Here's a little project I started 3 weeks ago. It's come along quite nicely. I'll be putting the body back on today and starting the wiring!

As Delivered: Chevy 4-banger (Iron Duke), Ford 4-speed, Dana 300 T-case. All stock, lots of bondo and primer and grease.


Motor out, firewall cleaned up. What to do when you don't have a lift? USE A TRACTOR!


This body was surprisingly easy to remove! Speedo cable, clutch master, fuel sending wire, steering arm, brake lines, and 11 bolts and it was off!


At about this point, some neighbors came by and asked us what the hell we were doing


Looks like a really big skateboard, doesn't it?


Next day I picked up a freshly rebuilt SM420 and Dana 300. This Trans is bullet proof. Look under any tow-truck and you'll see a Muncie 420 or 465.


Evening of day two, got the motor (SBC 305) and trans/t-case mocked up to locate the new motor mounts.


Bare block/heads, trans, t-case bolted to new motor mounts.






Got the intake, carb, and some other goodies from the big brown Santa.


The motor is turn-key ready, minus a radiator, some coolant hoses, and of course a body. The power steering pump got bolted up right after this pic.


Stripped the body down, sanded to 600 grit, bondo, primer, more primer, then a light coat of Jet Black. It's dried for two days now, so it's time to sand, shoot another coat, sand, then clear!


COMMENTS or IDEAS ARE APPRECIATED. INSULTS ARE TOO.

 

dude! coming along nicely!

 

Looks good...My buddy is into jeeps...I wish he would go that far into his and do it right.

 

Man that's awesome! What are the plans for the suspension?

 

2 points of encouragement

1 / install 1986 cj front and rear axles they are the wide track axles

2 / recommend you do the shackle reversal kit , the difference in ride quality is night and day

check the distributor to firewall clearance , a lot of people have made errors on setting up the engine in the frame without checking that clearance 1st.

and should use a 4 core radiator , using the factory 3 core just does not cut it regards to heat dissipation .

you will need to have more heavier duty drive shafts made

the factory driveshafts are like spaghetti to that tranny and engine combo

 

looks like a great project build!

 

With over 5 g's invested to this point, I'm sticking with stock leafs and some Bilstein shocks. The axles and driveshafts will be swapped before going wheeling. A 2" body lift and new urethane bushings are going on to provide clearance for the distributor.
My main goal is to turn the key and hear it run. If I can finish this in 3 1/2 weeks I'll declare my own record. Other builds I have followed on the Jeep forums took 6 months to a year to complete. It's been *****-to-the-wall ever since it pulled in my driveway!

 

So far the "bought" list looks something like this, off the top of my head:
Jeep
Trans/t-case
Advance Adapter for trans to t-case
clutch, pressure plate
intake, carb, and filter kit
Block hugger headers
power steering pump
alternator
accessory brackets (special, cause it's V-belt with a serpentine to the alternator...totally trick!)
motor mounts
body lift and bushings
radiator (4-core aluminum)
bucket seats
heater core
lots of hardware and other odds and ends
hoses
Fuel pump
fuel lines
spark plugs
plug wires
distributor, cap, and rotor
and of course oil, gear oil, radiator fluid, and paint

The only thing I had laying around was the motor itself!

And the "custom fabbed" list is surprisingly short!
Clutch slave mount bracket
Transmission mount
Skid plates

 

you might want to look at this inside heater system instead

a lot of jeepers scrap the factory setup and switch over to this bad boy

easy to install and setup , plus alot more heat output than the factory setup

you will need to run new and better piping to the defrost duct than the old factory paper tubing

 

Update!


Nice carb!


And finally, the body is ON!


No clearance issues. A good two inches between the cap and firewall...

 

where is the vacuum brake booster

and i forgot the heater linky , i will post the link later

 

Great work so far.

Is this a weekend wheeler or DD?

 

i like where this one is going for sure

 

here`s the linky

you will need the plate with the defroster port

Mojave Heater by Flex-a-lite® and Other Jeep Parts and Jeep Accessories by 4 Wheel Drive Hardware-RH1

 

Welcome to 1980, No vacuum brake booster back then!

I think after the Ranger swap, I may be obsessed with putting V8s into small rides. Next up? A 302 in my lawn mower! LOL

 

Holy hell. This thing looks sweet man. Good work

 

your not messing around with this project. itll be back together before we know it haha

 

The Jeep is DONE! Got the body, front end, and top back on yesterday. Motor ran on the second turn.

Crappy cell phone video, but it works.

 

Still needs a couple coats of paint, but I decided to go ahead and put the front end on to check clearance for the steering arm. I might just get the whole body Rhino Lined, inside and out. First thing is some exhaust though....those open shorty headers are LOUD!!!

 

Radiator should be here today or tomorrow. Then it's down to a water neck, thermostat, some hoses, and a few little picky things I want to do like an Optima Red top, Flax-a-Lite fan, chrome battery hold-down, chrome valve covers, and an MSD billet distributor.

 

wow looking great! bet ya cant wait to drive it