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Marn's 73 Wagoneer Thread

433K views 2K replies 196 participants last post by  Marn 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello!

My name is Dr. Marneaus. You may remember me from such threads as the original "100,000th post wins" and "97 TJ's 'Build Up'" as seen in my signature.

This was the little jeep that could. It inspired many, and gave me many good times. I have kicked myself every day since selling it almost 3 years ago...but everything happens for a reason.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f22/97-tjs-build-up-335660/

Today I'm coming to you with something a little bit different. I'm no longer a poor college student who daily drives his mildly built TJ.

I'm now a poor college graduate who daily drives what used to be his mom's station wagon, but rolls weekends in a slightly different style.

I picked this up today.

Introducing "THE BEAST" as it has been named by my friends and family.







1973 Wagoneer. Epic.

Okay okay, it's still a station wagon! But I'll be doing more than grocery getting in this beast.

Here's the low down...

The good:
-360
-Part Time 4wd with Warn Hubs up front
-BJ's Offroad 4" Spring lift. Still SUA. Less than a year old.
-33x10.50 BFG KM2's...less than a year old with warranty paperwork.
-It drives fantastically. Had it on the highway all day in he 100+ degree -heat doing 75 keeping up with traffic.
Seats and most of interior is in awesome shape

The bad:

-It has a ton of leaks from what I can tell...but doesn't look like anything too serious.
-Has an auxiliary fuel tank installed, and the original tank is in my back yard. So, I have no idea how big this fuel tank is (only the aux. is in the jeep). There's a switch and whatnot, but I dont know how any of that crap works.
-A little bit of rust, but I'll be trimming it off to fit the tires.
-Bumper rubs tires, i'll put it on and trim it this weekend.
-Buncha gauges don't work. Speedo and fuel and oil work though.
-Headliner is ripped and falling...oh well, gravity happens.
-All weather stripping is dry rotted to hell.
-AC stopped working this past year...I dunno why or what to do.

I'll keep this thread going as I advance down the list.

It already feels GREAT to be back in a jeep. I'm psyched to have this bad boy at my disposal. I think it'll be a lot of fun.
 
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#822 ·
The trip to Costco today was not very conducive to the Modding process either...

However...I went shooting and drove the jeep around in the dirt a bunch today...

Confidence is officially restored. Now I can get back to working on it and wheeling it in between!
 
#824 ·
Even a 1987+ would be a turrable DD.

These things had issues with vapor locking from the factory...brand new. The newest you could get would be a 1991, which is still carbureted, and will get about 14mpg....
 
#831 ·
Well, I felt bad about the jeep being so neglected, never getting driven, etc etc, so I decided to do something about it.

Last night I Fired it up, and took it out to do what it was TRULY made for.

 
#835 ·
Well, I felt bad about the jeep being so neglected, never getting driven, etc etc, so I decided to do something about it.
Last night I Fired it up, and took it out to do what it was TRULY made for.
You are getting old. :fistlaugh:
 
#840 ·
I think we have a problem....

Overall the cables look good...

the carb end matches up just fine..

but the pedal end..uh-oh!

Also, the hole in the firewall is square, not round. I'm guessing that seeing as 73 was somewhat of a cusp year, I got a later model accelerator cable, as the one I ordered was for a 70-73

Back to BJ's it goes.
 

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#845 ·
Got a hold of BJ's Offroad yesterday, and they handled it like a pro. 73 is a bit of a cusp year, and that was when they were transitioning from the old school floor mounted pedals to the new required firewall mounted pedal.

Regardless, the folks at BJ's sent me off a new (correct 1974-1976) cable with a return label for the first one. I should have it here in a day or three and get the part swapped out!

Big thumbs up to BJ's for awesome customer service again. The first one I ordered shipped that same afternoon and was on my doorstep 3 days later. These guys are great.
 
#846 ·
Flew into Burbank last night from Houston. Had a brief stopover in Vegas. I have to say, as the plane was nearing Vegas, and I could see dirt trails branching off the roads, and up into the hills and mountains, I got an itch to be down there driving my Jeep.
 
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