5.3L Vortec V8 Conversion

[PhotoJared]

I will be going with a 96 5.7, so it's a non-Lx motor. I'm interested in the tach fix info.

Don't know why anyone would go and buy a $600 adapter for a transfer case to transmission when there's already a bolt-on solution that can be had from the junkyard for $100. I have a short shaft 231J that will be either built into a bastard box, or moved over to the wife's 94 ZJ.

Because if your talking about a 241/231 hybrid case you still have to fix the reluctor ring for the ECM. I'm personally going with the AA adapter because of the simplicity.

 

[burntkat]

Re: Re: 5.3L Vortec V8 Conversion

Because if your talking about a 241/231 hybrid case you still have to fix the reluctor ring for the ECM. I'm personally going with the AA adapter because of the simplicity.

No sir. I'm talking about a 231c/231j hybrid case.

If I were staying with the aw4 Trans, I'd take the c case innards and throw them in the j case front half (keeping the input shaft from the j, as I understand the 232j input varies between 21 and 23 teeth dependent upon year. The c case is 27 teeth, IIRC. Thus gaining the c variant 1.25" chain and gears vs the j variant 1" set.

That said, I've not actually tried it, but I'm pretty sure that folks have already done this. Smarter folk than me will surely correct where I'm wrong, and I'll learn something.

Just seems like some of the AA stuff is overpriced, and made for the people that don't stop and think things through. Or are lazy.

Lest you think I'm just a keyboard wrencher, my DD is a SFA-swapped S10 with a smallblock V8 in it, and I've been party to other such mutts. I don't know everything, but I am no dummy either. At least I'm smart enough to know where I'm dumb.

My personal build sheet for my 90XJ is shaping up to be an early 90s TBI 350, 700r4, 231c, using a 1227747 ecu and either an S10 or C1500 ecu harness. I am not afraid of electrical work as I'm kinda into that sort of thing and have been since I was 9.

EDIT: OK this is what happens when I come back to a convo the next week and forget what I was saying.. You're referring to a 4l60e trans/transfer adapter. I don't have anything to offer there as I haven't dealt with that Trans. Can't imagine it would be hard to find one with transfer out of an s-truck, pretty sure they were in them. Might be wrong.

But when it comes to the 700r4/231j adapter... Can't imagine it is to hard to mix a 231 c and j and get what you need without expensive custom parts or interfaces needed.

 

[Frank Z]

I used the 231c reluctor on my 231C/D/J case and a 231C tail cone. I opened up the VSS hole and tapped it to 7/8"-18 (with a homemade tap) so I could use the correct VSS (from the donor rig).

Worked perfectly.

 

[burntkat]

I used the 231c reluctor on my 231C/D/J case and a 231C tail cone. I opened up the VSS hole and tapped it to 7/8"-18 (with a homemade tap) so I could use the correct VSS (from the donor rig).

Worked perfectly.

:thumbs:

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Use your brain whenever possible, not your pocketbook.

This is the sort of reason why I prefer to build instead of buy.

Oh sure, if it's cheap enough I'll buy. Perfect example is a super-stout shock mount I just welded onto my axle. $8 a piece, and it's 1/4" plate, laser-cut and then bent in a jig so that it reinforces itself when welded into the axle. I can't make that myself without tooling I don't have (pressbrake) or a heck of a lot more time than I'm willing to devote to it.

$600 for a piece of aluminum to bolt a transfer to a transmission, when I can make a stronger 231c/d/j case that will bolt intimately to the transmission for less than half the money? No brainer. I'd rather put the money into beef than bandaids. Especially if I can turn around and put half the bandaid cost into the bank or ammo.

 

[clydefrog]

I will be going with a 96 5.7, so it's a non-Lx motor. I'm interested in the tach fix info.

Don't know why anyone would go and buy a $600 adapter for a transfer case to transmission when there's already a bolt-on solution that can be had from the junkyard for $100. I have a short shaft 231J that will be either built into a bastard box, or moved over to the wife's 94 ZJ.

On the tach: i installed a 1,000 ohm resistor from a power wire straight to the gm signal wire to boost the signal up (the Jeep uses a 12v signal wire and the GM signal was only 5v or so). Once installed i dismounted the tach from the housing. There is an adjustment screw on the tach circuit board located behind the tach. With an OBD II scan tool i started the car and calibrated the Jeep tach to match the OBD II live readings. Its not perfect but i adjusted it to be accurate at 3k rpm's. It is off by about 300rpms at redline (Jeep gauge reads 5,800 rpms at rev limiter while engine is only actually at 5,500 rpm's). At 2,000 rpms the gauge reads 1,800 rpms. So not perfect but it works.

Spent a lot of time doing research, as far as i know there was not an option that i personally felt like messing with. I really didn't want to open up the 4L60E (although it is a simple trans). Because i run a shop the AA adapter didn't set me back more than $500. To me it was worth it. Plus it came with the reluctor ring and the speed sensor (that would have cost me over $150 alone to fab something up to work including the cost of a sensor that i did not have). Plus there are a couple of options with the AA adapter as far as t-case clocking goes. I am pleased with the AA adapter. After my swap the output shaft seal on the trans was leaking, with the AA adapter removing the t-case was super easy (4 studs).

I honestly had the 4.0 out and the 5.3 installed and mounted in a few hours, no joke. Time is money and time wasn't on my hands.

 

[burntkat]

I didn't realize the adapter allowed clocking the t-case. That's certainly a notable feature, and does cast another light on the subject.