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Jeep LS swap for the LJ

UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
No better feeling than when an engine fires up for the first time on the first try. I've had just the opposite and it stinks.
 
zmotorsports

zmotorsports

Hardcore Gearhead
Vendor
Location
West Haven, UT
glockman said:
My wife screamed from inside the house and came running out. She is pretty stoked.
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When I was installing my LS my wife was like "meh" it's kinda cool. But after I got it on the road I think she enjoys driving it. I had to do a timing belt on her car a couple of weeks ago and she said she didn't have any running around to do and didn't need her car for the day. As soon as I tore into the engine of her Acura all of a sudden she needed to borrow the Jeep for a while to run some errands. She thinks I'm stupid. Then she comes home to tell me a couple at the store were asking her about it. I think she likes driving it but just won't admit it. :cool:

Mike
 
P

Pile of parts

Well-Known Member
Location
South Jordan
zmotorsports said:
When I was installing my LS my wife was like "meh" it's kinda cool. But after I got it on the road I think she enjoys driving it. I had to do a timing belt on her car a couple of weeks ago and she said she didn't have any running around to do and didn't need her car for the day. As soon as I tore into the engine of her Acura all of a sudden she needed to borrow the Jeep for a while to run some errands. She thinks I'm stupid. Then she comes home to tell me a couple at the store were asking her about it. I think she likes driving it but just won't admit it. :cool:

Mike
Click to expand...
Would you do the timing belt on my wife's car? I don't think she needs to go anywhere either...;)
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
The LJ is really my wife's jeep. I just maintain it . She daily drives it but she works from home so it's mostly just a fun car. After I showed her youtube videos of TJ's lifting a front tire on launches she has been asking me every couple of days when we can start it. It's rewarding enough to finish a big project, this one might come with some extra rewards lol. :cool:
 
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glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
The final push is on. I pulled the transfer case AGAIN last night so hopefully its fixed now. It was leaking really slowly, one drip per couple hours from between the transmission and transfer case. When I pulled it apart I found two things. One of the counter sink screws holding the ring to the T case was slightly protruding and the RTV was still soft, like it never cured around one of the studs. Both were near 3:00 which looked like the root of the leak. I tightened/filed the head of the screw flush, resealed it and am letting it cure overnight.


After that I routed the trans cooler lines, measured, cut and connected the AN fittings. I routed them to the bottom of the radiator, across to the passenger frame rail and tied them to the body under the battery to get them as far from the exhaust as possible. Hard to get good pictures.
20200324_213521.jpg


I also put the grill supports on and noticed the drivers side was right were my air filter wanted to be. I added a spacer at the throttle body to move the tube forward, which allowed me to clear the alternator pulley and point the intake down more, clearing the grill support.
20200324_213651.jpg

The tach and oil pressure aren't working but the coolant temp was climbing so maybe my Camaro sending unit will work out. I'll keep you guys posted.

I'll get everything buttoned up tonight and add drive lines. Maybe back it out of the shop.

Still don't know what direction I am going with exhaust. I am doing dual cats of the manifolds, just not sure which ones. I have the C6 vette Cats but I don't know if they are too large to fit well. From there I'll go under the bellhousing and Y into 3" back to a magnaflow muffler and out the rear.
 
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glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
This is where the packaging gets complicated. I put the drivelines on and found I'd measured wrong. The rear is too long. With the slip joint fully compressed it's about 3/8" too long at ride height. I'm thinking I measured without the clocking ring in. I think I'm going to have 1.5“ cut out but I'll cycle suspension tomorrow and measure twice this time.

I also started to measure clearances in the front. I only had 3.5-4" before the front axle housing would hit the oil pan. I had set the engine low in the mounts but now I have a reason to raise it. That took some "engineering". I couldn't get it to move with a block on the oil pan and the bolts loose. So I ended up with this. It got the eninge 1.5" higher and I still clear the hood.
 

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DaveB

DaveB

Long Jeep Fan
Location
Holladay, Utah
Still don't know what direction I am going with exhaust. I am doing dual cats of the manifolds, just not sure which ones. I have the C6 vette Cats but I don't know if they are too large to fit well. From there I'll go under the bellhousing and Y into 3" back to a magnaflow muffler and out the rear.
Click to expand...


I am in the middle of exhaust on mine and it has been tricky. I used the original tranny cooler lines and shortened them up by the radiator. I put thermal protection on the lines next to the exhaust since its a close fit. I have the dual cats off of the Yukon I used for mine. They aren't too large and might work for yours. I don't have enough room to use them on mine so I went with a single cat after joining the two sides together. Mines vintaged so it makes it a bit easier.
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
DaveB said:
I am in the middle of exhaust on mine and it has been tricky. I used the original tranny cooler lines and shortened them up by the radiator. I put thermal protection on the lines next to the exhaust since its a close fit. I have the dual cats off of the Yukon I used for mine. They aren't too large and might work for yours. I don't have enough room to use them on mine so I went with a single cat after joining the two sides together. Mines vintaged so it makes it a bit easier.
Click to expand...
I'm going to have the exhaust done at Rick's muffler in orem. I'll give them the corvette cats I have and see if they can make them fit. I think they are smaller than the truck cats but I haven't measured. Thanks for the offer.
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
This clocking ring is cool but has caused several issues I didn't plan for. It tucked the front driveline higher than I anticipated so my notch in the crossmember was unneeded. It also put the transfer case really close to the floor and put my rear drive line angle is tighter than I'd like. It also caused the Novak cable shifter not to reach. I modified the Novak bracket on the T case by cutting about 3/4 of an inch out.

IMG_20200331_225956_453.jpg
Had to break out the manual band saw, but it worked great. It now shifts through all ranges and neutral very smoothly. Here's the bracket mounted.

20200401_193741.jpg
With that done I decided I wasn't happy with the cross member. The notch looked terrible with so much clearance on the front drive line and I want the trans to sit a little lower for floor clearance so I made version 2, which didn't quite work so I improved on it with Rev 3 which I'm pretty happy with.
20200401_155358.jpg
I used 3/16 plate between the tube and the trans mount sits flush with the bottom which is 1" below the frame. I boxed it for extra strength. Also capped both ends of the tube and sleeved the bolts.
20200401_170412.jpg
I now have approx and inch between the case and the floor.
20200401_155421.jpg
I also got the coolant reservior installed.
20200401_202049.jpg
 
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