OK
So I screwed up, did not follow my Dads advice and bought a car over the internet, sight unseen. I mean whats the worst that can happen?
Turns out, a lot. It got here and was indeed an AEV Brute, that someone had tinkered with and besides the damage to the body that was "forgotten" in the
description, the fact that they half assed installed a GM motor and computer in a Chrysler / Jeep vehicle and did not do a very good job of it. The only gauge
that worked was the speedo and the gas gauge, everything else was not hooked up or could not be made to work with the GM engine. The 5.3 liter V8 was running on 6-7
cylinders, the tranny was ready to fall off and needed to be rebuilt, and none of the lights worked at all. Like I said, how bad could it be??
A month long trip to Speed Sports of Chandler got the wiring sorted out, 95% of the gauges working, a three inch lift kit installed, because the GM V8 sat so low in the engine compartment that
a minor bump would have smashed the power steering pump in to the suspension and destroyed both of them. The tranny was rebuilt and installed correctly as well as the flywheel
being remachined. Now it was drivable, would pass registration and smog and Icould start getting an idea of what i wanted to do with it.
After a month of driving and record keeping I am getting 10.2 MPG, the lack of carpet and insulation proves that after 20 min of driving its a rolling oven, and the lack
of space in the bed due to the previous owner mounting the spare in the bed means i cannot haul as much as a bag of groceries, So we need to do something
with this Jeep and make it into what I want, a reliable overlander that can get me anywhere I want to go and back home again. First stop?, Randy Ellis Designs for a new rear tire carrier
and an overhead rack for an RTT or whatever I want to throw on top.
Next up? Diesel Power!!
Yetters
So I screwed up, did not follow my Dads advice and bought a car over the internet, sight unseen. I mean whats the worst that can happen?
Turns out, a lot. It got here and was indeed an AEV Brute, that someone had tinkered with and besides the damage to the body that was "forgotten" in the
description, the fact that they half assed installed a GM motor and computer in a Chrysler / Jeep vehicle and did not do a very good job of it. The only gauge
that worked was the speedo and the gas gauge, everything else was not hooked up or could not be made to work with the GM engine. The 5.3 liter V8 was running on 6-7
cylinders, the tranny was ready to fall off and needed to be rebuilt, and none of the lights worked at all. Like I said, how bad could it be??
A month long trip to Speed Sports of Chandler got the wiring sorted out, 95% of the gauges working, a three inch lift kit installed, because the GM V8 sat so low in the engine compartment that
a minor bump would have smashed the power steering pump in to the suspension and destroyed both of them. The tranny was rebuilt and installed correctly as well as the flywheel
being remachined. Now it was drivable, would pass registration and smog and Icould start getting an idea of what i wanted to do with it.
After a month of driving and record keeping I am getting 10.2 MPG, the lack of carpet and insulation proves that after 20 min of driving its a rolling oven, and the lack
of space in the bed due to the previous owner mounting the spare in the bed means i cannot haul as much as a bag of groceries, So we need to do something
with this Jeep and make it into what I want, a reliable overlander that can get me anywhere I want to go and back home again. First stop?, Randy Ellis Designs for a new rear tire carrier
and an overhead rack for an RTT or whatever I want to throw on top.
Next up? Diesel Power!!
Yetters
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