Things are not going to plan with the FSJ Wagoneer. Time to make some hard decisions on where to go from here. Take a look and let me know what you think in the comments.
I hear your reasoning for keeping it pure, but I guess it comes down to what you plan to do with it? LS swap is hard to beat if you want power and reliability, better mpg and easy replacement and upgrade parts. The original engines in the Wagoneer are just pretty much made up of other Chrysler, AMC motors depending on the year. I’m in the middle of a 1987 Wagoneer LS swap. I had the same dilemma you are having. Even worse, I’m in California and it’s gotta be smog inspected. Everything in my GW was tired and needed major attention. After adding up all the costs involved the best route for me was to buy a complete car and use everything from it to build a better GW and pass inspection. There are tons of old, cheap rigs out there perfect for a LS swap. I bought a 100,00 mile 2004 Yukon Denali with a 6.0 for $3,000. It’s AWD. Took everything out. ECU, harness, smog equipment, exhaust, cats, motor, trans, transfer case. I got everything I needed except maybe gas tank and radiator. At this point it’s almost all in the Wagoneer and hopefully firing it up next month. By the time you buy the parts for the stock motor, rebuild it, rebuild the tranny and transfer case and maybe put fuel injection to make it more reliable you’re gonna be close to the same price to an LS swap. And the fact that you are doing the work is even better because the labor is the most expensive part of the swap. Anyway I like the videos and Iooking forward to see what you make of your Wagoneer!✌️
It's a ~40 year old vehicle, of Course everything is wore out. Engine likely needs Everything. Might want to look at the rod bearings while you're in there. If you are not all-in, just put it back together & sell it. You could investigate a 5.7L Mopar swap, don't have to go all the way to 6.4L. Any swap will be expensive though, unless you got a 'free' motor. Lots of info online on FSJ engine swaps. PS: Just the radiator alone for an LS swap is $655 + shipping. "Oooh an LS swap is Sooo Cheap"
Who said it’s cheap? Complete engine, tranny, transfer case rebuild isn’t a lot cheaper than getting an old Tahoe and swapping over all the parts. The benefit of more horsepower, better mpg and reliability are worth it. You don’t need to drop $655 on a radiator. Half that price will get a great aluminum radiator that will do the job. Used gas tanks are cheap, out of a S10 or blazer will work.
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I hear your reasoning for keeping it pure, but I guess it comes down to what you plan to do with it? LS swap is hard to beat if you want power and reliability, better mpg and easy replacement and upgrade parts. The original engines in the Wagoneer are just pretty much made up of other Chrysler, AMC motors depending on the year.
I’m in the middle of a 1987 Wagoneer LS swap. I had the same dilemma you are having. Even worse, I’m in California and it’s gotta be smog inspected. Everything in my GW was tired and needed major attention. After adding up all the costs involved the best route for me was to buy a complete car and use everything from it to build a better GW and pass inspection. There are tons of old, cheap rigs out there perfect for a LS swap. I bought a 100,00 mile 2004 Yukon Denali with a 6.0 for $3,000. It’s AWD. Took everything out. ECU, harness, smog equipment, exhaust, cats, motor, trans, transfer case. I got everything I needed except maybe gas tank and radiator. At this point it’s almost all in the Wagoneer and hopefully firing it up next month.
By the time you buy the parts for the stock motor, rebuild it, rebuild the tranny and transfer case and maybe put fuel injection to make it more reliable you’re gonna be close to the same price to an LS swap. And the fact that you are doing the work is even better because the labor is the most expensive part of the swap. Anyway I like the videos and Iooking forward to see what you make of your Wagoneer!✌️
It's a ~40 year old vehicle, of Course everything is wore out. Engine likely needs Everything. Might want to look at the rod bearings while you're in there. If you are not all-in, just put it back together & sell it. You could investigate a 5.7L Mopar swap, don't have to go all the way to 6.4L. Any swap will be expensive though, unless you got a 'free' motor. Lots of info online on FSJ engine swaps.
PS: Just the radiator alone for an LS swap is $655 + shipping. "Oooh an LS swap is Sooo Cheap"
Who said it’s cheap? Complete engine, tranny, transfer case rebuild isn’t a lot cheaper than getting an old Tahoe and swapping over all the parts. The benefit of more horsepower, better mpg and reliability are worth it. You don’t need to drop $655 on a radiator. Half that price will get a great aluminum radiator that will do the job. Used gas tanks are cheap, out of a S10 or blazer will work.