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I realized typing my signature up that there's just too much info I'd like to have about the rigs in there, so I'm creating these threads for that, as well as the ability to post pics and updates as I go...though this one's not going to get much for updates seeing as how we don't have the '88 anymore, probably just pics when I get an account figured out there.
So the '88 was gifted to my uncle from my grandad, in the late '90s, early 2000s, I don't remember for sure (I may find it somewhere). At that point, it was fresh from Wagonmaster, "Light Fawn" over tan leather, no sunroof (and the GWs didn't really have any other options than color and sunroof at that point). It was his daily driver for a while, and as soon as the stock style tires wore out I'm pretty sure he went right to 31" BFGs. At some point in there, he put in 3.50s and a rear limited slip, so that woke it up quite a bit.
Then he got fed up with the carb setup, and decided to switch to fuel injection. He wound up using GM TBI from an '88 Chevy van, and had a guy in FL program a chip for him. That worked really well for a while, then he got an oil filter with no threads on it. Needless to say that didn't stay on and the 360 was shot. At that point he got a 401 from a '74 (actually he went through like 3 of them before the company finally got him a good one). That was bored .060" over, with Edelbrock headers+y-pipe and intake, the 4-barrel TBI, and 3" exhaust after the y-pipe. With the 401, for whatever reason that same guy in FL couldn't get him a chip that worked right, so my uncle and my dad (both good with computers) figured out how to tune it themselves. At that point, you could spin both 31"s all of the way through an intersection if you wanted to/did it right.
After a while the IA winters got to it some, and my uncle wanted something a little more reliable...on top of that it had a collision with a deer. Nothing terrible on the Jeep side of things, but it dented the grille and fender, and put a slight bend in the bumper. So he got a WJ, and the '88 sat a while. My dad installed the razor grille for him, and eventually we got it for my first ride.
While we had it, we put an S10 tank in it (much nicer to have an in-tank pump), did some fine tuning on the fuel injection, put 2" lift blocks in the back, bought some 31x10.5 Nitto Dune Grapplers, put in a custom headliner (that's gonna go into the '71), rear shoulder belts, and revamped the exhaust system. Then a few things happened, and the driver's fender+front door, as well as a U-joint were bad. We wound up getting the stuff for a wide track conversion (fiberglass fenders+flares, J10 axles), 2 Rancho lift springs, and some awesome, rust-free Dark Baltic Blue Metallic doors+tailgate from an '89 (which, for the record, the axles doors, and maybe springs will probably be in the for sale ads pretty soon here). We wound up pulling the interior out, so we could replace the floors and rockers while we had things apart.
It sat like that for a few years, and then we had to move. We got it moved up here, and I was working on the floors, and thought "While the frame is nice and easy to get to, I should paint it so that it doesn't rust any further than being a little scaley." In doing that I discovered a hairpin crack over the axle, and where the skid plate used to be it was kind of soft. This led to our decision to get something else for me, and the '88 was sold to a guy in southern IA back in January of 2021. Next up the '71...
So the '88 was gifted to my uncle from my grandad, in the late '90s, early 2000s, I don't remember for sure (I may find it somewhere). At that point, it was fresh from Wagonmaster, "Light Fawn" over tan leather, no sunroof (and the GWs didn't really have any other options than color and sunroof at that point). It was his daily driver for a while, and as soon as the stock style tires wore out I'm pretty sure he went right to 31" BFGs. At some point in there, he put in 3.50s and a rear limited slip, so that woke it up quite a bit.
Then he got fed up with the carb setup, and decided to switch to fuel injection. He wound up using GM TBI from an '88 Chevy van, and had a guy in FL program a chip for him. That worked really well for a while, then he got an oil filter with no threads on it. Needless to say that didn't stay on and the 360 was shot. At that point he got a 401 from a '74 (actually he went through like 3 of them before the company finally got him a good one). That was bored .060" over, with Edelbrock headers+y-pipe and intake, the 4-barrel TBI, and 3" exhaust after the y-pipe. With the 401, for whatever reason that same guy in FL couldn't get him a chip that worked right, so my uncle and my dad (both good with computers) figured out how to tune it themselves. At that point, you could spin both 31"s all of the way through an intersection if you wanted to/did it right.
After a while the IA winters got to it some, and my uncle wanted something a little more reliable...on top of that it had a collision with a deer. Nothing terrible on the Jeep side of things, but it dented the grille and fender, and put a slight bend in the bumper. So he got a WJ, and the '88 sat a while. My dad installed the razor grille for him, and eventually we got it for my first ride.
While we had it, we put an S10 tank in it (much nicer to have an in-tank pump), did some fine tuning on the fuel injection, put 2" lift blocks in the back, bought some 31x10.5 Nitto Dune Grapplers, put in a custom headliner (that's gonna go into the '71), rear shoulder belts, and revamped the exhaust system. Then a few things happened, and the driver's fender+front door, as well as a U-joint were bad. We wound up getting the stuff for a wide track conversion (fiberglass fenders+flares, J10 axles), 2 Rancho lift springs, and some awesome, rust-free Dark Baltic Blue Metallic doors+tailgate from an '89 (which, for the record, the axles doors, and maybe springs will probably be in the for sale ads pretty soon here). We wound up pulling the interior out, so we could replace the floors and rockers while we had things apart.
It sat like that for a few years, and then we had to move. We got it moved up here, and I was working on the floors, and thought "While the frame is nice and easy to get to, I should paint it so that it doesn't rust any further than being a little scaley." In doing that I discovered a hairpin crack over the axle, and where the skid plate used to be it was kind of soft. This led to our decision to get something else for me, and the '88 was sold to a guy in southern IA back in January of 2021. Next up the '71...