[panaceabeachbum]

I purchased my 89 wrangler in 94 intending to replace the 4 with a small block chevy. Bought the mounts, adapters and headers and never quite got around to doing the swap. We have been enoying the jeep for the past 17 years with no major issues.

I got the bug to finaly do the v8 swap last week and have purchased a 2007 chevy 5.3 vortec and 4l60e with harness, computer, wiring , gas pedal etc.

What started as a straight forward engine swap has turned into a full frame off rebuild.

Here is the jeep in original form.

[panaceabeachbum]

Here is a break down on the planned modifications

2007 Chevy 5.3 vortec and 4l60E
Transmission Rebuild
Transfer case rebuild

8.8 Ford Disk brake rear With Super 88 axles
Detroit locker for rear
Anti wrap bar
Eaton E-locker for the front and 31 spline 1 piece axle

Full frame off restoration, all new bearings , gaskets seals and any other wear items

Metal Cloak high line front and rear fenders, corner qaurds, Flairs , bumper and rock rails

New feul tank and pump

Stnls brake lines
4"" suspension lift
33" bfg ko on DC wheels
Undecided on seats I am going with at this point

Warn winch
Raptor spray in liner for interior

[panaceabeachbum]

pulled the front sheet metal then the engine/trans






there is the 5.3 in the back of my truck in the distance


Stripped the front end to the frame to prep for instal

[panaceabeachbum]

here are a couple of shots of my tub, no rust or dents

[panaceabeachbum]

At the end of day 1 my wife pointed out that the only thing holding the body on were a few bolts and the steering shaft and that I should probably remove the body since it would be easier to fit the engine/trans and 8.8 rear with the body off.

This is the point were a few week $3k engine swap took on a whole new life .

[samuraisavr]

I will be following closely. I have a very similar swap in the very near future. I will be going with a cable TB setup for ease of installation. I am still unsure of TC and trans as of yet.

[panaceabeachbum]

Jump forward a few days and I figure since the body is off and I am waiting on parts from ruff stuff to mount the 8.8 and the kit from novak for the engine and trans I should sandblast the frame.



I have sand blasted 2 other frames in the past , a dodge truck frame and a tube frame Baja truck, both took around 5 hours . I dont know what kind of paint was used on this jeep frame but it was very tough and took just over 10 hours to blast clean. Very thick rubbery black paint. It appears the frame was originaly sprayed or dipped and then hung verticaly to dry, mine had some 3+ foot runs that were tough to remove.

Sandbalst setup is a cheap 40lb pressure pot from harbour, compressor is 20hp Eaton 3phase with 200 gallon tank. I am blasting aprox 80 feet from the 1" main line , had to upgrade to 1/2" hose with 1/2" fittings and everything ran fine. 600lbs (12 50lb bags) of 16/30 blast media

[panaceabeachbum]

Here is a pic of the frame about half way thru the 10+ hours of sandblasting, to do over I would have just payed the guy at the blast shop the 300 bucks and picked it up the next day.

[panaceabeachbum]

Here are a couple of pics of the frame the next day after spraying with Dupont etching primer , a little pricey but the sales pitch was strong






Not visible but there are plugs in the ports on the steering box

[panaceabeachbum]

Here is a pic of the 8.8 I am starting with , since this pic was taken I have ground all the tabs off, ordered a diff cover and mounting kit from rough stuff , a detroit locker and the superior 88 axle kit

[panaceabeachbum]

Here is a quick pic of the dana 30 front, I have a ruff stuff diff cover , yukon 30 spline axles and an eaton elock. I figured since its out and apart I will replace the ball joints , hubs and bearings . Also picked up new stearing linkage from Rusty's. I guess all I am re-using is the housing and knuckles.

[panaceabeachbum]

Here is the frame, 8 days after the start I have sprayed it with two coats of epoxy paint in satin black

[Ripper3494]

beautiful, that was in amazing shape to start with. you'll love the v8, one piece of advice that ive been given probably upwards of 100 times is don't cut any corners. itll bite you in the *** hard. but it looks like you wont have that issue, fantastic start to the build tho

[panaceabeachbum]

Yesterday the SYE kit, trans adaptor, engine mounts, trans mount, 23 spline input gear, shifters and transfer case rebuild parts landed from novak.

I pulled the transfer case apart in the morning. There are a couple of really heavy snap rings which require a beefy set of snap ring pliers to remove . The dont have hole for conventional pliers, I picked up the proper pliers at the local Napa.

There was one other tool needed I didnt have , there is a caged roller bearing in a blind hole that supports the end of the front output shaft. Harbour sells a slide hammer for removing bearings in blind holes, $50 worked like a top.

While at the Napa I slipped into the machine shop and soda blasted my case halves then ran them thru their hot wash machine, came out nice and shiney. The cases looked so nice I decided to protect them with a coat of pewter paint.

[panaceabeachbum]

Originally Posted by Ripper3494

beautiful, that was in amazing shape to start with. you'll love the v8, one piece of advice that ive been given probably upwards of 100 times is don't cut any corners. itll bite you in the *** hard. but it looks like you wont have that issue, fantastic start to the build tho

Thanks , we bought the jeep 17 years ago with 60k miles, had been garage kept. Since then I have put 50k miles on it. It was in my garage the entire time until i bought a new Haas vf4 mill 2 years ago and had to roll it out in the yard.

I am looking forward to getting it going, I have decided to not skimp on anything and am replacing everything that wears or degrades (bearings , rubber seals etc)