Project Jevy - A sequence of events

[the_midwesterner]

Not sure if anyone is still following, but I have progress nonetheless.... HA!

I got the front portion of the dash to a place where I can call it "finished"-ish... I added the vents and will still need to add a CEL light for the LS swap and a rev-limiter light. Those will go centered above the steering column on the driver side.

I am REALLY happy as to how this came out. I wasn't sure if it would look as good as it did in my head, but I am happy to report I am pretty satisfied with it. Only thing left is the top panel. That thing may turn out to be a huge PITA. Its 2 compound curves at the dash and the windshield.

In other news, I freaking finally got my motor. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO bummed with how Pacific Fabrication handled the whole situation. Its so unfortunate that they treated me the way they did. I attribute this to me being a weekend warrior type guy and since I didn't spend as much as the big names, then I didn't get the time of day. On top of ALL that, they forget to ship my harness...WTF???!!!!! Pretty unfortunate....

Anyway, onto pics. I ended up having to choose the premium option for shipping because since they took their sweet ass time, I ended up going on vacation for 10 days and had to have it delivered to my buddy's house.

After that, I figured that 300ish HP would not be enough. Soo.... I figured it was time for a cam upgrade. So i decided to go with Comp Cams 54-455-11 camshaft. This thing is a BEAST!! .604 lift with a huge ramp rate, it should make plenty of torque down low, without sacrificing the top end power. I predict the manifold would run out of VE before the cam does. At least that's my hope..!! Still got some more numbers to run.

So while in there I replaced the following:
- Comp Camshaft 54-455-11
- Comp Timing adjustable Timing Set
- Comp double valve springs to put up with the .600+ lift
- Comp valve stem seals
- Comp valve spring seats
- Comp retainers/keepers
- New LS1 water pump
- E3 spark plugs
- New Oil Pump
- All new timing cover gaskets
- MSD wires
- New Knock Sensors and performed the GM TSB for the RTV dam
- New Knock Sensor sub-harness
- ARP hardware for everything that was replaced

Also, everything was cleaned during disassembly/reassembly.

Not onto some pics:

Before

After

Some HUGE lift.....

Buttoned back up, waiting for more parts to get here.

 

[John D]

I'm sure there are still plenty of people following.
Dash looks good, I wasn't sure it was going to, LOL.
What intake are you using? Truck or LSx?
You don't need a rev-limiter light. Set it where you want with the computer and when she starts popping you will know you're at the limit

 

[TRCM]

What happened to move from 6 to 8 cylinders ??

 

[HEX-J]

That dash is sweet! I think a V8 conversion might be in my future, so def going to fillow this!

 

[the_midwesterner]

I'm sure there are still plenty of people following.
Dash looks good, I wasn't sure it was going to, LOL.
What intake are you using? Truck or LSx?
You don't need a rev-limiter light. Set it where you want with the computer and when she starts popping you will know you're at the limit

Appreciate it. Gonna stick with the gen 3 truck manifold for now, I think.... While the car manifolds make it easier to package the engine under the hood, they sacrifice a significant amount of low end torque. This is a problem for me since my jeep is a heavy pig! I may decide to dump more cash into this thing and pick up a gen 4 truck or tbss manifold. That thing keeps similar torque numbers to the gen 3 truck manifold, but picks up some decent numbers on the high end since the runner design allows for better VE. I don't know though.. I have quite a bit of money tied up into this already and swapping manifolds may new injectors, fuel rails and a 3 to 4 bolt throttle body conversion.

In regards to the lights, I want to run a rev-limiter light more for incentive for me to keep my foot out of it. Want to avoid smashing the rev limiter much, just to keep it on the safe side. Maybe I am changing in my old age...?!

What happened to move from 6 to 8 cylinders ??

Mostly King of the Hammers..... Ha!! That and the fact that I move to Texas within a year and I want to drive out comfortably and reliably to most of the trails out here and wheel as much as possible while still on the west coast.

 

[the_midwesterner]

The beginning of the LS swap:

So i drove the jeep to my buddy's place and since my compressor took a dump, I drove there with virtually 0 PSI on the tires. It was only about 3 miles away, but 35mph with 0PSI is rather interesting.....

So we pulled it in and out came the Engine/Trans/TC. I didn't take many pics of the current setup while we were taking it apart, but things went pretty smooth and whole deal was out in about 4hrs.

Then it was time to install new parts. Since my jeep was carbureted, the original setup had an external pump and just a pickup/sender inside the original tank. I ordered up an '87 tank and fuel pump sender assembly since the LS needs 55-62 PSI and my original setup of 5-8PSI wouldn't work. I mated that to a corvette filter/regulator combo with a return style setup and single fuel line to the engine.

From there, it was time to install the Novak brackets. These things are pretty beast and were fairly straight forward to install. At least that is what I thought..... Since I am 100% positive that AMC workers were consistently drunk while making these vehicles, some of the holes didn't line up. Between that, drilling new holes for the supplier brackets, etc, it took forever to get those on.

Finally, success!!

Just a random pic of the pile of parts getting ready to go into this thing...

From there, after choice words, many beers and some sore muscles...

So today, in honor of all the service men and women that protect my freedoms to do this AND to payback the guys that have been helping me with this swap, I decided to throw a brisket on the Ugly Drum Smoker, or UDS, and feed them dinner. This smoke train is currently pumping out apple wood smoke with a stable pit temp of 224 F and a brisket temp of 109 F. Should hopefully be done by dinner time.

 

[the_midwesterner]

Doesn't seem like I got a lot of progress done today, but its fairly monumental.

Engine, trans and transfer case are all sitting on their own weight and permanently affixed to the jeep. I didn't take many pics today since I was the only person working on it, but even though it didn't seem like a whole lot, the powertrain is in.

 

[John D]

What's the straight piece Of tubing on the left side of t-case going back? Looks like it in the same spot your driveshaft needs to be.

 

[whitexj98]

What's the straight piece Of tubing on the left side of t-case going back? Looks like it in the same spot your driveshaft needs to be.

Extension and socket?

 

[the_midwesterner]

What's the straight piece Of tubing on the left side of t-case going back? Looks like it in the same spot your driveshaft needs to be.

Ah, good eye sir. It's actually the Lokar cable shifter for the 4L60e. I mocked up the driveshaft after the transfer case installation because I was worried about interference with it and/or the cross-member. Luckily, the only way that the T-case would fit was at the flattest clocking on the Novak trans adapter and it clears both the cable and the cross-member at ride height.

Extension and socket?

After you mentioned it, I can see that it kind of does look like that.

 

[the_midwesterner]

Just a small update. Since the engine is in, its time to start assembling the little stuff. I bolted up the TC to the engine's flywheel with some new ARP hardware and blue locktite. From there, I started mounting the intake manifold, coil packs, new knock sensors with RTV dam, new knock senso sub-haness, installed new plugs and started running trans cooler lines.

Since the Novak radiator is so freaking huge, I no longer can fit the coolers in front of the radiator, so onto the hood the cooler will go with a pusher fan. After that, I started drinking beer which significantly hindered the progress and my buddy and I decided pictures were more important....

We then realized that the manifold was REALLY high, so we tried to close the hood for testing purposes. Let's just say that a majority of the hood probably won't be on my jeep anymore after all is said and done.

After we test fitted the hood, I took this pic and really liked it and figured I would post it. Hopefully, this should be done soon enough.

 

[the_midwesterner]

I made some more progress this weekend on the swap. It doesn't seem like much, but its all the small things that take the most amount of time. Once they are finished, they seem to be the most rewarding though.

I got the Lokar shifter mounted up and I am very happy as to how this shifter feels and functions. I also really like the position of where its mounted and should be a very big upgrade from the stock junk.

So the Novak swap radiator is just massive and since my jeep originally had the 2.8L in it, it doesn't exactly fit. I was finally able to get it to the point that you see in the pic after chopping off a significant amount off the core support. The pic came out a little blurry, but the end caps of the radiator barely fit into the hole I cut. Additionally, currently the radiator sits way too high and I doubt the hood will close. I already removed the latch and cable mechanism since it doesn't fit anymore and made the commitment to go to hood pins. Either hood pins or a TJ/JK style setup with latches. I'll figure that all out whenever I get to that point.

Next on the list was working on the wiring. I have pulled off a majority of the engine room harness that controlled the V6 and started wiring in the LS custom made harness. Even though I fought Pacific Fabrication for the motor, i must say that the harness seems to be really nice. Everything plugged in and fit the motor rather well. After the old harness was mostly removed and the new harness installed/routed, it was time to start putting power to wires. Believe or not, I know where all those wires go to and will be clean and properly routed once finished.

Last, but not least, I wanted to take a pic of the bottom of the Jeep to document and show its in. I spent about 20-30 min laying underneath it today after I finished working and just stared at things to make a mental of note of things I need to do/order.

Next things on the list include the following:
- Finish the last bit of wiring for the new ECM
- Wire in CEL and mount DLC3
- Finish the accessories and install serpentine belt
- Mount the radiator
- Finish the triple fan wiring harness
- Finish mounting the trans cooler
- Trim trans cooler lines and mount AN fittings
- Cut hole in hood for trans cooler
- Wire in the fan to thermostatic switch and override switch
- Figure out the radiator hoses
- Cap off extra fuel port
- Fill with fluids
- Test systems and fire it up!

I am sure I am forgetting a few things to put on this list, but I'll add them as I remember.

 

[whitexj98]

-Weld cross member brackets to heep! That LS going to be a little more tq than the 2.8...

 

[the_midwesterner]

-Weld cross member brackets to heep! That LS going to be a little more tq than the 2.8...

That'll get done when I weld on the front frame stiffeners. For now, the list is just to get it running and do burnouts.

 

[the_midwesterner]

I got a bit of an update, but its been slow going. Lots of little things getting done in order to get this thing thing to run/fire.

I ordered up an EGR block off plate and an EVAP Purge solenoid block off plate. I found them on amazon and they are machined billet with an O-ring on each. Pretty reasonably priced and I was very impressed with the quality of the machine work on the both pieces.

I also ordered up a Lokar universal "cut-to-fit" throttle cable, but was lucky enough that the method I routed it, I didn't have to cut anything. I only trimmed the cable that attaches to the small ferule at the end at the throttle body, but it otherwise fit pretty well.

I finished the feed line from the corvette pressure regulator/filter and capped off the original return line form the regulator.

I also finished up bolting up the new power steering pump and pulley, alternator and idler pulley to the Dirty Dingo brackets. I was a bit skiddish on ordering the brackets from them since they focus more on hot rods, cars and other custom stuff, but I am happy to report that the brackets are flawless and have phenomenal machining. They also fit perfectly with zero modifications. Overall, money well spent!

Finally, I decided to make an actual list. I keep forgetting stuff and this should hopefully help keep better track of things.

 

[John D]

Seeing these brackets used more often. You need a different pump for it, right?

 

[the_midwesterner]

Seeing these brackets used more often. You need a different pump for it, right?

No need for anything different, this is why I picked them up. They re-use the factory truck accessories. I contemplated running the Holley ones, but that would of required a corvette pump/reservoir and I wanted to stick with a P-pump style for upgrade-ability to a PSC or Howe later on, if the stock truck pump isn't sufficient.

There are a handful of reputable companies that sell multiple brackets that mix and match varieties though, but its basically broken down to 3 different spacings: Corvette/F-body/Truck from thinnest to longest measurement respectively.

 

[the_midwesterner]

Got a handful of other items knocked out this weekend.

I was having a hard time figuring out the position of the trans cooler since the Novak swap radiator is just massive. So i cut another hole, next to the original hole of where the carb cleaner used to sit.

I then finalized the mounting position and trimmed all the lines and refitted the fittings onto the braided lines. I am pretty happy as to how this came out.

From there, I moved onto mocking up the engine intake and settled on this position.

Then I made an aluminum bracket to solid mount the filter and finish the intake install.

I then put the radiator in for mock-up and realized that the coolant hoses would be impossible to route with the intake on the passenger side. So out came all the work I did and redid it for the driver side. Luckily, the aluminum mount I made is reversible, so it should hopefully mount fairly easily. Things are starting to get tight on space though.

Also this weekend, I finalized the engine harness position, trimmed the excess wires and final mounted the junction block for the engine harness only. No pics of this, since its the boring stuff.

I also finalized the alternator +B to the battery junction block and ended up running 2/0 wire to handle the excess load of the 150amp alternator.

Lastly, I permanently mounted the ECM to the driver's kick panel and hooked up the rest of the connectors.

Not much progress, but progress nonetheless.

 

[John D]

Is the transmission cooler fan pulling or pushing?

 

[the_midwesterner]

Pushing