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96 xj sport 5.3 swap

that's why mine has taken so long. Bought a house and had a kid.

It still needs quite a bit but it's gonna have to wait.

Still losing coolant, a/c is poor at best, 4wd still just set up, need to shorten the lcas, maybe redo the trans lines. Cowl straightened out. I may end up selling it in the future to do an mj project once I have a house tho so not to sure what'll happen yet,
 
no change in the jeep really, other than a trans line exploding on the highway.

And this right here is why I replace all my fluid power lines with -6JIC using field-serviceable ends and SAE 100R2AT Hydraulic Hose.

Yes, it is *MASSIVE* overkill. For instance, the working pressure is 4,785PSI.. and I'm using it on AT cooler lines that only see about 50. OK, I also use it on the power steering and hydroboost hoses, which see upwards of 2300PSI. But there is a lot to be said for NEVER losing another transmission due to a ruptured cooling line (I went through 4 trannys on my S10 due to issues with the cooling lines), and only having to keep a 6' section of one kind of hose in the back of my truck to take care of all my hydraulics. If need be I can repair a hose on the side of the road with two adjustable wrenches (and I have done so in a gas station parking lot after not paying attention to what the counter jockey at the local hydro shop gave me when I asked for an Aeroquip part number they were out of stock).

As a crazy bonus, the hose is only about $1.60/foot if you buy it online: http://www.discounthydraulichose.com/product_p/r2-06.htm
 
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going to be reconfiguring some stuff, been thinking about it for a while and havent pulled the trigger cause ive just been saving money. but its time i got the jeep legal and driving again.

just swapped in a new alt/PS pump bracket to move the PS pump up for better clearance, my last attempt just didnt cut it, plus the replacement pump i got whined like crazy. it also required an 88-89 c1500 pump so i swapped in one of those as well and used the OE 5.3 pulley

i needed to get a longer belt so instead i decided to go a head and upgrade to alternator to the 145 amp version which required an even longer belt than that. i knew i was going to upgrade it eventually so i figured i would just do it now and only buy a belt once.

also swapping to the novak conversions radiator. its got a factory-like fit, but the inlet and out let are on the passenger side which will make hoses easier to deal with and get the inlet hose out of the way of the intake tube and let me run it better without it jamming into the belt. i will also be swapping back to the truck water pump. while i have the front end apart ill be putting in a new condenser just so i dont have to take stuff back apart to do it later. ill also be utillizing the dual-circuit fluid cooler since itll fit in front of the new setup like its supposed to. and to top it off ill be putting in a new (unmodified) core support and header panel if i can find one in red.

also picked up a set of 00 civic front seats to swap in. the zj seats are comfy for the most part but the driver seat is worn out in a way that make my leg goto the left and sit me to high, so ill be adapting those seats when i get my welder back

thats about i tin other than adjusting the e-brake and getting it registered

i just ordered a ton of stuff so ill start doing stuff and going to the junkyard next weekend
 
also swapping to the novak conversions radiator

My biggest regret is not getting a Novak rad when I did mine. Looking forward to progress pics :yelclap:
 
My biggest regret is not getting a Novak rad when I did mine. Looking forward to progress pics :yelclap:

same man, its basically been sitting for a year since that trans line blew on my way to work.

looking back i wish i had done the novak rad. i was trying to avoid doing it since shipped it was 524$ but the cheep aluminum one i bought just wasnt the right call, nor was the L99 waterpump. lesson learned i guess.

i think down the line im gonna rewire the engine compartment too. just not happy with how i did it.
 
x2. I had an L99 pump and it didn't work out like I thought it would. Good call on the changes. :cheers:

at the time i thought the port on the water pump and the port on the rad being so close would make it a peice of cake, but was definatly the wrong call. the upper hose just ended up in the way of the intake, and in made fitting an upper hose quite a challenge

the novak rad and truck pump should solve the problem
 
parts came in today, put the new 145 amp alt on it immediately. the new belt i ordered that was recomended by the company i bought the alt/ ps steering bracket from was too short, i think it has something to do with the camaro waterpump and belt tensioner im using, good thing i was planing on swapping back to the tahoe pump anyways

also bought a new 97+ style xj auxfan for the new radiator thats yet to come in.

thats about it for now other than cleaning and organizing in the garage. its supposed to rain more so i want to pull it in the garage so i can work on it this weekend
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I think i see the answer, but you were running a tall radiator before right? What are you going to do about the gaping hole you cut? (i have the same issue)

yea i was running a 19x22

im gonna pick up some 16ga sheet metal and weld in a new patch.

i thought i had the peice i cut out lying around the garage somewhere but i couldnt find it
 
why are you swapping to novak radiator?


I'm running the griffin 22x19 for a year without issues.

just didn't like the radiator i was using. plus i figure with the novak style I'm going to be able to get a lot more airflow over the radiator. plus i wont have mismatched condenser/radiator shapes
 
more shenanigans, i finally have this thing running and driving again after several set backs.

got it back together once with the truck waterpump, had it running for probably 20-30 minutes just idling started looking around for leaks and noticed where the truck pump water neck where it meets the pump casting had some coolant bubling out of that. said to my self "probably need to shut it off be fore it blows out of there" and almost immediately following said comment, the damn thing blow out and sprayed hot coolant right in my face.



after that i decided to order an ls1 pump,tensioner, and spacer kit and ditch the truck pump. something i probably should have done in the first place.

after my parts getting delivered to the wrong adress and spending 3 days trying to track them down, i got the motor all put back together . during all this i decided to uses the big dual circuit trans/PS fluid cooler but it turned out to be too big to fit behind header panel, and the ones i was using with the old radiator were to big also, so i had to order one.

decided this would be a good time to throw in a new condenser so i dont have to pull the front end apart later, the novak rad is so thick the mounting tabs for under the rad didnt fit so i had to bend up new ones, and fab from scratch some upper mounts since the novak rad didnt have provisions for the condenser



finally got the new cooler in tried to go to for a joy ride with the header panel off and the trans wasnt shifting. turned out id lost shift solenoid B for the second time. so i ordered a new set of acdelco solenoids, pressure control solenoid(for shits and giggles reall, post i saw on ls1 tec recommended changing it and i figured i had to drop the pan anyways), filter kit and a gallon of ac delco dex fluid. now the trans is shifting way better, my funky 2-3 shift is totally gone now, so thats something


also picked up a new xj fan shroud and trimmed it back enough to fit the volvo fan in it, i may fab up a different shroud in the future to move the fan closer to the rad.decided to run a factory 97+ aux fan as well since im running a close-to-factory-diemensions radiator. ill be changing it back to the other aux fan i have tho so i can get the air filter away from the radiator. its sucking such hot air its throwing MIL( the aux fans too deep and doesnt leave enough room for the intake tube.



and a new un-related problem, im now getting a massive puddle on the passenger side floor when it rains, i think i ruptured a seal to the HVAC box either when the hood got rammed into the garage and bent the hell outta the cowl, or it ruptured when i pulled the cowl straight. either way ill be pulling the dash sometime soon, and whe i do it'll get a new evaporator and heater core since the dash will be out. playing around with the idea of throwing a 97+ dash and some custom gauges. idk, depends on local part outs i guess.
 
looks really nice. I cant wait to get my Novak radiator installed.

thanks, its working well so for. but ive only got 20 miles on it or so in 80 degree weather. but i will say that it stayed at or under 205 the whole time with only the volvo fan running. (forgot to plug the other fan in)

i went out today and swapped out the oe xj aux fan for the smaller fan i was using on just the trans cooler with the other radiator. because the xj fan made the space between it and the motor to small tom fit an intake tube. i was planning on leaving the filter where it was in the pic but after driving it around i was getting: bank 1/2 too rich codes thrown, and figured the filter was just sucking in way to hot of air behind right behind the rad.

i will likely upgrade to a higher cfm fan in the future when i make a better shroud system for the fans. but for now with winter on the horizon i think it will be fine.

after i get it registered( hopefully monday) itll stay as is for a few months since im in the process of buying a house and need all my extra income for that.

but the next big things will be:
- getting stiffeners welded in
- tracking down my nasty vibes at 35+
-getting 4x4 operational
- re configuring the a/c(saving for the spring)
-new carpet( i might lizard skin the interior as well)
- some kind of axle swap maybe(i want to step up to 35s and the d30 worries me cause id like to do a tune with a cam and some ported heads in the future to)
 
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