1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

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jstev4610
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1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

Bought a 1991 Hunter Green Grand Wagoneer 2 months ago with the plan to restore and modernize into a daily driver. The previous owner used it as his main transportation, had full service records, but it was only being patched up as things failed with what would get by. I had a slight oil leak, seems the transfer case has a slow leak. Ran well though, transmission seemed to be in good condition. Needs some serious paint help, the clearcoat is peeling away. All the door and window seals are dry rotted. The only rust I could see was on the bottom of each of the doors. The tailgate looks like it was backed into something when down, there's a dent on the right side, the rear window has trouble going up and down. Came with a 2" bj's lift, 4 leafs, and OME shocks. 31x10.50 tires on the stock rims. The ride is jarring, the dogs couldn't stand up on the washboards heading into the mountains. Also, the steering wheel feels like it's going to break off at the tilt.

So, my grand plan:
new softer ride, with additional lift
larger wheels, similar spec tire size but looking for less section width
new carpet
soundproof and insulate the cabin
rebuild the engine for more hp
improve the steering
new seat covers
put in a gps touch screen and new audio
tint and paint
get fancy with a color match vinyl on the dash and door panels
go darker brown on the entire interior

to be determined:
overdrive transmission
custom exhaust


Here it is as I bought it:
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Topic author
jstev4610
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

Working on gutting the interior

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Pulled everything out. Headliner, carpet, panels, everything. Good and bad, there was floor pan rust, but not significant. This will get patched over.

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Each of the doors has this to some degree on the bottom, going to wait until I'm ready to paint to worry about it.

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Stuka
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by Stuka »

The rust on the bottom of the doors is extremely common. Overall it looks very clean. Love the color too.
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by AwesomeJ10 »

Very nice build!

Keep it coming!
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lindel
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by lindel »

Nice GW! Oh, and Welcome!
Lindel

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jstev4610
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

Got the engine back from the machine shop and painted/assembled. New cam, rpm intake, port and polished heads. The rods are too short, there's a high rpm clatter, waiting on the longer ones to come in. The oaint is VHT Fire Red. It looked pink out of the can, glad the red popped after it was on.

While the engine was out I also put in a borgeson hd steering shaft and replaced the rag joint, and when assembling put a 140amp alternator on. Once the engine is running smoothly I'll start the interior work, first up pulling the dash apart to get to the pad so I can recover it and get to the head unit wiring. Then painting everything to color match the new dark brown/tan color to match the katzkins.

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Last edited by jstev4610 on Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

And, as of 20 minutes ago, the front end lift is complete. I sourced new leafs from Alcan, asked for a 4" lift and super soft ride. The shocks are rancho rs9000xl's, 9 way adjustable. Bought the 4 shocks, 2 track bar relocation brackets, extended brake lines, and drop pitman arm from BJ's. The relocation bracket on the front didn't line up, jacked with it for a while but the hole was a good 1/2" off. The stock sway arms also looked like they would be too short. Once we put the weight on the wheels, the bracket lined up nicely and the sway arms aren't hyper extended. Brake lines actually look great too, so not going to bother with the new extended lines. Just ordered a new control arm shock, there's a big dent in the stock one. Interestingly, I had rub on the bj's springs with a 31x10.50 tire on stock wheels. The alcan leafs are 3/16" less in width, I'm really hoping the rub goes away and I can run the same wheel/tire combo without dealing with new rims/spacers/steering stops.

Monday we'll get to the rear end lift, and hopefully the longer push rods will be here.

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jstev4610
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

Add to the list, I replaced the broken to pieces plastic grill with a metal one I picked up from www.montanaoverland.com. They're not far from Missoula, so drove there and walked around his property. Amazing repository of full size jeeps. I was as enthralled with his old willys wagon as he was with my 2012 GC Overland.
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Stuka
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by Stuka »

The spring rubbing us very common with stock wheels. Moving to 8" wide wheels will help with it.


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jstev4610
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

Well nuts, thanks for the info. I wish I could find a metric version of 9.5" wide by 31 tall 15" tire. Guess I'll be getting 16" mickey Thomson classic iii's from bjs.
Last edited by jstev4610 on Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jaber »

Beautiful waggy, you are making great progress with it. :-bd
Jeff

'46 cj3a
'51 Willys p/u
'51 Willys Parkway Conversion
'74 CJ5
'75 J-20 Wrecker
'75 J-20 Cummins service truck
'77 J-10 p/u
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'88 Grand Wagoneer
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Topic author
jstev4610
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

Stuka wrote:The spring rubbing us very common with stock wheels. Moving to 8" wide wheels will help with it.


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Is there a general consensus on how much additional backspacing is needed for a 10.5 wide tire? Would 1/4" spacers move it out enough to keep using the stock wheels? I think that would be effectively 3.5" of backspacing then, no? Also, going to a wider wheel just removes some of the bow in the sidewall? I think the lugs are hitting, so not sure how a 8" wide rim with the same backspacing would change it for the better, unless it has a lot more offset too, and maybe 8" wide rims do.

Thanks!
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Stuka
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by Stuka »

Well when you move to a wider wheel, that also pulls the tire out.

I ran 10.50's on 8" wheels and had zero issues. I did rub a tiny bit at full lock with 12.50's. The wheels I ran had roughly 3.75" of back spacing. It was the wheels width that pushed the tire out for me.

I do not think a 1/4" spacer would do anything for you. Now do I advise running that style of spacer.
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Grand_Wag_85
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by Grand_Wag_85 »

Gorgeous Jeep! Love the color of both the Wag and the motor.
82 J10
77 J10 Golden Eagle 401
88 GW

You know it's bad when your car is on the EPA's 10 most wanted list!

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jstev4610
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

Well the 31x10.50 tires don't rub on the alcan springs, but they did on the bj's springs. The tiny bit of difference in the leaf width made a difference and the ride is so much better over bumps. Bad news, the engine rebuild has been miserable. Got it put in, started breaking in the cam and two lifters stuck. Towed to Spokane to the machine shop for the to fix. Towed back with the engine out and put back in after rebuild #2. Then a high rpm clatter, so put in longer rods. Now, two cylinders are missing and still sounds bad. Now my guy in Missoula is talking to them about maybe replacing the lifters and rockers to something appropriate for the cam. I don't know which comp cam they put in, need to get that info. We were so close to having it running again, I'm starting to wish I had just put in a chevy crate motor.

Side note, the rain gutter trim is weathered badly, has anyone had that refinished to a chrome? if so, how, who, and is it cost effective for the result?
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BGW
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by BGW »

Wow, this is one of the fastest build threads I've ever seen! Very very nice. I'm in Bozeman for college. Nice to see some other people from MT on here.
1991 GWag, 98K, Silver Star Metallic, Cordovan interior

lil jeep mec
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by lil jeep mec »

okay i have to know what paint you used and how much you used, what primer you used how many coads of each you did!!!! IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :idea:
78 j10 4bbl 360 on 35's
360, t18, d20, d44, 4.09's
plan on...
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-not cutting the flares
-twin stick
-4 link front and rear
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Coryd55
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by Coryd55 »

Looks great.

Really nice, clean Jeep to start with - this should turn out really well.
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Built 360, T15, D20, F/R D44's, Hydroboost, CB, 33" tires, etc.
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Topic author
jstev4610
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by jstev4610 »

Progress has been slow on the interior.

Sitting in the shop
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We put down raam bxt cld tiles on the entire tub. Steve from Steve's Upholstery in Missoula makes an appearance. He does fantastic work.
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On the roof, I scored a deal on some Dynamat Hoodliner. It's also under the hood as intended, but I thought it would be a much better choice on the roof than cld tiles, mostly due to weight. I think it's going to work out great, you can definitely hear a muted sound when you knock on the roof with your knuckle, and the heat retention inside should be so much better than it was.
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The old vinyl was replaced on the doors with new marine teak 3m di-noc from metrorestyling.com. Started painting the bits and pieces to match up with the new seat leather and vinyl going on the inside. The dash is going to get new vinyl too, but it will be a bit more difficult compared to the doors. The plastic on the dash seems to have the woodgrain printed on (or painted), it's not a vinyl sheet I just pull off. So keeping the look on the corners should be tricky.
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Getting close, here's the rear door panel fitted along with half the headliner. The fronts are in too along with the rear cargo panels, don't have a picture yet.
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And a teaser of the seats. Katzkin leather, a layer of new foam and dacron under it. I added in seat warmers and inflatable lumbar.
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So now it's basically assembly of the carpet, seats, and panels. The dash is going to be a challenge though. I had wanted to pull the dash pad, cut out and fix the lifting at the air vents, and recover in leather match vinyl with some nice contrast stitching. But the dash pad is a mess, and not sure how I'm going to fix the lifting. I doubt simply glueing the hell out of it will keep it down. Been trying to find a dash pad reproduction that I can recover but so far been unsuccessful.
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yjsquareguy
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Re: 1991 Grand Wagoneer restore/modify - Missoula MT

Post by yjsquareguy »

Very nice work. Looks great. Mine is an 89
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Rob
rob.fischer@matanzasjeepclub.com

2007 JK Rubicon
2005 Grand Cherokee 5.7L
1989 Grand Wagoneer
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