# My new bugout vehicle!



## d_saum

Yeee-hawww... Just picked up my new BOV! 83 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. It's all original with a 258 straight six, 4 inch lift kit, and 33 inch tires! Now I just need to get my hands on some spare parts (ya know.. just in case of an EMP attack ..  ) and outfit it with some goodies, and I'll be good to go!


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## mdprepper

Very nice! Congratulations :2thumb:


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## tac803

Sweet! The color is great, and if you threw some black wheels on that bad boy it'd be good to go!!!
You thinking about beefing up the front bumper and throwing a winch on?


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## Tweto

This is my kind of BOV. Good job!


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## NaeKid

That is in real good shape!!! Congrats!

Love to see what you do with it over the next while to make it more capable!


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## d_saum

Thank you, thank you! I love this ugly (read: gorgeous) thing!!!! First order of business is just going through it, cleaning the interior, changing all the fluids, etc.. Next will be getting the AC working (I know I know.. but NC is hot, and I'm a sissy... not to mention I'm a big fat sweaty guy). After that, I need to put a hitch receiver on it, then I'm thinking some kind of roof rack, bumper, winch, brush guard, etc.. The Guy I got it from took it wheelin all the time and said it does great on the trails! I can't wait to get it into the woods and see how she handles and take some more pictures of her in action.


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## sailaway

SWEET!:2thumb:


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## SARSpecialist

Nice...looks like a great BOV


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## ajsmith

That is a great rig. One of those would be my first choice for a B.O.V. but I'll probably have to settle with my 2nd choice, the baby version of yours, the XJ. I'm looking forward to seeing your build up, please post pics as you go. 
:2thumb:


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## ONEOLDCHIEF

Hope this is not a stupid question, but what is the gas milage for a beast such as this? By the way it looks nice...


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## d_saum

ajsmith said:


> That is a great rig. One of those would be my first choice for a B.O.V. but I'll probably have to settle with my 2nd choice, the baby version of yours, the XJ. I'm looking forward to seeing your build up, please post pics as you go.
> :2thumb:


lol! Well, if it's your first choice, don't settle!  They're out there.. you just have to be patient and keep looking. If you find a decent one though, don't wait too long to jump on it. All that being said, I had the same exact plan as you. If I couldn't find a Wagoneer, then I was going to get an XJ/Cherokee. There are a million of them out there, and they are cheap as dirt! :beercheer:


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## d_saum

ONEOLDCHIEF said:


> Hope this is not a stupid question, but what is the gas milage for a beast such as this? By the way it looks nice...


Not a stupid question at all... The Wagoneers with the 360 V8 in them would get anywhere from 12 to about 15 miles per gallon. Even less with bigger tires and lift kits. This one, because it's an inline 6 cylinder, gets about 18 - 19 mpg. The guy I got it from said it gets 19mpg even with the bigger tires on it.... and he seemed like a straight shooter. I drove it back to the house from about 45 - 50 miles away and the gas gauge didn't move nearly as much as my old Wagoneer, or even my Jeep Commander for that matter (that thing got atrocious gas mileage for a newer vehicle).


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## echo1432

You could always put a 6BT in there.


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## JustCliff

Sweet rig!


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## d_saum

echo1432 said:


> You could always put a 6BT in there.


Negative Ghostrider... I mean, I could... but... After the zombie apocalypse happens, there's going to be a LOT more gas just lying around in all the abandoned cars, as opposed to diesel. Also, that's a LOT of work that I really wouldn't care to do. That 258 six cylinder is just fine, and one the best engines AMC ever made, so, because I'm lazy and it's great engine... I'll leave it as it is. Besides.. I'm a cheapskate.


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## d_saum

JustCliff said:


> Sweet rig!


Thank you sir!


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## LincTex

echo1432 said:


> You could always put a 6BT in there.


Naw.... 4BT Cummins 3.9 would be better, or a 3.9 liter Isuzu.


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## LincTex

d_saum said:


> That 258 six cylinder is just fine, and one the best engines AMC ever made, so, because I'm lazy and it's great engine... I'll leave it as it is.


Yeah, fantastic!! They run forever!! Keep a few spares handy, no problem.


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## ajsmith

Hey d_saum, any up dates?


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## Moby76065

How perfect is that!!!!!


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## zombieresponder

d_saum said:


> Not a stupid question at all... The Wagoneers with the 360 V8 in them would get anywhere from 12 to about 15 miles per gallon. Even less with bigger tires and lift kits. This one, because it's an inline 6 cylinder, gets about 18 - 19 mpg. The guy I got it from said it gets 19mpg even with the bigger tires on it.... and he seemed like a straight shooter. I drove it back to the house from about 45 - 50 miles away and the gas gauge didn't move nearly as much as my old Wagoneer, or even my Jeep Commander for that matter (that thing got atrocious gas mileage for a newer vehicle).


I've never talked to anyone with a 360 powered Cherokee that got over 11, so I can't imagine the heavier wagoneer getting better mileage. My father in law's old quadratrac cherokee gets about 8, on standard size tires with no lift. The 360 powered cherokee chief dad sold to a buddy of mine didn't get 10, again on factory tires with no lift.


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## LincTex

I don't think it would be too much to ask of a 360 to get 14 or 15, that should be pretty easy to achieve. Tuning an engine is an exact science, and a lot of people don't know how to go after the last 2-3 mpg. There's another 2-3 mpg in drivetrain losses that most people overlook.


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## willysman

If you want an easy (relatively) and fairly cheap way to increase mileage and improve cold weather starting and over all driveability google GM HEI distributor swap. They are cheap and readily available and parts are as well. Much more reliable than the old duraspark modules and you can carry spare modules in your glove box.


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## LincTex

willysman said:


> Much more reliable than the old duraspark modules and you can carry spare modules in your glove box.


There isn't much power or mileage to be gained by swapping the whole distributor.

You can use the HEI module with very little work:

http://www.carbdford.com/tech/HEI/hei.htm


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## d_saum

well.. Here's a quasi-update.. I FINALLY got the Wagoneer back from the mechanic yesterday because I was having them fix the AC.. and of course, it needed just about everything so that cost me quite a bit more than I expected. I know I know.. AC? Yeah.. but I'm a wuss when it comes to NC summers and the heat and humidity kill me, so AC is a must (for me). 

So I go pick it up, and go to the store to grab some camping gear, and when I come out, I see coolant underneath the Jeep..  Since I wasn't that far away, I hop in and drive back to the mechanics shop, but alas, they are all gone for the day. I leave the key in their drop box and leave them a voicemail stating what the issue is. They call me back the next morning saying it was a radiator hose that was falling apart, and lo and behold.. they fixed it for free! (mostly because I spent so much on the AC stuff)

So.. basically I typed all that to say I just got it back and can now start to mess with it, and get the extra parts for EMP protection. Oh, and I also got a backpack for it that will be my dedicated GHB. 

Updates to follow.


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