1973 Wagoneer - Full Size Camping Goodness

[Dr. Marneaus]

Well if it is starting to loose the bottom end I'd say look into what you can pick up a 4.8L LS for. Much cheaper than the 5.3L and only about 10 horse less, plus no more carb! Motor and trans can be had from a pick n pull yard for under $800, then get the $200 kit for the wiring. Just a thought, Love the waggy man. Got me lookin' hard for a FSJ Cherokee.

Yeah trust me the gears are turning in my head. But I really don't want to get ahead of myself here. I will know tomorrow whether there is any major issue beyond the gauge. Picked up oil and a filter today as well. Will get all that knocked out tomorrow and see where it gets me.

 

[kojackJKU]

Awesome thread. I love the waag. Plus the classic pop up that matches. That's heaven right there. I was going to mention just dropping in a used modern drive line in the wag and your good to go.

 

[1leglance]

Great thread...
Congrats on getting married, a great wife can make a great life my friend.
The rig looks very nice and better that you are out there enjoying it.
My 70 Burb has more modern motor/trans and I love the mix...best of both worlds.
That said I really hope you are not in for a motor swap as that is some serious time and money even when you do it yourself.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Thanks guys.

I think I got out of this one easy.

Opened all my parts up ready to replace lines fittings and gauges. Drained oil to change it, saw no issues with what came out, then pulled the male male fitting off the oil sending unit and this is what I saw



Well there's your problem right there!It felt like a piece of RTV. It was halfway in halfway out of the hole.Didn't teplace anything, just buttoned it back up filled the oil, replaced filter and fired her up.

Started bombing down the highway and hit some hills to get it good and warm. Back to 55psi at 65mph and 10psi at idle.





Don't you wish they were all that easy? Too bad I wasted $30 on parts but hey if that's all it took I'll still consider this one a success haha.

 

[NORDFORD]

Glad to hear it was an easy fix. IF you decide to sell the wagoneer, please let me know! I've been looking forever...

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Glad to hear it was an easy fix. IF you decide to sell the wagoneer, please let me know! I've been looking forever...

You never know....I'm looking to buy a house in the next 6 months and the thought has certainly crossed my mind...would definitely help towards down payment....

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Met up with a few FSJ's from the Reno area to do some shooting and light wheeling today.

Beautiful day to be out in the hills.



Down in the valley:





Up into the hills. Nothing crazy just narrow and bumpy dirt roads.





Didnt have a very good idea of where we were so we just started headed in the direction we wanted to go.





Good day.

 

[Mitch502]

Looks so good.

 

[tanglefoot]

My word, that's a stunner! The wheels and hubcaps really complete it.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

My word, that's a stunner! The wheels and hubcaps really complete it.

Thanks guys.

While I now have a modern truck, I'm still hoping to get out and explore within several hours of Reno in the jeep and possibly tow the pop up with me.

But as mentioned above the idea of parting ways with it is also popping up more and more.

We shall see what happens. Nothing in the immediate future though, other than driving and enjoying it. She seems to be driving stopping and steering real nice these days

 

[lumpskie]

It's so cool when a simple clean and replace fixes issues, like your oil gauge. If you sold the Waggy, what would you get instead? Like KojackJKU said, have you considered just doing a 5.3 swap on it?

 

[kojackJKU]

That or a HEMI 5.7. The 5.3 would make the ole' wagon skip along pretty good tho. My suburban and avalanche dance pretty good.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

I have considered a lot of things, but it may just be a point in my life when I am ready for a new project. We shall see. I am not going to be undertaking any major projects on it within the next year or so because of budget restrictions (house shopping).

If I sold it I wouldn't have anything for a few years most likely.

 

[lumpskie]

^I hear you about getting tired of vehicle projects. That being said, I can't count the number of people that have come up to me and told me about there old FSJs... all the stories end with "Man, I wish I never got rid of that thing." Fuel injection would probably make it run/feel a lot more modern too.

But, like I said, I can see your point.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

^I hear you about getting tired of vehicle projects. That being said, I can't count the number of people that have come up to me and told me about there old FSJs... all the stories end with "Man, I wish I never got rid of that thing." Fuel injection would probably make it run/feel a lot more modern too.

But, like I said, I can see your point.

As mentioned a few places in here, fuel injection is absolutely the next planned major project. Whether I get there or not is the question.

I also absolutely need to get my headliner taken care of soon but because it's the bow style I'm getting ridiculous quotes from places.