Hello SavageSunJeep,
Did you ever finish this build? I am in the planning stages of doing the same build and was hoping to find a few folks who had done this; do's and don'ts, troubled areas, how it turned out.
If you have the time, mind providing an update?
Brian in San Francisco
Brian, no, never did, wish I had. But I ended up moving out of state (Tx) and as I stood there and looked at a 18 wheeler of household goods, 5 cars to include 3 Jeeps and 10,000+ lbs of shop equipment to be moved I had no choice but to thin the herd. The 2 Jeep that were not powered were my '03 Rubi and the 55 Willys. I had all the parts I needed to do the build except the engine trans and finally decided to go new crate and was nego with a guy for that: Chevy V8, HT383E crate motor coupled to a SuperMatic 4L70 4 Spd 4WD trans. Had the guy had the complete FI unit (it was missing parts) I would have already owned it and mostly likely brought it with me. Things always work out and the old 1945 ranch house was a tear down and 'happy wife, happy life' so I put my efforts into restoring the old home and place. Bought a F 350 King Ranch Dually, a John Deere and 3 chain saws and 5 years later we moved into the first floor of the old home last month. I have cut over 500 cords of wood, restored a lost pond and worked like a dog...wife gave my a new Jeep JKU Rubicon Hardrock for my last birthday hooked to a Yamaha FZR jetski that hit right at 80 mph on the water (my other passion).
Will I build out another Jeep or Willys...dunno, I am 70, been wheeling since the early 60's from Old Mexico to Maine, FL to Wa, Alaska and Hawaii, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Building one more Jeep would only be another chapter in a very long book.
To be honest at this stage of life do I really need to run one more trail? Not sure I have the need, I challenged Pritchett Canyon in Moab, ran it by myself forward and backward, never used a winch or a strap...I think today give me the scenic trail, the ghost towns to explore, the ruins of the past, views of the valleys, the sunsets and sunrises around a campfire.
My FRIST and it was a compromise for my wife 4 door, but but it got an old school STICK!
This is a ROCKET SLED, 300 hp on the water....
