terrawombat Posted November 15, 2010 Author Share Posted November 15, 2010 Swapped a front axle from the '88MJ into this. Different gear ratios so I removed the front driveshaft entirely. I just needed an axle...any axle in the thing so I can move it around for a bit. Just finished up with the swap and drove the XJ around a little bit outside of my shop. Transmission seems solid. No odd clunking noises from the rear end. Couldn't get it up past 20MPH as there are no headlights on the truck and my only light is coming from the outside light on my shop :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 The project goals changed some. The build will continue here: http://thespeedfreaks.net/showthread.php?t=5590 I will post updates of major milestones here :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 Milestone #1: First test fit of drivetrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Looks good in there man. Hint, drop the mounts 2" not 1 1/2" like I did. Your upper rad hose will be much happier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 Thanks for the hint! As soon as I get the passenger side engine mount securely bolted in, I will be CNC'ing the drop brackets for 2" of drop. Does your hood clear the stock air hat with only 1-1/2" of drop? I measured closer to 2" for the air hat clearance. Guess I won't be putting any throttle body spacers on this thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 It has just about a 1/2" on the air hat. There goes my MOPAR PERFORMANCE ribbed air cleaner. I will be ok with the A/C delete pulley in place. Once I get the compressor back in place, it will squeeze the upper rad hose into the hood. You could get away with a 1 1/2" drop on the passenger side and a 2" drop on the drivers. Once you get the motor mounts in you will notice it has a lean to the passenger side. Thus my reason for the different size drops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 99XJ heater box in. Only needed to drill one new 1/2" hole by the blower motor. I cut this original support off because I thought I'd need the clearance, but it looks like I could have left it. There is also already a hole in the heater box that would allow me to bolt it right up. If the dash fits with this piece still intact, I might weld it back on. Next up is the floor repair. I'm going to remove the top of the frame rails and rust-proof the insides. I've begun cutting the spot welds, but I got a lot more to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Time to fix the floor before we go any further: I've always known that the drivers side frame rail has some significant damage due to rust. After popping the top of the frame rail off, I was easily able to confirm this. There is a pretty sizable section of the frame that has rotted through and will somehow need to be cut out and new metal welded in. I'm hoping that I can do this myself without affecting the structural integrity of the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 My plan for this coming week is to tack weld in some fresh new steel on the inside of the frame rail and then cut out the bad stuff. Once the rotted portion is out, I'll do a full weld on the new steel and possibly add a second layer of new, fresh steel - but I'll have to see how it all turns out. It looks as though the passenger side frame rail isn't rotted out like the drivers side. Debating on whether or not I want to spend the countless hours drilling spot welds to pop off the top of the frame rail. I figure I've come this far, though...might as well... I also bought a replacement front floor pan from RockAuto, which was drop shipped from Classic2Current. I was pretty impressed with the piece they sent me. I was expecting a thin 20Ga. piece of steel, but I believe it's at least 18 or 16Ga. Looks and feels thicker than the stock sheet metal in the truck, but that could be because it was all rotted out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Nearly three months later and I'm still at the same spot, but I hope to be updating this build on a weekly basis starting next month. I'll be working shorter hours at my job and putting more hours down at my shop. Some things I have gotten done are the driver side motor mount. I hacked up a ZJ and XJ drivers motor mount and formed a Frankenstein of a piece that now bolts entirely into place, although I did need to drill two holes through the frame rail. The passenger side will take a little more ingenuity, but I have some ideas floating around for that, too. My goal is not to simply get a pair of motor mounts in, but also try to increase their strength since I have decided to go with a slightly different plan for the engine - including a supercharger and all of the supporting modifications. My most immediate need right now is to find a front axle for the truck, so I can get it back to a roller and powerwash the engine bay in preparation for sandblasting and paint. To be continued... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 After finishing up the drivers side motor mount, I decided to drop the engine in the bay to measure for the passenger side mount. I also decided to throw on the Mopar Performance headers I intend on using with the engine. Unfortunately, with how I had the drivers mount setup, there was simply no way to get the passenger header to clear the body. I had to bring the motor about 1.5" forward and drop it about half inch to get my desired clearance. I think I'm going to scrap my original idea with the motor mounts and start from scratch and build a custom set of mounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Ditch the block huggers and get some ZJ manifolds. I have zero fitment problems with the exhaust. I am using the ZJ "Y" pipe too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 My first test fit had the stock ZJ manifolds on and I had no clearance issues with those. But, I really really really really really want to use these header pipes since this MJ is going to be a little bit more than just a V8 MJ ;) They're not quite block huggers...I think those would actually fit. These are Mopar Performance headers (same as the Doug Thorley headers) for a ZJ. They're ceramic coated and I've got the Y-pipe to match. Everything is all welded up to use V-band clamps. Should flow nicely with the supercharger going on this thing. I've got the passenger side engine mount base all fabbed up and welded. Need to take some measurements and fab up some "tabs" to extend out to the mount on the engine side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 I got a decent portion of the passenger side frame rail mount finished tonight. I wish I was better at welding... I can already see Bo from across the country shaking his head wondering why I'm putting in so much extra work. Well, it was certainly good practice with the welder! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Not me brother! I like the mount. It looks very good. You will have 200 more ponies than me. You need to make sure it is rock solid. You might want a gusset between the legs of the mount though. Do you have the trans and transfer bolted to the engine? If not you might run into floor board clearance issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 Thanks Bo! The mount is only about 60% complete - there will be gussets between the legs both on top and on the bottom, but I'll still leave enough clearance to allow the motor to be pulled from the engine bay without having to remove the whole frame mount. I also plan to run a vertical strip along the top of the frame rail, weld it to my monstrosity of a mount and drill some holes through the frame for some extra tie-ins...kind of like how the drivers side mount and track bar mount are bolted together up top. The trans is attached to the engine, but no transfer case. I already see that I'm going to have some issues there, but the good thing is that a lot of the drivers floor pan and transmission tunnel are currently cut out of the truck for rust repair so I'm already part of the way there in terms of floor clearance modifications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 In order to complete the passenger side mount, I needed to get the engine squared up in the engine bay and make sure that the output shaft of the transmission was in line with the rear differential. To make this easier, I got to work on what will become the permanent transmission cross member - it's out of my donor '98ZJ 5.9L. The center-to-center distance between the frame mounting holes on the stock cross-member from the MJ was roughly 34 3/16". On the ZJ, it's just about 35", so, I simply slotted the holes on the ZJ cross member and bolted it up for test fitment. After some tweaks and additional slotting of the holes, it is mounted and the engine measures square in the engine bay. I noticed that the entire drivetrain was tilted downward slightly, but a side-by-side comparison of my '98ZJ 5.9L shows that the angle of tilt on the MJ is less severe than how the ZJ came from the factory (but it could also be worn engine/trans mounts that is allowing it to sag). Either way, I feel comfortable with how it currently sits and I should hopefully be able to complete the passenger mount sometime next week. I'm either going to make an entirely new drivers side mount from scratch (like I did for the passenger side) or modify the existing mount I already made (a hackjob combination of a ZJ and MJ/XJ drivers mount). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue88Comanche Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 awesome! :popcorn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 Last night I worked on getting the drivers side motor mount (re)-fabbed. If you've been following this thread, you'll recall that I originally had made a frankenstein of a mount for the drivers side using a ZJ and XJ mount. In order to fit my Mopar Performance headers on the engine, I needed to scoot the entire assembly forward approximately 1/4 to 1/2" for clearance purposes. By doing so, I screwed up the positioning of the mount. I ground off the existing "tabs" of the engine mount, cut out a new tab from 3/16" plate, positioned the engine where it needed to be, and tack welded the new tab in. I still need to measure, design and cut out the second tab for both the driver and passenger mounts. Once I have those completed, I can start to work on the additional bracing that I'll need to handle the increased power and torque that this power plant will eventually produce. I didn't take any pictures last night, but I'll get some later today and update this post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Should have the rest of the passenger side motor mount finished and fabbed up tonight - minus the extra bracing I plan on doing. Should also get the rest of the drivers side mount measured and designed, but probably won't get to cut any plate and weld it in until later in the week. I'll get some pictures up since I know you guys don't like looking at all these words :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 Drivers side mount is just about finished. Need to clean up the welds/slag, weld on a nut for one of the mounting bolts that goes through the frame, and sandblast it for paint. Passenger side mount is nearly finished - I have the "tabs" fabbed and welded now I just need some additional bracing and need to drill through the upper part of the frame and tie the mount in better. I was able to lower the engine down off of the hoist for the first time - not a big accomplishment, but it felt good to have the engine rest in there on its own :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody4359 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 nicely done :thumbsup: its the small victories that count Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Those motor mounts look fantastic, like they were meant to be there. Nice work :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 Thank ya. It was the first time I've tried to tackle anything like this and there are a few things I definitely would have done differently now that I've been through it once. The driver side mount wasn't too bad since it kind of WAS supposed to be there. The bottom portion that hugs the frame rail is from a ZJ. The top portion that you can barely see in the picture is from an XJ. I cut and hacked up both and fused them together with sparks and molten metal so that the end result was a motor mount that bolted in to most of the factory locations. I still needed to drill two holes through to catch two factory locations on the ZJ mount that the XJ/MJ frame doesn't account for. Unfortunately, I decided to move the whole engine assembly forward about 3/8", which required me to grind off the factory "tabs" that go out to the mount on the motor and weld in my own custom ones. The passenger side is completely custom job. The ZJ and MJ/XJ mount didn't even come close to where I needed to be. The passenger ZJ mount is cast steel opposed to its driver side counter-part - which was just bent up sheet metal spot welded together - so cutting and hacking that up wasn't really an option. The MJ/XJ passenger mount sits WAY further back than where it needed to be so I decided to just go completely custom. Very time consuming, but fun and rewarding at the same time. As you can see, I'm not a very pretty welder. I know the basics and know how to make a solid, structural weld, but I'm still not at the point where I'm consistent enough with my zig-zags to get the bead coming out pretty. I have my moments here and there, but for the most part, I need to take a flapper disc to the welds to clean them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue88Comanche Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 If you don't mind me asking how much did you snag the 5.9L engine for? and it came with a tranny? I may be changing my V8 plans again due to lack of JY engines.. I found a 5.9 on craigslist and wanted to get an idea of how much they are worth. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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