Project101

Hey guys I'm new to this site and I would say I'm not much of a thread starter ,but here we go. About me I'm a gear head big surprise , I was a low level mopar tech for a few yrs then at gm for a few years, I know just enough to get me In trouble. Thats half the reason I joined this site. I grew up with all gm products my old man is a chevy guy as am I now. I have restored one truck in my life and have built several jeeps. I love building.

Here we go , so a bout 2 years ago a friend of mine offerd to sell me his jeep yj
. After a few talks with my wife I bought it with the understanding that I would strech it to meet our family needs. About 12months later my jeep was successfully strectched 24" to the length of a jeep cj8 scrambler, I bought a hard top put full steel doors on it that I restored . And here I am now.
Now that would be enough but now it only makes sense to go vortec 5.3 4l65e.
So here I am. I'm going to try and post pics it may take me a bit.

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Test 1

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Here's a real pic

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Ok so theirs a few pics I have more but they take a bit to upload.
Now I'm not going to be able to get back to work on the jeep for a few weeks.
I have been on the lookout for 5.3/4l65e and plan to buy one within the next month I plan to keep the engine as stock as possible , do you guys have any recommendations beside 5.3, goal is to have a good all round engine /power/mpg.
Thanks hope to hear from you guys

Project101

Well I see I got some views , that's cool. Ok so I'm trying to pick a 5.3 , I'm on craiglist and searching around. And I've found everything from 02 5.3/4l60 to 08 5.3 /4l65. EDIT. (I forgot to mention they are all 2wd and I need 4wd . I have had a couple 700r4s apart and I know they are close to the same but not sure if I want the added labor of swaping tail shafts)Mileage ranging from 45k to 195k all of them are within a 300 bucks of each other .
Obviously lower miles are better but is newer better as far a reliability/ease of swap.
I plan to drive this rig almost everyday. Is their any pros or cons to an Oder vs new 5.3
Just want a reliable hp/drive ability /ease of swap. More hp never hurts

DavidBoren

Might be a lot easier to get a th400 and np205 4wd transmission/transfer case from a 1-ton Chevy. Pretty sure advanced adapters has everything you need for swapping that into a jeep, too.

I can't imagine you are space limited with a jeep, so have you considered using the 5.3/4L80e combo from the 2500 Silverado? Pretty sure it can be had in 4wd.

Project101

I may have stated my question wrong. What I'm really asking is are their any preferred ranges of years for 5.3 swap(btw did some home work and found 02-05 seems to be a good range aka non AFM / DOD engines )
And if it's worth it to buy a 2wd and convert to 4wd if the miles are low enough.

Dublin

I bought an 07 LY6 for my YJ but that was largely due to me finding a good deal and (at the time I purchased anyway), it was relatively new (ie. less than 30k miles). I unfortunately got sent overseas so haven't been able to actually do the conversion but it's given me plenty of time to read. I find this thread, albeit monstrous in size, to be invaluable for questions/answers:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-...5-3-jeeps.html

Putting a manual in mine so can't help you with the trans question.
Cheers.

Project101

If you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for your LY6 and what did it come with?
BTW thanks for the link

rennat_2006

iTrader: (10)

99 to 03 iirc are drive by cable which would be a little easier swap. I just put a 2004 5.3l into a 85 cj7...5.3, 700r4,d300 tcase. I converted the engine over from dbw to dbc so i didnt have to deal with the tac module and dbw throttle pedal.

I used novak adapter mounts on this one.

Project101

i was looking at the novack jeep yj 5.3 specific mounts , bit pricey but being able to stick the engine in one try will be worth it. last time i did an engne swap i must have had the engine in and out 15 times!!!! i also just picked up some c6 exhaust manifolds with cats closet things to shorty headers that i could find. got to keep the smog man happy!
on a side note what kind of mpg are you getting in you cj?

rennat_2006

iTrader: (10)

Yeah the novak adapters worked out good.

I ran a set of shorty edelbrock fbody headers. I want to say the vette manifolds would have hit the novak frame stands for the mounts if i remember correctly.

Dont know about mpg yet. Just taking it in for drivepoles and exhaust this afternoon/next week. It is a customer/good friend of mines rig that used to have a 383tpi sbc in it that was way too much motor for the tpi system so never ran correctly.

jrostocki

I used the novak too and they are great. The are adjustable for fine tuning. They have suggested installation location that is referenced off of the front cross member. Its a good staring point but i adjusted it after measuring out my drive train and fan clearance. Had some issues with the exhaust manifolds (i used c6 corvette manifolds).