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merrill77 wrote:While investigating my fuel filling problem, I noticed this shiny block that looks suspiciously not OEM. Is that a 1" lift block under the spring?

That looks like an aluminum block get rid of it asap.

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Cassidy wrote:

merrill77 wrote:While investigating my fuel filling problem, I noticed this shiny block that looks suspiciously not OEM. Is that a 1" lift block under the spring?

That looks like an aluminum block get rid of it asap.

I won't be off-roading this beyond getting to campsites, but I will put it on my TODO list. I didn't know about these until I did some research prompted by your post. Thanks!

I've come across a few posts about someone buying a Wagoneer with a 401, only to find out it had a 360. So I went looking this afternoon. 401 Confirmed

It's been running cold - have not seen the needle move out of the cold section yet. Not that I've been driving it hard, yet, just around town. But it has certainly had a chance to warm up fully. I assumed either the wrong thermostat, a failed (open) thermostat or no thermostat. So I picked up a replacement and pulled the thermostat housing today. I am a little confused by what I found. The thermostat had two little brass clips on it that seem to have locked the thermostat open. I pried at them and it popped closed. Is this something that someone added to the thermostat to keep it open? If yes, why keep the thermostat in at all...AFAICT it would never close.



While I was working on the thermostat, I noticed something else amiss. This picture is looking down into a channel between the right side of the radiator (above, silver) and the overflow tank (below, white). That is the hose from the radiator cap to the overflow tank. Looks to be kinked at the bottom before it curves back up to the bottom of the overflow tank. One more thing to add to my list...

merrill77 wrote:

Cassidy wrote:

merrill77 wrote:While investigating my fuel filling problem, I noticed this shiny block that looks suspiciously not OEM. Is that a 1" lift block under the spring?

That looks like an aluminum block get rid of it asap.

I won't be off-roading this beyond getting to campsites, but I will put it on my TODO list. I didn't know about these until I did some research prompted by your post. Thanks!

I ran those exact blocks for about a month to decide if that is what I wanted to do. And in that time they had deformed quite a bit.

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I had the 3" aluminum blocks, but similar experience. No real offroading, just driving around. Started getting a clunk in the rear and like you, the aluminum blocks we're mushrooming, which made slop in the U-bolts. I wasn't sure if it was a chicken vs egg deal, so I tightened the heck out of the U-bolts and a few weeks later, same thing. I got rid of them by making my own shackle flip using bolt-on Ford spring hangers.

Good to know. Thanks! I may have a clunk in the rear in low-speed accelerating turns (e.g. pulling out of the driveway). This hasn't made it very high on my priority list yet, but I'll keep this in mind when I get to that problem. It sounds like replacing those with cast blocks should be a first step, even if it isn't the actual problem.

Ever find out what seats those are?

Yeah! We need answers man!?!!? Haha! Jeep looks gorgeous! That Edelbrock fuelie set up is like 2k last time I checked! As you can tell, I need front seats too.

No, I haven't. But I'm going to need to pull the drivers seat out - it sits crooked, but I can't see why. Seems to be mounted straight. Maybe when I have it out I'll find some part numbers that will give us a clue.

Did you ever find out what those seats came out of?

srumbeck wrote:Did you ever find out what those seats came out of?

What he said

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Looks like 2002 Toyota 4runner seats.

Am I the only one to notice the Multi point EFI? Looks good with all that Saddle Brown leather.

One of the great joys of joining this site is seeing three year-old threads I haven't seen yet bumped back into relevancy. That's such a great looking rig, and I love that it's here in NC. Hope you're getting some time behind the wheel during our quarantine, Merrill77.

freehold wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:09 am That's such a great looking rig, and I love that it's here in NC. Hope you're getting some time behind the wheel during our quarantine, Merrill77.

Thanks. With gas < $2.40/gal you bet I'm driving it. It goes on our family take-out lunch run a few days/week.

Finally following up on the seats. They are indeed from a Toyota. I can't find any indication of model/year, though.

Here is the lower frame:



I pulled the seat out because the seat-back was sitting crooked...it was pretty noticeable from the back:



Apparently, the clearance with the tunnel was tight on the right side of the seat, so they lower side frame was trimmed. Too much apparently, as it had bent severely:



I was able to partially straighten that on the workbench, but still not perfect. Will take it to a welding shop to get it reinforced. Maybe they can straighten it more...or maybe I should try again myself before taking it for reinforcement.

I don't know if the base brackets are from the Toyota or if they were custom made to fit this Wagoneer. They look nicely made, from 1/8" steel, but I found no part# or any other stampings on them, so I suspect custom. I also noted what looked like angle-iron welded to the seat frame with the sliders attached to that. I should have taken more pics...sorry. If I take it off again, I'll do better

There are studs protruding from the floor for 3 of the 4 mounting bolts. The 4th (back left) has a hole and there is a square nut welded into the frame:



The location of the other 3 - I could not see them from under the car.

Cheers!

The seat bases appear to be factory to me. We have 78 bases in a 77 that look like those. I am not sure I would anchor the seat belt on the seat frame on the right side like that. The seat frame is weaker than original design with the trimming. The floor mounts would be stronger anchor points.

My 77 came with no back seat and throwaway fronts. I like that I can find some good shape Toyota seats! Was the back seat from a toyota as well?

No, back seat is original frame, I'm sure.