1stblack97ZJ's Build Thread "Frankenjeep"

1stblack97ZJ · 10-29-2010, 05:28 PM

Alright guys, I have finally decided to start a build thread for my Black 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Due to lack of funds, it will be verrrrryyyy slow, lol. But I shall update it whenever I do something to it.

***CURRENT PIC***

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I'll start off with the name: I call it "frankenjeep" because I bought it supposedly stock, but it turns out I have grand cherokee TSI rims, and a, 93 4.0 I6 engine, which is different than the 94+ 4.0 liter engines. So I'll start off with some pics of it:

It has a D30 in the front, and a D35 out back, stock muffler, new tailpipe, no cat, Selec trac, 42RE trans, etc...

chicagoniner · 10-29-2010, 05:30 PM

Looks clean as hell. Specially for black.

1stblack97ZJ · 10-29-2010, 05:40 PM

OK, when I first got it home, we (me and the father) realized that it had a pretty bad oil leak somewhere near the front of the engine, and oil was getting all over the steering, front axle, and everything (good rust protection

) So later we found out that the front of the oil pan gasket was coming out, and oil was coming out like crazy while the engine was running. It took two days to replace the oil pan gasket, lol. Two of the bolts that go into the aluminum timing chain cover almost fell out, and we realized that the holes were badly stripped, so we decided to just tap the hole to the next size up. New problem, the bigger bolts dont fit through the oil pan gasket gromits. Haha, so we tapped the holes to the Next size up (3/8) took two 3/8 bolts and drilled them out, and tapped them to 1/4, thereby making our own bushings. So we got those in there with locktite on them, put it all back together, and no more leaks. (BTW the rear main seal was already replaced by the PO)

Pics:

I'll finish recording what I've done so far tomorrow, and I'll post some more pics.

1stblack97ZJ · 10-29-2010, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicagosynergy

Looks clean as hell. Specially for black.

Thanks man, looks a little worse in person, lol. But it only has two small dents, haha. And the clear coat is coming off on the roof, but otherwise its in great shape, and the interior is great.

chicagoniner · 10-29-2010, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1stblack97ZJ

Thanks man, looks a little worse in person, lol. But it only has two small dents, haha. And the clear coat is coming off on the roof, but otherwise its in great shape, and the interior is great.

Well of course, they can't be perfect :P

1stblack97ZJ · 10-29-2010, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicagosynergy

Well of course, they can't be perfect :P

Haha, yes, only thing is, I have no idea how many miles are on the engine

1stblack97ZJ · 10-30-2010, 01:23 PM

OK, so I'll continue updating this. After the oil pan, not much happened for a couple of days, I replace some burnt out tail lights, painted the roof rack, cleaned the IAC.

For some reason the reverse lights don't work. Both bulbs are brand new replacements, Yet for some reason they don't work.

Another problem is that my VIC doesn't work all the time, sometimes it'll show that its in two wheel drive, sometimes not. And is it supposed to show if the doors are open??? If so, that doesn't work either. It may just be a bad connection somewhere. If yall could give me some advice on both of these problems, it would be great.

Did some general cleaning, replaced a battery terminal connecter thing. (the thing that goes on the terminal. don't know what its called, lol) Replaced it cuase the car wouldn't start sometimes, and it wouldnt respond to a attemted jump start, but we found out if you wiggled it some the car would be fine. This happened a couple of times, and we got tired of it.

Yesterday was an interesting day, because it was the day when we found out that the motor in the jeep was a 93 4.0L I6. Which has different parts than the 94 and up 4.0L's. We first were confused when we got a 97 ZJ rotor, and it wasnt't the same as the one that was in there, so we took the one that was in there back, and they said it was from a 93. We then were going to replace the valve cover valves (the CCV and the one on the front) and they would not work, different style apparently. Turns out that those valves we had are the same as the ones on the 93 4.0's. So we ordered some. The guy at the stealership looked at the jeep, and pretty much confirmed the fact that we had a 93 motor in a 97 jeep. He also told us that the rims I had were from a Grand Cherokee TSI. haha. But we did in fact get something done yesterday, we did a tuneup: plugs, wires, rotor, cap. Going to check the diffs. Motor runs much better now. Checked the IAC again today. Still looks good. My idle kept jumping around, then I realized that the TPS was unplugged, lol. And thats all I have for now.

Future Plans in order of importance, supject to change at any given time without prior notice

Distributer mounting gasket
Timing chain cover gasket (will replce timing chain and sprockets while in there)
Valve cover gasket
Fix any electrical issues (reverse lights, VIC, etc...)
Diff. oil chane if needed
Chery Bomb glasspack (old school)
2" BB lift and new shocks

All this will be happening as I get the money to pay for the parts, so it'll take awhile.

This was a long post, so I'll apease your brains with some pics

:

Oh, and I also painted those little caps in the rims black.

HeavyArms · 10-30-2010, 02:53 PM

no cat!?

my dad has a glasspack with a turn down after it on his 95 4.0 and it sound's okay but im compairing it to my 5.2

super clean jeep btw!

1stblack97ZJ · 10-30-2010, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyArms

no cat!?

my dad has a glasspack with a turn down after it on his 95 4.0 and it sound's okay but im compairing it to my 5.2

super clean jeep btw!

Thanks man!!! i was checking your build thread out too, you got a nice jeep there. Yes no cat, lol.....bought the jeep in SC where there are no emissions testing, and lots of jeepers take their cats off there, fortunately the DMV said I didn't have to get it inspected for another year. whew.....but I will have to have one on before NC inspection next year.

HeavyArms · 10-30-2010, 03:07 PM

Thank's! kinda weird there both 97's and in great shape. i wish my interior was as nice as yours!

oh and when i did my motor swap my new motor was out of a 93 so i had to change an arse load of stuff to make it work! lol.

1stblack97ZJ · 10-30-2010, 03:10 PM

Really, my motor is out of a 93 too. Though i didn't do it.......but I am frustrated that I dont know how many miles are on the motor.

1stblack97ZJ · 10-30-2010, 05:28 PM

I also cleaned the cowl and got all the leaves out from under it while it was off, looks good. I will have some pics tomorrow.

iluvtruenos · 11-01-2010, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1stblack97ZJ

Really, my motor is out of a 93 too. Though i didn't do it.......but I am frustrated that I dont know how many miles are on the motor.

My buddy and I put a 93 ZJ motor in a 98 XJ.

All we swapped were the brackets and manifolds.

tsconver · 11-01-2010, 12:52 PM

you know you could have used helicoils on the oil pan. You basically made your own.

BlackbeastZJ · 11-01-2010, 01:04 PM

Did you have to move the exhaust to drop the oil pan? I need to change the gasket on mine, but it looks like the pipe's gonna be in the way.