John's SJ Grand Wagoneer Page

We bought our 1989 Grand Wagoneer used from an employee of a local Jeep dealership. Christened "Dino", the Wagoneer had 103,000 miles at the time, and was in serious need of some TLC. Dino had a straight body (one small ding in the rear quarter panel), good paint (those of you with Grand Wags KNOW what I mean by that!), and all wood grain panels matched (No body Repairs!). Once we got Dino home, we started tearing into it, planning and scheming what needed to be done to return the newest Jeep in our stable to daily driver status.

First, I got REAL familiar with Grand Wagoneer wiring. A previous owner had done an electrical repair on the engine wiring harness consisting of crimping some damaged wires together with uninsulated wire crimps, wrapped with duct tape, and reinserted the repaired wires into the loom...any guesses on what the harness in the loom looked like?

Next, a thorough analysis of the mechanicals was done. It was determined that the transmission, transfer case, and axles were sound, but the engine was not making sufficient oil pressure. So, a newly rebuilt Jasper AMC 360 engine was dropped under the hood, with almost all new accessories including radiator, alternator, power steering pump, evap canister...virtually everything was replaced except A/C compressor and Carburator. These changes, along with a new Jeep spark knock kit turned a acceptable runner which had problems passing Illinois' dyno emmissions inspection into a sound daily driver, which passes emmissions easily. Sure, the Gas milage isn't the greatest (12.5 MPG), but it's a tank...my crumple zones consist of Saturns, Focuses, and anything else smaller and lighter.

Dino now has 147,000 miles...is fully paid off, and is perfectly reliable.

Being basically stock, we havn't made any major upgrades to the Waggy.

• 5.9L Jasper Engine
• 3.31 Towing Gears
• Pioneer Supertuner III w/Jenson speakers
• K&N Air Filter
• Rear Spring Packs (2" lift in rear to correct sagging, aid in towing)

Pictures of the Dino the Dinosaur

Dino at Home - (Totally Stock! - one of approx 10,170 built in 1989)

Dino out Camping (Like I said, totally reliable!)

FULL SIZE JEEP LINKS!
	1FSJ Yahoo Group
Intl' Full Size Jeep Association	1 FSJ List	Wagonners.com

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