Old Jeep, new parts, what am I doing?

[wushaw]

Eddie that 2.8 was not one of GM's better ideas. I hope the rear main seal has been updated which required a different crankshaft and seal style. The carburetor was not too bad although the accelerator jet cloggs easily but easy to fix.

As you well know you can make this project work with a welder and a cutting torch

 

[hudlow]

We had an old surplus Jeep like that when I was a kid 40+ years ago. Dad ran a Gulf service station (We lived way up in the mountains of NC). I think he must have had few too many when he decided to take some of that leftover Gulf orange paint and he brush painted that Jeep bright orange from one end to the other.

You could spot him a mile away.

Anyway I remember many rides through the mountains with that old Jeep in "granny gear" just riding old trails, not going anywhere in particular...just riding and looking.

Good times.


hud

 

[MrJimi]

Just an idea, how about you put jeep body on blazer chassis ?
You know how to cut and weld. Almost all your parts would be easy to get
Those small Chevys are great, I've had 6 of them since 1983 and now a 94 S-10 that gives me 32 MPG in town

 

[49tandc]

Eddie,

I've got a '44 MB and fre

 

[Kendall69]

I did the exact thin you are doing to a WW2 jeep about 35 years ago when I was 16. I remember my Dad to this day reaching in ang picking that engine up with his bare hands, and walking it over to the car to take it to a rebuilder.
I bought an unused WW2 body, and on and on. in 72 I traded it to a kid for a 72 VEGA - I think he got the better deal.

 

[49tandc]

Eddie,

I've got a '44 MB and frequent the G503 board. You know - some vehicles are worth more $$ in parts than whole if you don't have the time to restore. I see lots of $$ sitting there - of course, it takes more time to part out one than accept one amount & help someone load it on a trailer in 1 piece. That sparton horn is $$, the seats $$, that little bit of rust where the machine gun mount goes is nothing compared to some I've seen. Most of the 'G' board members would gladly have that to start with (they might swap you a later CJ or something). Do you have the dataplate from the glovebox or is there a S/N anywhere? It all adds up to a pretty nice little GPW - If any of the parts have the Ford 'F' script on them, you know they are like gold.

49T&C

 

[MadDogDriver]

Eddie,

Just like Alan Jackson's song, Drive (For Daddy Gene), described the memories of getting to drive for the first time, Alissa and Peyton will remember this forever!!

I still recall with pleasure when my grandmother let me have her parents old `50 DeSoto that'd been been in one of the barns for over 7 years. It took me over a year to get it going, and I did most all of the work (was just 14 at the time), but that was MY car when I finally got my license.

 

[RobJ]

Eddie,

Just like Alan Jackson's song, Drive (For Daddy Gene), described the memories of getting to drive for the first time, Alissa and Peyton will remember this forever!!

Funny thing if I recall about Allan Jacksons song. In the last verse with his 3 daughters he says just and old worn out Jeep. But it looks like a Ford Bronco with the top off to me. I haven't seen the video in a while. Think AJ has some sort of deal with Ford still going on.

Rob

 

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

You might be right about buying something for cheaper, but I'm betting your wrong. I have $400 into both vehicles so far. I bought two new seats for $40 each and some paint for $50. I'll need more stuff, but my thinking is that I'll be done with it for under $1,500. Of couse, I don't count my labor in this as that would just discourage me into not doing it.

Jimmy,

Driving one of these old jeeps to Alaska must be similar to that guy who drove his lawn mower across some state to see his brother!!! It can be done, but I'm not the guy who's gonna try it. I have no intention of registering it, or making it street legal.

wushaw,

I don't know anything about the 2.8 engine escept it has almost three times as much power as the original engine in the jeep. I'll take some pictures of it when I pull it and hopefully you or some of the other guys can give me some pointers and things to look for. The kid I bought it from said the engine had just been rebuilt by the owner he bought it from, but he didn't have any details or receipts. I have no idea to what degree the rebuild was, or if it ever happened.

Since I don't plan on leaving first gear, and just want something to putt putt around on my trails, power isn't very impotant. Being able to start every time I turn the key is my biggest goal.

Hud,

Sounds like you had allot of fun riding those trails as a kid. The bright orange paint must have been a shock, but I could see doing something like that myself. Of course, as an ex Marine, I'm going with there paint colors when I get to that point. It's a darker, forets green then your standard army olive drab. The Marines also marked thier jeeps in yellow letters and numbers, not white. No big white star on the hood either.

Jimi,

I thought about swaping bodies, but the blazer is both longer AND wider. Too much to go wrong trying to cut and keep it plumb. Plus I don't want to deal with mounting the body on a fram that will be modified, and still need allot more modifying to make it fit. I also feel it needs to have a solid front axle with a differential in it. The S-10 doesn't have a front axle, just some torsion bars that won't look right for what I'm looking for.

I think fitting the engine into the jeep frame will be fairly easy and straight forward. The only hard part will be positining it in the exact right spot so it fits with the body and the radiator. All my measurements say it will fit easily.

Kendall,

I was able to pick up the engine and place it on some blocks after it was out and on the ground, but didn't try when it was in the frame. It's not as heavy as a bigger engine, but it's still plenty heavey. I don't think I could have walked with it.

I did these things when I was a teenager too. I thought I learned my lesson and wasn't gonna do it again, but twenty years later, here I go again. At least this time, it's not my only means of transportation.

49,

I looked at the G503 board againa and did a quick comparison to ebay. I think allot of those guys go to ebay to buy parts too, so that's my plan. I've never sold anything on ebay, so if anybody has some suggestions on how to get started, I'd sure appreciate the advice.

Right now the parts are just taking up space and annoying me. I will list them for next to nothing and let them go for what someobody wants to pay for them, plus shipping. If' I'm lucky, I can make a few bucks and lesson my out of pocket expenses.

MadDog,

I agree. The hands on experience they're getting, plus some working knowledge of vehicles is something that I hope stays with them. We try to do allot of different things with them to give them a variety of experinces to develop from. The last thing we want is for them to become couch potatoes and not have any interests. I grew up very, very shy and it took allot for me to do anything new. So far, they are just the oposite of me and never hesitate to try something they have never done before!!!

If it's dry this weekend, we'll try and pull the rear axle from the Blazer and put in on the jeep.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon Eddie,
Should be a fun project ! Asa Wushaw stated, the 2.8 L was not a great motor, but for what your doing with it it should be fine! The 4.3 L was a much improved engine I had one in my 89 S-10 PU and got rid of ity with 150,000 plus and still runnin strong at that time ! Kind of wish I still had it with todays gas prices !

Good Luck and keep us posted !