1973 Wagoneer - Full Size Camping Goodness

[Dr. Marneaus]

The coolest part about goodsprings is the world famous Pioneer Saloon. Oldest bar in Clark County.

Pretty much the only way to drink PBR is from a Mason Jar....

Bullet holes in the wall where a man was shot in 1915

The 'Carol Lombard Room'

Anyway, after a beer or two we packed up and headed back to town.

OH, home sweet home....

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Also, prior to the trail run, yesterday I headed over to a friends house to get my stupid shock tab taken care of AGAIN.

The offending tab that keeps breaking....after we cleaned it up

The master at work with the welder

All better:

Realized this tho...ugh. stupid bushing.

 

[conifers4]

As usual an enjoyable read Marneaus.

 

[reece146]

That shock tab will eventually fail again. You need to spread the load in two planes. Maybe look at the shock mounts on the rear axle of an XJ for an idea or a front lower control arm bracket even.

Great report as usual. That Willys has nothing on your rig.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

That shock tab will eventually fail again. You need to spread the load in two planes. Maybe look at the shock mounts on the rear axle of an XJ for an idea or a front lower control arm bracket even.

Great report as usual. That Willys has nothing on your rig.

IT'll eventually be addressed when I do the axle swap. The tab held on strong for like 38 years, the only reason it broke is because I jumped the damn thing and had the front end 3' in the air haha.

It held up fine on the pretty rough parts of the trail we just did, so im not worried for the time being.

I believe the newer axles (74+) have actual brackets for the shock, rather than just a tab.

 

[Capt Jon]

Great thread.

I have had a few Wagoneers over the years and worked through all the same problems you have been having. It brought back a lot of memories.

One thing I would suggest is consider a stock motorcraft 2-bbl carb from a Wagon, J-truck, or v-8 equipped CJ. You give up a little power, (but Wagoneers aren't exactly hot rods to begin with), but it is soooooo much friendlier off camber. I had an edelbrock perfomer for years, good on the street, but off road all it did was run rough and catch on fire a lot. I put a motorcraft on it, and suddenly quit lusting over fuel injection. The time I lost between 0 and 60, was more than made up for in the reliability and lack of frustration off road. No more stalling on hills or bumpy roads. No loss on the low end, and not much loss under hard acceleration. But, it sounds like you have a better understanding of carbs than I do, so take that with a grain of salt. My wagoneers are gone, but I still run that setup on a '72 CJ-5. The only time I miss fuel injection is while it is warming up on cold mornings.

I would also second an earlier comment about a spare fuel pump. Electric is much better and definitely the way to go, but I have replaced three of them on the trail. My brother even plumbed a backup next to his primary and could turn some valves and move a ring connector to switch over to the backup. Ironically, once we went to all that effort for a spare pump, he never had another problem with the primary.

Great truck, and it does my heart good to see someone enjoying it.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

thanks for the comments and suggestions.

I've been told about the great advantages of the old stock motorcrafts. They also have automatic altitude compensation I believe. Everybody says they are great off camber.

I should have jsut not switched over my 4bbl intake onto this engine and picked up a stock 2bbl carb, would have saved me a lot of money in the end. But at this point, I've already got the 4bbl intake and I've got what is essentially a brand new eddy on there, so for the time being, it'll stay. Not sure which direction I'll go when i rebuild the original engine, if I ever get around to it.

 

[Capt Jon]

I understand about the intake. I run my current one on an edelbrock performer (4 barrel intake) with an adapter. It clears the hood on the CJ, but its tight. I think I used an adapter on the wagon, but I may have had to go to an aftermarket air cleaner to make it fit.

Just put it on the never ending list of upgrades and to-do's that come along with owning a Jeep.

 

[88Xj]

I just found a 72 out locally..find a damn presmog Wag popped up!

Love this thread Dr. keep it up!

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Just put it on the never ending list of upgrades and to-do's that come along with owning a Jeep.

aint that the truth?

 

[Josh Hixon]

Just put it on the never ending list of upgrades and to-do's that come along with owning a Jeep.

My "reality" list just keeps getting shorter... The "When I Win the Lottery" list is 10 pages long haha...

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Its actually a bit strange to me....

Lately, i've just been driving the jeep, not working on it.

This is pretty much the first time since owning it that I haven't HAD TO do anything. My brakes are groaning/squeeking (I probably overheated and cracked the shoes) and the drums feel a little warped, but its still stopping fine (I'll address that this winter). Its kinda cool having something that isnt requiring all my time and money anymore!

 

[Josh Hixon]

I am kind of in the same boat... I haven't driven it for almost 2 weeks, I have been on-call and driving the company truck. I am sure that after the first day back driving it I will remember things that need addressed but for now all is well haha

 

[Gaucho919]

Hey, thought I'd show you the Grand Wagoneer I just scored for next to nothing. I've never strayed this far back in time when it comes to jeeps. It should be getting built as soon as the diesel Comanche is done. '83 with a 360, it's been sitting since '99 and started after just a few turns. Put a new battery in it, some new oil and coolant and she's a driver.

 

[Metcalf]

You could do an autolite 4100. Basically a simple 4bbl version of the 2100.