Betti- 89 Grand Wagoneer

[surfwagoneer]

Alright so its about time for me to start a build thread. I'll start right off the bat that this is all a learning process for me so its slow and I ask a ton of questions! So thanks for everyone that has chimed in and helped out answering my repetitive and probably some what annoying questions. I live near the beach and my wife came up with the name Betti, as in "she's a Betti!" I purchased this truck about 2 1/2 yrs ago right before my first little girl was born- now I have 2 girls! Thus another reason that this build is slow, trying to juggle both family and my "habit." I'm sure there are many out there that are in the same position. The truck was very solid and had little to no rust, inside was pretty solid except the standard torn/rotted front seats and it had about 140,000 on the odometer. I had the chance to freshen up the motor so I snatched it up and had the motor rebuilt, even though it still ran pretty good at the time. Next came a rusty's 4" lift and then later added bj's extended shackes up front and a zero rate spring in the rear. Got my hands on a good razor grille and at the same time added Serehill's headlight harness. Then we arrive at the present and I am currently working on a WT conversion. 14 Bolt is about 75% done w/ disc break conversion and there will be a j20 dana 44HD up front. The ultimate plan is to buy a j10 or j20, get it running good and then swap a cummins into the waggy. Which will most likely end up w/ some custom alcan springs up front and 63" chevy springs in the rear. I'll probaly hear a big "I TOLD U SO" from Blake on the change in suspension but like I said its a learning process and I never do things the easy way That leaves the current suspension to drop into the j10/j20 which will be a functional work truck with no big plans-----at the moment..........................

[surfwagoneer]

Betti- when I bought her




currently:

[surfwagoneer]

razor swap w/ hood bar

[surfwagoneer]

when I picked it up-----this sh*t is HEAVY

crappy cell pics



disc break conversion

[surfwagoneer]

Finally got some work done today. Cut off and ground down shock mounts and shaved almost 3/4 inch off bottom of diff and smoothed everything over. Also pressure washed it to get the 1/2" of crud off it so I can clean it up and paint it.

[HowardT64]

I love to see a person clean parts till the dirt,grease, junk is only
a memory:) Love the color of your rig

[AwesomeJ10]

Nothing looks better than a disk braked and shaved 14bolt

[surfwagoneer]

A few updates. Have been having problems with my voltage guage and stalling out all around town so I picked up a 34/78 die hard platinum and a new battery box to boot. While I was in there I decided to pull out the old air cleaner and get rid of the rotten air ducting. Also put a larger edelbrock air cleaner on. While I was in there I stumbled on some horrific wiring work. Lets just put it this way, there were exposed wires wrapped with old rotten duct tape and were so brittle they just started breaking apart. I had a few ignition parts that were waiting to be put in so I threw a fire extinguisher in the truck and drove it over to the shop. Had them fix the crap wiring correctly and then did a full TFI upgrade with all MSD. Had them check out the alternator also, confirmed its all good. The battery box I picked up from ballistic fab needed paint and I still haven't gotten around to putting it in. Temporarily modded the stock holder to fit the new battery. Got my J20 dana 44 8 lug. Guy delivered it to my door! Started pulling it apart and cleaning it and the 14 bolt up. Need to get them cleaned and painted, hopefully start swapping them in the next few weeks. Started cutting up the fenders to fit my bushwacker flares. Pretty nervous about this so I started small and just going to work my way to the final cut, make a template and then cut the other side. Got started and then the ice storm ensued. I also made a rash decision to buy a winch while having a few drinks. Picked up a Tough Stuff 12500. Wife still doesn't know about this one, definitely going to get in some trouble. So a lot of things started but not a lot finished to show but I'll give some teaser pics.

[chevelleguy]

Nice! You don't see too many red ones. There used to be one over here in Rockwall that looked brand new, but I haven't seen it 5-6yrs.

[Jeff from Iowa]

Nice, Im looking for the same parts to convert my 90 front grill group, if you happened to find an extra set up?

[surfwagoneer]

Nice, Im looking for the same parts to convert my 90 front grill group, if you happened to find an extra set up?

Unfortunatly not. I do have an extra final edition grille though!

[bwwhaler]

You aren't around Wilmington by chance are you? It would be nice to have somebody to have a garage day with to turn some wrenches. Very nice build you got there.

[surfwagoneer]

You aren't around Wilmington by chance are you? It would be nice to have somebody to have a garage day with to turn some wrenches. Very nice build you got there.

Guess I need to update my profile. I am definitely in Wilmington. Ogden side of town. Would be awesome to get together with some local FSJers

[bwwhaler]

Sweet, I thought your pics looked like Wilmywood, I will send you a pm with my cell, hit me up, I would love to see your project and help out if you need it.

[surfwagoneer]

Finished the cutting on the front end today. Need to fit the flares and trim them up and I should be good to go.









Threw on a little coat of paint over all the cuts and touched up a bit

[surfwagoneer]

new wheels/tires. These are 285/75/16, got a great deal on them. Once they run down I'll be going 315/75/16

[surfwagoneer]

Got a little bit more work done in between all the craziness. Finally got the body lift done. Now I can start mocking up some rock sliders and get working on a winch mount. Had to slightly adjust the shifting linkage but that ended up being a super easy task. Pulled the bumper off so I could start scheming some about the winch mount, should be pretty simple. While I was at it I pulled the grille and upgraded the headlight bulbs. I've had a issue with my passenger side head light being super dim ever since I put them on. I figured it was a cheap bad bulb that came with them since I ordered them of flee bay. Didn't improve with the new bulbs so started tracing wires. Found two connections that had broken were soldered. Luckily my buddy down the street had a soldering gun and we were able to fix it. Wasn't pretty but did the job and now I can see at night! Improved bulbs + 2 working headlights = a million times brighter. I also cleaned up all the chipped off paint of my the front end and gave it a quick rattle can job, actually came out really good. Finally got some more work done towards the axle swap and finished tearing down the dana 44 HD. I'm probably asking for it but I still haven't pulled the diff cover, hope that doesn't bite me in the a**. Hopefully this weekend I can get it outside in the nice weather and clean it up real good and give it a few good coats of paint. Then start to reassemble. Still a lot of work to do to get the axle swap done, but progress made. Countdown to ECI, creeping up quick!

[surfwagoneer]

Been a while since I updated this. So the dana 44 HD was tore down, inspected and all bearings re-packed w/ synthetic grease. Put on new flat top knuckles and got everything back together. Things still to do: clean out the diff really good (everything looked great but diff fluid was pretty awful looking,) I think I'm going to bite the bullet and pick up a ruffstuff diff cover, probably just re-use stock tie rod and drag ling for the time being. I will be ordering some new studs for my pass high steer arm so there is a chance I might go ahead and put on crossover steering while I'm at it. Front-end should be bolt on from there. I had problems getting the rear bearing seals off the 14 bolt hubs so I picked up some new pry bars today and hope to get that job done soon, finishing up prep on that one also. I had to send back my bolt on caliper brackets and swap out for a weld on pair. The bolt on only work up to 87' (I think) and of course I have an '89, no biggie though. Finished chopping both my pristine rockers I have a couple of 2x6 steel tubing that will become some new sliders. I should gain an additional 2" of rocker clearance over stock rockers after sliders are replaced. Finally mocked up the front winch plate tonight. The winch plate will be all 1/4" and then the wrest of the bumper will be built off that. Already have a large sheet of 3/16th in the garage. I'll post some pictures of the winch mount- will probably still be tweaked a bit. And yes I did use Princess duct tape to put it together, guess that's what happens with 2 little girls.

[lobie]

Sounds like you'll be ready for ECI!

[surfwagoneer]

uploaded some pics of the newly chopped rockers.......