube (wasn’t like that earlier in the day), so maybe the torque converter blew up? (But that doesn't explain the flickering in my mind.) In any case, it was late, dark, and cold, I didn't have time, patience, or tools to dig into it, and I’m going to yank the motor/tranny anyway. So I let it cool off for a few minutes, started it up again (success!), and put her back into storage.

So now that I have a better idea of where I’m starting, the plan is to go up in early January, pull out the motor/transmission (which I’ll hold onto), and get the engine bay ready for paint.

[rws31]

If your a recovering Mopar guy then you have to go Hemi power.

I am considering a Hemi swap into our 88 Ramcharger but the passenger side drop front shaft also throws a monkey wrench into that. I believe, haven't confirmed it yet, but I think you might be able to replace the input shaft in t-case of a pass drop of a 241D case with the one from a drivers drop newer 241D case so the pass drop case will bolt onto a 545rfe trans behind a Hemi. Both are 23 spline and the only difference I can see is the output shaft length on the 545rfe vs the A518rh/727.

All my info on this is on my old laptop. I could dig it out, need to anyway, and try to find it. When I was ready to do it, I was going to contact a reliable transfer case builder to see if this was possible.

If I had not already had all the drivetrain, ours would have a hemi cause I too am an old Mopar guy. I'll be watching.

[lkmarsh]

3.31 gears will work with your trans and stock size tires, but you won't like towing with them.
Bigger tires, overdrive trans, and towing or mountain driving, better off with 3.73 gears.
When I wired my 69, I replaced everything, one circuit at a time, starting
with a newer fuse block. Relays for the tailgate, headlights and fog lights.
If you do this you can get rid of the rat's nest hanging off of the ignition switch.
Be very careful with the connector on the back of the instrument cluster, the pins will pull out if not.
Happy Wrenching!

[babywag]

If you plan on a 4l60e with that LS swap go with 3.73
I put 3.73 gears in my caprice wagon and was perfect choice.
Had I gone with less would have been disappointed I think?

[rws31]

With stock tires, I'd be tempted to run the 3.31's. I'm not to familiar with the power of an LS but if they have the torque and power that everyone rants about, they might be just fine. You already have the 3.31 so why not give it a chance if your not planning on much towing. 3.73 will be good for power but at what cost to MPG. Stock tires to me would be no more than a 3.54 gear.

A 28in tire with 3.31 gears with a .70 OD will put you at about 2000rpm at 70mph

[Kaiserjeeps]

I am excited for this build. I too put in a Dana 44 converted to 5 lug in place of the Dana 27 closed knuckle. I am looking forward to seeing you move ahead. It is to bad that it will be so far away from home. That can be a hindrance and can require careful planning before heading up to work on it. And no I have not started on my X yet. I am up to my eye brows on an engine conversion in an old John Deere bulldozer. My old engine had several cracks in the block and is now an anchor. I am messing with a big yellow snowball. After this, a little work on a guest bedroom. Then I hope to move the X wagoneer to the shop. But I will be watching your build thread here for motivation. Just looking back through the pictures really makes me want to get moving on it. You have a really good starting point. It does not look bad at all.