Limeyjeeper

The 6 speed was a Mercedes 6 speed NSG 370. Not the greatest transmission. hard to find parts for. Jeep put the NV3550 into the TJ from 2000 to 2004. Then the NSG370 from 2005 to 2006. I still think the AX15 is the best of the bunch particularly the HD version. Plenty of parts available.

Added a Switch-Pros switch power controller and a remote winch controller. The Switch-Pros is a very impressive piece of kit. Extremely configurable and very powerful. It isn't cheap but the quality and support is there. There are cheaper relay-based ones out there but with nothing like the flexibility this has. I use it to control my hood lights, Backup lights, Bumper lights, Winch, radar detector and front camera. You can set any connected lights to flash or strobe, turn on automatically with ignition, or via one of the panel switches, it has a last status memory too. It can also set outputs to be remotely triggered by an external input such as a high beam trigger. I used the badlands controller and rewired it to be compatible with the Superwinch. Piggybacked it onto the solenoid control pins. Works like a champ. So much easier to winch with a wireless remote. I also added a front camera and used to spare cargo camera input into the Uconnect head unit. There is a special adapter cable you can buy from Z-Automotive which adds 2 pins to the Uconnect main plug and allows you to add the camera. I used a Nakita Backup/Front camera from amazon. You will also need to get a security system bypass cable for the PCM so you can reprogram it to turn on the cargo camera. I used the Augocom cable from Amazon. This allows you to keep it connected as it goes in between the security module and the PCM. You have to get up under the passenger footwell and unplug the security module from the PCM and plug this into the security module output and PCM input. In 2018 Jeep added a module to stop thieves getting to the PCM from the ODB2 port and reprogramming keys. I used OBD Jscan to get at the Jeep PCM and turn on the cargo camera. It will allow you to change tires sizes and a bunch of other stuff.

Here are some pics of how the fork should look with the thrust bearing mounted. It doesn't matter which way the fork goes there is no offset.

Looks like the wire speed or voltage was too high, or they were welding unclean metal. Welding rusty metal will cause this. Looks like caulking not a weld!!

Good point. I don't like where the temp sender is right under the header. I am getting a good 25 degree drop between the radiator input and output which seems about right so I think it is doing its job. I like the idea of the overnight burping. I will try that tonight!!

HP Tuners. Great product IMHO.

Brown dog mounts are not for the faint of heart. NVH takes on a whole new meaning!!!

This is going to be a screamer. 220hp with 245lb of torque and a 460lb drivetrain, Will be very interesting to see how this combo performs. I think close to an LS. I know these engines can be easily tuned to some crazy HP too. Crank up the boost and 300hp plus is easily attainable reliably.

Might have had a bit of a breakthrough today. I flushed all the coolant out of the system and refiled using Global Extended Life 50/50. It was recommended by a bunch of LS guys. I was using Amsoil previously. I then parked the Comanche on a slope, so the radiator cap was the highest point and used a no spill funnel kit from Harbor freight. I ran the engine at various speeds for about 30 mins. Temp stayed where it should be. A ton of air came out. Took it out for a drive. Temps seemed much better. Then put the funnel kit back on started the engine again and did another 20 minutes of burping. Lots of air came out again. I then loosened the rear steam lines. No air just fluid. Took the Comanche out again and temps seemed about 20F lower than my run in the morning before the fluid change. Highest temp I got on the scanner was about 212. Run the HP tuner scanner. The fuel tables look ok. They are rich and leaning out with mileage which is what I would expect. These will come down as the long-term fuel trim tables start to get optimized. Right now, they are a mess. The stock unlearned GM PCM always defaults rich and uses the trim tables to lean out the mixture until it is more optimized. Ideally nothing should be greater than around -6 or +4. I burped it a third time and no air really came out. My only caveat is that the air temps were only in the low 70's, but on my first run prior to today's changes the temp still got to 228F which is way too high. The highest I got on my last run was 212F. I am adding the oil cooler this week which should bring the temps down about 20F. If this continues, I might have cracked my overheating problem. At no time did the temp start to get out of control and climb and climb like it did before once it got to temp. I really hope this is the end of this saga. I did buy this kit. It looks pretty interesting, and I will use it to make absolutely sure that I have no air pockets. If this and the oil cooler doesn't fix the issue? I am going to fabricate an air scoop under the radiator and install the factory air dam which both push air up into the radiator. If that doesn't work, I will replace the radiator with a big aluminum cross flow Jeep radiator not the parallel flow one Novak sells for the LS conversions which is not as efficient. It makes plumbing a bit more of a challenge, but it much more efficient particularly as I have the jeep condenser in front of the radiator. Almost all the Jeep Xj/MJ LS conversions I have seen don't have AC so no condenser and no cooling issues or they used a big LS crossflow radiator. Also contrary to my previous theory I did get the fuel pump to run out of steam today. WOT at around 5k the injectors went to 106.5% duty cycle which means they were totally maxed out and not getting enough fuel so I will probably need to upgrade. Ignore the speed it is showing low by 50%. Still need to dial in the Dakota digital box to correctly emulate the Jeep to GM VSS signal. Not a priority until I need cruise control. More to come.

I have the Novak radiator and fan setup. All I have in front of the radiator is the AC Condensor. Factory Jeep size.

The Clearwater 0331 heads had a thicker deck to prevent the cracking with the original 0331 heads so you will be fine. Clearwater makes a good head. It looks a bit different as it has the casts for the coil pack bolts. Other than that it is pretty much the same. They might not have the coolant temp sensor tap at the back of the head. The alternative is to find a 0331 TUPY head. These are the heads that Clearwater copied. The TUPY 0331 head fixed the cracking problem.

Fuel rail all buttoned up. Got the fuel pressure gauge installed. Fuel pressure staying at 58 psi except under hard load where it dips to 56 so the old Carter P90011 is keeping up just fine. I presumed this would be the case as the AFR is never showing lean. The short-term fuel trim tables are also not showing a lean condition either. Still not happy with coolant temps. They seem to be a bit more stable but still not where I would like them. Swapped out the water pump with a Holley rebuildable pump. Old one was noisy. Going to add an oil cooler behind the winch. Oil is getting into the low 200's under normal use. Plenty of room to get a 10 row cooler in there. Hoping having more oil capacity might help. The slim Holley pan isn't very big compared to the truck oil pan holding less than 6 quarts compared to 8. All I need is a 20 degree drop and I am out of the woods. I love the Fragola AN lines. Very well made. There is something not right with either the motor or the radiator. Cooling really should be the least of my worries with this swap. All the obvious things aren't panning out. Running lean (AFR is spot on), Head Gasket or leak (Pressure test of cooling system holds up just fine). No leaks. Temp sensor off (Installed new one. It reads a little lower but not radically) The only other thing I thought about was that the fiberglass hood simply isn't dissipating heat like a steel hood would. Even with the vents. Also, I was wondering if the hidden winch is blocking a lot of airflow into the engine. Very frustrating. I am going to tackle some of the other changes I want to make such as swapping the bellhousing. I might just pull the motor and taking a deep dive to see what is going on. Gonna try the oil cooler first and go from there.

Weird choice. Better fitting floor pans and braces would have been a higher priority I would have thought.

Having now done 3 strokers and an LS here is my take. The Stoker is a beast of an off-road engine. Tons of low-down torque and enough power to do just about anything. However, getting the build right is hard unless you go with a Golen (Not a Titan) which is what I would do if I did a stroker again. Getting an engine that has been dynoed and broken is the way to go. The LS will have more power out the box (285hp - 450hp depending on size and configuration, but not necessarily more torque) and the potential to be tuned to stupid horsepower. It is not as torquey down low like a stroker, and it will cost you at least twice as much as a stroker. I would also do a stroker on an ODB2 platform as it is much easier to tune. Personally, I would never do a stroker on a renix platform. I have done ODB1 and ODB2. The latter gets much better results. A Golen stroker will cost you around $7k. They will also build you an LS if you want. The so called "poor mans strokers" really don't give you much over a stock engine except a lot more torque. Strokers are notorious for having valve train issues and often need premium fuel to run right. You can get a junkyard LS pretty cheap. I would get one that I knew was running well with good compression as a baseline, with less than 60 or 70k miles on it. You then have to add wiring, mounts, intake, (if you don't want a cowl hood), headers etc and you are still going to be running a high mileage platform that may or may not be reliable. If I did an LS again I would get a crate motor with PCM all ready to drop it. Expensive but completely issue free.

I think these are what you are looking for. If you need the valves there is a vendor on ebay that has those too. https://www.ebay.com/itm/183904641704?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=rKO5vwE2Tqa&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=54cvJXBfQNq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=EMAIL

37 and 45 are pretty interchangeable. I use 37 degree because all my lines are SS. Also AN is 37 degree. You can use 37 or 45 for regular copper type lines. Most OEM and DOT standard is 45 degree but either works just fine. Most flaring tools don't even give you the choice they are 45 degree. The important part is a DOUBLE flare is absolutely the only way to flare a Jeep brake line.

I have this tool. Absolutely the best way to flare brakelines https://www.amazon.com/Tool-International-Vise-Mounted-T-Handle-KTI70081/dp/B004IKRO34 As you are in Indy I would be happy to lend you mine. You need double 37 degree flares for MJ lines. 3/16 line.

I use RockAuto for parts. They usually have by far the best prices and often several options depending on your budget.

I was travelling from Indy to Marion last week and saw an old Comanche Black Pioneer being used by a farmer. Had a hard life but was still trucking along at 70 on the farm road!! I probably only see a Comanche every 3 months.

Got the intake off to do the Cam sensor and decided to replace the fuel rails with Holley rails. Had a set kicking around. The schrader valve was leaking on the stock intake which wasn't helping my fuel pressure. I am also adding a fuel pressure meter so I can see really what is going on with the fuel pressure. Added it to the end of the rail. Also decided to pull the plugs and found out that the plug wires had melted to the plugs. Big mess. So I had to replace the plugs and wires. I used Accel Porcelain plug wires which should work with the headers much better. Just waiting on a couple of lines to get the fuel back together. I have made plenty of An-6 lines, but I have taken a real liking to the Fragola pre-made lines. For fuel or brake lines they are a high-quality option, and not much more than a couple of good quality An-6 hose couplings.

The quality of your restoration and attention to detail is inspiring and something you should be very proud of.

Great to see a 2.5l get some love. Awesome

Sweet survivor. Looks great.

Sorry, I missed this. Congratulations a really well executed build. I love a clean stock looking engine bay. Well as near to stock with an LS stuffed in there!!

Great build. Love the look.