1976 Jeep Wagoneer – Built to Be Used

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Vehicle Quick Facts

Profile ID: 69119
Year: 1976
Make: Jeep
Model: Wagoneer
Markets: Classic & Antique, Off Road, Resto-Mod
Vehicle Type: American
Contact: Chance Leake

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Vehicle Story

My understanding of Jeeps has always been rooted in function over form. That perspective came early, shaped by my dad and his 1996 Cherokee XJ, which he bought second hand from my grandfather and built to be used.

It wasn’t a show build. It was set up to work. He drove it where most people wouldn’t attempt, and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. I remember watching the suspension cycle, the 32" tires stuffing cleanly into the fenders, and realizing how capable that platform really was. That Jeep went everywhere and then some.

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After coming home from a military deployment in 2020, I felt off in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Before deploying, motorcycles were my life. I put over 43,000 miles on one bike in two years and sank more than $10,000 into a drag racing focused build. I planned on racing it and chasing records. When I got home, I got burned on that build, and reality hit hard. Setting wheelies down at 130 mph, watching the front tire stop spinning in the air, and smoke from the tire touching the pavement was eventually going to catch up to me. At the same time, I realized I didn’t enjoy motorcycles the way I used to. So I sold the bike.

I traded it for a boat, thinking I could reconnect with what I loved growing up, wakeboarding, skiing, being on the water. After only a few trips, I knew that chapter was closed too. Then I went wheeling again with a couple buddies. One trip was all it took. Something clicked. I realized this was the therapy I’d been missing.

I started looking for a Full Size Jeep, nothing too wild.. Dana 44s and maybe 35s were about as far as I wanted to go. I wanted something comparable to my dad’s old XJ, the Jeep that went everywhere. I posted in a local FSJ forum looking for a mild build. Buried in the comments was a 1976 Jeep Wagoneer, tons, a 5.3L swap, SM465, NP205, OD green, built fenders, running and driving. It was more than I asked for, but I couldn’t walk away. I sold my daily driver, a 2014 Ram 2500 and paid cash a few days later.

I was hooked immediately.

The first weekend I owned it, I took it wheeling at Cross Bar Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma. For the first time, I spent a full weekend wheeling with my dad in my own Jeep, not just riding along. At the time, it felt like a great weekend. I didn’t realize how important that memory would become.

I had a Mercedes OM606 diesel sitting in the corner of my garage that I’d wanted to put into something for years. I decided the Wagoneer was the candidate. This was my first real swap aside from a previous 6.0L LS swap C10 I owned, and I knew I had a lot to learn. I also knew I was biting off more than I could chew but staying comfortable meant zero growth. If I was going to challenge myself and really learn this Jeep, this was the time.

I pulled the drivetrain in a weekend, sold it, and used that money to start the swap. Around the same time, COVID wrecked my job in commercial aviation NDT. My budget disappeared almost overnight. For the next two years, progress meant rewiring, cleaning, painting, and fixing small things, anything I could do without spending money.

Later, I took a shop management position at a local truck accessories shop. It gave me after hours access and a lift. I burned the midnight oil almost every night for a year and a half. I wasn’t a bar guy so I wasn’t going out. This Jeep took all my time.

Eventually, I got it running with an OM606, a TH400 with a reverse manual valve body, and an NP205. I was ecstatic. In 2022, I took it to King of the Hammers, a dream trip for me. That trip also humbled me. The Jeep wasn’t quite right, and it wasn’t ready for what I was asking of it. I came home early knowing changes were coming.

A few months later, I decided the TH400 and NP205 weren’t low enough geared. I found a deal on three 6L90E transmissions and traded straight across for my TCI TH400. That decision started another snowball. While swapping the transmission, I fixed a lot of mistakes and compromises from the first build.

Around that same time, the shop I worked for began having serious financial issues, which forced another career change. I also followed through on an idea I’d been sitting on for over a year and started Recoil Outdoor, a veteran focused nonprofit providing outdoor and off road therapy for veterans and first responders. Monthly meets. Midweek shop nights. Helping each other work on Jeeps or helping a veteran in need. This Jeep was a big part of that mission, it gave me the same therapy I wanted others to experience.

Eventually, burnout caught up with me. My budget was still tight, and I felt stuck. I decided to pivot careers and moved 1,600 miles away to work more with my mind rather than my hands, starting a new role as a Quality Control Engineer in nuclear construction.

The day I had my interview for this job, my dad had a stroke.

He passed away a week later.

Dad and I had a trip we had planned together for the following year, 2025, to the San Juan Mountains, his favorite place to wheel. That trip has become an annual memorial run. Every year, during the first week of August, you can find me back in the mountains, remembering the adventures we shared and why we live the way we do, through this Jeep.

Today, in January 2026, this 1976 Jeep Wagoneer sits with a mostly finished 400 horsepower mechanical OM606, backed by a 6L90E and NP205. The end goal is self sufficiency, being able to spend up to a month at a time on the trail, in the mountains, and wherever the road leads. The dream is simple.. drive it across the country, wheel it, and drive it home.

This Jeep is 100% self funded. Only spare cash and sweat equity go into it. It takes longer than most builds, but I’m learning every step of the way and sharing that knowledge as I go.

This Jeep has kept me motivated, challenged me, and forced me to grow. It’s a symbol of my life, a tool for adventure, and a reminder of the depth and places most people never get the chance to experience.

This Jeep holds a lot of miles, a lot of lessons, and a lot of memories. It’s how I honor where I’ve been and keep moving toward what’s ahead.

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