My Magnum TJ, project "Whoops my stroker wiped it's cam bearings... again"
So, I'm already about three weeks into my Magnum swap, but wanted to start a build thread and kinda go through it chronologically from the start up to where I am right now. Background- I built a no-corners-cut very expensive stroker motor back in 2011, that I had NOTHING but problems with... I had it in and out of the jeep four times in a two year period- first it sunk a valve, then it wiped its cam bearings twice... A warning to anyone even contemplating building a stroker motor... there are a LOT of problems with them and people often keep their motor failures hush-hush, but they're not all they're hyped up to be, and mine caused me nothing but grief and thousands of wasted dollars. If you want, you can view my stroker project thread on that popular jeep strokers dot com site.
Anyway, after it most recently wiped its cam bearings again, and nobody could give me any answers as to how or why... machine shop... Lunati.... Bullet cams.... Durabond... other stroker folks/builders... I decided there was no way I was putting another dime into that motor, so I started looking for alternatives. After much research, I decided on a magnum v8 swap.
I looked around for a 5.9, but I wanted a full donor vehicle, and I wanted the vehicle to be out of the same year as my jeep (98)- one day I happened upon a 98 Durango with a 5.2 on craigslist that had recent front end damage. The thing ran just fine save for a busted radiator and front crossmember, so I picked the whole thing up for $800, took the drivetrain out of it, and sold the rolling chassis to a junkyard for $300- I live in a townhouse and while I have a single garage bay and a driveway, there was no way I'd have been willing to keep the Durango carcass floating around for months while I parted the thing out... I wanted it in and out of there. I'm sure my neighbors thank me.
Anyway, here's the Donorango...
And here's me tearing out its guts...
Had my ex-offensive tackle neighbor help stabilize the crane for me, that thing doesn't roll easily on concrete with an 800-900 lb load, hehe
And finally, here's the tiny-a$$ garage where all the magic will happen... you can see I'm "bleeding" the old auto trans, I kinda felt like an executioner at this point with the 'Rango... tearing out its guts and hanging them up to dry
So, I'm already about three weeks into my Magnum swap, but wanted to start a build thread and kinda go through it chronologically from the start up to where I am right now. Background- I built a no-corners-cut very expensive stroker motor back in 2011, that I had NOTHING but problems with... I had it in and out of the jeep four times in a two year period- first it sunk a valve, then it wiped its cam bearings twice... A warning to anyone even contemplating building a stroker motor... there are a LOT of problems with them and people often keep their motor failures hush-hush, but they're not all they're hyped up to be, and mine caused me nothing but grief and thousands of wasted dollars. If you want, you can view my stroker project thread on that popular jeep strokers dot com site.
Anyway, after it most recently wiped its cam bearings again, and nobody could give me any answers as to how or why... machine shop... Lunati.... Bullet cams.... Durabond... other stroker folks/builders... I decided there was no way I was putting another dime into that motor, so I started looking for alternatives. After much research, I decided on a magnum v8 swap.
I looked around for a 5.9, but I wanted a full donor vehicle, and I wanted the vehicle to be out of the same year as my jeep (98)- one day I happened upon a 98 Durango with a 5.2 on craigslist that had recent front end damage. The thing ran just fine save for a busted radiator and front crossmember, so I picked the whole thing up for $800, took the drivetrain out of it, and sold the rolling chassis to a junkyard for $300- I live in a townhouse and while I have a single garage bay and a driveway, there was no way I'd have been willing to keep the Durango carcass floating around for months while I parted the thing out... I wanted it in and out of there. I'm sure my neighbors thank me.
Anyway, here's the Donorango...
And here's me tearing out its guts...
Had my ex-offensive tackle neighbor help stabilize the crane for me, that thing doesn't roll easily on concrete with an 800-900 lb load, hehe
And finally, here's the tiny-a$$ garage where all the magic will happen... you can see I'm "bleeding" the old auto trans, I kinda felt like an executioner at this point with the 'Rango... tearing out its guts and hanging them up to dry