Welcome Full Size Jeep Fans!

This site is dedicated to the buildup of my 1980 Jeep Wagoneer. I will be posting pictures of the buildup along the way, along with my favorite FSJ pics. I will also be including some very helpfull tech write-ups from various sources including The Internation Full Size Jeep Association web site my favorite Jeep site, and the source of huge amounts of information on Full Size Jeeps. And of course I will have links to my favorite FSJ sites and to places where I got the information and or parts I needed to build Ram Jet FSJ.

Enjoy!

Ben Haines aka "Ram Jet FSJ"

The Motor:

(Aug. 02)
     Before even finding the right FSJ, I went down to my local GM dealership and picked up a Ram Jet 350 crate motor. Had them load the crate in the back of my truck and headed home with a big smile on my face.
The specs:
     Port Fuel Injection controlled by a MEFI computer
     GM HEI electronic ignition with external coil also controlled by computer
     Steel Vortec heads
     350 CI - 2 bolt main, 1 piece rear seal block
     350 HP @ 5200 RPM
     400 FTlbs @ 3500 RPM
     5800 RPM redline
     Cast Crank
     Aluminum Hypereutetic Pistons
     Hydraulic Roller Cam
     1.6 Roller Rockers
     9.4:1 compression

     It was even more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed. Tore the crate and packing off in from of my in-laws house to show it off before it got dark. Hoisted out of my truck and into the garage when I got home, and proceded to get it ready for installation. Later that week, went back to GM dealer for a flex plate and a EFI fuel filter. Now all I need is a Wagoneer...

The Wagoneer:

(Aug. 02)
     Picked up the Wagoneer from a gentleman moving over seas, with too many unfinished projects. For $500 got a 1980 Wagoneer with a bad motor, but the rest was pretty good. A decent start for the build up. 360 V8 2bbl with #1 and #2 rods gone, water in the oil, a 727 auto and 208 TC. Locking hubs, 3.31 gears, power door locks and A/C. White exterior with tanish interior. Carpet was bad, door panels worse, but that didnt matter, as it was all to be redone!

     Ignition works with out a key, last key was broken off in the door lock. So no keys. :( Back window wasnt working, power doorlocks were'nt either. A/C was all there and hooked up, but from the look of the hoses, and the minmal charge that was left, they werent working either. Rear axle was leaking at the front pinion seal, and the fitting for the breather tube was not attached. Small chip in rear window, and some dents on the front driver fender, and more on the passenger side doors. Later investigation found the pass front fender had been partially repainted, but no bondo, yet.

     No rust. A little surface rust where the paint has been chipped, but thats it. Had the gas tank down, and all is good on the frame.

     Note: When picking up a non running truck from an under ground parking lot, flat tow the truck to the street before putting it on the trailer! After loading it up an trying to leave, we didnt fit out the exit. Had to take off the roof rack and put a strap from the bumper down to the trailer to pull the back end down, get 3 guys to stand on the bumper, and it still barely scraped the roof. :( What an ordeal!

Day One:

     The weekend after picking up the Wag, the fun began. Ripped out the motor the first day, trans and TC the next (by my self). Started tearing out the un-needed pieces in the engine compartment, smog stuff, original ECU, cruise control, etc etc. Threw the motor in the corner, to later pull apart and see what was wrong/learn about the inards of a AMC V8 (familiar with SBC and BB mopars mostly). Tore out some of the interior, so I could see what I have to work with. And spray painted the engine compartment black.

The Tranny:

     For the tranny I decided on a 700R4, for its good reputation (87+), its low first gear, and its overdrive. I got a brand new unit, built with the correct output shaft needed for the adaption of the AMC NP208 transfer case (the one used in GM 4x4s), from Bowtie Overdrives out of Hesperia, CA. They have great trannys and even better customer service. They only do GM overdrive autos, and specialize in putting them in vehicles not originally equiped with ODs, like hot rods, street rods, custom cars etc. They ordered the 208 adapter from Advance Adapters, and installed the needed parts, and had the rest ready for me when I picked up the tranny, along with all the bolts, little parts, cables etc that I would need for installation, and the HD/Towing converter that I specified.

     They also have a warranty on there trannys that starts after the tranny has been installed and passed the pressure tests and test drive, not when you buy it. Which is great for me, since its just about been a year since I bought the tranny, and have just started driving it.

The Swap:

     Physically putting the RamJet 350 in was actually easier than I expected. This is my first engine swap, and Im suprised how well it went. I used motor mounts from Advance Adapters and the stock tranny crossmember. I clamped the mounts in approx where I thought theyd go (after cutting out the old mounts of course). I attached TC adapter to the tranny, and the tranny to the motor and hoisted it into the engine bay. After about three trys, I had the positioning perfect. I mounted the whole shebang, about 1" from center towards the passenger side, for extra clearance on the from axle, exhaust, steering, brake booster etc. The motor was mounted as far back and as far down as possible, for the best COG, without having to worry about clearances. I bolted the mounts to the frame, and welded the edges, and bolted the motor to the mounts.

     I then bolted up the cleaned up stock NP208 to the tranny (after droping in on my chest once, trying to install it my self). I used the stock tranny crossmember, removing all the old mount parts, and reusing one piece, along with a new GM style mount from Energy Suspension, and mounted it all back and down from the stock mounts, leaving the motor and trans at about a 2 to 3 degree tilt (tranny end down). Unfortunetaly, this makes it impossible to use the e-brake in its current form. I am still working on a plan on what to do about that, but may be installing rear discs with intregal e-brakes, so we will wait on the e-brake problem for now.

     This leaved me with just enough room behind the 208 and infront of the gas tank, to get a 1/2 drive socket and wrench on the filler plug. About as far back as possible, giving me the longest front driveshaft length possible with the stock gas tank. I had the rear driveshaft shortened the appropriate amount, rebuilt with new u-joints and reinstalled.

Accessories:

     The stock power steering pump as professionally rebuilt, and put in a GM truck style resevoir (the AMC one has the return tube in a spot that interfers with the block, atleast with the March Performance bracket), and a GM two groove pulley was pressed on. It was them mounted to the block with a March Performance bracket. Cheapie chrome steel pulleys were used on the crank and water pump, atleast untill I can find aluminum ones that have a full diameter crank pulley (not underdrive). A chrome one wire altenator was mounted using steel brackets from Hot Rod Air, that place it way out over the driverside headers, for plenty of clearance on low hood setups, or like on mine, with a RamJet or LTI intake. A Hot Rod Air Sanden 508 A/C compressor will eventually be mounted on the same style of brackets on the passenger side.

Little stuff on the Motor:

     I used a GM dipstick tube, doesnt look trick, but it will work. I had to tweek it a bit to get it in, and then tweek it back once installed. K&N shieled breathers where used on both valve covers. The stock GM plug wires were held in place by plastic wire separaters mounted to the center bolt valve covers. A K&N filter was mounted directly to the LS1 throttle body. Starting dutys goes to a mini high torque starter and a Optima battery. I have a second Optima, for when I get the urge to put duals in.

Cooling:

     The heart of the cooling system revolves around a BeCool aluminum radiator with built in tranny cooler. It is dual 1" core crossflow 26x19" and rated to 500ci and 700hp. I made custom mounts out of L channel, and mounted it with rubber isolators from the Home Depot plumbing repair section. To that is mounted a 14" Perma Cool HP electric fan with steel blades, setup as a puller. A Painless Wiring relay turns the fan on and off at the appropriate temps. In front of the radiator is the stock AC condenser (for now), and mounted to that is a B&M HiTek aux cooler for the tranny, and a power steering cooler. To be installed is a Jaz recirculating catch can that will be mounted in the wheel well on the passenger side, with a steel cover to protect it from flying rocks of course.

Exhaust:

     Heres where I had alot of trouble. With my minimal lift, the exhaust was sortof a pain to do. Finding headers big enough to work with the RamJet, that didnt interfere with anything, was sorta hard. I tried headers for a SBC swap into a S10, but they were too small and hit the steering shaft and power booster. Next I tried standard block huggers, but they interfered with the knock sensor. Next and last (so far) I got a set of Hedman headers for a later model Camaro. Worked pretty good, but I didnt like where the output for the driverside was, so I cut the header primaries, and inch after the flanges (that mount to the heads), and welded in some more curved pipe, to lay the headers in more towards the block.

     Perfect! I then made a custom Y pipe consisting of 3" into 2.5" reducers, 2.5 mandrel bent tube into a 2.5"to3" Flowmaster Y. From there, 3" back to the 50 series Delta Flow Flowmaster 3" in/out muffler. Then up and over the axle using flowmasters 3" univeral tail pipe kit. Ill be adding a 3" stainless tip, once I find one (Im pretty sure Gibson makes one). Looks great, sounds great, real mean when you get on it, but no annoying droning at low rpms. Ill be pulling it off and painting all the pipes/muffler, and headers with POR15 silver hitemp paint eventually, so it doesnt all rust. (The whole exhaust minus the headers and reducers are made of aluminized steel, so they will rust slower than just steel, but all the welded joints are rusting already).

Interior Beginings:

     Pulled out the seats and carpet. Again, only surface rust in a few places. Nothing to bother with. New black carpet went down, along with new cargo side pieces made out of thin plywood with black carpet, and Pioneer 6x9 speakers. I decided not to make the passenger side removable at this time. I may add a trap door to the panel for access for storage. Screwed the panels to the body with Stainless button head self tapping screws. Looks very sharp. Also used these screws to hold down the carpet edges in the cargo area, and will use them on the tail gate and the door panels.

     I dyed the vinyl part of the dash a charcoal gray, and painted all the metal and the A/C stuff a semi-gloss black. Looks good. Eventually I put on billet aluminum dash knobs on all the controls and billet levers on the steering column to match. I ordered a Grant Collectors Edition steering wheel thats wraped in a charcoal gray leather that just about exactly matches the color for the dash/rest of the vinyl. Added the polished billet adapter and smooth horn button to finish it off.

     ZM Jeeps sold me one of his great custom guage inserts. Cut on CNC Mill, with room for both a 3 5/8" Tach and Speedo, and four 2 1/16" smaller guages. I stuffed these holes with Autometers Carbon Fiber faced guages consisting of a Tach, Electronic programmable speedo, fuel guage, temp guage, water temp and voltmeter. I also added a tranny temp guage and manual lockup switch to a plate made to fill in the original ash tray hole. I left the dash insert as it came naturally, a great looking brushed aluminum. Looks great with the silver rimed/dark faced guages.

     I recovered the seats using seat covers from seatcovers.net, in Madrid fabric in Charcoal gray. I used the full custom style, for the best final product. These covers went on great, really easy to install and look great. Very plush compared to the stock seats. I will be making custom door panels wrapped in this same fabric that the seat covers are made off.

     A center console was added, from Steel Horse. I dyed it to match the rest of the vinyl (which is a very slightly darker gray than what the console came in). Directly in front of the console is the Lokar tranny mounted shifter. Its all aluminum, with push button lockout. Very nice shifter indeed. I wish I would have gotten a longer shifter though. The standard bezel that came with it will be replaced with one from Lokar, billet aluminum with built in gear indicator. And in front of the shifter is the Grade and Tilt meter, from JC Whitney. I mounted it directly under the AC controls. Looks almost factory!

     A lot more to be done on the interior, but Ive pulled the headliner, and scraped off the old foam and am preping it for new aftermarket dome lights. One big one in the front with a map light for each front passenger, a small one over the rear seat, and a big one over the cargo area. The front two will come on with the door switches, and the front one will have a delay so after you close the door, it will stay on for 8 seconds and then fade out, allowing you time to get situated and the rig started without stumbling in the dark. Ive covered 50% of the roof with sound deadener (dynamat style), and then put up fiberglass insulation with aluminum on one side (up). Its glued to the roof with high temp spray adhesive. I removed the cross bars to put it up, and then tightened them up against the insulation really good, so the roof wont rattle at all.