Well I marked the first of the new year by starting the task of building the new grand. My goal is to have this one running for Big dogs and finshed by the time the york jeep show hits. I'm looking to win the spot for most capable/decent looking rig in the unibody division. This is what I got to work with, not bad for $250.
The drive line is pretty much shot with 235,000 miles on it. Though it can still get around on its own power. To fix this I plan on rebuilding the motor in the wrecked jeep and swapping over the entire driveline to the new one. The set up i'm going for on this rig is for to be black trail rated with the ability to drive down the road. For the street i'm looking for to just to be able to make short local trips with it, without feeling unsafe. I'm not worried about it getting down the highway or anything because its still mostly going to get towed everywere. For the offroad part i'm mostly going to keep what I had except for the part of going with fullsize axel to help with the stability part and a four link rear so I can get rid of the rear track bar. Also im going to set it up so everything is high clearence that way the control arms and shock mounts arnt being drug across the rocks anymore. As for the body the back will be chopped off to give it the avalanch look. I'm removing the back seats and adding sheat metal to give me a full bed in the back. This way I have room to mount the OBA, roll/weather proof boxes for equipment. The rest of the interior will be gutted and redone so that the cab will be able to be hosed out with no issues. I'm going to have a full cage inside with the seats to go with it. I think i'm going to mount the spare to the cage in the back to give it the pre runner look and to get it out of the way. Also I think i'm going with tube fenders to help keep the body off the trees.
When I was tearing down the old jeep I noticed this.


no your not seeing the same pic twice but both sides of the front axel. Looks like they were on their way out if I hadn't flipped the jeep when I did. Well sadly this is what the old jeep looks like now.


I took off anything that people would steal so it can sit down at my yard for while with no worries. Seeing both jeeps together I guess you can see why i'm not allowed to run her's on the trails.

kinda nice to have a spare parts vehicle.

Yeah nice plan I would still take the Orvis out on the trails. Whats the worst that could happen? I bet your itching to get out and wheel. Anyway sounds like a good plan It should work out good. Are you going to go Full width with Full size axles and what full size axle are you going with ? Dana 44 or Dana 60? Are you going to keep the 8.8?

probly go with the dana 60's just because I have a set laying around. As for the 8.8/30 I'm going to hold on to it just incase I need to swap them back on the rig. Like for inspection or having to be able to run it down the road with out the police pulling me over. I might even get a worn out set of 35's to keep with them just for the street. As for wheeling i'm not itching to much. I did a hell lot of wheeling last year so i'm kind of enjoying the winter off. I think last year from mid dec thru feb I wheeled almost every weekened. Also the gas tank on my truck is enjoying the needed rest.

hey i think i know that orvis.... wasnt that Tico's orvis at one time or another??

Nope that the one that Joe bought from New York. It has Long arms and lockers and the V8. Too bad it will never see the trails again.

i wanna see it done. let me know when you need a hand

It will see the trail again, just that mandy will be behind the wheel thats all. Sides that rig will be the family ride when courtney wants to come along. The first weekend that we get some good weather i'm going to pull the driveline, So any help would be greatly appreciated.

I came across this zj build while doing some research on the new rig, what do you all think.

that looks sweet!

that is cool looking

well I guess I'm beyond the point of no return.



Tomorow I guess i'll start getting rid of stuff in the engine compartment that will not be used in the swap.

starting to look like shit, keep up the good work.

took advantage of the good weather today and got the engine ready to be pulled.

Also while I was destroying stuff I got rid of the abs in prep for the f350 booster upgrade.

I was having a pretty good day till I came across this back where the hatch closes.


what sucks is that most of the rest of the jeep is rust free. I guess it's not too bad becuse the upper part of the cancer will be covered when the lower half of the jeep door is welded shut to the body. I'm guessing the rest can be covered when I weld a sheet of metal across the floor to give a nice level bed across were the rear seats used to be. I'm thinking I will put somekind of door in the floor to give access to the space that will be created by doing this. Also It had crossed my mind about moving the fuel tank up in this area also. i've never really had any issues with the fuel tank getting draged across the rocks but I figured if I was going to do this upgrade, this would be the time to do it. What do all think, will the gain be worth the effort on moving the tank?