Took the 77 out for it’s first off road trip. It performed as expected. tires rubbed the radius arms at full lock turn. This thing will scare you! Climbs just about anything and handles the bid rocks no problem. Can’t decide what to do with the paint. maybe a rattle can camo job for ease of touch up?
Bought some junkyard buckets seats and installed them. had the tub line-x’d inside and put carpet in. Bought the tires and wheels. Decided to go with irok radials on allied beadlocks. had to trim fenders so I add gorilla warflares from wild horses. Bought a rear bumper from wildhorses as well. 77 is starting to like something! need to take some pics.
Decided to go with a hansen front bumper and warn hs9500 winch. Got the wiring harness installed.. time consuming but fairly easy as the harness wires are labeled clearly making it easy. looking for door hardware… probably find onn ebay. Have added disc brakes to the rear.
Fired up the engine…. wholy shit this things a monster!! Bought a new wiring harness so that’ll be the next major upgrade. starting to look at bumpers and winches. Need a rear bumper that will hold spare tire, gas can and ice chest. Also starting to plan a roll cage. Want to tie the cage into the frame and mount the seats to it.
So the running gear and suspension has been finished. have the floor pans, fenders and hood installed. Need a new radiator. Not sure if I’ll go with an electric fan or mechanical.
Went with a pro flow type fiberglass hood. Going to make custom air cleaner intake to clear the hood. the tranny is in and waiting for the atlas tcase to show up. Started the floor plan replacement. Ordered new gasket replacement kit.
Found and aod and had it rebuilt to handle the horse power of the engine… somewhere around 450 I’m guessing. Bought some fenders and out them on. Looking for a hood that will clear the 351.
The engine is finally together and resting in the engine bay. Looking for tranny. We bought a house and have been busy fixing it up and moving.
Trying to buy a house so I haven’t spent much money on the 77. Got the 351 and the parts to stroke it. the block is at the machine shop. need to figure out the gear ratio for the tcase. Went with 4.56 in the diffs. With 42’s the tcase needs low gearing for low range.
Tore into the 302. needs a rebuild. Going to find a 351 and stroke it to 39o+ . Going to add fuel injection, not sure about headers as they can be problematic. For the tranny I’m thinking about an aod. I want the overdrive for the highway.