So, I spent 9 hours in the truck today driving through holiday weekend traffic up to my buddy, Jim's place for a screamin' deal.
It's mostly a Jeep. Sorta. It's Jim's '52 M-38A1. I bought the body, frame, title, and plates for a song and dragged it home from Camarillo, CA to my place in San Diego.
As I was backing it into the driveway my 4-year old, Charlie, comes out and says "You're missing some parts from your Jeep. The steering, and the tires, and the wheels, and the engine, and the seats. Come on, Daddy, you have to put the Jeep together."
Guess he's gonna be riding me to finish it.
I'm not gonna make a secret outta this one.
For starters it'll probably be 2WD. Doubt I'll do a 4WD. This one is for Glamis. Stock frame is going bye bye. If it's 4WD I'll dump an Intermediate frame under the tub with some stock or 1.5-inch springs. If it's 2WD I'll build my own A-arm long travel front suspension and a linked rear.
Engine is gonna be a 496-540-cube BB Chevy with 8.5:1 compression, aluminum heads with ports the size of toilet bowls, a solid roller cam with at least .660-lift, and a Vortech blower set at around 8lbs boost. Goal will be 1,000hp on pump gas.
Tranny will be a way-built Powerglide. Rear will probably be a Ford 9-inch, but the masochist in me wants to run the 2-piece Dana 44 out of my '68 J2000 just to see how long till it blows up.
Paddle tires in the rear, no hood, seating and cage for 4, and it'll probably all get fogged in Olive Drab.