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The Project.
I am in the planning stages of a major swap. I am putting the engine, trans, t-case, and wiring from a 1994 XJ into a 87 YJ. I'll also be installing a Slip Yoke Eliminator kit.
As this project progresses, I'll be adding pics and text. At this point, (7-24)we have the motor, trans, t-case and trans harness. We have just located the engine wiring harness and the trans control unit (TCU), all that is needed is a fuel pump, I am deciding between a factory in tank unit or aftermarket in-line. I will be installing my air compressor this week to make short work on this project.
This week or weekend I will start pulling the motor, so keep coming back. I'll share all the secrets I stumble upon.
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Rick's Jeep before.
Stock YJ, 258, 999 auto, 207 t-case and COLD A/C. A little small, but it'll grow.
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Started! Then stopped!
Well, I have found a few things out very quickly. This was suppposed to be a complete XJ drivetrain swap. The 4.0L motor was sold, so Rick bought a 4.2L motor with a 4.0L head. My first step was to tackle the easy stuff first. I pulled the trans (909) and the t-case (207) first. Then I found out that although the 4.0L and the 4.2L motors share the same block and bellhousing patterns, the torque convertors are not interchangable. The pilot bearings are very different sizes. So if you are just doing a 4.0L swap, you may not be able to keep that 909 trans. While comparing the two t-cases side by side, I discovered that the 207 input shaft is about 1 3/8" longer. While the 231 input shaft will engage the 909 output shaft, the output shaft seal won't even touch the input shaft seal on the t-case. So the 207 will not bolt to a AW4 trans. If you have a 207, then you will have to get a 231, or just be hapy with the 207, you can still get a short shaft kit for it. We will be doing a Slip Yoke Eliminator kit soon for the 231. Look for that soon. So here's where we stand with the swap. As of 8-21, the entire drivetrain is out of the Jeep. This is taking a while due to parts backorder issues, and the oppressive heat we had for over a month. I am removing the pilot bearing and just got the new flexplate. The motor and trans will be married soon. |
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Update
I didn't put a date here because it's embarrasing to let you know how long this swap has taken. But here's what I know now. A good, experienced parts person is worth a lot of money. The right parts the first time saves time and money. Here's a little run down of the problems off the top of my head. Look back later for a complete run down of problems.
We did a lot of research before we started this project. The problem is that a lot of the info we got was wrong. Some of it can be contributed to the somewhat odd-ball Jeep we started with, auto trans, A/C and 207 t-case. Some of it can be contributed to wrong info from people. Here's a quick list of what we ran into.
Trans shifter bracket hits header
Header and front pipe don't line up
Crank Position Bolts too long
Power Distribution Center bracket non-existant on early model years
Vehicle Speed Sensor wiring missing
A/C compressor connector is different from the harness connetor.
The list goes on and on. This was just off the top of my head to keep the site almost current, so keep coming back, I hope to have the job done in 2 weeks.
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Enough of these stupid updates. It's DONE!!!!!
Well, it's done! It's actually outta here. It took quite some time, but it was worth it I think. If you have the extra money and not much time, I'd recommend the Hesco or Mopar kits. These come with all the things you'll need, but cost about twice what you'll pay by doing it yourself. There were a lot of problems along the way, and here are some of them and how we solved them. Trans shifter bracket. This is the bracket that bolts to the bell-housing and the block and is a pivot point for the trans shifter linkage. It gets in the way of the late model header you need. You can see a picture of the finished bracket. I had to remove about 50% of it. There was no Power Distribution Bracket (PDC) on the battery tray. This was easy. I ordered one for a 93 and rivited it to the battery tray. It looks close to factory and does the job. Where do you mount the coil? This was real easy. I found a hole on the fender within a plug-wire reach from the distributer. I drilled the second hole to match the 2 on the coil. I used long bolts and 4 washers per bolt and bolted it to the fender using about 1 1/4" 3/8" brake like as a spacer to get the coil off the fender. One of the harder ones was to make a vehicle speed sensor harness. If you can, buy this harness, as well as the alternator harness. For any of the electrical stuff, you'll need the factory manual for diagrams. DON'T use the Chilton's or Hayes. |
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Conclusion
The Jeep runs great now. In fact, it has been sold and the new owner reports no problems with it after about 9 months of ownership.
Why did this project take so long? Well, besides the fact that I am a procrastonator, we got a lot of wrong parts. The thing we learned from this project was to make sure you know what you have/are getting. The owner of the Jeep ended up getting the harness from one guy, the motor from another and the PCM from a third. They were different model years (we found out later) but only one year or so apart. This caused lots of problems. If you are going to save the money and do this without the Hesco or Mopar kit, try to get everything from one Jeep. |
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