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Alaskan Postal Scrambler advice needed

joncin

joncin

Basic User
City
Phoenix
State
AZ
Hi again. I posted a few months ago on the newbie thread about an AK postal that I happened to be lucky enough to buy. The previous owner had overheated the engine and decided to sell it rather than fix it. Now I need some advice on which way to go.
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After sitting around all summer I finally pulled the engine over Thanksgiving weekend.
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I'm thinking a cracked head or leaking head gasket caused water in the cylinder to hydrolock and break a hole in the piston. It's hard to see but the cylinder is corroded from antifreeze. At this point I'm unsure of any of the rest of the engine. It might be junk.
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At one time I had a 401 but sold it and just recently came across another good deal on a 360 engine, trans, transfer case assy. I was thinking about jamming that in but now I'm having second thoughts about altering the original setup. lol
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Here's my dilemma, I originally bought this jeep to fix up and resell, but it's kinda growing on me and I'm thinking about keeping it. Does anyone have any opinions about the worth of this jeep and what you would do with it? Does anyone also think because of rarity there is an intrinsic value that would be ruined by having a 360 installed?

I was a mechanic in a past life and am a tool junkie so here's a gratuitous garage pic. lol
 
Drop in the 360, keep all original drivetrain parts in your garage, drive it and love it. Problem solved.
 
CJeep said:
Drop in the 360, keep all original drivetrain parts in your garage, drive it and love it. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

What he said .... Build it so you will enjoy it for how ever long you own it. Let the next owner decide if he/she wants to revert back to the original drivetrain.
 
I have a 360 in our postal. Get new motor mounts and it is pretty plug in and play. I would recommend a new 3 core radiator and a fan shroud from a CJ-7 with a factory 304 to help keep it cool in AZ.

The Postal is what you make of it. It's yours, modify it to your tastes. The value depends on who is willing to buy it when you are done with it. The only one I see worth collector value is the one the Alaska transportation museum that is restored and 100% original/stock. And that is more of a collector point. More people want a postal top and doors than usually want a complete one. They do grow on you though....
 
Get a 4.0 from a '91 or newer cherokee. They are still somewhat plentiful in the junkyards, and you'll love the EFI.
 
What will you use your rig for? Start with the end in mind...
I agree, build it to suit your personality and needs. Keep the stock parts that you replace. If you like alittle:D skinny pedal like some of us do, 4.0 won't cut it.

thanks for including us in some of your "build journey"...
btw.. looks like one clean HD you ride... what is it?
z :thumbsup:
 
There's no replacement for displacement...
 
I've decided on the 360 but I can already tell that it will need more power. lol

I'll keep the original six and rebuild it for fun if it's not in too bad of shape. I plan to have the body rust cut out and repaint it as well down the road. I've got a complete underdash AC unit that I would like to "engineer" into place as well. The problem is that it fits into the space that is now taken up by the right side steering. Hmmm.

It will probably be used as a daily driver to work during the winter in Phx and then spend the summers as fishing vehicle at our cabin up in the AZ white mountains. Not a lot of off road use but necessary when needed.

If y'all are interested I'll keep the story and pictures coming.

Oh yeah, the bike is an '03 SE Deuce that is really my fist love. I grew up with motorcycles and this is my first jeep, I'm hoping this will be little safer than the bike as my old bones don't heal as quickly as they used to. lol
 
{""If y'all are interested I'll keep the story and pictures coming""}

We want to see and hear everything. !!


Sent from my iPhone
 
Pics often would be preferred. Now that you've teased you must do a step by step build thread. It's in the rules.
 
Randyzzz said:
There's no replacement for displacement...
Click to expand...

X3! I did the 4.0 replacement and then went to a Hemi with the 545RFE behind it. It's absolutely amazing and satisfying to have that reliable power in it. Build it the way you want it. You'll enjoy it.
 
It's been a while since I've even touched the jeep, so after the holidays I bought a set of new v8 motor mounts and brackets for $30 on Ebay, a used set of fenderwell headers for $30 on Craigslist and I'm looking at the lokar downshift cable (opinions?). Also found an original 4bl squarebore intake from a 401 but I'm not sure if I want to install that yet or run the original 2bl stuff for a while.

While laying on my back in the driveway I cut out the old exhaust system with my sawzall and found that the little molten balls of exhaust pipe going up my sleeves and down my shirt burn pretty good. lol Also cut out the inner fender flat areas to fit the headers, the evap canister sits just above the cutout on the left side and I'm not sure I want it sitting directly on top of the header, any suggestions on where to re mount it?

Another problem that popped up due to my own ignorance is that the rebuilt tranny and transfer case I bought with the 360 is a th400 and quadratrac, so I'll be reusing the original 999 and d300 and selling the th400 and transfer case. Oh well, not my first screw up nor will it be my last. lol

Hopefully I'll get the engine installed in the next few weeks. Maybe I'll take some more pics.
 
I completely missed this thread. :eek:

Anyone who modifies a rare Alaskan Postal is completely :crazy:




;)

Good luck on the AC, that might be interesting.

Can't wait to see what you make out of it. :popcorn:
 
An odd little sidenote.....

If you recall 6 months ago, (after a previous 6 month process), I bought this jeep with a blown motor from a retired postmaster named Stanley with alzheimers. He told me at the time that it was going to cost too much to fix the jeep and since he wouldn't do it, he wanted it to go to someone that would fix it up and enjoy it.

It's now been a year since this process started and I got a call this week from the shop owner that did all of Stanley's maintenance work and he tells me that Stanley called them and told them to give me the rebuilt engine that he had stashed at the shop. Huh?

Anyway, I made a run to northern AZ and will pick up the free engine in the morning. lol
 
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