Dice...... The 1978 Jeep Wagoneer

SOAZ

Tim and Kelsey get lost..
Nice work! Dice should be cool as ice. Haha, oh man that was a bad joke.
It just hit me today that I have 2 vehicles without power steering or AC.... in AZ.... in summer. This will be fun!
 

DGarman

What could go wrong?
I really ought to ditch my AC too. Its all there, its all connected, but it doesnt work. The dang under dash unit has been falling and breaking more and more over time as well, I currently have it propped up with a section of 2x6 haha. When I lived in Vegas it was always a "one day" project. But, then after driving it around vegas in the 115* heat for 5 years, and not having AC, I think I'm okay with it no matter where I live in the future.
Nice work! Dice should be cool as ice. Haha, oh man that was a bad joke.
It just hit me today that I have 2 vehicles without power steering or AC.... in AZ.... in summer. This will be fun!

Hey Doc! Hey Tim!
I've been "daily driving" Old Iron for so long now...... I don't even think about AC!
Small price to pay to be able to drive a classic!
 

DGarman

What could go wrong?
Been getting ready for Overland Expo..... Dice will be in the booth if anyone wants to take a look at him.....

A couple weeks ago the carb started acting wonky..... rough idle..... rough transition from the idle circuit to the main circuit..... ran fine at highway speeds..... it's the universal 600 cfm Holley four barrel.....
Added a can of Sea Foam since I was on a road trip..... seemed to help after a 100 miles or so...... but it still wasn't right.....
No worries..... I had a 670 cfm Holley Truck Avenger that's been sitting around for a couple years.....
Got around to putting it on today..... fired right up..... no leaks..... perfect idle..... adjusted the float levels.....
The Butt Dyno says it performs better than the old carb..... and I know from experience it will work WAY better off road.

Out with the old.....


In with the new.....



I definitely need to clean up the PO's vacuum line routing..... amongst other things.....

Now..... I know someone will ask why I didn't go with fuel injection.....
First..... I like Old Trucks..... even with all their quirks..... (maybe I especially like their quirks)..... when you start adding new technology to Old Trucks..... you don't have an Old Truck anymore in my opinion.....
Second..... the Holley Truck Avenger works awesome off road..... Dice is the 4th Old Truck I've had one on.....
They work so well off road that folks will ask you what fuel injection system you have.....

Anyway..... that's the latest on Dice..... Looking forward to seeing everyone at Overland Expo!
 

DGarman

What could go wrong?
Dice and me had a great time at Overland Expo West!..... It was great to see a lot of you there.....
Dice hauled the booth all the way there and back with no complaints.....



He was pretty much the center of attention in the booth!







He even provided a dry place out of the wind and rain to roll out my Ellis Canvas Bedroll.....



All in all it was a great weekend!
 
Here’s a another picture of Dice!
‘Twas great seeing ya again.
90292279b5f2a11d347376a8cb29e2fd.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

87Waggy

New member
Dennis...love your thread on here...just tried going to your website to look at the leather goods and it says site is not recognized...you probably know this but wanted to let you know just in case. Working on 87 woody....coverted it to look like an early 70's model....only thing missing is the 8 track...
 

DGarman

What could go wrong?
Dennis...love your thread on here...just tried going to your website to look at the leather goods and it says site is not recognized...you probably know this but wanted to let you know just in case. Working on 87 woody....coverted it to look like an early 70's model....only thing missing is the 8 track...
Thanks!..... Good luck on the Jeep!
 

DGarman

What could go wrong?
Lots of work to do in the last few months..... not much camping.....
Got a Vendor Space at the Off Road & Camping Expo in Payson AZ 8/23-25..... left the house at 5:30AM on Thursday..... planned to get to the event about 3:00PM ..... set up the booth and be ready for the Show to open at noon on Friday..... Dice even got a cursory car wash!.....




Not!

Dice had other ideas..... between an underachiever fuel pump and vapor lock and the grades..... we ended up on the side of I-40 about 4 miles east of Ash Fork AZ.....
Spent an hour dribbling fuel from the RotoPax..... running inside to get him started..... rinse..... repeat..... No go..... wrrrr wrrrr wrrrr..... nothing.....
Called AAA..... began the wait for a rollback..... had lots of smokes and beer and all my camping gear..... I could've survived in the trees off to the side for a while.....
Waited a couple hours..... rollback got there...... Dice loaded up nicely..... he has some experience in that respect.....
Sorry..... no photos of Dice broke down..... He was embarrassed..... I respected his feelings.....
Driver took us to Flagstaff..... knew a shop that did work on old hot rods..... Complete Car Care was the name I think..... they had a '57 Chevy, 85 Suburban, '65 Nova, '65 International truck, and a few newer cars hanging around..... The owner (Manny) was an old hot rodder..... like the one that I worked for at the Shell Station 40 years ago.....
Said he couldn't do anything until Friday morning..... I'm OK with that..... called the Event Promoter..... apologized that I wouldn't be able to set up for the Event in time..... got a room at the Super 8 on the East side..... nice place.....
Manny called at about 10:00AM..... fuel pump was still pumping..... but I should probably replace it when I got back home..... air cleaner wrap was plugged (oops, my Bad)..... did a few carb adjustments..... come pick up Dice.....
Got to the shop..... Manny said "Let's go for a test drive"...... he drove, I rode shotgun..... drove a couple miles in town..... slow speed, stops and starts..... Dice ran well..... then Manny got on Route 66 east of town and nailed the gas pedal...... Dice came alive!..... ran through the gears..... next thing I knew we were doing 90mph!..... Manny backed off to 50..... then hit it again up to 90!..... Dice was loving life!..... I realized I need to get on it more with him.....
All in all..... I had a great time with Manny!.....
OK..... late in the morning on Friday..... too late for the Event..... drove to Snowflake AZ to my friend's..... needed to give her a Winchester 94 and some ammo to properly defend herself against Zombies..... intended to give it to her on Monday after the Event..... but that didn't happen.....
Headed back to CA on Saturday..... jotting down "Things To Do On Dice" all the way.....
Back at my Daughter's house in the High Desert of CA..... good NAPA store in town..... ordered/picked up a bunch of parts on my "Dice Maintenance List".....

Spent the last week working on issues/maintenance with Dice:
Major tuneup..... new fuel pump..... new power steering pump and hoses..... new brake master cylinder..... new tie rod and drag link assemblies..... new starter and cable..... relocated the fuel filter (it used to hang right over the exhaust manifold)..... got some more parts on the way also..... but they're a surprise!.....

These should probably be replaced.....







I know a lot of FSJ folks will say "Put in an electric fuel pump!" to cure vapor lock..... I have a Secret Weapon..... Hood Louvers!..... Stay tuned.....
 

DGarman

What could go wrong?
Thanks for the update...been wondering about ole Dice's latest exploits....
Glad you like it!..... UPS just brought the new Steering Box today..... the original has been leaking pretty good out of both ends since before I bought Dice!
 

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