Gabe's FSJ Diary (formally Grand Wagoneer build thread)

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Mon Jun 12, 2017 3:57 pm

tedlovesjeeps71 wrote:
Nikkormat wrote:
tedlovesjeeps71 wrote:What's that big black thing to the passenger side of the oil fill... An ignition coil??

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Yep, Ford TFI coil.
Gotcha. So what is a "machine intake" vs a regular 4bbl? It doesn't look all that extreme, what am I missing?

Bigger runners essentially, and the port floor is deeper with no egr. Came on rebel machine 390's (and alot of 390's that year according to AMC lore). Mine wasn't actually on a machine 390, so the carb flange is slightly different, but the part nber is the same as is the rest of the manifold. In Machine trim they were supposed to out flow the Edelbrock of the time so for the low low cost of free I'm going to run it till I need EGR again.

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Fri Jun 16, 2017 5:54 pm

Today was a failure.

Had to stay up all night to take my sister to the airport at 3 AM. Got home from that at 5:45 and went to sleep for the day. Set my alarm for 12 thinking six hours of sleep would be plenty. Unfortunately I slept straight through my alarm and woke up at 3 PM...

After household chores were done I made it to the shop to load up the block by 3:45. Then I discovered some of the gallery plugs weren't hex, they were the original square drive. Making a tool for that ate up 20 minutes of time and I was loading at 4:15. Block made it in and strapped down by 4:30. That should have given me time to get to the machine shop by 5:30. Unfortunately my dumbass forgot they close at 5:00 on Fridays and I70 was completely screwed. Even if they had been open at 5:30 I wouldn't have made it.

But this has given me time to reflect.

I'm still $1000 away from having this thing on the road. And then I still have the floor and interior to deal with. So call that another $2000 by the time I either buy a gas welder or pay someone to put the floor in. So we'll call it three grand before I leave for Montana in 65 days. That just isn't going to happen. I don't have the income for that.

I think I need to cut my losses, store my best parts, and buy a reliable POS. Then come back to the hobby when I have a place to live and work on my BEEP. Anyone want to buy the shell of my broken dreams?

az chip · Post by **az chip** » Fri Jun 16, 2017 5:57 pm

Delayed. Not broken.

Tatsadasayago · Post by **Tatsadasayago** » Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:01 pm

Sorry to hear of your time-out.
I read you are going to Missoula. School or?

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:09 pm

Tatsadasayago wrote:Sorry to hear of your time-out.
I read you are going to Missoula. School or?

Yes, for school. Which is also turning into an expensive mess. My best student loan APR right now is 8.6%

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:13 pm

In hindsight building the 401 is about the stupidest thing I've ever done FSJ related. I should have parted out the 89 instead of selling it to Wyatt. Then I'd have my floor, engine, tailgate, non sagged out suspension... He lost the wheel bearing and has made no efforts to fix it.

tedlovesjeeps71 · Post by **tedlovesjeeps71** » Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:48 pm

I have my Miller 220 welder just sitting in storage. You're welcome to borrow it but you'll need a bottle.
Other option is I gave my lil 110 Lincoln to my best friend to learn/tinker. I don't think he's touched it (or will) for a while. I'm sure you could borrow that. It's only 110 but has flux core in it iirc.

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Tatsadasayago · Post by **Tatsadasayago** » Fri Jun 16, 2017 8:41 pm

Nikkormat wrote:
Tatsadasayago wrote:Sorry to hear of your time-out.
I read you are going to Missoula. School or?

Yes, for school. Which is also turning into an expensive mess. My best student loan APR right now is 8.6%

Missoula is a pretty cool little city and there are so many fun things to do when not in class.
A bit too Leftist but that goes away the farther you get from the school.
If you end up not living in the dorms, I suggest you get a place south of Lolo on hwy 93. The temps in the Bitterroot valley are often much higher in the winter than Missoula and rents are lower.

Best of luck to you Gabe.

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Sat Jun 17, 2017 1:56 am

Tatsadasayago wrote:
Nikkormat wrote:
Tatsadasayago wrote:Sorry to hear of your time-out.
I read you are going to Missoula. School or?

Yes, for school. Which is also turning into an expensive mess. My best student loan APR right now is 8.6%
Missoula is a pretty cool little city and there are so many fun things to do when not in class.
A bit too Leftist but that goes away the farther you get from the school.
If you end up not living in the dorms, I suggest you get a place south of Lolo on hwy 93. The temps in the Bitterroot valley are often much higher in the winter than Missoula and rents are lower.

Best of luck to you Gabe.

Thanks, I appreciate the local insight. The "plan" so far is at least a semester in the dorms and then looking for something to rent for the same cost. Living off campus will look good on my application for in state tuition too. Lolo is only 20 minutes from the school which would be ideal! Do you still get up to Montana part of the year?

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Sat Jun 17, 2017 1:58 am

tedlovesjeeps71 wrote:I have my Miller 220 welder just sitting in storage. You're welcome to borrow it but you'll need a bottle.
Other option is I gave my lil 110 Lincoln to my best friend to learn/tinker. I don't think he's touched it (or will) for a while. I'm sure you could borrow that. It's only 110 but has flux core in it iirc.

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Ted, you are a very generous person. I REALLY appreciate the offer! I'll detail it in the next post, but I think I've got something figured out very similar.

Tatsadasayago · Post by **Tatsadasayago** » Sat Jun 17, 2017 2:15 am

Nikkormat wrote:Thanks, I appreciate the local insight. The "plan" so far is at least a semester in the dorms and then looking for something to rent for the same cost. Living off campus will look good on my application for in state tuition too. Lolo is only 20 minutes from the school which would be ideal! Do you still get up to Montana part of the year?

I try to get up to Grass Range (Eastern MT) as often as possible. Western MT is much more scenic, but like the entire state, you can't eat the scenery.

If you get the chance, you need to check out the Bob Marshal Wilderness up north and Lost Horse Canyon down north of Darby. Perhaps not as cool as Colorado, but damn nice regardless.

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Sat Jun 17, 2017 2:25 am

I discussed my plans with Wyatt and my Mother. Both had the same sentiment, basically " Are you crazy?".

Everyone seems to think I'm jumping ship past the point of no return on this engine. At the very least both thought I should make the Wagoneer run and drive before I sell it. I don't really need to hoard two incomplete 401's (it's also worth mentioning neither like my 401k plan joke). Purchase price and machine work on the crank included I'm about $1800 in. They both said I should finish it and try to recover some of that cost.

At some point, if everyone tells you you're making the wrong decision, you should probably listen. So I suppose I'll be continuing the Wagoneer for now. I've been pouring money into my broken Jeep for 4 months, I had a BEEPY day, I shouldn't have announced my decision before it was really final. Sorry for any undue drama, I was very serious about giving up on this build. And I will still jump ship if I get much closer to August 20th without a vehicle to take me to MT.

As for the floor, Wyatt said that if I get to that point I can rent the welder at D&J for the cost of some shop work, a bottle of gas, and I have to bring my own wire and supplies. I don't know how real that offer is ( it's a crowded buys shop where I fight for enough floor space for an engine stand let alone a whole Jeep), but if I get to that point hopefully that will work out.

tedlovesjeeps71 · Post by **tedlovesjeeps71** » Sat Jun 17, 2017 10:10 am

Gabe,
I fully understand the stress and having days where you just want to chuck it all. I think it's part of the Jeep sickness. The cool thing though is we all understand it and it's sorta like AA or NA, we have a support group.

If you need the 110 welder it's up in Highlands ranch. If you can run 220, that's in my storage in Peyton. Either would get the job done with no rental fee though the 220 would be happier with a bottle.
As far as needing a reliable vehicle for out there, your pickup won't do it?
Not sure what your budget will be but I'll probably be posting my XJ for sale. It needs very little to be basically a rebuilt jeep and has been built right. Probably be great for a college runner in MT.

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Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Sun Jun 18, 2017 6:53 pm

Intake port work from last night, hope to finish the other side tonight.

Unported side:

Ported side:

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:22 am

Progress! Tonight another two runners on the intake manifold were completed and the cylinders are honed! Ring end gap measured out perfectly out of the box for all eight holes which will save a ton of time!

Tomorrow the block goes to the machine shop for the line hone and the manifold gets finished. Found a shop locally that will tank my heads and intake for $50 and then make sure all the cuttings from my port work are gone. Maybe that will happen Friday? Either way engine work crawls steadily along.

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 11:59 am

Ok checklist of engine components, what am I forgetting?

Main bearings
Cam bearings
Rod bearings
Piston rings
Freeze plugs
Dipstick and tube
Distributor
Timing cover
Water pump
Oil pump
Harmonic balancer
Flex plate
Starter
Oil pan
Valve covers
Oil pressure sending unit
Intake manifold gasket
Oil pressure sending unit
Tempreture sending unit.
Front and rear main seal
Ignition coil
Spark plugs
Plug wires
Coil bracket
Vacuum fittings
Carb and air cleaner
Cam and lifters
Pushrods
Oil gallery plugs
Timing set
Motor mounts
Head gaskets
Valve cover gaskets
Timing cover gasket set
Pcv valve
Oil filler cap and tube

Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:03 pm

Coolant hoses and battery cables!

tedlovesjeeps71 · Post by **tedlovesjeeps71** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:28 pm

Belts?
Are you going tbi or carb? Maybe a spacer?
P/S hoses?
A pile of various VAC lines (new)?

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Nikkormat · Post by **Nikkormat** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:32 pm

tedlovesjeeps71 wrote:Belts?
Are you going tbi or carb? Maybe a spacer?
P/S hoses?
A pile of various VAC lines (new)?

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I've got belts, PS hoses were new a few months ago, carburetor is on the Kitchen table, and I have a spacer.

Good idea on the vacuum lines.

tedlovesjeeps71 · Post by **tedlovesjeeps71** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:34 pm

Nikkormat wrote:
tedlovesjeeps71 wrote:Belts?
Are you going tbi or carb? Maybe a spacer?
P/S hoses?
A pile of various VAC lines (new)?

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I've got belts, PS hoses were new a few months ago, carburetor is on the Kitchen table, and I have a spacer.

Good idea on the vacuum lines.

Cool... Just helping ya think out loud.
How about assembly lube? RTV of choice? Quality wipes (lintless) and a surface cleaner/prep.

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Gabe's FSJ Diary (formally Grand Wagoneer build thread)

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