89 MJ

Looked like a fun one!

And here’s some build sheet goodness.

Also, I forgot to add pics last night, so here they are.

It lives!

I do like the 4:10s with 31s quite a lot. In traffic, it’s hard to beat the 4:10s for the ease of launching. If I could do my truck again, I’d either go up to 33s or drop down to 3:73 gears. My truck spends a lot of time on the highway and is turning roughly 2200 at 60 mph. That said, my truck has still gotten 20 mpg running 75 mph. Personally, I don’t think a 3:55 is quite enough gear when you’re in traffic. It would be great on a freeway, but a little lacking around town.

This seems very familiar. Is this David Tracy from the Autopian? I watched the video on this truck.

Case closed, the car is a WS7. The WS6 and WS7 were special handling packages. In order for the WS7 explanation to make sense, I think I ought to explain WS6 first. In 1978, Pontiac debuted the WS6 Performance Package. This consisted of a larger diameter rear sway bar (3/4" instead of the standard 5/8"), tighter steering box gear ratio, GR70-15 raised white letter Goodyear Polysteel Radials, and the 15x8 inch snowflake wheels. In 1979, Pontiac added rear disc brakes to the WS6 Performance Package. The rear discs were also available as an option on their own with the J65 RPO code, they were not exclusive to the WS6 cars. Because the rear discs were more popular than Pontiac imagined, they actually ran out of disc brake rear ends for a brief while. Rather than halt production on the popular WS6 cars due to the lack of disc brake rear ends, Pontiac came out with the WS7 Performance Package, which was identical to the WS6 package, just with rear drum brakes instead, just like 1978 had. The WS7 was a partial year option, so it is considerably rarer than even the WS6. This is one of those cases where rare doesn't necessarily mean valuable. Because of the handling package, it is probably worth a little bit more than a regular Trans Am, but I wouldn't say that it is probably worth more than a WS6 car. Its also worth mentioning that this is GM rare, not AMC|Jeep rare. Pontiac built 48,488 Trans Ams with a 403 in 79 alone. Its probably safe to assume that there were still a few thousand WS7 cars built. More pics of the car coming tonight.

That’s the hope! All signs are pointing to yours being a WS6, which is super cool!

I’m very surprised it’s so nice. Not yet at least. He hasn’t gotten it running yet!

They are really neat. He’s planning on keeping it for a while at least. Should make for a decent cruiser. Yeah, we do have a collecting problem. It’s a really nice car from the pics I’ve seen.

I swear @eaglescout526 and I don’t deliberately copy each other. My Dad was offered this car from the bus driver that my brother and I had through school for a price he could not pass up. What we know now: The PO bought the car in 1980. It has somewhere around 31k actual miles. The car has been sitting for at least 20 years. It has a 403, automatic, limited slip rear, rear drum brakes, AC, tilt column, cruise control, power windows, power locks, and the Body by Fisher T-Tops (the Smokey and the Bandit cars had the Hurst T-Tops). The car did get painted sometime in the very early 80s due to hail damage. Cowl tag decode: The A in the trim tag means it was built the first week of the month, but I can’t read the month which is the character before that. 2FS87 is Pontiac Firebird 2 door coupe N is the Norwood, OH plant 196129 is the Fisher body number Based on the pictures and seeing the N on the far left of the tag right above the screw, I believe the interior is 12N Oyster Vinyl 15L is Platinum poly on the lower body 15U is Platinum poly on the upper body L is lacquer based paint A51 bucket seats CC1 is removable hatch roof A31 power windows WS4 just means trans am Not sure what GR2 is Now here’s the weird part about the car: It has the 15x8 snowflake wheels that were typically reserved for the WS6 special handling package cars. Because this car has rear drums, we know it is not a WS6. It turns out that there was a WS7 package that was nearly the same as the WS6, but it had drum brakes. Could this be one of the very rare WS7 cars? The build sheet and diameter of the rear sway bar will tell us more, but that will have to wait for a little while. What it needs: It has old paint and sat uncovered in a garage (which likely saved it), but it needs buffed The radiator leaks The exhaust system needs replacing Likely some metal brake lines and all of the rubber ones New rubber vacuum and fuel lines Its safe to assume it’ll have a few leaks that need fixing Pics from inside the PO’s garage: Loading it up: In the trailer:

You’ll lose some departure angle too. I’d carry a plug kit and a little battery air compressor for daily driving and strap a spare in the bed for roadtrips and wheeling.

Ok, that’s actually pretty awesome

That must've been a cozy trip. Very fun, but very cozy.

That is exactly why I was still tempted. And then that makes the bumper essentially free, so I wouldn't feel bad about modifying it to fit my MJ if necessary or maybe even my Eagle. LOL! That is an excellent story and very unsurprising that the salesman didn't understand right away.

Oh they definitely don't. They don't understand the difference between a winch and a wench either. Here's the entire ad: I'm still slightly tempted though. It has a Warn winch on it and is $300.

I was thinking that they didn't look quite like any XJ brackets I've seen, but I've also never seen an ARB on one. I think this might be a ZJ bumper after more looking.

I have come across what I think might be an XJ ARB bumper with a winch on FBMP. The ad says it is for a Cherokee, but the bumper brackets look suspect to me. Can anyone confirm or deny that this is correct for an XJ or MJ?

He probably would. I think he has to dial in a couple more settings, which will have to wait until he’s home from school in NC though.

Those are neat! My grandpa had a TR-6 in the Navy in Scotland and loved it.

Some neat pictures mostly from the late 80s and early 90s that my parents and grandparents have taken of some cars that they knew well. Starting with the newest photo. This is probably from 2001 or 2002 and is my grandpa’s 34 Chevy Master Town sedan. It was a super rare car because it had a trunk and it had a tree going through it when my grandpa got it. He and my dad made it a hot rod in the late 80s and early 90s. It had a 350 built to 1971 LT1 specs, but with a hydraulic cam and a tripower, Mustang II suspension, Ford 8” rear, and a TH350. Next are some cars that my grandparents’ neighbor had when my dad was growing up. The neighbor had muscular dystrophy, so he could not drive by the late 90s, but was still a huge car guy. His 67 Mustang fastback. The 67 again with his 66 fastback that had custom flared fenders. My dad later bought the 66. Look close and you’ll see a J10 in the background of the next two photos. More pics of just the 66. And now for the holy grail. This next car was one of the neighbor’s prized possessions. My dad would drive him around in this car even before he had his permit. Unfortunately, it had been resprayed green instead of the factory red (though the green is a nicer color) and it no longer had the numbers matching engine. It is a 68 Shelby GT500 KR Convertible. One of 318 built. Anyone else have neat old pics like these? Let’s see them!

Finally, pictures at my grandparents’ current house with my grandpa’s 34 Chevy.

These pics are at my grandparents’ old house on a friend’s trailer.

Well, no progress on the truck since the last update and no plans to get much done on it in the near future, but I have more pics of the build. This first batch is pics from before the cab was primed at my dad’s shop. These pics are from 2012 or earlier based on my dad’s old red GMC in the 5th pic. That pic and the second to last pic has my grandpa’s 34 Chevy in it too.