Background: I had an old mid 80's wagoneer back around 2007, bought for $700, drove it for a few months, ended up with rod knock and a bad trans from being towed in gear (indicator was off), and sold for $700! Always missed how unique that truck was to drive, and kept an eye out for a decent priced one.
Fast forward to 2021 and a buddy had this 1984 Grand Wagoneer that he took in for trade for work from a co-worker. No major rust aside from the tailgate, pretty straight body and it ran/drove. Ended up picking it up for $5k. Straight 6, 727 and 229 t-case.
However, it had pretty bad piston slap, or maybe loose rocker or something, so I enjoyed trying to make it to freeway speeds for a few days before thinking about a swap. Ive always dreamed about doing a 4bt swap, but prices are ridiculous now so settled up on a cheaper and easier LS swap that are now commonplace. So, I started my search, and came across an '03 Suburbabn 1500 4wd for $2500, paid $2k, parted out the interior/shell bringing the cost down to $700 for the driveline stuff I wanted. Later I sold the NP264 for another $200 bringing the total down to $500 for everything!
Once all that was pulled, along with everything else I could think of that I might be able to salvage, I had it towed away by a guy who wanted the windows and glass. This left room in the driveway to pull the Waggy up and start the exorcism. Most of the wiring was easy to get out once the motor was out, previous owners hacked up the electronics and were running a 2bbl weber instead. Pretty easy and straight forward, and GREASY.
I had ordered the Jeepin Pete mount and frame horns, so I cut out the old ones and cleaned up some of the old grease, dirt and who knows what in the engine bay, tunnel and frame rails. I slapped the 241 on the back on the 4l60 and bolted everything back together, and lifted it into position. Fits like a glove, aside from breaking the rear drivers side coil on the brake booster...
Just the engine first, to get an idea about frame horn placement.
Then the whole shebang.
Trans mount landed almost identical location as stock. Wood block will be replaced with stock 4l60 mount.
So far, so good. The easy part is almost over, haha. I should have a new blazer tank and pump assembly arriving shortly, pulled the stock tank and fuel lines out today as well. Saved the quick disconnect hard lines from the suburban, may repurpose those. Planning on running stock radiator and electric fan. Debating going to hydroboost, or possibly making new coil brackets. Still debating cable vs DBW, I have the components but the pedal is an adjustable one thats huge and not gonna work, so Ill have to buy one.
Next few items:
-S10/Blazer fuel tank/pump install
-Fuel lines and filler neck
-Paint motor mounts
-Drill trans crossmember/mount
-Install intake, p/s and alt bracket
-Decided on throttle pedal