wt91
Member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2022
- Member Number
- 5104
- Messages
- 23
I've lurked a lot and posted a little bit here and there, but this is my first thread. Migrating over from the various FSJ forums as they're mainly catered more towards "stock-ish" trucks and I've departed pretty far by now.
Had this jeep for about 13 years now. Before this had a 1994 Explorer I SAS'd and wheeled til it got totaled.
Bought the Wag back during Cash for Clunkers for $600 and saved it from Obama. Had to race another buyer there who was buying it just to turn it in for the $4000 or whatever trade in credit.
Jeep was stock when I bought it, didn't stay that way long. Kept the Wag dana 44's, spring over front shackle flip rear with shitty crown stock replacement springs. 1 ton tre high steer, cut and turn on the front axle, 4.10 gears, zip locker up front lockright in the rear sitting on 33s at first and now 35's. Wheeled it this way for a good while. Most of the jeeps in the club lineup are long gone by now, some of the owners are too. The original idea was a daily driver/weekend warrior, that needed to carry up to 4 people and their gear for a weekend of camping and medium offroad action.
Original AMC 360 was tired after a few years and had a good rod knock. Had a dodge 440 sitting around in a rotten motor home in my buddy's front yard, had 18k miles on it. Pulled that, rebuilt it with some go-fast stuff, dropped it in the Wagoneer. To make it work in the Wag, took the AMC 727 and the Mopar big block 2wd 727 and frankensteined them together to make a 440 bellhousing jeep transfercase tailhousing 727, and dropped in a manual vb. It worked, sorta. Aluminum rad for the stock 360 + Ford Contour dual electric fans keeps the 440 cool no issues. Brake booster didnt fit, went astrovan hydroboost to clear the valve covers. Used some cheapo block hugger shorty headers to clear the heater box.
Engine was supposed to be 9.5:1, machine shop took a bit much off the deck so in reality I think its closer to 9.8:1. Comp cams XE250H, 906 heads, "six pack" pistons, forged crank. In retrospect, should've gone with a bigger cam, but it does make great low end power.
After a few years of fighting with DIY TBI, back to carb, not being happy, I said F it and dropped MPFI on it along with an engine bay rewiring. Its still not pretty, but the electricals work and it doesn't try to catch on fire randomly anymore. (Electrical fires and FSJ's are good friends). It also runs better than it ever has, with either engine.
The 440 had a wonderful habit of reminding me that the stock FSJ shit was not up to the task of a healthy big block. NP229 expoded. Replaced it with another. Exploded again. Rebuilt a jeep NP208 and stuffed that in there. Not bad, holding up for now...but the risk of explosion always present. Decided to paint it on a whim one day a few years back since it never looked good after pulling the wood vinyl off. I dont think it looks half bad for an idiot with a harbor freight gun and tractor paint.
The last 6~ years of owning it have been an on-again, off-again, with life and shit so it sits a lot. Haven't gotten to use it as much as I'd like. Always fighting dumb shit. So with the original frankentrans 727 starting to give up, I figured it was time to really reinvent this thing or just send it to the scrapyard in the sky. I had a 7.3 PS tow rig, now I have a 33' Wanderlodge motorcoach tow rig, so the need to carry 4 people and camp out of the Jeep is basically gone. Only reason why I'd drive it to the trail and then tent camp out of it is if that was the purpose of the trip, like a UA style thing. Otherwise I'll enjoy my actual bed in my bus with an actual shitter.
Started by getting an OEM 4x4 big block 727 out of a trailduster, and the matching 203. Got a Ford 205, called up ORD and said "hey I got a weird one for you" and they popped out a dodge 203/ford 205 doubler for me. Got lines on a 2nd RB 4x4 727 + 203 locally, probably gonna pick them up for posterity's sake. Not exactly the most common option.
Went to the local u-pull-it looking for a Ford D60 to drop in it, found a 2011~ D60 already pulled sitting in a bin of other already pulled parts. Asked the guy how much since it was already pulled, "If it's still in the yard and ain't on the racks; same as if you pulled it outta the yard." $175, I'll take it.
Looked around for like a month to try and find a 14 bolt, couldn't find anything I like at a cost that didn't suck. Found a takeout 2011~ Sterling 10.5 with an e-locker for $300, sounds good to me. Grabbed that.
I don't have a big shop, I don't have a lift, I don't have tube benders or a CNC plasma table. My garage is small, the Jeep doesn't fit, and it's mainly a workshop for other hobbies and shit. So this build is gonna happen in the good old outside when its not hateful out, with jackstands, and lots of pissing and moaning. Got a great deal on some 40's the other day, on 8x170's already, so that really lit a fire under me to get this project underway. My overall goal is tons, 40's, and not insanely tall. If possible, I'd like to keep the ass cheeks -> ground distance roughly the same, so I'm prepared to further muderate the sheet metal to make that happen. We'll see.
Front end is gonna be trussed, 3 link, with coils. Thought about coilovers but I'm spending enough as it is. Originally was gonna do thick 4.88's with a lunchbox in the front to save $, got a great deal on a SD D60 ARB that's the 4.10+ carrier, so decided to do 5.38's and that. Lowers are 2.5" OD 1/4 wall DOM, upper is 2" 1/4 or 1.75" .120 depending on my space constraints. Weld-on high steer, probably gonna do redneck hydro-assist.
Rear end I thought about a 4 link but see the above comments about money and pissing and moaning. Decided on 63" (64?) chevy leafs, that'll stretch the WB a bit. Got the leafs for $50 for the pair out of a 00's Chevy truck. Was worried about it being super tall and thought about switching back to a tension-style shackle to drop the height some but decided on trying out the LII leaf slider boxes instead. We'll see how it works out. 5.38's to match the front, keeping the stock ford E-locker. Most likely gonna need a traction bar setup, I'll figure that out once the new trans/doubler crossmember(s) are built and the new rear suspension is mostly done.
Trans is getting rebuilt and a manual VB, but not the crap I bought the first time around. Going with Cope Racing Trans' rock crawler VB with their recommended upgrade parts and a street-hp rebuild kit.
And thats basically it for now. Weather here in NJ has been 100% shit the last 2 weeks, hoping for stuff to clear up so I can do some stuff. In the meantime finishing up rebuilding the 205 to get it off my bench so I can start the 727.
Had this jeep for about 13 years now. Before this had a 1994 Explorer I SAS'd and wheeled til it got totaled.
Bought the Wag back during Cash for Clunkers for $600 and saved it from Obama. Had to race another buyer there who was buying it just to turn it in for the $4000 or whatever trade in credit.
Jeep was stock when I bought it, didn't stay that way long. Kept the Wag dana 44's, spring over front shackle flip rear with shitty crown stock replacement springs. 1 ton tre high steer, cut and turn on the front axle, 4.10 gears, zip locker up front lockright in the rear sitting on 33s at first and now 35's. Wheeled it this way for a good while. Most of the jeeps in the club lineup are long gone by now, some of the owners are too. The original idea was a daily driver/weekend warrior, that needed to carry up to 4 people and their gear for a weekend of camping and medium offroad action.
Original AMC 360 was tired after a few years and had a good rod knock. Had a dodge 440 sitting around in a rotten motor home in my buddy's front yard, had 18k miles on it. Pulled that, rebuilt it with some go-fast stuff, dropped it in the Wagoneer. To make it work in the Wag, took the AMC 727 and the Mopar big block 2wd 727 and frankensteined them together to make a 440 bellhousing jeep transfercase tailhousing 727, and dropped in a manual vb. It worked, sorta. Aluminum rad for the stock 360 + Ford Contour dual electric fans keeps the 440 cool no issues. Brake booster didnt fit, went astrovan hydroboost to clear the valve covers. Used some cheapo block hugger shorty headers to clear the heater box.
Engine was supposed to be 9.5:1, machine shop took a bit much off the deck so in reality I think its closer to 9.8:1. Comp cams XE250H, 906 heads, "six pack" pistons, forged crank. In retrospect, should've gone with a bigger cam, but it does make great low end power.
After a few years of fighting with DIY TBI, back to carb, not being happy, I said F it and dropped MPFI on it along with an engine bay rewiring. Its still not pretty, but the electricals work and it doesn't try to catch on fire randomly anymore. (Electrical fires and FSJ's are good friends). It also runs better than it ever has, with either engine.
The 440 had a wonderful habit of reminding me that the stock FSJ shit was not up to the task of a healthy big block. NP229 expoded. Replaced it with another. Exploded again. Rebuilt a jeep NP208 and stuffed that in there. Not bad, holding up for now...but the risk of explosion always present. Decided to paint it on a whim one day a few years back since it never looked good after pulling the wood vinyl off. I dont think it looks half bad for an idiot with a harbor freight gun and tractor paint.
The last 6~ years of owning it have been an on-again, off-again, with life and shit so it sits a lot. Haven't gotten to use it as much as I'd like. Always fighting dumb shit. So with the original frankentrans 727 starting to give up, I figured it was time to really reinvent this thing or just send it to the scrapyard in the sky. I had a 7.3 PS tow rig, now I have a 33' Wanderlodge motorcoach tow rig, so the need to carry 4 people and camp out of the Jeep is basically gone. Only reason why I'd drive it to the trail and then tent camp out of it is if that was the purpose of the trip, like a UA style thing. Otherwise I'll enjoy my actual bed in my bus with an actual shitter.
Started by getting an OEM 4x4 big block 727 out of a trailduster, and the matching 203. Got a Ford 205, called up ORD and said "hey I got a weird one for you" and they popped out a dodge 203/ford 205 doubler for me. Got lines on a 2nd RB 4x4 727 + 203 locally, probably gonna pick them up for posterity's sake. Not exactly the most common option.
Went to the local u-pull-it looking for a Ford D60 to drop in it, found a 2011~ D60 already pulled sitting in a bin of other already pulled parts. Asked the guy how much since it was already pulled, "If it's still in the yard and ain't on the racks; same as if you pulled it outta the yard." $175, I'll take it.
Looked around for like a month to try and find a 14 bolt, couldn't find anything I like at a cost that didn't suck. Found a takeout 2011~ Sterling 10.5 with an e-locker for $300, sounds good to me. Grabbed that.
I don't have a big shop, I don't have a lift, I don't have tube benders or a CNC plasma table. My garage is small, the Jeep doesn't fit, and it's mainly a workshop for other hobbies and shit. So this build is gonna happen in the good old outside when its not hateful out, with jackstands, and lots of pissing and moaning. Got a great deal on some 40's the other day, on 8x170's already, so that really lit a fire under me to get this project underway. My overall goal is tons, 40's, and not insanely tall. If possible, I'd like to keep the ass cheeks -> ground distance roughly the same, so I'm prepared to further muderate the sheet metal to make that happen. We'll see.
Front end is gonna be trussed, 3 link, with coils. Thought about coilovers but I'm spending enough as it is. Originally was gonna do thick 4.88's with a lunchbox in the front to save $, got a great deal on a SD D60 ARB that's the 4.10+ carrier, so decided to do 5.38's and that. Lowers are 2.5" OD 1/4 wall DOM, upper is 2" 1/4 or 1.75" .120 depending on my space constraints. Weld-on high steer, probably gonna do redneck hydro-assist.
Rear end I thought about a 4 link but see the above comments about money and pissing and moaning. Decided on 63" (64?) chevy leafs, that'll stretch the WB a bit. Got the leafs for $50 for the pair out of a 00's Chevy truck. Was worried about it being super tall and thought about switching back to a tension-style shackle to drop the height some but decided on trying out the LII leaf slider boxes instead. We'll see how it works out. 5.38's to match the front, keeping the stock ford E-locker. Most likely gonna need a traction bar setup, I'll figure that out once the new trans/doubler crossmember(s) are built and the new rear suspension is mostly done.
Trans is getting rebuilt and a manual VB, but not the crap I bought the first time around. Going with Cope Racing Trans' rock crawler VB with their recommended upgrade parts and a street-hp rebuild kit.
And thats basically it for now. Weather here in NJ has been 100% shit the last 2 weeks, hoping for stuff to clear up so I can do some stuff. In the meantime finishing up rebuilding the 205 to get it off my bench so I can start the 727.
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