1993 Don-A-Vee/Leduc Grand Cherokee Vintage Racer

[TrailReady]

I did happen to find a photo of our Jeep from the 2000 Baja 500 with Will Snitchler DOR. He was the Utah guy that owned it from 2000 to 2012 or so.

 

[jon coleman]

officially the ugliest wheels ARE ever made

 

[TrailReady]

I've wanted to participate in Darren Skilton's Sonora Rally since he started it but none of my Jeeps were equipped to handle the big dunes. My dual sport ZJ has a tired stock motor and is fine for just about everything except dunes. Thats part of what drove the decision to put a V8 in the Leduc built ZJ. We're nearly done with prep for the March event and here's the initial start of the new Nogrady 5.9 Mopar motor. Essentially a ProLite motor tune for Pemex and dyno'd at 450hp. Hopefully this motor with 40 gallons cell will get us around.

 

[TrailReady]

Heat cycles done. Time to get this thing back in the dirt!!

 

[jon coleman]

whats the best offroad capable junkyard mopar eng.trans combo for a d- 100 truck swap?,looking good^

 

[Bro_Gill]

I think you could do a 360/TH400 pretty easy. Think the TH was used in the Gladiators at some point.

 

[michael.gonzalez]

I think you could do a 360/TH400 pretty easy. Think the TH was used in the Gladiators at some point.

Late 60's/Early 70's V8 J-trucks got a TH-400 IIRC.

Although, I believe it was a different bellhousing pattern as it was the Buick or AMC V8's for those years but I could be wrong.

 

[TrailReady]

We were so far ahead on prep for the Mexican 1000 that something was sure to go wrong, and it did. After only 50 miles of testing we discovered an issue that required pulling the motor and starting over. Got it back in last weekend and testing this weekend. Should be all good to go now.

 

[Tom_Willis]

We were so far ahead on prep that something was sure to go wrong, and it did.
View attachment 243590

In our case, the "something" generally was running out of discretionary funds.

 

[TrailReady]

We had an awesome Mexican 1000 experience in the DonAVee Leduc ZJ!! We were fastest in class in 8 of 10 stages. Maybe too fast as we had a crack develop in the left front spring/bumpstop tower and we’re forced to miss the longest stage to rush to Loreto to make repairs with The Fab School guys. While this Jeep was a momentum racer with the straight six, it’s a whole different car accelerating from corner to corner with 430hp. Looking forward to testing our skills in the Sonora Rally this fall.

 

[jon coleman]

was it raced in 2 or 4wd?, how Did it drive compared to the i. 6?, i was just about to do a v8 swap in mine, but..., ran out of funds