1971 wagoneer full restore

[RX-7 Chris]

issues I have found.
1: the screws on the bottom of the grill are rusted together, so it
looks like ill have to get a drill and tap and die to get it off so i
can yank the cam.
2: I have NO idea how to get the corner lamps off.
3: smog system is so corroded when i took off the hoses the metal
started falling apart and a tap with a screwdriver is enough to
disintegrate them. Then realized that my edelbrock intake manifold
doesn't have provisions for a EGR and the headers I have dont have the
ports for the air injection.
4: ALL the Vacuum lines are corroded, cracking, and hardened and alot
seem to be missing.
5: I have no idea what im doing under here yet. heck last night i spent
10 minutes playing with my carb figuring out how it works.
I've torn down ATV's and done alot of work on my Mazda. but I'm kinda
intimidated by this. So I just ordered a original factory service manual, as well as a Haynes manual to supplement it.

At this point im debating just getting it running and either keeping it
as is or selling it. or doing the right thing, running all new wires.
rebuild it all and make it as nice as i can and beable to run around
in a bit more style then if i just went out and bought a mid 90's truck

for some pictures.

here is the air injection corrosion.

here is the heater blower I dont know where the wire goes....

PO ghetto fixed the blinker, And i want it back to stock

engine bay right now

and i need a new one of these bags i guess, and a pic of the ghetto
wiring job

1. I would try soaking in PB Blaster before you try drilling and tapping.
2. I'd have to look at the corner lamps but I bet they come out from behind.
3. you shouldn't need to keep any of the smog.
4. they should all be easy to replace.
6. I can show you most of what you want to know.

pics:
I'd have to look at the heater wire to figure out were it does but it should go back under the dash.

Blinker: I'm betting the switch is still good. It looks like the the lever has just snapped off. You will need to get a new lever, it should be easy to come by in the junk yard. If the switch is shot, it is easy to replace. You just need to pull the wheel.

The bag in the last pic is the washer bag, basically the same as what's on my galexie. The washer pump is usually mounted to the firewall.

[Dange]

well I sprayed everything down with pb blaster yesterday when starting working and all the other screws and engine bolts came out surprisingly easy.
so i let them sit over night and ill try those grill screws again before i go get a tap and die set.

iirc the switch is shot. my grandfather would have probably threaded a bolt in there before spending money and time to replace it if it was just the arm.

oh then ill just yank the plastic bag. i dont need that, its not hooked to anything i thought it was the original coolant overflow.

other things, i am afraid to yank the power steering and ac pumps because they were at least under pressure at one point or other. i haven't had PS fluid in a while (pump leaks like a sieve) so odds are thats no longer under pressure. as well as the ac... i have never seen it blow cold air.. but the pump spins and the blower works... so im betting its empty too

[Dange]

long story short. been spending alot of time with the jeep recently. all my efforts and money have been going into this so its ready for the winter, and the numerous snowboarding trips i plan on.

started pulling the heads. headerbolt was rounded off. so we had to drop the engine.
engine is currently sitting on a tire in my garage. the heads are at the machine shop getting hardened valve seats. slightly oversized valves. and a 3 angle valve job.

block we started to tear down to install the cam and new oilpump internals. well it seems likethe crank is wobbling a bit. so gonna have to probably rebuild that too.... after i just spent the past 3 days scraping 40 years of built up oil off the damn thing.

engine bay is all cleaned up. preassure washed and degreased. ready for a paint job with semigloss black

windows are stuck waiting for all new guides and lifter channels.

but hey. it should be mechanically great here in 1-2 weeks. now to just pretty it up.


plans. rattlecan USARMY tan close enough to the stock body color that itll look fine untill i can afford tint. and this will atleast stop the surface rust.

tearing out the seats and carpet and dash
interior is getting a tanectomy. going full black. and getting door panels made out of diamond plate aluminum. and i am covering the floors in bedliner instead of carpet. because i do love playing in mud. and first time i step back into the jeep with mud on my boots... there goes 300 bucks in carpet basically.

full stereo treatment. if i cant have speed. and still suck gas twice as fast as the mazda. at least i can do it with some good tunes.

4" lift. and 3" bodylift. I was going with a SOA but found out the driving issues invlolved with that without spending 1000's in crossover steering etc. 6" of lift is perfect but one inch higher is alot better than 2 inches shorter. that should cover everything for now.

[RX-7 Chris]

I would replace the timing chain as well since you have that part of the engine apart anyway.

[Shadowden]

This sounds like a cool and involved project...wish I could see the pictures at work.

[Dange]

been working on the beast for some time now. pulled most the interior. carpet was trash, and im looking into rhinolining the floor, b/c pillars.

i was realy surprised with the lack of rust. for a 40 year old vehicle i expected a bunch of floor rust. most pics i have seen of a jeep wag made before the 80s you can usually put your foot through the floor. and the one little spot already got treated.


all the window parts came in last week plus a few other goodies.
btw, usually chiltons is better than haynes... not in this case. the chilton is more useful as a paperweight to hold the haynes in place... I mean NOTHING in this book is helpful.


engine bay is starting to get painted.


the newly rebuilt heads with minor headwork (milled, shortdecked, 3 angle valve job, hardened valve seats)


pulled the oilpan. cleaned the sludge and all out. cleaned my oilpickup. and inspected the rods/crank/underside of the pistons and they look new.

after a few hours of cleaning... had quite a bit more to go. eventually(hours later) i got it stripped to bare metal with a mix of airline stripper. sandpaper, and mineral spirits.


painted it all and started to bolt everything together.





my only problem atm is my friends kid must have ran off with one of the headbolts... so i am missing one of the short bolts and searching for it... if i cant find one thats 100+ bucks out of my exhaust fund i need to spend on something i didnt plan on purchasing. and will put the jeep back even further.

so far the parts list
welling oilpump gears.
edelbrock performer 600cfm carb.
edelbrock performer intake manifold.
edelbrock valvecovers.
headman Headers
summit 8600 cam (largest cam possible on stock torque convertor)
compcams timing chain.
hardened pushrods.
lifters
waterpump.
felpro head, exhaust,intake, carb, waterpump, timing cover, oilpan, valleypan and valve cover gaskets.
sparkplugs.
HEI distributor
50k volt coil
8.5mm wires.
electric fans.
Assembly lube
and break-in oil

[RX-7 Chris]

I like the nice shiny engine. I wouldn't put old rusty bolts onto a nice clean engine, they will really stand out.

[MazdaMark]

Hi,

Awesome project here. I haven’t entirely ran through this thread but It caught my eye as I have a 90 Grand Wagoneer. It’s a Money PIT hard.. If you love the project you can ignore this. Here are some overall bullets.

* I always get approached at the gas station to ask me about it. Which is often as it gets 12 miles per gallon.
* People always think that its from the early 60’s and I have to explain to them that design is but this truck is not.
* Folks wave at you while driving it.
* The turning radius is amazingly small.
* These are a cult vehicle in that you find people that wont get rid of them..sitting in garages next to high dollar machinery.
* Another example of this: I ran into a guy that worked at one of the Ski Town repair shops and would worked on Goldy Hawns Wagoneer and apparently she wouldn’t get rid of it.
* There is a parking garage here in town that someone has purchased annual permits for 3 vehicles that sit together. A Grand Wagoneer, 68 Lincoln 2 dr, and an RX7 equipped with the little ski rack mount on the right side of the hatch. I think there was no more room in the home garage.. but ”I cant part with these.”. as a scenario.

I think the older ones like you have are the way to go. Everything that was done on the later models is a total engineering compromise.

Simple things like
* power windows and locks become a major issue because they were compromised add on to an original design that wasn’t intended to have them. They just wont work without replacing everything.
* You cannot buy a squirrel cage for the heater motor and they always have a small warp. tick tick tick tick.. unless on high.
* The year I have was detuned to work the emissions numbers and the heads are terrible. This was a year with a smog pump as well and.
* This list gets long.. unless you have an Older and simpler version......


If I were to get another one of these in the future I would drop in a 350 Chevy in with a turbo 400 trans.
BUT - The first thing I would do is buy one just like yours as the best place to start.

Oh.. one more thing that will put the design in perspective.

Mine looks like the attached photo with a modern grill and woodgrain sides.

BUT the old nose for this grill and lights sits behind it as when updates were made they were low buck overlays. Look ath the attached photo of the older White Jeep with the Rhino nose.

The engineers were probably hurting to budget dollars.



Good Luck on the Skiing and Camping Wagon!

Mark