The Rebuild of Oz

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j20owner
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The Rebuild of Oz

Post by j20owner »

Well, I guess I might as well start a build thread on my project. As I've alluded to in other posts, I'm trying to build a FSJ on a spaghetti string budget. Fun part is it will have a 5.3l LS v8, 4l60, 14bolt rear and hd 44 front. I have all of that already. I was going to build this as my 79 j20, but after removing the bed discovered the frame was too far gone for much of anything but junk. So, I was planning on getting a 77 j10 from member Hutcho, but the location left something to be desired. During this time, the wife was getting pissier and pissier about my constant jabbering about jeeps. I made the comment about buying a Wagoneer to build instead of the truck. She seemed less objectionable about the Wagoneer than the truck.(More seats so she can ride along :roll: )

So, the search began. I remembered a post by BassnTruck on the 'mother site' about selling his 84 wag as parts, without the axles/springs. We worked out a deal and he brought it to me today. We pushed it into the garage, and removed both the front and rear axles. This is the Rebuild of Oz(the wag's name from it's previous life.)
Image

Progress will be slow and painful due to the very limited budget, but the plan is to be in Ouray 2014.
Last edited by j20owner on Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Stuka
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by Stuka »

Looking forward to the build!
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hutcho
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by hutcho »

Sorry the truck thing couldn't work out...looking forward to seeing this buildup though!

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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

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Don't worry Hutcho, I still want the 77! Wife would kill me, but I still want it. 4 of my 6 bushings have finally shown up at work, and I could get the springs finished. But, with Cub Scout Day Camp four days this week, it'll probably be Friday before I can actually work on the jeep again. Might be able to put the new bushings in the springs tomorrow after camp. We'll see.
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hutcho
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

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Cool its still sitting there...getting ready to go to mom's house cause I may or may not have mine sold, but it will sit there til they get sick of it and that's when it will either make the journey to my new house or the salvage yard...or your house :D

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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

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I'm hoping you mean you've sold the house, not your j10!?! I'm aching to get this thing together, but with a $100/month(or so) budget, it'll take a while.
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hutcho
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by hutcho »

Nope the house....truck is still around, just moving it to moms house. Bout 7 miles up the road LOL! Unless they get to pissed about it sitting it will stay there til you want it or I get really broke and part it, or what's left of it lol

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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

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Some great googely moogely kids kicked the windows out of it and another truck cab I have and busted the windows out of my shop. Really pisses me off but what can you do when the house is sitting vacant? Would like to hide in the woods with the 12ga for a few nights...:evil::-x:!::evil::evil::evil::evil:

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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

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Progress! Not alot, but some. Got the stock fronts off my 79 j20 taken apart, cleaned up, center pin turned around and put back together. Pushed in the new bushings this morning. About $40 involved in the front springs, and about $70 for front ubolts. :shock: Should be able to put my front axle under it tomorrow am.
Image

Going to shoot them with some Krylon black here in a bit.

Figured I'd just edit this and add:
Image
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

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Got the springs and front axle bolted in. Weaseled the 14 bolt into the back of the garage and got it slid under the backside of the wag. I tried it with the shackles in the rear, but it will not work out unless I drop the front hangers and/or raise the rear hangers. Will be standard config on the front for now as far as the shackles go.
Image
Image

I also took out the coffin tank(thing is dang near full, but smells bad). Frame looks ok, and you get a teaser pic of the 14 bolt under the rear.
Image
Image
Image

Frame is just dirty, rust is very minimal and just on the surface. Will hit it with a wire wheel and slap on some chassis saver.

Oh, and I need some pointers on the 14 bolt install from some of you who've done something similar. The wag has already had a shackle flip performed in the rear, but the front mounts were not modified. I would rather modify spring mounts on the frame than try to get the perches off this 14 bolt. I think my math puts the spring hangers in their standard configuration at 44" center to center and the 14 bolt has the perches at 42" center to center. Right now I'm thinking it will end up with 63 inch chevy springs in the rear, so it might just get clean rear frame rails in the end anyways. Also, I'll need to match the 'lift' in the front, which is a SOA on stock 79 J20 front springs.
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by jaber »

You are making nice progress. I'll be watching your axle install, as I have the same to put under a Cherokee. :-bd
Jeff

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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

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j20owner wrote:...
Oh, and I need some pointers on the 14 bolt install from some of you who've done something similar. The wag has already had a shackle flip performed in the rear, but the front mounts were not modified. I would rather modify spring mounts on the frame than try to get the perches off this 14 bolt. I think my math puts the spring hangers in their standard configuration at 44" center to center and the 14 bolt has the perches at 42" center to center. Right now I'm thinking it will end up with 63 inch chevy springs in the rear, so it might just get clean rear frame rails in the end anyways. Also, I'll need to match the 'lift' in the front, which is a SOA on stock 79 J20 front springs.
Perches are easy to remove.
Get a zip wheel for your grinder and a big hammer and you will have them off in about 5-7 min per perch with minimal damage to either.
You are probably going to reposition them anyway for a proper pinion angle, either that or run shims to correct the angle.

Shoot me some pic's of what was done to the rear.
I deal with this and questions like this quite frequently.

If you do the standard rear shackle flip (either kit or home brew) you will match the front height pretty spot on.
If you move hangers under the frame you will gain a bit more height in the rear, nothing unworkable at all.
There are also folks that have used Dodge and Ford hangers upside down (I think they install them upside down?).

63" springs will push your axle back 5-6" if you mimic the location of the front most rear hanger.
If you go with a kit (that's what they do, mimic that placement, just lower for proper pinion angle) you are moving wheel wells.
If you go hangers under frame you get to decide where you want the axle to wind up.
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by Stuka »

Tad wrote:
j20owner wrote:...
Oh, and I need some pointers on the 14 bolt install from some of you who've done something similar. The wag has already had a shackle flip performed in the rear, but the front mounts were not modified. I would rather modify spring mounts on the frame than try to get the perches off this 14 bolt. I think my math puts the spring hangers in their standard configuration at 44" center to center and the 14 bolt has the perches at 42" center to center. Right now I'm thinking it will end up with 63 inch chevy springs in the rear, so it might just get clean rear frame rails in the end anyways. Also, I'll need to match the 'lift' in the front, which is a SOA on stock 79 J20 front springs.
Perches are easy to remove.
Get a zip wheel for your grinder and a big hammer and you will have them off in about 5-7 min per perch with minimal damage to either.
You are probably going to reposition them anyway for a proper pinion angle, either that or run shims to correct the angle.

Shoot me some pic's of what was done to the rear.
I deal with this and questions like this quite frequently.

If you do the standard rear shackle flip (either kit or home brew) you will match the front height pretty spot on.
If you move hangers under the frame you will gain a bit more height in the rear, nothing unworkable at all.
There are also folks that have used Dodge and Ford hangers upside down (I think they install them upside down?).

63" springs will push your axle back 5-6" if you mimic the location of the front most rear hanger.
If you go with a kit (that's what they do, mimic that placement, just lower for proper pinion angle) you are moving wheel wells.
If you go hangers under frame you get to decide where you want the axle to wind up.
Yeah, GM hangers upside down (I would have to look at a Ford again, cannot recall their setup), that way the shackle faces down. Pretty common thing that GM owners do for a shackle flip.
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by j20owner »

Well, this forum doesn't like opera mobile browser. Tad, the shackle bucket had the bottom cut out and the shackle flipped. There were no changes made to the front mount for the rear springs. I can take pics if needed.

BTW, are the tad racks no longer available?

Also, the rear portion of both rear fenders are rotted out pretty good. Patch work at minimum is required. May just cut them at the body line and and extend the floor from inside out to the side of the fender.
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

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j20owner wrote:...Tad, the shackle bucket had the bottom cut out and the shackle flipped. There were no changes made to the front mount for the rear springs. I can take pics if needed...
I don't really need pic's of that, I've seen it done before.
Although that works better than the factory setup it has drawbacks.
It does not address pinion angle, does not match the height of a front SOA and it is still limited in how far the shackle can swing. At full droop the shackle will swing forward and hit the hanger.
j20owner wrote:...BTW, are the tad racks no longer available?...
I have not made racks in about five years and even the last one was for a charity event back east, so it's really like seven years. All the files have been open sourced on several boards and are linked from my site in my sig below.

j20owner wrote:...Also, the rear portion of both rear fenders are rotted out pretty good. Patch work at minimum is required. May just cut them at the body line and and extend the floor from inside out to the side of the fender.
Most of my rear fender work/cutting was for rust removal also, they were pretty bad.
I would suggest go ahead and cut what you want/need but don't do any patching until you are satisfied with what you have as far as wheel placement and tire fit.
I really wish I would have cut higher in the rear. The 37's will still stuff but I would be happier if there was more room.
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by j20owner »

OK, that's what I was thinking. Might be able to source the original rear springs. but I don't know for sure.

Here's a pic of the left rear fender. PO already did some cutting.
Image

So yeah, some type of cutting needs to be done.
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by lindel »

Is that spaghetti actually connected to something?
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by j20owner »

Yeah, the tailgate. I need to fix the wiring to the ignition switch(plugs were cut off......) and toss a battery into it. Joe(BassNTruck on ifsja.org) wired up two relays in the tailgate to control the motor. Ground one relay to go donw, the other to go up. The big wire is the main power wire for the mess. There's just a lot of extras. Once I get the window down and tailgate open, I'll fix it up.
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by j20owner »

Speaking of spaghetti:

Image


So, who wants to help?
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Re: The Rebuild of Oz

Post by jaber »

Been there, done that... #-o
Jeff

'46 cj3a
'51 Willys p/u
'51 Willys Parkway Conversion
'74 CJ5
'75 J-20 Wrecker
'75 J-20 Cummins service truck
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'79 Cherokee
'88 Grand Wagoneer
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