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"Move that bus!" - My GL-10 project


bobs97c5
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A few months back I bought suberdave's lifted GL-10 wagon while visiting a friend up in Seattle. It has an EJ22, RX FTAWD Dual Range 5-speed, center locking diff, limited slip rear diff, and converted to toyota/chevy 6 lug. I drove it back down to Southern Oregon and right away started grinding and sanding to get all of the rust off of the car. It didn't look like much rust until I actually started grinding and sanding when I realized this was going to be a lot of body work! Anyway, after about a month of prep work on the weekends I finally got around to painting the car.

 

Before:

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And now as Ty Pennington would yell through a megaphone in Extreme Makeover Home Edition:

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"Move that bus!"

 

After:

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I had to bondo in a few locations to get rid of dents and fill in places where I ground down the rust to bare metal. The grinding and sanding took weeks of work. After sanding the car I did two coats of primer. I then did the camo job on the top half with ultra flat rattle can spray paint. I did the base coat of tan, then used a fern leaf to spray on the brown then green over top to make the camo effect. After I completed the camo I taped off the top half of the car and did spray on bed liner for the bottom half of the car. I used about 9 cans of Morton Truck Bed Guard spray on bed liner which equaled about 5 coats of bed liner.

After all of the body work and painting was done I had a friend down at his muffler shop fab up a new 3" snorkel that I topped off with a Safari snorkel head. He also fabed up a new custom skid plate for me that mounts to the front bumper and goes back to the front cross member. He then added a second skid plate going back further (I'll get some pics to post). I also had him make me a new custom exhaust system that tucks up nicely under the car allowing more ground clearance. I went with a Manaflow muffler that sounds great and gives the exhaust a nice boxer rumble without being ricey sounding.

 

I ditched the chrome Nissan wheels I had for some new black steel wheels that are 15"x7". They fit great and the tires don't rub regardless of the wheels being an inch wider than the old ones.

 

I also mounted up new bumpers front and rear, added a roof rack, wired up some off-road lights, and replaced the leaking rear 3.7 LSD with a newer one I had laying around.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to share what I've been up to for the last few months.

Edited by bobs97c5
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Awesome!! Great job with the paint. You must love the EJ with the big tires compared to your other car. I really, really, really want to put an EJ22 in my 89 GL!!! I just need to get a parts car and then have someone do the wiring for me!! Great job and I'd love to see some pics/video of that thing in action!!

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:slobber: That is beautiful! You wouldnt happen to still have the cop pushbars do you? Id be interested in those...

-Bill

 

Yeah, I still have the push bars mounted on the stock front bumper sitting in my garage. I am looking for some new or good used EJ22 motor mounts, some good used transimission mounts for my RX FTAWD transmission, and some good condition EA82 front brake rotors. I also have the stock rear bumper. My old PVC snorkel is free to anyone that wants it. It's too restrictive for the EJ22, but works with the EA82 and EA82T motors.

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Awesome!! Great job with the paint. You must love the EJ with the big tires compared to your other car. I really, really, really want to put an EJ22 in my 89 GL!!! I just need to get a parts car and then have someone do the wiring for me!! Great job and I'd love to see some pics/video of that thing in action!!

 

Yes, I absolutely LOVE the EJ22. More power, better fuel economy by a few MPG, and it gets up to 80mph on the freeway easily. The wiring is by far the most work for the EJ swap, but you could always get one of the painless wiring harnesses that will make your life much easier when doing the swap. I'm lucky to have bought this car from suberdave with the EJ22 already in it! :)

 

My friends and I will likely be doing some off-roading at this trail called McGrew in O'Brien (Southern Oregon near Grants Pass) in the next few weeks so I'll get some pics and video to post.

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very nice. i definitly approve.

 

looks like a whole new car, thr lights in the front grill is about the only thing that gives it away...

 

glad you like the car, you have certanly made it much better, and added some much needed love...

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I would love to get that snorkel :eek:

 

Bratman18 called it first, but I'll let you know if he ends up not wanting it.

 

The old snorkel that I have up for free is just he PVC portion of the old snorkel. The air filter and housing was toast, so it went in the trash. You would still need to cut a hole in your finder, get the mounting hardware (you could use hose clamps screwed into the sheet metal or weld tabs for mounting), and then get an air filter and hoses to connect up to your MAF. I am going to use a K&N Appollo in-line air filter, but you could buy a cheaper air filter and housing to mount at the top of the snorkel. With a good coat of paint the PVC would look better than it does now.

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bobs, I like your bumpers, did you make them?

 

 

 

 

 

:slobber: That is beautiful! You wouldnt happen to still have the cop pushbars do you? Id be interested in those...

-Bill

 

they have them on eBay sometimes too, cop pushbars have been on my list for a while now!

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The front bumper is from Allied Armament and the rear bumper was made by [HTi]Johnson from Head Trauma Inc out of Eugene. I like both bumpers quite a bit. Check out http://www.headtraumainc.com/

 

wow, the rear is a blatant copy of the ones that AA made. right down to the plates on the side mimicking the shape of the quarter. only difference is the receiver is mounted better than it was on mine.

 

 

 

Extremely sweet rig. and the new paint looks awesome! Great work :banana:

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wow, the rear is a blatant copy of the ones that AA made. right down to the plates on the side mimicking the shape of the quarter. only difference is the receiver is mounted better than it was on mine.

 

:

 

That's ok. AA's front half of their lift kit was a blatant copy of PK's kit. . .

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Very Nice!!! :slobber::slobber::slobber:

 

Great job on the camo! :Flame: I had a similar idea on the bed-liner being on the side, just I have it only to the trim line on my Brat.

 

I'm just beginning to tackle the rust on mine, and your aren't joking! It's a lot of work zzz, I am just getting to the stage where I will have to look at cutting out the worst parts and having better stuff welded in.

 

Hopefully my paint job will turn out as well as yours. :)

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WOW, man "move that bus" is right:slobber:

Your stenciling is awsome, youve enspired my plan on repairing my faded clearcoat on ROXY. I love "CAMOCLAD"by 3M, but why spend the bread when we can grab a great idea and some ultra flat colors and make a fun family project.:banana:

The rest of that beauty is awsome!!!!! VERY NICE POST:slobber::slobber::slobber::slobber::slobber:

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That thing looks real good, And I like your co-pilot he/she looks to be happy to be in such a sweet ride!!!:banana:

 

Jeff

 

That's my English Bulldog named Cloie. She loves getting to drive around with me.

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What diameter is the pipe?

 

The inside diameter of the old snorkel is 2" with an outside diameter around 2.25" or 60cm. Sorry, I still haven't had a chance to check on shipping. I had a busy week last week and and an even busier holiday weekend.

 

Here is a pic of it:

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Edited by bobs97c5
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Sorry, I still haven't had a chance to check on shipping. I had a busy week last week and and an even busier holiday weekend.

 

 

No worries. There's not much i can do when i'm on the other side of the planet :)

 

But i still want it!

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