So looking back I should have started this thread long ago probably, but I hadn't planned on my build being as extensive as it has become. Don't know if this will be of much interest to anyone, but it's a place I can document what I've done, what I'm doing, and what I plan to do next. And probably easier to post various my countless questions I have on here rather than new threads and having to detail everything so people are up to speed and can give me proper insight. I've also never really been on to name my vehicles, but after attempting to explain to people in conversation what I'm doing the name/phrase "FrankenJeep" keeps coming up (more on my reasoning for this later). I haven't seen anyone on here with the same user name or name of their Jeep being that. It's probably claimed on a social media too, but I don't really care. Not looking to make an account for my Jeep.
My current daily driver ('09 BMW 335d) is less than ideal in the midwest winters. And it's not great for camping, hauling my dogs around, and so forth. And since selling my F250 about a year prior I needed something for the upcoming winter season. Found a low mile (about 130k) 1997 Jeep Wrangler on CraigsList and he said he was open to trade for a motorcycle. I didn't know hardly anything about Jeeps at the time. Did what research I could over about a week on this Jeep. It had a little 2.5L with a manual behind it (big bonus, I prefer having a manual). 4" lift, 33" tires, and a lot that the current owner wasn't really sure of because the owner before him did most of it. It had ben liner on the interior and exterior (at the time I thought this was a bonus). Soft top. Interior was gutted (once again, thought this was a bonus for washing things down). The owner said it needed a couple minor things but ran great and was a blast to drive. We met up, he left it running because he said the battery was shot and if I turned it off we wouldn't be able to get it started again (off the bike). Should have raised an eyebrow at that, but I told myself that stopping at the parts store on the way home wouldn't be bad, and about $100 for a battery I could manage. I test drove it. The back end was so loose and would "wag" with even minor maneuvers in steering, bumps, and corners. The 2.5 could barely get it up to merging speed when I took it down the highway, and keeping up with traffic and maintaining speed was a lost cause. But after the test drive I returned to the parking lot the PO was waiting at and we made a deal,I got rid of a motorcycle I hardly rode anymore and got a 4x4 for the winter. I even sold him an extra helmet I happened to bring along for $150 (battery money!). My dad had tagged along in his car to the deal so I pulled the Bestop off, stuffed it in his car and headed back to my place in my new TJ.
Even on my 45 minute drive back home I began to notice "odd" things. The needle on the speedo would sometimes "bob" when I hit bumps, but about 50% of the time come back to roughly the speed I was doing. The other 50% of the time it would either hang around the 80-90mph mark or just loop around to the backside of the trip rest button. The steering wheel wasn't clocked right. The horn didn't work, so the PO had put a button on the dash (happened to be right where my knee hits the dash if I hit any sort of bump so people often think I'm chirping the horn at them when it's just a seam in the road). The e-brake was more so just a lever to pull for fun because it did absolutely nothing. Found the bill of sale from when the guy I just bought it from got it, about 6 months prior, and turns out he never licensed or titled it in his name. The truck bed liner was put on with the least care possible. The texture is so inconsistent, thin areas, nothing was taped off (I mean nothing, over spray on the headlights, windshield, mirrors, taillights and anything else). But I finally had a Jeep!
(Day I brought it home)
First stop was O'Riley's. Bought a battery and a large solid rubber wheel chock. Then to Home Depot for some chain to hook to the wheel chock. I milked the existing battery for over a week before I decided to just swap it out. I already had the new one, but the old one had not left me stranded. I instantly started looking for all sorts of upgrades to do to my new (to me) Jeep. But not knowing anything about Jeeps I didn't even know what I wanted. A family friend had gotten an '02 TJ a couple months prior and he's a "car guy" so I picked his brain about things to help get up to speed. Enter WranglerTJforum.com!!
(First time "off-road")
I was able to look past most of the "quirks" of my new vehicle over the next few weeks. Highways were a lost cause because 3rd and 4th were the only useable gears pretty much. Something needed to change so I could take this on adventures and road trips like I had dreamed of. A couple things a remedied soon, like my speedo that was more often than not telling me I was doing lightspeed in my TJ on residential streets. Turns out the speedo gear hadn't been installed correctly and wasn't seated fully. First project: done. I did other little things too, but nothing beyond an hour or so working on the Jeep. Then about a month later coming home one night I noticed as I pulled up to stop lights the engine would continue to rev and stay around 1,200-1,800rpm. I thought I might have seen a little smoke coming out the exhaust too, but wasn't sure because I hadn't fully cleaned the bed liner over spray off my rear view. I got home, parked it and smelled a little coolant. Checked things out but didn't really notice much and didn't want to dig around because it was late and the engine was still hot. I drove my car the next day to work, but that evening popped the hood. It looked like the top radiator hose was busted. Ran over the the parts store, got a new hose and installed it a couple nights later. Finished putting that on as a couple friends pulled up for us to head to a hangout that was about an hour away. They were excited to ride in the Jeep, so I offered to drive once i topped the coolant off. We pull out of my place, the mile down the street to the onramp of the interstate and begin to get up to speed. I notice I don't have a lot of power (less than the 2.5 usually has). And the power is dropping out quick. I take the first exit (now about 2.5 miles from my house). TJ dies while coasting up the off ramp after revving high between downshifts. I get the engine running again before we hit the light at the end of the off ramp. Engine is revving about half way through the rpm range while in neutral. But also having to give it throttle to keep it running because once it decides to drop rpm's it dies. I'm able to hardly limp the thing back home. It only died about 8 times in that 2 mile stretch. There was smoke, steam, knocks, and just about everything else going on that shouldn't be going on. The Jeep completely dies right in front of my place before I'm able to get it into a parking spot (I live in a townhouse). So I have one friend steer it as I push it up into a spot (literally uphill). What a great impression to make in front of these somewhat newer friends. Oh ya, forgot to mention they're both cute girls, ha ha. I ditch the TJ that night and deal with it the next day since there's so much steam and heat coming from the engine bay. The next day I'm looking at "stuff" under the hood, not even sure if I'll be able to readily see what might be going on. I see there is a long crack in the top of the radiator (I know know this is a common failure of the stock cooling system).
(Steam venting from my grand adventure)
After talking things over with my dad a couple days and me telling him I think we should have it towed to his place (my parents have extra garage space at their house and all my tools are over there, plus my Dad's tools too) he somehow convinces me that I should just drive it over to their place (usually a 15 min drive) and if it brakes down he'll tow me (at the time he had an '07 Saturn Ion, not sure how that was going to work?). It takes me about 20 minutes to finally get it fired up and the last juice from the battery does it for me. It dies intermittently but I put it in neutral and get it fire back up again, high revs, rattling and knocking and all... until one more time. It dies, and I swerve into a neighborhood where I crank on the ignition over and over but nothing. I'm dumping water bottles into the coolant reservoir and on top of the engine. My Dad says he's on his way, but got confused on the cross streets and can't find me. After about 20 min and a few phone calls he shows up. To tow me. In his Saturn. He then realizes he doesn't have a tow hook on the rear of his car. Or any form of place to hook a tow strap to. I crank on the engine a couple more times and by the grace of God it fires up. I "take off" (I have maybe 50HP of useable power at this point). I'm only about 8 minutes from their house at this point, if I had a vehicle that was functioning right. But due to the hills, constant downshifting, and everything else wrong It was about 20 more minutes. I also got stuck behind someone that was doing 15 below the speed limit. My Dad told me later "I thought you were going to hope the curb in the median and pass them because they were going so slow!" I told him "If I had the power to pass them I would have, but the petal was to the metal all the way here!", ha ha. The Jeep dies in the driveway and we push it into the third bay of their garage. The engine bay has so much heat coming off it It was more like a brick oven. After a while we crack open the oil fill cap and look into the valve cover. There's smoke/steam coming out from there and the valves are looking dry and kind of burnt.
(Just after the last time my TJ ran under it's own power)
Now begins the process of researching what I'm going to do. I don't want to put another 2.5 in because that engine wasn't going to do me justice. I searched for 4.0's but the cost of a pulled used one was way more than I wanted to spend and after reading multiple postings of other's that done this swap a lot were saying in the end they wished they had just put a V8 or something bigger in because the labor was about the same. I search the forums and Youtube of Jeep engine swaps. I saw all sorts of options, but mostly LS V8's, Magnum V8's, Mercedes diesels, Cummins 2.8's and 4bt's, and TDi's. Being sort of a diesel nut I was leaning towards the last two listed. But after a few weeks I couldn't find a decent 4bt within 500 miles of me and saw a lot of posts about how loud the swap is in a TJ/Wrangler. Owning multiple diesel trucks I know the pain of having to shut down my rig in the drive thru and stuff like that. So onto the TDi! There's a great walk around on Youtube of a guy that was with Bleepin Jeep that had done the TDi with great knowledge of his whole build (he has now branched out on his own and if you haven't gotten into his stuff check out Dirt Lifestyle on YT). That is what I was going to base my build off of. I started researching the crud out of that swap and shopping for a TDi engine. After a couple months of slow disassembly of my TJ I bought a TDi Jetta shortly after the first of the year. Car ran great! Already had a tune on it, blast to drive and could only imagine how fun wheeling the TJ would be with the TDi in it, blowing a smoke and such. But with not much insight from others that had done this swap I finally got connected to a local guy that had done the TDi swap himself after stopping in at the local Jeep builder. And funny enough, he's the brother of one of the girls that was with me the night me TJ crapped out! I chatted with him for a couple weeks about his build and picked his brain about all of it. Although he is crazy about his TDi TJ he kind of talked me out of it. He told me if he had to do it again, his final build price was only a couple grand shy of what the Cummins R2.8 would have been. So I began to look for cheap LS motors for sale while I drove the VW through the winter months. I couldn't find one for a decent price and the rare ones under $1k had like 250k+ miles. That's when the Magnum option began to take form. I could get a decently cheap 5.9L. The wiring was less cumbersome since it was within the Mopar family, I could still use a Jeep transmission, and stock dash and gauges. I bought a running 5.9L out of an '02 Durango. Guy pulled the engine, wiring, and just about everything I'd need for $500.
(Here's the V8 ready to be rebuilt)
(I'll continue my story in my next post)...
My current daily driver ('09 BMW 335d) is less than ideal in the midwest winters. And it's not great for camping, hauling my dogs around, and so forth. And since selling my F250 about a year prior I needed something for the upcoming winter season. Found a low mile (about 130k) 1997 Jeep Wrangler on CraigsList and he said he was open to trade for a motorcycle. I didn't know hardly anything about Jeeps at the time. Did what research I could over about a week on this Jeep. It had a little 2.5L with a manual behind it (big bonus, I prefer having a manual). 4" lift, 33" tires, and a lot that the current owner wasn't really sure of because the owner before him did most of it. It had ben liner on the interior and exterior (at the time I thought this was a bonus). Soft top. Interior was gutted (once again, thought this was a bonus for washing things down). The owner said it needed a couple minor things but ran great and was a blast to drive. We met up, he left it running because he said the battery was shot and if I turned it off we wouldn't be able to get it started again (off the bike). Should have raised an eyebrow at that, but I told myself that stopping at the parts store on the way home wouldn't be bad, and about $100 for a battery I could manage. I test drove it. The back end was so loose and would "wag" with even minor maneuvers in steering, bumps, and corners. The 2.5 could barely get it up to merging speed when I took it down the highway, and keeping up with traffic and maintaining speed was a lost cause. But after the test drive I returned to the parking lot the PO was waiting at and we made a deal,I got rid of a motorcycle I hardly rode anymore and got a 4x4 for the winter. I even sold him an extra helmet I happened to bring along for $150 (battery money!). My dad had tagged along in his car to the deal so I pulled the Bestop off, stuffed it in his car and headed back to my place in my new TJ.
Even on my 45 minute drive back home I began to notice "odd" things. The needle on the speedo would sometimes "bob" when I hit bumps, but about 50% of the time come back to roughly the speed I was doing. The other 50% of the time it would either hang around the 80-90mph mark or just loop around to the backside of the trip rest button. The steering wheel wasn't clocked right. The horn didn't work, so the PO had put a button on the dash (happened to be right where my knee hits the dash if I hit any sort of bump so people often think I'm chirping the horn at them when it's just a seam in the road). The e-brake was more so just a lever to pull for fun because it did absolutely nothing. Found the bill of sale from when the guy I just bought it from got it, about 6 months prior, and turns out he never licensed or titled it in his name. The truck bed liner was put on with the least care possible. The texture is so inconsistent, thin areas, nothing was taped off (I mean nothing, over spray on the headlights, windshield, mirrors, taillights and anything else). But I finally had a Jeep!
(Day I brought it home)
First stop was O'Riley's. Bought a battery and a large solid rubber wheel chock. Then to Home Depot for some chain to hook to the wheel chock. I milked the existing battery for over a week before I decided to just swap it out. I already had the new one, but the old one had not left me stranded. I instantly started looking for all sorts of upgrades to do to my new (to me) Jeep. But not knowing anything about Jeeps I didn't even know what I wanted. A family friend had gotten an '02 TJ a couple months prior and he's a "car guy" so I picked his brain about things to help get up to speed. Enter WranglerTJforum.com!!
(First time "off-road")
I was able to look past most of the "quirks" of my new vehicle over the next few weeks. Highways were a lost cause because 3rd and 4th were the only useable gears pretty much. Something needed to change so I could take this on adventures and road trips like I had dreamed of. A couple things a remedied soon, like my speedo that was more often than not telling me I was doing lightspeed in my TJ on residential streets. Turns out the speedo gear hadn't been installed correctly and wasn't seated fully. First project: done. I did other little things too, but nothing beyond an hour or so working on the Jeep. Then about a month later coming home one night I noticed as I pulled up to stop lights the engine would continue to rev and stay around 1,200-1,800rpm. I thought I might have seen a little smoke coming out the exhaust too, but wasn't sure because I hadn't fully cleaned the bed liner over spray off my rear view. I got home, parked it and smelled a little coolant. Checked things out but didn't really notice much and didn't want to dig around because it was late and the engine was still hot. I drove my car the next day to work, but that evening popped the hood. It looked like the top radiator hose was busted. Ran over the the parts store, got a new hose and installed it a couple nights later. Finished putting that on as a couple friends pulled up for us to head to a hangout that was about an hour away. They were excited to ride in the Jeep, so I offered to drive once i topped the coolant off. We pull out of my place, the mile down the street to the onramp of the interstate and begin to get up to speed. I notice I don't have a lot of power (less than the 2.5 usually has). And the power is dropping out quick. I take the first exit (now about 2.5 miles from my house). TJ dies while coasting up the off ramp after revving high between downshifts. I get the engine running again before we hit the light at the end of the off ramp. Engine is revving about half way through the rpm range while in neutral. But also having to give it throttle to keep it running because once it decides to drop rpm's it dies. I'm able to hardly limp the thing back home. It only died about 8 times in that 2 mile stretch. There was smoke, steam, knocks, and just about everything else going on that shouldn't be going on. The Jeep completely dies right in front of my place before I'm able to get it into a parking spot (I live in a townhouse). So I have one friend steer it as I push it up into a spot (literally uphill). What a great impression to make in front of these somewhat newer friends. Oh ya, forgot to mention they're both cute girls, ha ha. I ditch the TJ that night and deal with it the next day since there's so much steam and heat coming from the engine bay. The next day I'm looking at "stuff" under the hood, not even sure if I'll be able to readily see what might be going on. I see there is a long crack in the top of the radiator (I know know this is a common failure of the stock cooling system).
(Steam venting from my grand adventure)
After talking things over with my dad a couple days and me telling him I think we should have it towed to his place (my parents have extra garage space at their house and all my tools are over there, plus my Dad's tools too) he somehow convinces me that I should just drive it over to their place (usually a 15 min drive) and if it brakes down he'll tow me (at the time he had an '07 Saturn Ion, not sure how that was going to work?). It takes me about 20 minutes to finally get it fired up and the last juice from the battery does it for me. It dies intermittently but I put it in neutral and get it fire back up again, high revs, rattling and knocking and all... until one more time. It dies, and I swerve into a neighborhood where I crank on the ignition over and over but nothing. I'm dumping water bottles into the coolant reservoir and on top of the engine. My Dad says he's on his way, but got confused on the cross streets and can't find me. After about 20 min and a few phone calls he shows up. To tow me. In his Saturn. He then realizes he doesn't have a tow hook on the rear of his car. Or any form of place to hook a tow strap to. I crank on the engine a couple more times and by the grace of God it fires up. I "take off" (I have maybe 50HP of useable power at this point). I'm only about 8 minutes from their house at this point, if I had a vehicle that was functioning right. But due to the hills, constant downshifting, and everything else wrong It was about 20 more minutes. I also got stuck behind someone that was doing 15 below the speed limit. My Dad told me later "I thought you were going to hope the curb in the median and pass them because they were going so slow!" I told him "If I had the power to pass them I would have, but the petal was to the metal all the way here!", ha ha. The Jeep dies in the driveway and we push it into the third bay of their garage. The engine bay has so much heat coming off it It was more like a brick oven. After a while we crack open the oil fill cap and look into the valve cover. There's smoke/steam coming out from there and the valves are looking dry and kind of burnt.
(Just after the last time my TJ ran under it's own power)
Now begins the process of researching what I'm going to do. I don't want to put another 2.5 in because that engine wasn't going to do me justice. I searched for 4.0's but the cost of a pulled used one was way more than I wanted to spend and after reading multiple postings of other's that done this swap a lot were saying in the end they wished they had just put a V8 or something bigger in because the labor was about the same. I search the forums and Youtube of Jeep engine swaps. I saw all sorts of options, but mostly LS V8's, Magnum V8's, Mercedes diesels, Cummins 2.8's and 4bt's, and TDi's. Being sort of a diesel nut I was leaning towards the last two listed. But after a few weeks I couldn't find a decent 4bt within 500 miles of me and saw a lot of posts about how loud the swap is in a TJ/Wrangler. Owning multiple diesel trucks I know the pain of having to shut down my rig in the drive thru and stuff like that. So onto the TDi! There's a great walk around on Youtube of a guy that was with Bleepin Jeep that had done the TDi with great knowledge of his whole build (he has now branched out on his own and if you haven't gotten into his stuff check out Dirt Lifestyle on YT). That is what I was going to base my build off of. I started researching the crud out of that swap and shopping for a TDi engine. After a couple months of slow disassembly of my TJ I bought a TDi Jetta shortly after the first of the year. Car ran great! Already had a tune on it, blast to drive and could only imagine how fun wheeling the TJ would be with the TDi in it, blowing a smoke and such. But with not much insight from others that had done this swap I finally got connected to a local guy that had done the TDi swap himself after stopping in at the local Jeep builder. And funny enough, he's the brother of one of the girls that was with me the night me TJ crapped out! I chatted with him for a couple weeks about his build and picked his brain about all of it. Although he is crazy about his TDi TJ he kind of talked me out of it. He told me if he had to do it again, his final build price was only a couple grand shy of what the Cummins R2.8 would have been. So I began to look for cheap LS motors for sale while I drove the VW through the winter months. I couldn't find one for a decent price and the rare ones under $1k had like 250k+ miles. That's when the Magnum option began to take form. I could get a decently cheap 5.9L. The wiring was less cumbersome since it was within the Mopar family, I could still use a Jeep transmission, and stock dash and gauges. I bought a running 5.9L out of an '02 Durango. Guy pulled the engine, wiring, and just about everything I'd need for $500.
(Here's the V8 ready to be rebuilt)
(I'll continue my story in my next post)...
