1973 Wagoneer - Full Size Camping Goodness

Dr. Marneaus

Station Wagoneer
I've been following along for a while as well, thought I would chime in. I did a megasquirt EFI conversion on my 1973 Land Rover Series 3 with the stock 4 cylinder. Total home brew.

Your description sounds like what I had with ignition issues. Specifically, tach signal to the computer. Initially, I didn't strip the wire correctly. Tach signal wires are shielded, and I didn't strip back the shielding. So a bad connection there. Then the spade connector that connected to my coil wasn't any good! So I experienced the same problem you did, randomly, no tach signal, no injection. Like you, had no problems for a long time. Then all of a sudden, cutting in and out. Over time the connection wiggled loose and that was it.

Also I had a couple of bad coils. When the car was cold, no problems but a few miles down the road, issues.

But yes, I think ignition is where you need to be looking at. I'd start by looking at all of your connections. Do you have a way to data log? That is what will help you determine where you need to look. When you have an episode, you can see what goes to crap.

unfortunately the MSD system does not provide any external way to datalog. No way to pull info from it.
 

Dr. Marneaus

Station Wagoneer
Unfortunately for the forseeable future I have zero jeep dollars. I have access to a free locked out duraspark dizzy that i can use for testing, but would still need a 6AL or whatever
 

Dr. Marneaus

Station Wagoneer
Still being super wishy washy on what I want to do with my jeep life. Keep the wag around, get something different, do more work on the wag, abandon it, no idea.

I'm not sure the last time I drove it even.
 

Comanche Scott

Expedition Leader
Well, its not depreciating, and probably won't anytime soon.
Unless you need the cash, it would be worth hanging onto it.
Especially if Jeep comes out with a new Grand Wagoneer. That will get the juices flowing for all those over 40 types with a nostalgic dream.
Should definitely push the FSJ values up even more. :)
 

Dr. Marneaus

Station Wagoneer
Well, its not depreciating, and probably won't anytime soon.
Unless you need the cash, it would be worth hanging onto it.
Especially if Jeep comes out with a new Grand Wagoneer. That will get the juices flowing for all those over 40 types with a nostalgic dream.
Should definitely push the FSJ values up even more. :)

Prices only seem high on the Late models, but either way, we'll see what happens. I have way bigger things in life to deal with money wise and effort wise right now. I'm sure I'll just keep putting around in it this summer.

We (finally) got a lil white stuff so I drug the wife out for a little morning romp in the hills behind my house. Beautiful quiet day out there.

IMG_E5172 by Marn, on Flickr

IMG_E5180 by Marn, on Flickr

IMG_E5175 by Marn, on Flickr

IMG_E5240 by Marn, on Flickr

IMG_E5244 by Marn, on Flickr

IMG_E5259 by Marn, on Flickr

IMG_5268 by Marn, on Flickr
 

Comanche Scott

Expedition Leader
Digging those pictures! They look professional. :beer:

Glad to see you get the chance to go out for spin around the mountains. :)
 

Dr. Marneaus

Station Wagoneer
Donate it to the poor overlander club....
Cheapthrills overland.... ********... that thing is cool

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


Lol thanks. It’s an almost completely stock M416, not sure on year as it was titled as a home built a few years ago due to not having a title...well it technically doesn’t have a title still because its from New York but whatever. Spoke to the DMV and it should be an issue.

Going to do a mild build. A few things like propane tank holders, perhaps a water tank, a place to mount a table, and -almost certainly a roof top tent. Just not sure if I will build a raised rack or keep it low. Wife wants room to stand so going raised might be the best option.

Anyway.
 

Dr. Marneaus

Station Wagoneer
Well, drug it home 500 miles behind my dodge, sitting a little low. Zero issues, hubs stayed cool, towed like a dream and had no idea it was there.

trailer1 by Marn, on Flickr

Hooked it to the wagoneer to see how it'll sit, its a teeny bit low in the front but with some weight in it, it should level out. I dont want to go with a raised hitch like I had on the dodge, because i cannot open the tailgate on the jeep with that. This level hitch (note that its angled up though), allows me to access the back of the jeep with the trailer hooked up and hitch installed.

trailer3 by Marn, on Flickr
trailer2 by Marn, on Flickr

I'm planning to pull the tub in the coming days, sand down the super drippy/running paint job the PO did, shoot a new coat on the frame, repaint the tub, and reassemble. Its 100% good to go now, just the paint job sucks.

Also, i noticed the trailer tub is a little off camber. The axle sits level in regard to the frame section that is under it, but something is off. I will likely check to see if the frame is level when I pull the tub for the repaint. I may need to loosen the front tongue arms to see if that helps, or maybe cut a weld or two then burn it back together so it sits flat, if that is indeed the issue. Its not a big problem, especially with how im planning to proceed, but the more square i can get it to sit, the better.
 

Dr. Marneaus

Station Wagoneer
Looks like it belongs behind the waggy. Nice score. What color do you plan to paint?

I wanted to color match it but the wife was all ‘no just so army green or desert tan’. Truth be told I’m sure I’ll have the trailer longer than the jeep so she makes a good point. Also it’ll sometimes be towed behind the dakota as well as whatever I replace it and the wag with in the future
 

Dr. Marneaus

Station Wagoneer
Making some progress. Trailer tub has been pulled, noted the frame is slightly out of square (appears to have been welded as such, not from damage). I will be shimming one corner of the tub to level it out. needs about 1/2" shim back there. Probably just going to cut out some shims from a block of HDPE. Will have to drill one new hole, and enlarge one, the rest will bolt up fine.

Unfortunately the previous owner went way heavy with the black paint and the tub is COVERED in runs. I originally intended to just shoot a new color over the black, but given the runs in the paint and the fact that I have some free labor to help me, might as well go down to bare metal and do it right.

Anyway, started grinding off the paint on the outside, and grinding off some of the flaking bed liner crap from the inside. Presently the trailer is about 45% stripped on the outside, and I have shot the stripped areas with some etching primer. Another day or two of grinding off the lead paint (so much fun), it should be fully stripped and primed in the painting areas. I've got the front, most of one side, and part of the back and corner stripped. I pounded out a number of small dents and lessend the obviouslyness of several larger dents and creases. Just used a hammer and a block of wood.

I intend to wire cup the bottom to remove whatever undercoating is there.

Once stripped, outside will be painted a color that is yet to be determined. The interior and underside of the tub will be done up with monstaliner, most likely just plain black.

The frame will get wire wheeled and shot with chassis paint.

Nothing fancy, not a full restoration or rebuild. The trailer is 100% usable as is, but I'd rather do this now than later down the line. It should be serviceable for years and years to come once i repaint and bed line it.

Untitled by Marn, on Flickr
Untitled by Marn, on Flickr
Untitled by Marn, on Flickr
Untitled by Marn, on Flickr
 

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