84 Grand Wagoneer Revival

[devildog80]

What we thought were distributor issues....after we both were shocked by the spark that made it through coil & spark plug wires that were on it when brought home.....found out all the months of wiring, chasing splices with duct tape on them, bare solder splices hanging out there exposed, wires that who knows what for......all that time we replaced the coil & spark plug wires (about $35), and pops right off every time now.

DOH........

Still chasing the parasitic bleed as I have to pull the ground cable after shut down, or battery will be stone dead in about 3-4 days.

And it is nice to have it rolling....at least slow for now

[Yeller]

That’s great news!

I’ve given up on my intermittent bleed, sometimes it’s 3 days and sometimes it’s 3 weeks before the battery is dead. If I’m parking it at home I throw a battery tender on it or use a kill switch to kill the power. Hate killing the power, my computer has to relearn so it takes 20-30 minutes before it runs right again. The easy solution is drive it atleast every 2 days, which typically I do

[devildog80]

Mine will be a daily M-F every other week taking and picking up grand daughter from school when she is here, but then grocery runs in between until it is in shape to do out of town runs.

Like an athlete, breaking it back in slowly after a long rest, so everything can find where it belongs.

Working brakes this weekend and other 2 new tires, and hope all goes well.

Needed both rear cylinders as bleeders were froze to the casting. About $23 for both so worth the purchase.

Just hoping the lines are not, as I forgot to treat them with PBlaster.

Will do that tonight to at least get a little soak on them.

Plenty to work on if I need to wait for new hard lines!

[devildog80]

Update

Since last post got rear wheel cylinders replaced and found 2 broken springs in LR.

Replaced all parts on rears, and had to remove the brake lines off each wheel and body mount to pull that whole assembly out, so I could replace the rubber brake line.

Into the vise with a small torch and slight pressure on the wrench did the trick.

New flex line and assembled hard lines loose, reinstalled then aligned as needed and tightened/attached everything back up.

All fixed up and bled out the rears..

Now the RF caliper.

Using one of the hand pump bleeders and pumped about an hour until I nearly had blisters.

As I still had the LF to do being the last one in the rotation, I cracked the bleeder loose to see if there was fluid to it.

Did not bleed fluid right away so pulled the bleeder all the way out and cleaned.

Only a minute and by the time I got back to it there was a puddle a foot across on the floor.

DOH....LF done!

So went back to RF and pulled the bleeder to clean it.

Came back and no fluid coming out without bleeder in it.

Stuck the end of the small pick down in the hole and......there is the fluid

Crap from the system had clogged the bleed path at the bottom of the bleeder inside the caliper.

Cleaned it out, bled the RF, rechecked the bleed on LF and done.

Brakes are nice and smooth.

All 4 tires now new.

Weekends to drive it.......oh wait....life happens! DAMN IT!!!!

This weekend hope to install new starter, as old one that came with it from sitting 18 yrs in Southern AZ desert, would barely crank only driving about 5-6 blocks from start to stop.

Shut it off and could not get enough crank to start.

Should not heat soak that quick, so figured Rock Auto to the rescue.

Will report back and let all know how it goes

[sierrablue]

I wish you luck! Starter shouldn't be TOO bad

[devildog80]

$65 new shipped through Rock Auto

Plan is to replace tomorrow, test, and get a short trip up to gas station to put some gas directly into the truck.

Then get some puttering around town time, to ease into the road again, after sitting so long.

[devildog80]

WOOHOO......starter starts when it is supposed too

Got me here and back as designed.

20230513_181507 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

[sierrablue]

Yessssssssss!

That is way too much lift for those tires (teasing obv--it looks good!)

[Yeller]

Time for a road trip!!. All relative, 10 miles is a longer road trip than it’s been on in a few decades

[Anvil-3]

Awesome! So glad to hear it!

Rig is looking great


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[devildog80]

Yessssssssss!

That is way too much lift for those tires (teasing obv--it looks good!)

Yep....lift is how it came to me but wanted road tires, and honestly only 1/2" shorter than the 31x10.5x15.

Mostly overall profile of the more off road tires makes so much difference in appearance.

Now to get the 401 to perform like it can.

My '81 CJ5 w/258 & same 2100 carb is more balsy than the 401.

Maybe difference of 4 speed vs automatic?

[devildog80]

Time for a road trip!!. All relative, 10 miles is a longer road trip than it’s been on in a few decades

Agreed

Steering a bit loose, so need to look at that, and steering wheel alignment off to the right when straight ahead driving.

Feels almost like a bent rim but tire shop did not indicate a problem.

Something else that would make the front end feel that way?

Not brakes as they are smooth and responsive, so not a warped caliper, but just has a little wonkiness at 40-45 mph.

Honestly glad it drives as good as it does, now just to fine tune everything.

[sierrablue]

Yessssssssss!

That is way too much lift for those tires (teasing obv--it looks good!)

Yep....lift is how it came to me but wanted road tires, and honestly only 1/2" shorter than the 31x10.5x15.

Mostly overall profile of the more off road tires makes so much difference in appearance.

Now to get the 401 to perform like it can.

My '81 CJ5 w/258 & same 2100 carb is more balsy than the 401.

Maybe difference of 4 speed vs automatic?

Could be, but I doubt it. Those 727s are pretty quick to put power down. I would expect nothing less than for you to be able to spin those rear tires until they're bald with that thing if you wanted to (not recommending it but it should be an option...Idk why I'm clarifying this since I'm the teenage dork here ).

I sense lots of timing and carb tuning in your future.

Also you might try the coil for a '95 F150 and a cap for a '74 Torino with the 351W. You'll need new plug wires but well worth it.

[devildog80]

But remember, this truck sat for 18 years, so needs a little time to slowly come around.

My CJ5 was like that, and took a few months with short trips, then extend a little further each time.

Now it runs good and feels like it is comfortable while driving.

Waggy still feels a bit bound up, as just started stretching its legs again, after that long rest.

Will get to burning some tread off those tires soon enough.....if I want to

[sierrablue]

True. Yeah, with everything cleaning itself out I'm sure it just needs to clear itself out some. Heck, could be things in the rest of the drivetrain (not just the engine/tranny) getting used to moving again.

Can't say I'd recommend it, but definitely makes you feel powerful lol

[devildog80]

So.....now that I can drive on the road, needed to get the hood latch fixed, as I had one broken spring and safety catch was all wonky.

Went to Ace Hardware and found the largest diameter compression spring they had for $4, for the hood latch spring repair.

Bought the small spring for safety catch too.

Hood latch spring was long enough I was able to cut it in half, had to modify one end just a tad larger to fit over the cup on the top end, but works almost like the OEM springs.

As the coil is a little thicker, they are a bit stronger, and not as long as OEM.

A bit of figuring out how to get the safety catch bent back into shape, so it would drop through the catch hole and engage, but accomplished that too.

Still need some other small bits & bobs, but hood now latches closed on both sides, so no fear of it flying up while driving.

Here are some pics of my '84 Grand Wagoneer hood latch, which I have not found anywhere else.

Hope they help someone else, to attempt fixing what you have, so it works and saves you some C note investment.

20230519_184721 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

20230519_184731 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

20230519_184737 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

20230519_184703 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

20230519_194229 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

20230519_194239 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

20230519_194254 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

[devildog80]

Side note, cleaned out all the spare parts that were still living in the back seat & cargo area, and now I can hear the truck as it runs when driving, instead of all that stuff moving around back there.

New Saddle Blanket Seat covers coming ($45 set of front low bucket no headrest - $45 rear seat no headrest), to cover the seats for now as is, so we can get some road time built up in a bit more comfort.

As the A/C is not working yet, probably not ready for actual road trip with camper until this fall, but feeling better each little trip it gets right now.

The engine is feeling better and getting more umph, transmission shifts smooth after warm up and getting better when cold, blinker switch working a little better each time used, headlights getting adjusted, dimmer switch getting worked again.....everything finding where it needs to live comfortably and work together with the rest of the truck!

Need to get new wiper blades and get the arms put back on, now that windshield is actually clean.

That took little effort, once I actually used the right method (I heard about the 0000 Steel Wool, but ried everything else I had at home before finally getting some), and with about a 1/2 cup of water and a few drops of dish soap in a small bucket, the 0000 Steel Wool dipped in it, then basically polish the entire glass like you were using glass cleaner.
Glass looks like new now, except where you find the chips and imperfections, but is useable and do not need a new glass.

[devildog80]

Well......the waggy has let me know it is a true Jeep.

Slid under it yesterday to look over some trouble shooting, and it has leaks......finally!

To this point there have been none, but not driving it much, so expected.

Steering stabilizer cylinder was pitted from sitting for 18 years, and now tore the seal.

Also a little wet on the far forward face of steering gear box.

I will take those above others it could be having.

[devildog80]

Now that I can get some miles on the rig, noticing a delay with drive line engagement after backing up, then shift into drive.

I need to give it a second to engage into drive, or it will give a little "clunk" if I tap the gas pedal too soon.

Drive line is all tight on u-joints and front CV, so thinking it would be the actual 727 transmission response?

I have not drained or flushed the transmission fluid/filter yet, only topped off the fluid with about a 1/2 pint it needed, when I got the tires on and checked for road ready.

Time to freshen up the tranny?

Should resolve the delay I am having?

Seems logical but checking for other possible things this could be a symptom of before chasing my tail trying to fix.

[devildog80]

Thinking my hood springs might be too strong, putting too much pressure against the latch cable to open.

Working on adjusting to see if I can find a happy medium where they will work, or will need to go to a lighter spring, or just get the OEM's.