Just purchased a 1985 GW, had a few questions

[Drewsk]

After looking for a few years I was finally able to buy a 1985 Grand Wagoneer. The paint is rough but it drives great and the interior is in awesome shape. That being said, I have a few questions. First, I don’t see any points on the body from where vinyl trim was ever attached, did the 85 come with a no vinyl option? Some light googling said that it was briefly an option in 84 but the vin is an 85. Second, it has a sunroof. Was that a factory option in 85 or was this added along the line?

Short term plans for it are to just drive it and have fun, long term I’ll get it painted and probably add the vinyl. It has very minimal rust, but is a great driver.

[Drewsk]

Few more photos

[letank]

Welcome to the asylum, from SF.

Good find, not too sure about sunroof, but most were woody, then de-wooded because the plastic degraded, signs would be welded pinhole on some location for the rivets of the wood trim retainers.

As for rust take a peek of the underside frame.

As usual check the color of the coolant, check for cold weather protection as you are in snow country, check engine oil, transmission oil, transfer case oil and differentials for proper level.

TSM technical service manual can be found on Tom's site, no 85 but 81 and 82 will do. There were changes in 86 so wire colors, dash layout and other items are different. It also has the parts manual, but of course most are NLA no longer available.

https://oljeep.com/edge_parts_man.html

and my 85 grille was like this

GrilleRecovero85FSJ.jpg

[Drewsk]

I’ll grab some tonight if it’s still light and dry out. I crawled around underneath and it was pretty clean

[SJTD]

Idunno about '85 but my '84 had no holes for the trim.

[tgreese]

If you can find a sales brochure for 1985, it may describe trim levels and a sunroof option. Considering the condition of the paint, I suspect you will paint it at some point. You can purchase a kit that includes the trim and vinyl sheets. https://teamgrandwagoneer.com/woodgrain ... 1963-1991/

Seems almost certain that, if your Jeep came with the full wood, the trim was held on with adhesive. Possible it was removed and left no trace.

Kinda suspect presence of the vinyl was related to an optional trim level for the GW. The first year for the full "woodgrain overlay" WO that covered the entire side of the car was 1975, and that appears to have come with bright trim (and retainers/holes). The full WO then skipped two years, and in 1978 the WO came with the "Limited" package. This woodgrain trim had no retainers, so it must glue on. I presume Jeep would not have punched holes in the body, since the WO came with an optional package.

Possible by '85 all GWs came fully decked out with what was previously the full option package. The VIN will tell you the paint and trim package; typically the trim description is fabric color and seat type though. The sales brochure may describe what came along with the associated trim package, if the buyer had any choice. You could then determine whether the full WO is original or not. If you want the full WO anyway, unlikely anyone except a handful of GW enthusiasts/restorers looking at the Jeep will know that's not how it was from the factory.

[Drewsk]

Another question I have; the spare is mounted in the trunk. Most of the other GW I have seen have it mounted underneath, is it possible/how much of a pain is it to move the spare underneath?

[Drewsk]

Underside photos. Skid plate needs replacing eventually

[Drewsk]

One more

[tgreese]

The skid plate traps debris/water/salt and rots the frame next to it. If only the skid plate is rusted, that's good.

Yes, the tire is stored under the rear floor from the factory. There should be a bar across that space that supports the tire. The end of the factory jack handle goes into bar end and provides some added leverage to lift the tire down. Not a great design.

The inside mount for the tire is an aftermarket accessory.

Some pickups have a cable winch that goes to the center of the tire and the tire is raised/lowered with a crank. I think there was a post here or at IFSJA about adapting such a winch to the Wagoneer. Busy right now - I'll search later, or you could search now.

[Drewsk]

Is it worth dropping the skid plate at this point to check?

[tgreese]

I would test the frame rail with an ice pick or screwdriver, and tap on it with a hammer. If it seems solid, it should be ok. Looks good from here. The skid supports the gas tank, so you can't just drop the skid without some plan to drop the tank too.

[devildog80]

My '84 GW is the same, with no evident holes where trim for adhesive would've been mounted. But under the rear window key control, I found evidence it might have had wood grain at one time. No other place on the whole truck, and did not get a pic of that.

20220410_134224 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

20230612_132149 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

[tgreese]

https://forums.ifsja.org/forum/tire-kic ... ost2154474

[candymancan]

Ypur interior coloring doesnt match at all either. It looks like you have late model interior seats door panels and carpet with an older model dash. The grill isnt an 85 either is a final edition grill.. somethings up with this Jeep.. my guess the interior was a rats nest.. and replaced completly with a late model interior and grill

[SJTD]

I thought '84 was the last pig nose. I fink I agree about the dash, though.

[letank]

this is an 85 dash, similar to mine

TempGauges.jpg

86 was the new dash

Interestingly that you have a dana 44 rear diff, my 85 has the AMC model 20 (in fact model 23 for Gwag), my reg date is Feb ... need to find the built date of the engine.

https://forums.ifsja.org/forum/tire-kic ... fferential

[Drewsk]

Agreed the seats and interior seem to be later models, not sure the 85 had headrests. It’s a long story but the guy who was originally selling it said it had just all been redone when I talked to him briefly. I’m assuming that means replaced with a newer one at this point now, the headliner looks and feels brand new. Also not vinyl or anything else I’d seen on other GW. Same with the grill. Vin states 85. It’s also definitely missing the support for the rear tire underneath. Not shooting for perfectly original, and I prefer the final edition grille anyways.

[will e]

According to this:
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profi ... -wagoneer/

All Grand Wagoneers had the vinyl except for some of the 1984.

[candymancan]

this is an 85 dash, similar to mine

TempGauges.jpg

86 was the new dash

Interestingly that you have a dana 44 rear diff, my 85 has the AMC model 20 (in fact model 23 for Gwag), my reg date is Feb ... need to find the built date of the engine.

https://forums.ifsja.org/forum/tire-kic ... fferential

yes but what im saying is the dash color is from older models, the seats carpet door panels are from newer models. Its the wierded interior ive seen if thats factory lol