Building a Wide Track Wagoneer.. Back at it..
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 1:56 pm
(2022 efforts start near bottom of page 3.. trying to get interior stuff going)
I guess it is about time to start a thread..
Realizing I was never going to get this thing done on my own, I have turned it over to Page Customs outside of Richmond, VA. They have the rear flares roughed in. Thy will strip the body, fill all the holes from rivets and roof rack, prep and paint. I will keep the color to myself for now.
I can't afford to have the shop do everything I would like, but it will be a giant leap toward the vision I have had for many years.
Here is a link to the shop's progress: https://www.pagecustoms.com/project/198 ... -wagoneer/
They will update it regularly with progress, which I appreciate since I am up north and they are outside of Richmond, VA.
Some things to be worked out:
1. I have a set of '09 Grand Cherokee Overland seats that I want to use. Looks like this will take some engineering. Based on initial mock-up, I told the shop that I would work on that part when I get it back. I can't afford $100/hr for them to play trial and error for mounts, etc.
2. I want to integrate a few things into the dash that resemble the older ones. I was going to do a complete swap, but the HVAC, etc. and timing are a concern. We will see.
3. A center console will be built that integrates the trans and TC floor shifters, etc. We will see how fancy this gets..some of you have built some pretty amazing stuff that gave me a lot of ideas. I will most likely be doing this part myself as well.. my time doesn't cost me $100/hr.. 8^)
4. A roll cage /safety cage will be built, but I am taking it to a specialty shop to do that. I am not building a race cage. I want it to minimize intrusion into the passenger compartment while providing protection from roll-over. It will be set up so that it can be taken out if needed to get to headliner, etc. and tied into the frame.
There are other details in the plan, I will share as we go.
The axles are from a late model J20 sitting on BDS 4" springs. I took them to East Coast Gears in NC to be rebuilt. They did me right on building a new rear D60 after finding the bearing races in the one I bought had deep spiral grooves in them. They used their new center and installed very heavy duty tubes at proper length and set it all up to bolt directly into the GW at what I felt was a very fair price. They also built the front. Rear has disc brake conversion and a Grizzly locker. The front has a TrueTrac. I went with 3.73 gears instead of the 4.10's that were in the D44's. This will put the engine at slightly lower RPMs for highway cruising but still work well for any towing I may do.
For now, drive train remains the same: Golen-built LT1, 4L60e, with a NP242 with SYE (I wanted to AWD capability to still be there and 242 had AWD, 2WD, 4H and 4L). I would love to upgrade to a 6.0/6L80e but that will have to wait on funding. If my trans gives out on me (it is showing signs) I will have to decide on putting more money into it or taking the plunge. The 4L60e on the back of the LT1 (95-96) is not compatible with the later 2-piece cased 4L60's.
More to come..
I guess it is about time to start a thread..
Realizing I was never going to get this thing done on my own, I have turned it over to Page Customs outside of Richmond, VA. They have the rear flares roughed in. Thy will strip the body, fill all the holes from rivets and roof rack, prep and paint. I will keep the color to myself for now.
I can't afford to have the shop do everything I would like, but it will be a giant leap toward the vision I have had for many years.
Here is a link to the shop's progress: https://www.pagecustoms.com/project/198 ... -wagoneer/
They will update it regularly with progress, which I appreciate since I am up north and they are outside of Richmond, VA.
Some things to be worked out:
1. I have a set of '09 Grand Cherokee Overland seats that I want to use. Looks like this will take some engineering. Based on initial mock-up, I told the shop that I would work on that part when I get it back. I can't afford $100/hr for them to play trial and error for mounts, etc.
2. I want to integrate a few things into the dash that resemble the older ones. I was going to do a complete swap, but the HVAC, etc. and timing are a concern. We will see.
3. A center console will be built that integrates the trans and TC floor shifters, etc. We will see how fancy this gets..some of you have built some pretty amazing stuff that gave me a lot of ideas. I will most likely be doing this part myself as well.. my time doesn't cost me $100/hr.. 8^)
4. A roll cage /safety cage will be built, but I am taking it to a specialty shop to do that. I am not building a race cage. I want it to minimize intrusion into the passenger compartment while providing protection from roll-over. It will be set up so that it can be taken out if needed to get to headliner, etc. and tied into the frame.
There are other details in the plan, I will share as we go.
The axles are from a late model J20 sitting on BDS 4" springs. I took them to East Coast Gears in NC to be rebuilt. They did me right on building a new rear D60 after finding the bearing races in the one I bought had deep spiral grooves in them. They used their new center and installed very heavy duty tubes at proper length and set it all up to bolt directly into the GW at what I felt was a very fair price. They also built the front. Rear has disc brake conversion and a Grizzly locker. The front has a TrueTrac. I went with 3.73 gears instead of the 4.10's that were in the D44's. This will put the engine at slightly lower RPMs for highway cruising but still work well for any towing I may do.
For now, drive train remains the same: Golen-built LT1, 4L60e, with a NP242 with SYE (I wanted to AWD capability to still be there and 242 had AWD, 2WD, 4H and 4L). I would love to upgrade to a 6.0/6L80e but that will have to wait on funding. If my trans gives out on me (it is showing signs) I will have to decide on putting more money into it or taking the plunge. The 4L60e on the back of the LT1 (95-96) is not compatible with the later 2-piece cased 4L60's.
More to come..
