DJCFHB

The wait is over had some goodies show up today from brown Santa. Also started mounting up the freshly painted beadlock rings, diggin the black on black. Hopefully I'll have the motor sitting in the frame by the end of tomorrow.

DJCFHB

First "real" day of getting the jeep put back together. Spent the better part of the day test fitting the engine and trans in the frame mount and transmission mount. It took quit a bit of adjusting to get things to line up just right. Once that was done i measured and remeasured the frame mount placement, with a couple different measuring devices lol, and was satisfied with it. Point of no return, I burned the mounts in and painted them up. I also got the transfer case tore down and on its way to reassembly. Going to finish assembly of the t case tomorrow minus a seal that i thought i had but it wasn't delivered with the rest of my order. With some luck I'll have the engine and trans in place tomorrow as well. No big issues today just a few small things that required a little googling to find the answer.

DJCFHB

Today went pretty well. Motor and trans are bolted up, one side mounted up no problem the other side i had to loosen hydraulic mount from the block a little to get the holes aligned just right. Finished swapping out the input shaft on the transfer case. Spent a little time chasing down a input shaft seal and i also managed to knock the t case on the ground and bend two of the studs, luckily i didn't crack the case and was able to bend the studs back. I went through the ranges and everything seemed to be working without issue. I also installed the harmonic balancer and installed a pin kit on it so it doesn't slip. Installed the bracket for the alternator and the a/c compressor. I was going to do the power steering pump too but i was missing the bracket. First big issue, My driveshafts (j.e. reel 1350) are too long (rear) and too short (front), going to make a few call tomorrow and see what my options are.

DJCFHB

The last two days have been progress but on the small scale. Spent monday try to get the alignment of the a/c compressor pulley just right, I also go the shift and t case cable bracket mounted up. Had to do a little bending and trimming to clear the drive shaft. This morning i remeasured the alignment of the a/c compressor pulley and wasn't quit happy with it so i made another attempt at getting it just right ( i'm a perfectionist). Once that was done are started working on getting the crank shaft position sensor adjusted and properly gapped, I spent a majority of the day getting this within spec, it took a few attempt and a little bit of bending to the mounting bracket. During this process I realized that the sprocket that is mounted to the harmonic balancer has some imperfection, its a little warped and the teeth aren't all the same length. Im having a touch of rubbing between the sprocket and a sensor that is mounted directly behind it in certain part of the balancers rotation. Going to figure what to do about that tomorrow. I finished the day off by drilling and tapping the block for the coolant temp sensor.

DJCFHB

Update on progress this week.

Had to pull the harmonic balance because the reluctor ring was warped, sent it back to MoTech to be outfitted with a new ring. Probably damaged during shipping, Ace Ventura pet detective style. I was able to get the gm wiring harness run, swapped out the exhaust manifolds, installed sensor from the 3.8l, connected the fuel lines, and took care of the evap modifications, installed the gm gas pedal, and upgraded my t case cable. Other than running some heat shield sleeves in a few places and putting fluids in it, Im at a stand still. Hopefully I'll have some more part show up at the beginning of the week to keep things moving forward.

DJCFHB

66vert

looks like an intense project!

DJCFHB

It has been a bit intimidating at points but nothing overly difficult has come up yet. Robbi/Motech offer excellent instructions and customer support.

DJCFHB

Update on things, i received the harmonic balancer, power steering brackets, and all the jk stuff i sent off, minus the pcm,at the beginning of the week. Yesterday I mounted the balancer back up and was able to line up the pin holes first try, thought it was going to take multiple attempts. I had to sand down the plastic sensor behind the balancer because it was making contact with the tone ring. Rechecked and adjusted the crankshaft position sensor. I also bolted up the p/s bracket and drilled and tapped the psc pump. Today I was able to find the right length serpentine belt to work with the psc pump. 99.5" seems to be the right one. I made an attempt at putting 99" belt on and it was a no go. I wrestled with it for a while couldn't get it on and Im a pretty strong individual. The 99.5" took quite a bit of wrestling aswell but managed to get it one, i have about an inch of tensioning adjustment left so i thought that was adequate. Guess i'll find out after putting a few miles on it. I also ran the some of the jk wires and went over things to make sure i had bolts tightened and wires ran correctly. I made the costly mistake of over tightening the start solenoid stud, have to replace that tomorrow. Hoping to have the body on the frame by the weekend

DJCFHB

Today i was able to get everything squared away with motor and wires. Set the body back on the frame, it took quit a bit of time lowering the body down using the jack stand and engine hoist method. I had to lower in stages making an attempt to keep the body nice and level to keep from setting one end of the body on the frame at an extreme angle. Tomorrow i'll get the body adjusted just right on the body mounts. Fuel lines are quit tight between the transmission and body in one area so i'm going to try and move them over so that there is plenty of clearance.