Rob's 1988 Baltic Blue & Tan Grand Wagoneer Restoration

[rang-a-stang]

Those tires look amazing in on there! When is the actual move date?

[MysticRob]

Still getting a few things ready for the AZ move. Took the beast for a 40-mile roundtrip shakedown and discovered the old tires I put on the beast just to move it around were so bad on the highway that I decided on new tires immediately.
Behold the greatness of the 30x9.5R15 BF Goodrich T/A KO2. These are tried and true on zillions of rigs and I got a great deal, so had them mounted and balanced yesterday. Stock ride height for the foreseeable future, and didn't want anything potentially rubbing, so stayed with the narrower 9.5" width.
PXL_20220507_161230402 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

PXL_20220507_011738737 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Also painted the wiper arms and installed new DL16 wiper blades, then filled the fluid bottle and tested everything out. Wish someone had done that prior to scraping up the driver's side of the windshield...:
PXL_20220507_161222386 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

Doing some detail work on the beast to get her ready for the long haul to AZ.
Lug wrench sanded, primered, and painted:
PXL_20220504_152504520 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Also installed the new TBI injection warning light in the spare housing slot area to the left of the steering column. It's a bright yellow LED I can see from miles away. Wiring is apparently directional, good thing I checked before I wired it up.
PXL_20220504_152311358 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Also screwed the OBD1 diagnostic port up under the AC ventwork, took the access cover off, measured, and drilled holes to put it above the tranny turnnel:
PXL_20220503_224553549 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Also got the factory towing package wiring repaired. The original Jeep bracket that held the 7-wire connector under the rear bumper had been damaged, which likely also damaged the connector, so someone had badly wired in a 4-pin connector instead. I got all the wiring traced out, reconnected, reorganized, and retested under the spare tire area for the trip. Also swapped out the 224 relay under the dash for a 552 so the system blinks faster:
PXL_20220502_164838724 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

2nd shot:
PXL_20220502_164815303 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

3rd shot also showing the factory module that still works great:
PXL_20220502_164822337 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

Tackled the front differential yesterday. Cover is date coded to 1977, thought that was a bit odd. Otherwise, nothing exciting:
PXL_20220502_173830750 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

PXL_20220502_181106167 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

PXL_20220502_173809670 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

PXL_20220502_173737165 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

Back to work on the beast. Since I'll be moving to AZ in a couple weeks I thought I should inspect the taillight assemblies and fix any problems.

I discovered the taillight lens gaskets were missing in a couple places so had to clean some crud out, and surface-rusted bulb sockets that needed addressed. This is prior to cleaning the sockets:
PXL_20220501_210417650 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Got it all cleaned up, used some bulb grease, and put everything back together after using some gasket maker to rebuild the missing gasket sections:
PXL_20220423_204403180 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Right side lens is the one I used polishing compound on here, and it does look better than the left one, but I'll hit both with the orbital buffer once I remount them:
PXL_20220423_201810367 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Also addressed the rear differential today. Owner's manual said 80W-140 gear oil is best for the factory tow package so drained the old fluid, which didn't look bad at all, cleaned the crud out, rotated the wheels to ensure the gears look good, regooped the cover, put everything back together, and refilled. Front diff will be done tomorrow:
PXL_20220501_192234810 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

Been too cold for me to want to get in the garage lately, but it hit 51 today so I stopped hibernating and went out to work.
Received the hold-down bracket from TGW, nicely rubberized coating, and fits over the battery perfectly:
https://teamgrandwagoneer.com/batter...-gw-1986-1991/

Also received the J-Bolt kit I ordered from Remy.com:
https://remybattery.com/battery-hold...lt-6-inch.html

Pay no attention to the junk yard J-bolts, they were too long and didn't work -- the 6" Remy.com j-bolt kit was perfect:
PXL_20220210_184934664 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Got everything put on, excellent fit:
PXL_20220304_011836116 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

Just read through this entire thread (been a while since I've spent much time on here). Awesome work!

Thanks, I look back at it occasionally and can't believe how much I've done to it.

[polarfire]

Just read through this entire thread (been a while since I've spent much time on here). Awesome work!

[MysticRob]

Very nice job on your rig! Looks great.

Thanks, she's getting there slowly.
Still doing mostly cosmetic things, though I'd like to get the steering gear done, A/C working at some point this spring, and clean up some underside things.

[Full Size Jeeper]

Very nice job on your rig! Looks great.

[MysticRob]

Finally got the under hood light mounted and verified that it turns on when hood is open, and turns off when hood is closed:
PXL_20220118_203332951 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

That is so nice!! I love nicely Tucked trans lines like that!

Thanks, Marc. At this point you might actually get to see it in Boise.
Now if I could just make everything else under there look as good. I should've painted that darn trans pan when I had it out last time, but those old lines were always in the way and would've just scratched it all up. Next time!
Also would like to sand and paint that hideous engine oil pan at some point but I'm leaving well enough alone for now.

[rang-a-stang]

That is so nice!! I love nicely Tucked trans lines like that!

[MysticRob]

Was able to find a 5/16" hardline to 3/8" hose adapter so got both new hardlines placed, "S" clamped, and run from the transmission to the terminations up front. Flared one line to get a hose clamp secured mo' better, but I think it looks pretty good now and won't rub any holes anywhere:

From the transmission:
PXL_20220117_205226501 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Coming forward:
PXL_20220117_205216812 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Compression fittings tight and secured:
PXL_20220117_205211361 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

The bend up under the crank pulley going to the bottom of the radiator:
PXL_20220117_205207317 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Other hardline going up to the transmission cooler, and 2nd hose routing to the radiator:
PXL_20220117_205203138 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

[MysticRob]

Had yet another transmission fluid leak up front and knew it was the old hoses to the transmission cooler, so took the grill off again and ran a couple new 3/8" hoses and new clamps from the cooler:
PXL_20220117_020156637 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Terminated one end of the 3/8" hose to the bottom of the radiator, but will wait on terminating the 2nd line till after I get my new salvage yard transmission cooler hardlines installed. Got very lucky those OEM hardlines were still on the wrecked 89 at the yard. Reason for using new hardlines is some dumbarse either switched the original lines around, and thus did a bunch of extra bending and curving of those lines, or used lines out of a completely different vehicle, because they didn't route well under the beast at all.
Examples of existing and wrong hardlines -- this front hardline has weird bends and rubs all over the bell housing. Correct front hardline should just drop down from the nipple at an angle toward the front of the transmission pan.
The rear hardline had rubbed on something before and almost had a hole rubbed through it:
PXL_20220114_222111232 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Existing rear hardline goes under the transmission pan at odd angles, and rub in spots, which is wrong. The front just hangs at odd angles. Both the front and rear OEM hardlines route just in front of the pan and are tucked up to make transmission maintenance easier:
PXL_20220114_222005755 by Robert Stone, on Flickr

Existing hardlines just split up and go all over the place under the engine too. OEM lines are run together most of the way and are joined with "S" clamps to keep them close and free of rubbing, etc, till they get to the front and split up to reach the driver side of the radiator and the transmission cooler on the passenger side:
PXL_20220114_221940146 by Robert Stone, on Flickr