ProTouring Wagoneer?

[67goatman455]

pro-touring? as long as you lower it and put some wide sticky tires on

[4mm]

Lower it and put some 18x10s on the front and 18x12s on the rear!

I had three wagoners when I was a teen (30 yrs ago) and I lowered mine but with 15s all around (largest they had back then).

I was fascinated with them and I still consider them one of my favorites.

[ProTouring442]

Originally Posted by 67goatman455

pro-touring? as long as you lower it and put some wide sticky tires on

Originally Posted by 4mm

Lower it and put some 18x10s on the front and 18x12s on the rear!

I had three wagoners when I was a teen (30 yrs ago) and I lowered mine but with 15s all around (largest they had back then).

I was fascinated with them and I still consider them one of my favorites.

Well...

OK, so it probably isn't "Pro-Touring" in that sense of it. But it will be my daily driver, and it will get used to go touring--touring the country that is. It will be our long distance travel vehicle too.

And while it won't get lowered, it won't get jacked to the sky either. The most lift it will ever see is a 2" spring kit, which puts it back where earlier Wagoneers sat. When done it will have 16" wheels with 31" tires (either Yokohama Geolander A/T-S, or Michelin LTX A/T 2), so nothing crazy there either.

Due to lack of funds (And a mere doubling of the budget amount spent) the interior and bodywork will be left for next year. I have a set of Thunderbird Turbo Coupe seats that will be recovered and adapted to fit the Wagoneer's tracks. New carpet of course, and a new headliner too. Outside it will get Cherokee W/T flares, and a nice coat of white. The wood-grain will be removed, though I may go with an older pattern that follows the upper, slanted body lines.

[ProTouring442]

We have Jeepage!


When we last saw this insane project, there were birds living in the air intake duct.



These, I am happy to say, have gone on to become productive members of society. Consequently, the air intake duct has been blocked off with a screen. The birds, Mr. and Mrs. Casawren, did, I'm afraid, file a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the act of blocking such a prime piece of nest building real-estate was discriminatory and speciesist. Fortunately, Judge Earnest P. Squirrel dismissed the case. Citing Titmouse vs Grizzly Adams, Judge Squirrel reiterated the earlier court's ruling that wildlife does not have the right of Eminent Domain on an unnatural object such as an automobile when said object is surrounded by the natural and proper objects in which the species would normally find its abode. Mr. John Skunk, the attorney for the Casawrens, said the ruling was "a travesty of justice," but that his clients had no intention of appealing.


Many hours of soldering have been accomplished under the hood. At this point, 99% of all the under hood wiring has been accomplished.

So, under the hood looks like this:






The transmission cooler lines have been run. As you may recall, I'm not running a cooler in the radiator. Because of this, I needed to run a thermostat to ensure the transmission fluid comes up to temperature in the winter.

I also wanted to run a separate fan on the transmission cooler, and a temperature gauge to monitor the fluid temperature. To this end I cut a block of aluminum about 5 inches long, drilled a passageway through it, then drilled two holes down into it, one for the fan thermostatic switch, the other for the gauge's sending unit.

In this picture, you can see the thermostat block (the large aluminum block with the round cap), and my aluminum block (for the sending unit and the thermostatic switch).



From underneath, you can see how everything was run and bracketed to clear the exhaust. I also wrapped it all in a heat sleeve to ensure the exhaust heat wouldn't damage the hose. Also note, the hose used is transmission cooler hose, not fuel line! Fuel line will last six months to a year before it starts to leak like a sieve. Cooler line will last for years.



And the cat sleeps...

[ProTouring442]

So now we move to the inside!

I pulled a huge section of harness out from where it ran across the driver's side of the dash, and split it open. I then began to identify the wires that belonged to the cluster, those that belonged to the A/C-heat, and those that belonged to other systems. The ones that I did not need, and which I could pull through and discard, I did.

You can see the big harness running across the top of the steering column in this photo.



Those which I did not need, but which ran out to under the hood, I marked as such, in case I might need them.

Those which I did not need, but which I could not extricate from the harness, were cut back to a reasonable position, bent over on themselves, and a length of heatshrink was shrunk over the end, just in case they might be live.

This is what I started with.



When I was done, this is what lay on the ground, just outside the driver's door.



And this is what I had when I was done.



And before you think the after photo doesn't look all that much different from the before, note how many little green tags there are on the wires now. Everything is nice and tagged.

For proof, this is what it looks like now. Note how that big, fat harness it gone.



Now that I can work with!

And so I am about to go out and get to work. Before I do, there is, of course, the obligatory critter photo. This little guy (and I do mean little... about 1/2 inch long!) was hanging out on my BMW. He didn't seem inclined to fix it for me though.



I guess I forgot to mention the BMW fiasco. Last Saturday I put a new A/C condenser in it. Yes, air conditioning!

Until Sunday.

Sunday, on the way to church, the front crank hub went out on the thing.

I don't know for sure, but this probably cracked the front timing cover.

In other words, it's a minor repair, but one that will require an extraordinary amount of work and money. And time, too. The parts will take a few weeks to gather.

I'm thinking I'll probably part the thing out. Besides, don't you think BMW M5 seats would just rock in a Jeep?

And as for the engine, I think I'll pull that and the transmission, and put them aside. They just seem like the perfect swap into a 240/260/280z.

[ProTouring442]

And the Jeep goes on...

The last couple of days have been spent with wiring and wiring related items.

The first thing I did was install an accessory fuse panel for items that will be available when the key is in the "on" or "accessory" positions.

The reason I have it as a separate fuse panel is that it gets its power from a high amp relay. The relay trigger runs through a switch located on the center stack. In the "normal" position, the accessories work with the ignition switch as with any vehicle. In the "on" position, the accessories are available without the key being in the ignition.




As things have been coming together under the dash, I have been considering how I will run the ducting. Today I constructed a manifold for the defroster ducts. It's made from some exhaust tubing and metal stock, a bit overkill, but it will definitely serve the purpose! I coated it in Rustoleum rubber sealer to keep it from easily sweating with the A/C running.










I know it looks a mess now, but the wiring will be made neat before it's buttoned up.

I started wiring the radio, getting the hot wire, the switched wire, and the ground (both to the plug, and to the chassis) done before I had to quit.

No recent critter pics, so I'll leave you with a pic of a pair Dung Beetles. We saw these in Botany Bay Plantation, on Edisto Island, South Carolina.

[Evan Iroc-Z]

Great update! This thing is going to be even more awesome when finished!