Here's the victim
http://island4x4.com/forum/tnd/tnd4.jpg

Long term resto-mod project. This truck has been sitting in the woods for 15yrs, major rust and a full rebuild of everything is needed.
Its a 1965 Kaiser J-2000 4x4. First inspection reveals it likely has Dana 44's front & rear(closed knuckle/drumbrake front), Tornado 230ci OHC I6, T-89 3spd, Dana 20 t-case, PTO Ramsey 8000lb winch.

So far plans are to keep the Tornado, replace the axles with Dana 60 front & rear(maybe Dana70 rear if one can be found), swap the Dana 20 for a Dana 300, and a SM 465 in place of the T-89. SOA in front and softer riding lift springs in back with air bag load assist.

The big obstacle to the drivetrain is the bellhousing. I can't find any info on swaps like this. If anyone has any insight it would be appreciated. Worse comes to worse, fabricating a bellhousing from scratch is definitely an option.

If you don't decide to build it let me know what you want for the title. I have an 81 j-10 and smog sucks :mad:

Neil
krazyjeepr@hotmail.com

For some reason, this is the only pic I can find of this truck...This belongs to Neil, His dad runs J&W auto wreckers and could probably go a long way to helping you.

Give him a shout
Mark: 800-924-9732

So that is Neils Truck eh?

That thing is BAD ASS.

Thanks Monkeyboy, and how about an address to ship you your junk? :flipoff2: Thanks Joel for postin that and yes Flip1YJ my dad will give you all the info that he knows.

Neil

Hey Sorry bout that :D

I still need to write down the numbers of the parts I have.
I finally found them in my garage full O junk.

I think the parts you pulled out of the 89 XJ will work though.

I'll PM you my address today.

Thanks for the help.

Don't build it, sell it to me, please? purty please? Kaiser J-trucks kick arse if for no other reason than they somewhat resemble an M715, I don't know why you'd keep the Tornado, but it would be cool anyway, I'd be more likely to run miscellaneous GM V8, maybe big block, SM465, ORD doubler, NP205, GM Dana 60 and 14 bolt SOA with Waggy lift springs and a shackle flip rear rolling around on 39.5 TSL's

Oh yeah, and don't ditch the thriftside bed, that's the coolest part.

eeehhhh i wouldn't recommend keeping the SOHC 230 i6 unless you have deep pockets or ungodly fab skills and a complete shop to yourself. they're cool engines for nostalgia if nothing else, but expensive as hell to rebuild and maintain.

i don't spose you're willing to sell that rhino chaser grille, are ya?

Originally posted by WillyPete
I don't spose you're willing to sell that rhino chaser grille, are ya?

PM me if you want one....

Neil

I'd recommend stopping by the IFSJA (http://www.ifsja.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi) page and asking about the tornado there. there are a few that know a about the engine.

There is a guy there that usually goes by "-joe" and he has a few older full-sizes and is pretty into the drivetrain for them.

I wish I had a pic of my friends '69. It has the same box on it. It is the only one I have seen personally with it. His runs a 401, 400, 20 with 44s fr. He runs 36 TSL radials. Great truck, we are rebuilding the box right now. I'll see if I can find some pics. If you do want to get rid of it, let me know. I'll come and get it.

Erin

Some day it'll be a beast like this one:D
http://rps4wd.com/kw/frank.jpg

Appreciate the feedback guys!! I definitely plan to keep the truck and even if I find a good donor cab/parts truck, I would stick with the Rhino grill! Same goes for the Thriftside box. I'm looking at putting a subframe under it and converting it to hydraulic dump. It needs to be rebuilt anyway, and it looks like a subframe made of 2" square tubing would fit nicely and be pretty much invisible if the skirting is extended by an inch.
I would like to keep the Tornado specifically for the nostalgia. I don't need the truck to be high HP as I already have one that is, and a couple of others in the planning stage. The Tornado is pretty cool for a couple of reasons, OHC and Hemi. I figure some upgrades to the engine in the area of minor compression increase to about 8.75:1, and dual webbers on custom manifold, with long tube headers. More trouble than its worth probably, but hell why not, thats what long term projects are all about.

Thanks for the number Scout Dude, Neil I'll give your dad a call probably tomorrow. I'm assuming he's in California?, what time of day is good to reach him at that number?

It just so happens a certain moderator of this very section has probably the largest supply of 230 OHC parts in the world. All I'm trying to get rid of for cheap. Plus we are pretty much the only place I know of that specializes in J series parts. If you go to the IFSJA recomended parts page DO NOT believe the negative response we have changed owners since then. We even dig it when Red Willy visits. especially when he brings CD's of all his "wheeling" pictures ;)


Hey Niel tell your dad Hi. And hook me up with one of those grills my wife's '87 Grand Waggy needs one. :D

I checked the site, but couldnt find any listings for Tornado parts, specifically rebuild kits, oil pumps, timing chains, etc... all the stuff you'd expect to need for an engine that was blowing blue 15 yrs ago and then parked in a damp climate :crybaby2: (temperate rainforest) , any pointers as to where I should be looking, or are they some of theparts that are on a ask and ye shall recieve basis :confused:

Try to find M715 front fenders and cab. They should bolt on with almost no mods. I think it will be much easier and cheaper to go w/ a Ford T18. Research the 230 before you decide to keep it.

Oh yeah baby, '87 Grand Waggy with Kaiser J-truck grille, don't forget J-10 fender flares and SOA Ford HP F250 Dana 44 front and GM 14 bolt rear, especially if it's a woody with leather interior, damn, them things is cool, and with a chick driving it? Is your wife hot? Damn, now I'm going to have to go look at that early '90's Grand Waggy I saw for sale on the way to work, now if there was a way to make the hardtop removeable.....Dammit! At least you got me to quit thinking about the '59 Willys wagon I saw for sale last weekend with an SOA on stock axles, a 289 HiPo Ford and all original steel and interior in great shape.....geez, for $3000 I could park it in my driveway and piss off my neighbors.

Originally posted by Steve N
Plus we are pretty much the only place I know of that specializes in J series parts.

Hey Niel tell your dad Hi. And hook me up with one of those grills my wife's '87 Grand Waggy needs one. :D

Hey Steve it is NEIL not Niel :flipoff2:
Any ways e-mail me and I will see what I can do for you with a grill. Oh yeah and I have the most FSJ's......

http://www.jwjeep.com/images/Photos/Rim00082.jpg

This is an old pick too. :flipoff2:
Flip1YJ the best time to call my dad is between 8:30am and 5:00pm monday thru friday and 9:00am saturday to 2:00 pm saturday he is always here. Now the mood he is in when you call depends on the customers throughout the day. :D

RedWilly don't talk about the chick in the back ground that way she doesn't look like a beast to me she looks cute :flipoff2: just kiddin that is a nice truck.

Neil

You are going to have a heck of a time finding parts for that motor. As far as I know they do not make any kits for it. You might find some NOS stuff for sale on E-bay once in a great while. You will find info on it and maybe some parts on it at: IFSJA (http://www.ifsja.org) I have the same motor in a 63 J-300 and It is coming out and being replaced due to the parts issues. There is plenty of room to replace it with just about anything you want. In my case it is going to be a 472 out of a 71 Caddy.:)

http://www.specialtyparts.com/
This guy has all kinds of NOS stuff for our type of jeep, i even saw some stock owners manuals.

Originally posted by Gwamp
You are going to have a heck of a time finding parts for that motor.

Originally posted by a guy that apparently types in a invisible font
It just so happens a certain moderator of this very section has probably the largest supply of 230 OHC parts in the world. All I'm trying to get rid of for cheap.

Actually starting to look not bad at all for parts avaliability. The local parts shop has listings for pistons, rings, bearings, timing chain, and talking to Neil's dad it sounds like anything I can't find locally is probably avaliable either there or hopefully at Specialty Parts.

Anyone have any input on using the sm465 with the Tornado? Full custom job? I haven't found an adapter listing yet in the AA catalog.

Thanks for the correction LAME, I missed that part of the post. :)

Good luck with your project Flip1YJ, it should be lots of fun. the motor in mine was unrepairable anyways. How are the floorboards and the bed in that beast?

The Tornado engines are cool, BUT.... Check out www.m715zone.com, there are guys with stock to highly modded trucks there, and occasionally a "cheap" or free tornado pops up. LOTS of help there on trans and adaptors too. for those who love the M715, I've got mine for sale in Indiana..:beer:

Originally posted by Gwamp
How are the floorboards and the bed in that beast?

Floorboards on the pass side aren't bad, driver's side definitely needs replacing, but hopefully it will be a non issue. I'm looking for a donor truck, especially the cab as it is badly rusted, as stated before, damp climate by the ocean. The goodnews is that I have a very promising lead. Found a truck that has already had the floorboards and a bunch of other stuff done, and apparently some kid owns it, but has pretty much abandoned it at the shop that did the work, and still owes the guy some money. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one and trying to track the guy down.

The bed floor is amazingly good, as are the lower skirting on the bed. The sides are rotted through pretty badly at the bottom, as well as a couple of the stake pockets. Fortunately the bed will be easy to disassemble and refabricate rusted parts so no wories there.

Thanks for the link Weps even if you are a sick bastard for telling me now that your selling your M715 :flipoff2:

Sounds like you have a good solid base for a project. You can get a cab from a much later J-truck if need be as they are almost the same and stuff it on there if you lead falls through. If it does fall through, someone over at the IFSJA will have one for sale cheap I am sure. Alot of the time stuff like that is just given away 'cause people want it out of the yard/field/garage or whatever. Have fun! :D