My 71 Wagoneer Project so far (lots of pics)

[Dr Teeth]

So here's what I've got so far... I bought the truck in August with a tired Buick 350, a leaky radiator, and a bad master cylinder. I thought I'd just fix one or two things, drive it, and get into the big stuff later... silly me.

Here's the closest pic to what I started with, as you can see at this point I'd already stripped the interior to address some minor rust in the floor. Plans are to fix the rust and then put Hippoliner (bedliner) over the entire floor. I've had it colormatched to the interior.

Here's the Buick Engine coming out. All the hoses were rotten and I came into a chevy engine for cheap so instead of driving it I just started tearing it apart further.

So, I worked a little more and then had the realization that there were only about three things left to disconnect to take the body off the frame. I also at this point decided to rewire the whole thing while I was at it (probably just order a painless wiring kit... still looking). So here's the body coming off the frame (you can see I've done some trimming on the rear quarters to get rid of some rust).

As with any project it is good to have help. Here's my 2 year old daughter getting into it.

So this weekend's project was painting the frame and engine compartment. The neighbors liked having the jeep up on blocks... they really started to give me the looks when I rolled the frame out on to the lawn to paint it.

Here's a before of the frame showing the Novak Engine mounts in place. I put the driver's side in a lower set of holes and will machine a spacer for that side to keep from having to grind into the horizontal member for clearance of the steering column. You can also see my custom front receiver mount for my winch.

And here's how it looks with some paint...

Here's the frame with some paint.

While it's all out this is the time to clean up and paint the engine compartment too.

Next will be some fun as I finally get to start putting somethings back together on the frame. Here's the engine with the serpentine belt system installed (144 amp alt.) the tranny has been rebuilt with a shift kit and the seals replaced in the transfer case.

Hopefully this next week start piecing it back together. I'll try to get up some pictures as the build progresses and I'll start a seperate thread later on the custom rear bumper (I figure the site could use another custom bumper thread!).

Thanks for checking it out, I'm having a great time so far.

Todd

[Kenall]

How did you address the issue of tranny tilt when switching from OE th400 to GM th400?

[letank]

very impressive.... congratulations.

how do you trust those 2x4 sawhorses.....

I am due for a bodyswap.... and collecting any usefull pieces of informations.....

[KaiserMan]

Looking good. That Wagoneer is going to be really sweet when it's done.

[Dr Teeth]

Originally Posted by Kenall

How did you address the issue of tranny tilt when switching from OE th400 to GM th400?

The rear mount is off the transmission tailpiece to transfer case adaptor so it stayed constant in the swap. Prior to pulling the Buick I took two measurements. I marked the tallest point of the carb bolt so as to have an idea of hood clearance, and I marked a spot on the frame and measured to the center bolt of the lowest pulley (center of the crankshaft) both right to left and vertically. I then positioned the Chevy engine/tranny/transfer case in the truck, bolted in the rear mount and positioned the front to be level, and with the center bolt of the lower pulley in the same position as the Buick. This should place the engine in effectively the same spot as stock with the same angle front to back, etc. I only used the top of carb measurement to double check that I didn't have the engine up too high.

[Dr Teeth]

Originally Posted by letank

very impressive.... congratulations.

how do you trust those 2x4 sawhorses.....

I am due for a bodyswap.... and collecting any usefull pieces of informations.....

You may see in the last photos that the front crossmember of the sawhorse got switched from a 2x4 to a 2x6 as it was bowing a little more than I liked. I think it's fairly stable except for a large hit from the side would do it in. Basically I originally thought I could work a bit on the body while it was up, but once I got it there I changed my mind and now only plan on working on it once it's back on the frame.

To pull the body I used two engine hoists. One in through the tailgate and one through the driver's side door. I ran eyebolts through body mounts conected to a chain (which I ran through a 2x4 with holes drilled in it to keep the eyebolts from tweeking the sheetmetal off to the side) and then lifted front and rear simultaneously. I picked it up high enough that I could roll the frame in and out without taking off the tires as the next step is to roll the frame into the garage to put in the engine, gas tank, and run all my hard lines before putting the body back on.

[back2spool]

One thing I love about the pics is that it looks like you did all that in one day. Keep it up! Save another one!

[Tad]

Very Nice!

Hang onto those FSJ Buick brackets and motor mount towers, folks here seem to loose those a lot around here.

[Deacon]

Very nice. You should be very proud.
You just don't see many people doing their own work.

[FSJ-Earl]

Check out ZM JEEPS for a exact fit wiring harness!

[willam]

How did you prep your frame for paint? Powerwash or sandblast? Also, what is your setup for painting? Type of gun and capacity of the compressor? or did you rattlecan it? Sooner or later I'll be involved in similar exploites and need abvise on equipment. BTW - that's so very sweet, your neighbors must be loving you. Nice work.

[79_Limited]

Looks awesome!

By the way is that a convertible in the garage? Do tell.

[Heep80]

Yah! diggin' it! just get her a flash light, and keep her busy! hahaha. keep us updated

[Dr Teeth]

Originally Posted by willam

How did you prep your frame for paint? Powerwash or sandblast? Also, what is your setup for painting? Type of gun and capacity of the compressor? or did you rattlecan it? Sooner or later I'll be involved in similar exploites and need abvise on equipment. BTW - that's so very sweet, your neighbors must be loving you. Nice work.

If you really want to do it right, I would want to sandblast the frame, but my frame had very little rust and I didn't feel like paying some one to sandblast it so here's what I did:

First I borrowed a pressure washer from a friend and blasted the heck out of everything. Then I scraped off all the really caked on grease with screwdrivers, small sticks, whatever was handy. I took the frame to a spray and wash place that had some kind of "degreaser" setting and blasted it again. Then I went over everything I could with a wire wheel until it completely disintigrated. Then I used a heavy grit flapper sandpaper disk until I destroyed it. Finally my daughter and I washed the whole frame with soapy water and heavy bristle brushes (my daughter likes to play with the hose so she was actually helpful). Then I was sick of that so I just decided hell with it, I'm painting over whatever is left.

For the paint, I don't know much but I have friends that do. I don't have a really big compressor so my friend recomended buying a newer LVLP (low volume low pressure) spray gun so the compressor could keep up with it. I found one for about $100 and I think it was well worth it.

[Dr Teeth]

Originally Posted by 79_Limited

Looks awesome!

By the way is that a convertible in the garage? Do tell.

That's my daily driver... a 1964 Mercury Park Lane Convertible. It gets me to work in style.

[Kenall]

Originally Posted by Kenall

How did you address the issue of tranny tilt when switching from OE th400 to GM th400?

sorry wrong tilt angle. not longitudinal, transverse.

the transverse tilt of the th400 in relation to the engine. all th400s from 66-79 were tilted from the factory for front CV clearance. when putting a 'normal' th400 onto the stock Jeep d20 adaptor and mounting the eng/th400 upright, the xcase adaptor foot is not flush with the xmbr.

[baybilly]

great job man looks sweeeeeeeet.

[jeepfan93]

Looks great keep it up!

[willam]

Thanks for the information. Helped a friend do exactly the same thing with a CJ7 frame many years ago. Power wash/scrap/powerwash/wire wheel/sand and then paint with a verrry old power painter ( rustoleaum)

Came out OK and to my knowledge paint is still holding up, but thats in Montana - little or no salt on the back roads in the Bitteroot. Missoula they use calcium chloride, I have no idea what that does for corrosion. Keep the momentum up, you do nice work.

[Dr Teeth]

Originally Posted by Kenall

sorry wrong tilt angle. not longitudinal, transverse.

the transverse tilt of the th400 in relation to the engine. all th400s from 66-79 were tilted from the factory for front CV clearance. when putting a 'normal' th400 onto the stock Jeep d20 adaptor and mounting the eng/th400 upright, the xcase adaptor foot is not flush with the xmbr.

I know little about the history of these rigs, but I know what I have in my driveway... My 71 with the Buick 350, when I pulled the Buick I checked that it was level (it was) and the xcase mount was flush. Now with the swap, I've remounted everything and the engine is still level and the xcase mount is flush.

How many degrees would they have been tilted? I could swear that mine was not rotated but maybe I missed a degree or two somewhere, I don't think so though as I was very careful in all my measurements.

There's definitely misinformation floating around on these things... like I was told that my engine would be offset from the factory 1/2" to one side, but when I measured mine it was spot on center in the front.

Todd