1987 chevy wrangler build

[ol'blazer]

so after mouths working on the diesel with close to zero luck, i decided to cut my losses and sell the engine for 1200.... even though i have 2000 invested..my original plan was to drop a small block in its place, but the 700r4 behind the 6.2 had stopped shifting.. after all the headache i decided to use that truck as a parts truck and found this wrangler at my local liquor store, its in better overall shape than the diesel, has a 350 with the tbi, and is just an all round nicer truck. this is what im starting with!



and heres my old 85' headache

obviously neither of these are going to win any car shows... but between the two trucks i should be able to build one nice truck. my plans are to do the fuel pump in the wrangler, along with a tune up and then a 4" lift and re paint it

[ol'blazer]

heres my 1980 blazer, it had a 350 in it with 9.5:1 compression, polished vortec heads with a comp extreme energy cam. was a quick engine except last supper i think i collapsed a piston running it a bit hard... my plans are to park this truck for a year or two so i can catch up with my wrangler and build a new shop. after that i want to build a olds 455 i have laying around , then bag it for a better ride.



my plan is to pull the wrecked engine, give the cam to my dad for his project. use the headers and valve covers on the wrangler, and store whatever parts are left over

[ol'blazer]

last night and this morning we had a dump of snow, and its really cold! makes working outside a lot harder.. but i managed to get the box off



i have more room to replace the fuel pump, convert it to a single tank, weld in new cab corners, and lift the back.

[ol'blazer]

red deer swap meet treated me well this year!


i paid $5 for the suburban councle, i thought that was decent! ill just vinyl die it black. i paid $200 for the seats, theyre out of a 2010 chev 1500, theyre dirty but in good shape.

got this 2.5" mandual bent X pipe for $20,

got these box side patch panels for 50 for the set, ones a little bent at the very top, nothing serious though

[JGood]

Nice pickin! Good turn out at the swap meet this year! Picked my self up a billet grill for my 86 for only $40! Can't wait to get it in!

[Rubble]

Nice to see one of these wranglers being brought back to life.A buddy of mine had a 3/4 ton same paint scheme brand new in 86

[ol'blazer]

Originally Posted by JGood

Nice pickin! Good turn out at the swap meet this year! Picked my self up a billet grill for my 86 for only $40! Can't wait to get it in!

That's a good find too! I was impressed with how much there was for good parts this year!

[ol'blazer]

Originally Posted by Rubble

Nice to see one of these wranglers being brought back to life.A buddy of mine had a 3/4 ton same paint scheme brand new in 86

Thanks! I've alway liked this paint scheme, I want to copy it again, except with a darker metallic grey and metallic black!

[ol'blazer]

come spring and summer i love working outside..but because of all the snow we've gotten the last two days i pulled it into the shop..i dropped the gas tank, i noticed that someone had already converted it to a single tank.. well kinda. they jumped the wires before the pump and the wires had corroded at the cheap connectors the PO used.. there was nothing wrong with the pump.. just the hacked wiring


after i got the pump working i started the truck... this is where it gets rather negative.. the truck fired up real nice but had a nasty death knock from the bottom end..witch really sucks because i was hopping to at least get the summer before building another engine.. but i have a couple options.

this 350 is out of a 1970 impala..my dad put new rings and bearings in it years ago and used it in a old rusty pickup for a while, never really put on many miles.. i know it runs well, and doesn't use oil,

this 350 is one i built last summer when i had some time to kill...a pre-1980 4 bolt block out of a motorhome, with pistons, rods and heads from a 97 vortec all with good clearances and new rings, bearings and bolts. needs a cam, chain and intake.. i could take all those parts from my blazer with the bad piston though... still needs work, were as the other is runner i can just drop in.. decisions, decisions

[ol'blazer]

decided to use the non-rebuilt 350, i put it in a used rv cam, lifters, new timing chain and a gm aluminum intake



finally pulled the old one out

when i built the blazers engine, i put in a new distributor with taylor 8mm wires. so i stole those from the engine along with the headman headers.



almost got everything pieced together, took me a lot longer than in should've but i had to do the timing chain in my grandpas car.

[ol'blazer]

got the 350 buttoned up, should be able to get in pretty soon here

[ol'blazer]

got the engine installed, headers in, all hook ups done. just need to get the rad in, and i ordered some new aluminum valve covers that will be in Saturday

picked up this new(ish) rad for my truck, it was in my friends '93 chev until he side swipped a tree and decided to part it out. he only used the rad for a mouth or so and its a lot better than mine!