I was planning on doing a frame swap with a more modern jeep (TJ-L), but I think its not cost effective to do so. Every TJ that I find as a doner is fixable and I don't think I'll have the stones to toss it under the wagon. So, I think one of the other 4x4 wagon chassis will be the doner and use the tried and true leaf spring suspension.... but with longer springs and some frame boxing. Drive train I'm thinking of the 4.0L, AW4, 231 because they are dime a dozen and everywhere you look (read cheap). But I got a hankering for a diesel and I know the 4.0L will only get 18 on a good day in an XJ. A Liberty CRD really isn't much better on the fuel but still an improvement and can be had for not much more than a 4.0L, and now I spying on the Cummins b3.3t or even the qsb3.3t. They seem to get fairly good mileage mid 30's and you can tweak them a bit. The plus is that they are short and close to the weight of the 4.0L. The plus to the Cummins is that it can be bolted to a stock Jeep 5spd, low reving and smoother than the 4bt. The cost might put the squeeze on that, but it's less than the doner TJ would of been so I don't know yet. My plan is to pull this off, looking stock with a very minimal lift keeping the tires in the wheel wells. Power goals are economy/mileage not huge black smoke pouring hp.
I am also thinking of doing some sort of pop top / Westy style roof on it for a little more headroom and perhaps a place to sleep. Does anyone know a name of a place that sells a setup like that? Seen some of them on the full size vans (poptop's) and of course the VW Westys. So, this isn't going to be a restoration nor it's going to be a rock crawler I've done those before and now I want something that I can actually drive around and is reliable. Any thoughts?
If you couldn't tell the winter is making me all antsy to get going on this. I checked on the wagon this morning and the snow has melted down to mid door so as soon as it's removed from the snowy tomb it can begin.
-Chris :ylsmoke:
