Jeep Wagoneer (1989)
for sale
Price: US $0.99
Price: US $0.99
Distress sale! Not really. . but I'm honestly tired of it, I started a new job, and I really need to work and have my plate clean for a while. I intended on finishing a full frame on restoration, but I have yet to have it painted, and the interior is still mostly dismantled. I could snap the interior back together in 1/2 a day, but that seems silly to do so, since it most people will take it back apart to paint (the door handles need to be removed when it is painted). EVERYTHING is there, all of the nuts/bolts/clips are categorized into zip lock bags and labeled. It should be semi-idiot proof to find everything. Same story with the bumpers. The window felts still need to be replaced, and I have not purchased those yet.
I do have both a CARFAX and and AutoCheck, they both show 18, 000 miles in 1990, and just registration renewals other than that. There is a gap due to no registration renewals from 2008 until 2015.
I purchased this vehicle from a friend who had owned it
since 2009. He had bought it from the original owner, which from what I
understand is an older guy. The original owner’s house is only a mile or
two from mine…. He had 4 garages, I feel sure it spent most of its life in one
of them. The second owner’s intentions were to take it to his mountain
house, but after the typical carburetor/older vehicle woes, he ended up using
another vehicle that he already had. He occasionally drove it around town
and on weekends, but it eventually ended up siting by the edge of his driveway
for 3-4 years. I bought it in October of 2015 with intentions of fully restoring it, I’m sort of a perfectionist, and I went a little overboard
on the portions of the restoration that I completed.
Engine:
I siphoned all of the old gas out, cleaned the fuel lines, and drove it around the neighborhood. It ran about like most of the carburetor vehicles on the road, and instead of wasting money on carburetor
rebuilds/emission system component replacement, etc, I opted to rid the vehicle
of all of that stuff, and installed a complete Howell fuel injection TBI
system. It was a by the book install, the oxygen sensor was
professionally installed in the exhaust down pipe, and all new vacuum
hoses(routing per Howell specifications) were used. I also replaced one
of the exhaust manifolds, and used threaded plugs to cap the air injection
ports in both manifolds. I removed the rest of the problematic/space
taking air injection system, the removal is legal in most states due to the use
of the upgraded FI system. The EGR valve, PCV valve, and CTO valve are
also new.
At that point, I was able to assess the engine
condition. One or two of
the lifters were making a ticking sound. I have owned a few of these before…
and have found one more than one occasion that these tend to have sticky oil
pressure relief valves. So I attempted to check/clean the oil pressure
relief valve. I found that one of the oil pump gears (the one with the
shaft) was stuck, it would not come out of the timing cover. Therefore I
dove in and replaced the oil pump, water pump, thermostat, timing cover, timing
gears/chain, and camshaft and lifters. I used quality OEM parts, and of
course all new gaskets. At the same time, ALL new coolant/heater hoses, belts, and valve cover gaskets.
I decided to go with an HEI distributor system… it has a
much hotter spark, and takes the place of many old components, with just one
reliable new component.
Drivetrain: Only ~50, 000 miles, so nothing major needed to be
replaced. I physically removed both the front and rear axle housing
assemblies, since it had lots of grime, surface rust, and all needed to be
repainted. I used all new u-bolts, and I added ¾” to the rear springs to
get rid of that saggy butt look that most of these have. That will not
negatively affect the ride quality or the performance. That also gave me
the opportunity to inspect the ball joints and steering components separately, to insure that everything was satisfactory and safe. Everything was painted
separately, reassembled and torqued back to manufacturer’s
specifications. I did have the transmission professionally serviced, consisting of a fluid change AND new filter.
Brakes:
ALL flexible brake lines were replaced, front pads, front
rotors, rear shoes, rear wheel cylinders, rear springs (install kit), and the
brakes now work perfectly.
Miscellaneous mechanical:
The front wheel bearings were like new, so I only cleaned
and re-packed. I of course replaced the front wheel bearing seals. All of the original u-joints are tight, and were re-greased.
Interior:
There were no rips or excessive wear on the carpet, seats, headliner, etc. It was musty from siting under trees, and it had the
usual used vehicle dirt on the carpets. It is no longer musty, and the interior just needs to be reassembled. THE CARPET IN THE CARGO AREA DOES NEED TO BE REPLACED, I threw it away becuase of some stains. The front and rear are perfect. The mats are surprisingly almost perfect. Both power seats work as they should. The headliner is perfect, but the board that it connect to does have a touch of sag, but I wouldn't touch it, it should be good for another 20 years.
Body:
It had ZERO rust! It had been undercoated when it was
new, and most of that is still present. The undercoating on the frame was
cracked, stained, and looked bad, so I removed most of it and primed/painted
the frame(update, I only did the portions of the frame basically between the leaf springs, when I had all of that out). The fender wells and underneath of the body are just 27 year
old well preserved paint/undercoated. The vehicle received a cheap re-spray
when my friend bought it in 2009 it… and it faded pretty quickly.
Woodgrain:
Most of it is above average, but there's some peeling spots on the back, and on the driver's side. the woodgrain on the rear air dam is basically gone.
AC: ? I removed the condenser to replace the cam.
Stereo: It came with an aftermarket, but I removed it. I do have an original that was operable a couple of years ago when I took it out of the 1987 that I had.
Miscellaneous:
I have all of the washer reservoirs, air intake duct, the metal duct that goes from the manifold to the air filter housing, the dash bezel, etc. . no problems. All of the parts are there to make this vehicle complete, except for the window felts, door handle gaskets, and probably the roof rack gaskets.
Problems:
Back window isn't operable.
Driver's side window flex channel is broken
All other windows work, and semi-slow... would probably be best to completely dissasemble and lubricate.
Door lock actuators work OK, could probably use some time/lubrication
Interior dome lights don't come on with the door, but they come on when the vehicle is started... and are on the whole time you're driving.
These vehicles are becoming more and more desirable…. But
most of them have the woes of being carbureted/plagued with archaic emission
systems, and just no fun to drive. Stalling at a stoplight is no fun…
this one starts perfectly regardless of the temperature, gets better gas
mileage than a carbureted one would, and should be relatively trouble free for
years. There has been a few thousand dollars’ worth of preventative work
down to this one, that most have not had. Plus, I doubt you’ll be able to
find one that look as new underneath as this one does.
If this listing doesn't sell... I'm going to chip away at finishing the restoration (even though it's taking up my only usable garage spot), and I'll sell it after it's 100% finished.
update: 2016-06-29
Condition: | Used | Year: | 1989 |
VIN (Vehicle Identification Number): | 1J4GS5873KP104459 | Mileage: | 50,443 |
Transmission: | Automatic | Make: | Jeep |
Body Type: | SUV | Model: | Wagoneer |
Warranty: | Vehicle does NOT have an existing warranty | Engine: | 5.7 V8 |
Vehicle Title: | Clear | Drive Type: | 4WD |
Power Options: | Air Conditioning, Cruise Control, Power Locks, Power Windows, Power Seats | Fuel Type: | Gasoline |
Exterior Color: | Burgundy | For Sale By: | Private Seller |
Interior Color: | Burgundy | Disability Equipped: | No |
Number of Cylinders: | 8 |