5.3 swap done cheap...ish

[NorIdaWheeler]

Nice, have fun on Sunday. I also just added an Atlas and hoping to finish rebuilding the hole in the floor today. It was a big one...

I couldnt believe how much i had to cut out! I actually ended up moving the drivers seat 2" away from the tunnel to make more room. I made the panels I built removable so I could access the shifters and driveline easier if needed.

So, this may be a terrible idea but I just got bored while searching the net last night.

I see that Novak makes an adapter for the 5.3 to an AX15.

How well would an AX15 hold up to that? I'm guessing about as well as 4L60E holds up... lol

The ax15 is pretty strong. I bet it would last a decent while. I personally would use the money towards a stronger tranny rather than adapting to an ax15.

 

[Lowrange2]

The ax15 is pretty strong. I bet it would last a decent while. I personally would use the money towards a stronger tranny rather than adapting to an ax15.

Makes sense.

 

[blistovmhz]

I couldnt believe how much i had to cut out! I actually ended up moving the drivers seat 2" away from the tunnel to make more room. I made the panels I built removable so I could access the shifters and driveline easier if needed.



The ax15 is pretty strong. I bet it would last a decent while. I personally would use the money towards a stronger tranny rather than adapting to an ax15.

Eyup.
I spent quite a few hours researching transmission options. I hate driving auto. Like, why bother driving at all?
But ultimately, while there are options for adapting a manual to the 5.3, I didn't like any of them. The AX15 is a good transmission, but it feels a tad light for an even mildly built 5.3, and requires a lot of work/parts to get the clutch working.
Auto is just plain easier. Once my swap is complete, I'll give it a try. If I absolutely can't deal with driving like a dunce (auto!) I'll look into a manual again.
From what I can tell, the biggest issue is that the 5.3 crank doesn't stick out as far as the other SBC's that came from factory with manual transmissions. Requires aftermarket parts for everything in the bellhousing.

Where's the burnout vids man? I gotta see some blown rubber to get me all pumped back up about my swap (been super sick for the past week, so now I've got pretty near all the parts I need to complete the swap just sadly sitting on the shop floor).


Also, I'm doing the same for my gauge cluster. I think all the after market gaugues are ugly as hell and I really don't want to have to spend time tapping more sensor holes into everything. Was originally going to run stock gauges with XJ ECU as a mule, but really, tablet + torque or a home brew black box is easier, faster, cheaper, and looks so much better, plus it's upgradable and portable to your next project.

P.S. Your Jeep is by far the most illenist. Mine turns heads around here, but nowhere near yours. I've been holding off on a lot of the big work (tonnes, rear axle stretch, coilovers, etc) till I had the power to drive them.

 

[NorIdaWheeler]

Wheeling trip went ok. I was having a little bit of an issue getting my tablet to sync with the bluetooth adapter sometimes.
If the tablet was in sleep mode for more than about 5 minutes it would loose its connection with the adapter and then wouldn't reconnect.
To get it to connect I was having to unplug the adapter and start up the Torque app then plug the adapter in.

It acts like if the adapter gets power before the tablet then it fails to connect. kind of annoying having to unplug the adapter and start the jeep then plug the adapter back in everytime. Im still working on a fix for this.

Heres the 10" tablet mounted to the dash using a Ram Tab-lock mount. I need to get different "end cups" for the mount so it fits the tablet better.




One one of the very first obstacles I got a little bound up and heard a pop. look out and no front wheel drive. Not really surprising considering i have a 1310 front driveshaft right no until funds permit building a 1350.

So i crawled under the rig and the yoke on the atlas was broken! It broke an entire side off the yoke.
I checked the front driveline for bind at full droop when i put it in and it was just fine so it wasnt driveshaft bind that caused it. Im really suprised that that yoke broke before my little 1310 driveshaft. Im gonna call AA and see if they will warranty the yoke.
I didnt get a pic but i will tonight when i pull it off.

So i spent the rest of the day rock bouncing the trail in 2 wheel drive. kina takes the fun out of the day but oh well. Thats what test days are for I guess. lol

Heres a couple quick pics from the day.

 

[blistovmhz]

Wharz all the videos!? We wanna see this thing accelerate!

 

[Lowrange2]

What's the backhalfed rig on the right looks like a spider. I like it.

 

[NorIdaWheeler]

What's the backhalfed rig on the right looks like a spider. I like it.

Thats my buddy Jesse's Toyota. Killer rig. super light and nimble.
dana 60/70 4 linked on air shocks. chevy 4.3

 

[Lowrange2]

That's a nice looking setup.

 

[NorIdaWheeler]

Well here is the Atlas yoke that broke on the first obstacle.
Im 90 percent sure The driveline had enough angle. I checked it at full droop and it was fine. I never checked it at full articulation but that shouldnt be a problem because the angles would actually be less under articulation.

Im stumped. Either way, im just gonna go up to 1350 non cv and call it a day.

 

[N20Jeep]

badass. sucks about the break though.

 

[Lowrange2]

I'd venture to say that looks like a manufacturers defect...

 

[blistovmhz]

Agreed. I can't think of any situation where the yolk would break like that before the joint exploded. Doesn't even look like there's any deformation along the fracture, suggesting a casting defect.

 

[NorIdaWheeler]

Agreed. I can't think of any situation where the yolk would break like that before the joint exploded. Doesn't even look like there's any deformation along the fracture, suggesting a casting defect.

I have an email in to AA. We will see what they say. If they warranty it im just going to have them send me a 1410 yoke. I know 1410 will definitely have enough usable angle for me.

 

[blistovmhz]

Oh hey, during your harness build, did you end up powering up all the remaining pink wires?
My gf's a terrible helper and I got lazy during tracing out the powers. Should be safe to power up anything pink right?

 

[SkinnyRidgeMJ]

I couldn't believe the angle my 1410 front shaft will take without binding. I see so many people spend money on 1350 shafts and have to limit droop because of binding issues. I think your on the right track.

 

[NorIdaWheeler]

Oh hey, during your harness build, did you end up powering up all the remaining pink wires?
My gf's a terrible helper and I got lazy during tracing out the powers. Should be safe to power up anything pink right?

From what ive seen on lt1's step by step it looks like anything pink is power.

I didnt build by harness. Its a complete harness from Wait4me performance. I literally hooked up one power and one ignition wire and started the motor. lol

 

[NorIdaWheeler]

I couldn't believe the angle my 1410 front shaft will take without binding. I see so many people spend money on 1350 shafts and have to limit droop because of binding issues. I think your on the right track.

Ya i believe that the 1350 actually has less available angle than a 1310. I was kinda hoping to keep the front driveshaft as a sort of weak link but oh well.

 

[blistovmhz]

From what ive seen on lt1's step by step it looks like anything pink is power.

I didnt build by harness. Its a complete harness from Wait4me performance. I literally hooked up one power and one ignition wire and started the motor. lol

Well, I suppose I'll have to chime back in when my motor is actually running, but building the harness really didn't take long. I spent maybe 2 hours total on it, and I'm pretty sure it's right. It's also the first harness I've ever worked on.
I haven't completely re-worked it as I just wanted to get the motor fitted and running, before removing stuff I'm not entirely sure about. Once it's running, I'll pull the harness and completely rebuild it as the stock routing is awful, and there are a tonne of superfluous wires in there (ie: all the 12v power could very safely be run with one big 10g wire, there are a tonne of grounds that exit the harness at seemingly random places, etc).

We'll see. I'm a week into my swap. I think all I've got left is to stuff all the external wires into connectors, build my t-case linkage, install the shifter and rad, hook up the starter, modify drive shafts, build the exhaust, and cut a big hole in my hood. Either this is way easier than everyone makes it out to be, or I'm missing something. If I'm not totally off base, I should be ready for a test fire in the next day or so. Hoping to have the electrical and downpipes done today. Probably have the rad in tomorrow, in which case tomorrow may bring a few tears when I discover my engine or trans is blown.

 

[NorIdaWheeler]

Well, I suppose I'll have to chime back in when my motor is actually running, but building the harness really didn't take long. I spent maybe 2 hours total on it, and I'm pretty sure it's right. It's also the first harness I've ever worked on.
I haven't completely re-worked it as I just wanted to get the motor fitted and running, before removing stuff I'm not entirely sure about. Once it's running, I'll pull the harness and completely rebuild it as the stock routing is awful, and there are a tonne of superfluous wires in there (ie: all the 12v power could very safely be run with one big 10g wire, there are a tonne of grounds that exit the harness at seemingly random places, etc).

We'll see. I'm a week into my swap. I think all I've got left is to stuff all the external wires into connectors, build my t-case linkage, install the shifter and rad, hook up the starter, modify drive shafts, build the exhaust, and cut a big hole in my hood. Either this is way easier than everyone makes it out to be, or I'm missing something. If I'm not totally off base, I should be ready for a test fire in the next day or so. Hoping to have the electrical and downpipes done today. Probably have the rad in tomorrow, in which case tomorrow may bring a few tears when I discover my engine or trans is blown.

It really is as easy as it seems. I have helped two people strip their harnesses and will be doing another soon. I always just use the step by step from lt1swap.com

My motor came with my professionally done harness or else I would have done my own for sure.

Whos doing your tune?

 

[blistovmhz]

It really is as easy as it seems. I have helped two people strip their harnesses and will be doing another soon. I always just use the step by step from lt1swap.com

My motor came with my professionally done harness or else I would have done my own for sure.

Whos doing your tune?

I sent my PCM to Brendan (lt1swap) for a basic tune. Removed EVAP and one of the downstream O2's, setup fan controls, no idea what else . Good turn around and a thousand internets for all his reference material, but he doesn't really tell you what he's actually DOING to your PCM. Just asks for all your info and I guess I just hope it's tuned how I need? Perhaps the tuning process for swaps is pretty generic.

I'll be doing another harness/swap here shortly most likely. A buddy is parting out his 97 1500 and my roomie is supposed to get the 5.7 to swap into his 1500 with a 4.3.