APRIL 2004 FEATURED VEHICLE |
The Story of Lime |
this article was written by: Stefan DeMatteo
The '83 Lime began as an IDEA as an off-road beast for me about 2 years ago.
All I needed was a GOOD donor Jeep to get the project rolling. I found a beater in my area with all the goodies
I needed. It was a 1983 Jeep CJ7 Laredo that had seen its better days, but the frame, axles and accessories were
just what I was looking for. The hard top, hard doors, and huffed straight 6 were immediately sold away for funds
for bigger and better parts.
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Starting with "the donor" frame, we (we, being my trusty assistant Rusland) sandblasted and coated it with Hammerite topped with Herculiner. Under the frame we used a Black Diamond 3" lift kit with AT shocks mounted with some extended Trailquest "H" style shackles.
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The trusted Detroit locker was added for strength and traction, even though "the Lime" was going to be a street queen for the first few years, it was getting bulked up for the trail.
It was now time for a power plant and I wanted to keep it as "AMC" as I could, so I opted for the 304. Rebuilt and bored out .030 with a performance cam, the old high mile engine began to come to life.
Attached to the engine was a set of headers and straight 3" dual pipes. Bolted to the 304 was the classic T-18a which was completely rebuilt to withstand the torque and power we were creating.
Next, we used the trusted Dana 300 transfer case bolted to the tranny using a Novak adapter (TeraFlex 4:1 gears to be added before the first trail ride in a few years) along with Tom Woods Super Heavy Duty drive shafts.
With a total creeper ratio of 74.9 to 1 "the Lime" was slow enough to tackle the trails in Ohio.
But, once we hit the tougher trails the 4:1 transfer case reduction will be needed for an astounding 115.3 to 1 creeper ratio.
We next added a Trailquest 22 gallon heavy duty gas tank with welded on diamond plate skid specially made to fit the Wrangler gas fill and stainless fuel lines to feed the large appetite of the 304.
Stainless steel brake lines and extended stainless brake hoses rounded out the work needed to complete the rolling chassis.
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I opted for some Corbeau racing seats and harnesses and a Tuffy locking console loaded with stereo and CD player to spiff up the interior.
I chose to keep the dash like the original CJ Laredo style with the factory original clock, tachometer, and speedometer.
I added a Grant steering wheel to the tilting Wrangler steering column and some stainless goodies to round out the interior and exterior. I topped it all off with a Bestop Supertop, Trail Quest heavy duty bumpers, 33" Grabbers with AR58 rims and she was about finished.
Whew, 2-1/2 years later I actually had a running jeep. Of course there are a few items needed to make her completely trail ready (ie. Front locker, 4:1 T-case reduction, and some 35" tires)
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but, " the Lime" is only a road queen for now ....
for comments or questions, contact Stefan at: stefan[at]trailquest[dot]com
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To have a vehicle featured on our site
send information and pictures to Brigitte at: brigitte[at]offroadtrail[dot]com.
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