Rob's 1988 Baltic Blue & Tan Grand Wagoneer Restoration

[MysticRob]

Thanks for the door vinyl tip. What would we do without duct tape and plastic ties, I am doing my doors this week.

Nice. Probably the most satisfying part I've completed besides the seats.

fine job
all is looking great !!!

dave in nc

Why thank you, kind sir. I took all the best cargo rails and used them, still ended up having enough to create almost 2 more sets after finding some in the salvage yard before those wagoneers were scrapped.
I felt lethargic Sunday so didn't finish the front door panel installs yet, but have made some inroads on cleaning the doors up.
Got my window felt kit and labeled the sections for install later:
PXL_20210323_013319480 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Also bought a couple generic panel push pins for the door panels and shaved them down to fit the door holes and panels. I'll take the passenger side panel off to fit that pin soon.
One each goes on the upper rear section of the panel in a small slit built into the panels. I twisted them 90* to secure in the panel:
PXL_20210322_225524346 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Also bought some 3/8" thick cotton "rope" from a local Joann's to dress up the outer edges of the cargo trim panels. The new carpet kit didn't have any padding that builds those edges up so the panel edges looked flat, like the lower left here, when I installed them. I'll tuck this rope inside those edges and make it look much better:
PXL_20210323_013339753 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[SOLSAKS]

fine job
all is looking great !!!

dave in nc

[GWNashville]

Mystic Rob

Thanks for the door vinyl tip. What would we do without duct tape and plastic ties, I am doing my doors this week.

[MysticRob]

Yeah, that was nice, Dave.
It's getting closer just doing clean-up, but still need to get the front door panels done.
Got the new woodgrain vinyl and trim piece on last night, the moisture barrier on today, and taped off the usual windy areas:
PXL_20210327_003223857 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Passenger side door panel is now on:
PXL_20210320_220511215 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

If anyone needs a good way to do the woodgrain vinyl without removing the wing window rubber, just duct tape it out of the way:
PXL_20210320_172456354 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Had to do some gardening today in the backyard (new grass seed) but had enough time to do the driver side vinyl and trim piece. Door panel should go on tomorrow:
PXL_20210320_175054225 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[SOLSAKS]

sounds strong.
choke works !

people seeing that in the drive
have no idea the amount of work that has already been done

...and done very well I might ad.

can't wait for you to get some highway time.

thanx for the update and video.

dave in NC

[MysticRob]

Time for another build update. I started another thread to discuss courses of action on my leaking rear freeze plug, so will tackle that later.
https://ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthre...14#post1727414

Figured I'd see what else mechanically needed done, so started it up today, and was able to verify the transmission works great in reverse and all 3 forward gears.
Decided to push my luck and try the NP229 transfer case operation and it did nothing at all, so I figured out I had no vacuum connection whatsoever going to the switch due to an old broken red line and previous owner butcher job.
I ran a new route from the intake to the vacuum ball and into the red line after checking online and seeing proper vacuum route running. Apparently nothing goes to the left side port next to the yellow line:
PXL_20210319_024639234 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Here's a video of it under its own power for the first time in years. Not sure how to embed the video from Flickr so click the pic and it'll take you there to play it:
PXL_20210319_001131283 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

Carpet looks good. What's dat color? What's the cut. Sorry if you already mentioned it.

It's actually black, but it certainly doesn't look it in the pics. I had a large LED light on the tailgate, plus I hadn't vacuumed it yet, so maybe that's why the color is off.

Here's the full details straight from the BJ's email I got when I ordered it:

07-8011
MASS Carpet Kit Complete 1963-1991 Wagons
Carpet Color and Code: 801 Black (Cutpile color)
Backing Material: Mass Backing

Could it also be coming from the coolant hose connection at the back of the Intake, dribbling down the back?

No, unfortunately there's nothing at the intake or heads, and the water is definitely coming from inside the inspection cover.
I replaced a corroded freeze plug on driver's side months ago, so figure my likely-late-model 360 has those 2 plugs in the back, and at least 1 is probably leaking.

[rang-a-stang]

Could it also be coming from the coolant hose connection at the back of the Intake, dribbling down the back?

[SJTD]

Carpet looks good. What's dat color? What's the cut. Sorry if you already mentioned it.

[MysticRob]

Well, some good, and some bad happened this weekend.

GOOD:
Got a small front passenger door crack filled with JB Weld so I'm closer to installing the vinyl woodgrain on that side:
PXL_20210314_010140034 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Also got the rear bench seat strikers cleaned and installed on the wheel wells:
PXL_20210314_021744102 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

New rear seat belt anchors installed. Gonna likely buy new black belts for front and rear at some point:
PXL_20210314_144419117 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Best part was finally installing the cargo rails. They were a bit beat so I used a wire brush to give them a uniform brushed look:
PXL_20210314_191757332 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

BAD:
Started the car and discovered a coolant leak coming from inside the inspection cover bolted up to the tranny bell housing -- haven't taken the cover off yet, but research indicates 2 freeze plugs back there:
PXL_20210315_003404143.NIGHT by Robert Stone, on Flickr

The bit of liquid on the floor. Will take the cover off soon and figure out next steps. Might just drop the tranny and fix that leaky shift shaft seal too:
PXL_20210315_010726181 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

Put on the donor blinker housing and new lens today. Keeping my eyes peeled for a better fender:
PXL_20210314_000620917 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Front driver side donor blinker housing and lens installed:
PXL_20210314_000615223 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

My son had to help me guide the center cross trim between both headliner boards, lubed it up a bit, then sandwiched both front and rear boards:
PXL_20210313_205028487 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Better pic of the donor switch (original was pretty scratched up and white letters butchered) and new dome light lens:
PXL_20210313_204203201 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Started buffing/sanding off the surface rust and grime from the rear seatbelt bits and rear bench seat strikers. This is after doing the left side ring. I'm not sure on my next steps for the seat belts. I might dye them black or just buy a new set at some point since there are so many small issues with the entire set:
PXL_20210313_212357147 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[SOLSAKS]

and we ready to see those cargo rails installed too,.....


more ready for a thumbs up pic of you while you go down the road !

[MysticRob]

more nice work rob.

thanx for the photos.

dave in NC

I'm getting to a point where I can put those cargo floor rails you sold me like a year ago!

Forgot to add, I primed and painted that left front blinker area after sanding everything down. Most of it won't be seen but I want to ensure it doesn't rust away:
PXL_20210306_192133503 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[SOLSAKS]

more nice work rob.

thanx for the photos.

dave in NC

[MysticRob]

That is a great idea with the velcro. I'll be trying that.

Seems to have worked pretty well. The 3M spray adhesive is much stronger than the weak stuff that came on the velcro.

Ryan gave me a pic of his stock headliner extension, seen here, so I figured I'd make one out of thick cardboard:
-8337745713252175023 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

I made this piece and used the velcro for the very rear to help keep the front headliner anchored. The duct tape makes it easier to slide that section into the tabs on the rear of the sunroof to keep the piece stable. It took quite a few test fittings to get it to a point where I think it'll work well to tie in the lower front and the taller rear boards with the cross trim piece:
PXL_20210307_190335258 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Next 2 pics give a good idea of length and width in case anyone needs to do this in the future:
#1:
PXL_20210307_204032659 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

#2 -- not seen very well are all the cuts into (but not through) the cardboard I made to allow me to angle everything properly so the contours will look good:
PXL_20210307_204114020 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

This is after I fitted the piece and stuck the velcro bits together to keep the rear of the front headliner up permanently. I used the 3M spray adhesive on all the backings. You can see the black hanging cross piece that the cross trim piece slides thru from one side to the other. I'll finish that all soon:
PXL_20210307_210824206 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Sprayed the homemade board with 3M spray adhesive while in the vehicle then gently tacked the fabric on after stretching it just a bit to take up any slack. Fit came out pretty good, and the board is as high as I can get it toward the roof to hopefully minimize any rear passenger headroom issues:
PXL_20210308_040907781 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

My hands are beat up so will probably finish the cross trim tomorrow with another set of hands to help guide it across the rail. It's difficult ensuring both headliners are tucked in close and sandwiched between the cross rail and trim piece. Man that is a lot of headliner and boards!:
PXL_20210308_040914488 by Robert Stone, on Flickr