Renegade: ren·e·gade /ˈrenəˌɡād/ Noun – A person who behaves in a rebelliously unconventional manner.
***
When normal folks finish putting together a classic, highly desirable vehicle, they’ll typically sit back and admire the result of those countless hours of labor.
But for our pal Doug, once he installed the last bolt on his stunningly original CJ-7 project, he decided that the Jeep was still missing one thing:
“The cool factor,” he smiles.
So despite having just assembled a meticulously stock 1986 CJ-7 with the coveted Renegade package, Doug ripped the front end apart, yanked the fresh 258, and stuffed a 5.3L LS V8 in its place.
…
…
Yup folks—it turns out that Doug is a real…
<David Caruso Glasses>
</David Caruso Glasses>
All kidding aside, Doug’s a bona fide Jeep guy and has owned several CJs over the years. He bought this one as a stalled project from the previous owner.
“He and his son started a restoration on it,” he describes. “But the son had grown up and moved on.”
The good news is, it was complete and all the parts were bagged and tagged—just some assembly required.
The paint and stripe/sticker package is original as well. And the now-departed 258 inline six?
“It was all re-done too,” Doug laughs.
The Jeep’s new 5.3L LS V8 engine was plucked from a 1999 Chevy Silverado truck, cable drive throttle body and all. As the engine cover indicates, Doug sourced a lot of the LS engine swap parts and adapters from the experts at Novak Conversions.
Power goes through a 4L80E on its way to a Dana 300 transfer case. “The twin stick was really just for packaging, to make it all work,” Doug tells us.
Interestingly, Doug’s Jeep was also one of the lucky CJs that came factory-equipped with the rare and sought-after Dana 44 rear end instead of the usual AMC 20 axle.
“Yeah, they’d run out of the 20s,” he explains. “I’ve had a few of those. It seems like every ’86 I’ve got had the 44 in it.”
Doug’s owned the Renegade for about 10 years, and it’s been on the road since 2018.
He’s happy to report that the Jeep drives exceptionally well too—with the stock 2.73 gears in that aforementioned 44 rear end, it eats up highway miles.
“We kept thinking the gas gauge was broken,” he laughs. “It’s at, like, 1,300 rpm in overdrive when you’re cruising. It just doesn’t burn any fuel.”
We bumped into Doug at the annual Jeep Jam in southwest Ohio a while back, and we were glad to hear that he drives it all over the place to attend a wide range of Jeep shows and events.
More importantly, once it arrives, the CJ is still being used as intended.
“It’s going on a trail ride tomorrow,” he smiles.
And there’s nothing rebellious about that.
Comments