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The entire frame was cleaned and painted by previous owner as well. Going with an LM7 crate engine, Novak mounts and adapters, autometer.com Jeep gauges, keeping stock 5 speed and transfer case. This will probably be my favorite swap project and should be straight forward.
Sweet-been pissing around since Christmas with a 5.3/4L60E swap into 1998,lots of work but actually fairly simple.Over on Pirate4x4 5.3 Jeeps thread,lots of good info mixed in with the usual name calling,ball busting and dummies asking the same three questions over and over again...
This where I am at,just need to mod my driver's side exhaust pipe to clear the skid plate,and on to finishing up the wiring
Last edited by tfi racing; 08-13-2016 at 12:53 PM.
Sweet-been pissing around since Christmas with a 5.3/4L60E swap into 1998,lots of work but actually fairly simple.Over on Pirate4x4 5.3 Jeeps thread,lots of good info mixed in with the usual name calling,ball busting and dummies asking the same three questions over and over again...
Yeah I have been reading for weeks. We are gathering all the parts before really tearing into it.
Ordered most of the big parts to get this underway.
GM 12457705 5.3 LM7
Novak Adapt AX15 and 23 spline input gear
Advanced adapters GM to AX15 bellhousing
Chevrolet Performance 12571611 flywheel
Luk 04-049 clutch kit
ARP-330-2802 flywheel bolts
1-25222-X Griffin Pro Series 26x19 radiator
Autometer:
5381 dash panel (going to try to install new gauges in stock cluster panel)
880244 speedometer
880246 tachometer
880241 water temp
880240 oil pressure
880428 fuel level
880242 volt meter
9117 rpm signal adapter
LSEMTJ-KIT Daves Customs Umlimited engine mount kit
Hoping most of the parts will show up this week and get started this weekend.
Last edited by Cyrperformance; 08-24-2016 at 10:18 PM.
Finished up the gauge cluster minus the speedo which will be coming soon hopefully.
This is the Autometer panel thats mounts in place of the factory cluster but I wanted this project to have a few custom touches that still kept a factory look. Also this panel seems to place the gauges more vertical rather than set back and laid back some like the factory cluster is.
Pretty much have everything here except the trans which was ordered today from Novak. Brand new AX15 and new 23 spline input gear for transfer case. Should be here Tuesday. This weekend we will be tearing out the tired 2.5L with trans and transfer case. Once the trans is here everything will be going in. Also noticed that the transfer case already has the slip yolk eliminator on it and beefier driveshaft for the rear.
According to Novak and a few builds on Jeep forums, it is a pretty strong trans that does well behind stock or cammed motors. This is mainly going to be street driven with some offroad detours here and there. Definitely don't see rock crawling or hard wheeling in its future. One thing I don't like is the AA bellhousing, it sticks the slave cylinder to the passenger side and forces you to get a Toyota cylinder and new hose, which if you don't read through there site you would not know until you read through the instruction sheet or have it in hand. Also have to use a cone less mini starter if using 168 tooth flywheel.
Yes, I read your build thread on one of the Jeep forums I believe. Very nice job. Wish I had used Novak for everything but price was cheaper for the setup a different way. From now on it will be all there parts in boxes coming.
Old mounts cut off and frame rails cleaned up for new.
New motor and trans in. Transfer case input changed to 23 spline and noticed the input seal lip is completely gone. New seal installed, just waiting for the new flywheel so transmission and transfer case can be permanently installed. So far taking the measurements for the rear driveshaft, the aftermarket one that is in the Jeep will fit perfectly.
Transmission has planty of room. There is a ton of room to get to everything on these.
On my wrangler LS swap I used Speedway block huggers. Brought the left side 2.5" tube around the front of the oil pan. Merged it with a Flow master 2:1 merge into a 3" cat into a very large Flow Master mufflerand then into a 3" tail pipe.
I used the basic street rod motor mount. Kind of a "L" bracket that I bolted to a welded mount on the frame rail. A rubber biscuit between that and engine motor mount. When I did the swap Novak didn't have their mounts yet.
I don't know about the ac compressor. I don't have ac. I can see if it fits. I think the upper control arm could be a problem. I have 2" lift on my TJ and the left upper control arm will hit the alternator, Camaro accessories under full compression. I added longer bump stops to prevent that.
08-12-2016, 10:43 PM
97 Jeep Wrangler 
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