John D
NAXJA Member # 788
- Location
- Rockford, Mi
I'm just teasing Bob, it looks good. When do you think it will be done?
5.2L Magnum XJ engine swap
- Thread starter Bloose
- Start date
I'm just teasing Bob, it looks good. When do you think it will be done?
I know you were teasing, so was I. I posted the link because I didn't have time to try and figure out how to post the actual pictures.
As far as when it will be done? That's a good question. It looks like I'll have the motor mounts finished up tomorrow. The'll be painted and in before Friday. After that it's on to the trans mount.
Once it's bolted in I have to work out exhaust. I'm likely going to run "block hugger" headers as the motor is too far back to run the stock Dakota manifolds. Then on to the wiring. Wiring shouldn't be too bad but may be time consuming to get it looking the way I want.
In addition I'm going to have to see if the drive shaft lenghts will need to be changed at all.
I'm guessing another couple of months.
One way or another I'd like it to be done with plenty of time to go before COfest and Moab.
B
TerraWombat
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Eastern Shore MD
Looks great! Can you do me a massive favor and measure the distance between the outer lip of the crank pulley to the lip of the lower radiator cross member? Curious because I needed to move my 5.9L engine forward in my MJ engine bay compartment so that my Doug Thorley headers would clear the firewall and frame rail.
John D
NAXJA Member # 788
- Location
- Rockford, Mi
Is the hood going to clear the alternator and AC pump, or will you need to modify the hood?
TerraWombat
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Eastern Shore MD
Thank you. I guess I really didn't move it all that much. I'm at exactly 4.75".
More than likely it will not clear. I'm OK with that. If I drop the motor any more it will likey cause track bar clearance issues.
B
TerraWombat
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Eastern Shore MD
They are ceramic coated Mopar Performance headers designed for the 5.2L/5.9L's in the ZJ Grand Cherokee. Pretty sure they're identical to the Doug Thorley 630Y-C headers.
TerraWombat
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Eastern Shore MD
I highly doubt it. Here is a picture of an ID tag on one of the headers. Probably a part number.
TerraWombat
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Eastern Shore MD
Doug Thorley stated that they were going to make their last batch of headers for the ZJ a few months back. A few guys on another forum were able to get them. One guy just sold his brand new set for $625. I think Doug Thorley was asking $650 for them brand new.
As many know one of the issues of putting a Magnum V8 into the Cherokee is that the radiator hose inlet and outlet are on the opposite sides between the I6 and the V8. After doing a little research I found that there are very few options for a radiator that will fit into the stock XJ location and work with the V8.
There is one company who makes a "custom" radiator (I forget who) but it was around $650. My other option would have been to run the hoses across the engine bay to the side of the radiator as required. The cross compartment hose option has been used by others and has worked out fairly well but I really didn't want to do that. My last option was to make what I had work some how.
The Radiator in my Jeep was essentially brand new as I had a problem with the idler bearing go bad and the fan went through the original radiator. Because of this I was a bit apprehensive about butchering the new radiator but I figured it was cheaper than a custom unit.
What I did was take a small pry bar (screw driver) and pried up all of the crimps on the radiator ends that hold the plastic tanks on. This was super easy though a bit scary as once you start your committed! Once the tanks were off it was just a matter of fabbing up some tanks and welding them on. In addition though you need some hose inlet/outlets, a weld in fitting for the drain, and a cap inlet. I bought all of the aluminum fittings and inlets from Speedway.
Another issue is you need a way to weld everything together. Buying a TIG welder, though nice, would sort of defeat the purpose. I already have a really nice Millermatic 210 but of course that won't work for aluminum. A spool gun was in order. The problem is, the spool gun required for the 210 is around $650, again defeating the purpose. Miller makes an inexpensive gun, the Spoolmate 100, but the local dealer told me it wouldn't work because the welder I have is "all wrong" for the 100. Hobart makes the same version of the gun (Miller owns Hobart) and they call it the DP3035-10. Seeing as the gun Miller recommends for the MM210 is the Miller 3035 I figured the guns were very similar. It turns out that the Hobart gun is in fact the same as the Spoolmate 100.
The only problem with the Hobart gun was the part that goes into the welder is too small. It took the machinist at work about 1/2 hour to make me an adapter and I'm happy to say the gun works stellar! MIG welding aluminum with a spool gun doesn't turn out stack of dimes welds like a TIG but with some practice they're perfectly acceptable and plenty strong.
So with a $200 spool gun (plus $80 for an argon tank) plus about $100 in aluminum and fittings I have a custom radiator with the inlets and outlets on the correct side. Of course the bonus is I now have the provisions needed to weld aluminum!
Here are some pictures of the final product. I still need to pressure test it but any leaks should be pretty easy to plug.
P.S. I used 1/8" aluminum for the tanks. I tried to bend it at home in a vice and FORGET it. I had to take it to work and bend them an a brake, so you either need to use thinner or softer stuff (I used 5XXX).
There is one company who makes a "custom" radiator (I forget who) but it was around $650. My other option would have been to run the hoses across the engine bay to the side of the radiator as required. The cross compartment hose option has been used by others and has worked out fairly well but I really didn't want to do that. My last option was to make what I had work some how.
The Radiator in my Jeep was essentially brand new as I had a problem with the idler bearing go bad and the fan went through the original radiator. Because of this I was a bit apprehensive about butchering the new radiator but I figured it was cheaper than a custom unit.
What I did was take a small pry bar (screw driver) and pried up all of the crimps on the radiator ends that hold the plastic tanks on. This was super easy though a bit scary as once you start your committed! Once the tanks were off it was just a matter of fabbing up some tanks and welding them on. In addition though you need some hose inlet/outlets, a weld in fitting for the drain, and a cap inlet. I bought all of the aluminum fittings and inlets from Speedway.
Another issue is you need a way to weld everything together. Buying a TIG welder, though nice, would sort of defeat the purpose. I already have a really nice Millermatic 210 but of course that won't work for aluminum. A spool gun was in order. The problem is, the spool gun required for the 210 is around $650, again defeating the purpose. Miller makes an inexpensive gun, the Spoolmate 100, but the local dealer told me it wouldn't work because the welder I have is "all wrong" for the 100. Hobart makes the same version of the gun (Miller owns Hobart) and they call it the DP3035-10. Seeing as the gun Miller recommends for the MM210 is the Miller 3035 I figured the guns were very similar. It turns out that the Hobart gun is in fact the same as the Spoolmate 100.
The only problem with the Hobart gun was the part that goes into the welder is too small. It took the machinist at work about 1/2 hour to make me an adapter and I'm happy to say the gun works stellar! MIG welding aluminum with a spool gun doesn't turn out stack of dimes welds like a TIG but with some practice they're perfectly acceptable and plenty strong.
So with a $200 spool gun (plus $80 for an argon tank) plus about $100 in aluminum and fittings I have a custom radiator with the inlets and outlets on the correct side. Of course the bonus is I now have the provisions needed to weld aluminum!
Here are some pictures of the final product. I still need to pressure test it but any leaks should be pretty easy to plug.
P.S. I used 1/8" aluminum for the tanks. I tried to bend it at home in a vice and FORGET it. I had to take it to work and bend them an a brake, so you either need to use thinner or softer stuff (I used 5XXX).
Last edited:
John D
NAXJA Member # 788
- Location
- Rockford, Mi
Looking good. What are you going to do for the hood and what did you decide on for the headers?
For the headers I bought a set of SS block hugger headers off e-bay. This caused me to have to raise the motor about an inch and move it to the drivers side about and inch also. I now have a bit more room between the oil pan and the axle linkage but it's pretty high in the engine bay.
What I'm thinking for the hood is, who needs a stinking hood?
Actually I will likely cut a hole in the hood and plop a scoop on there to cover the hole. I'll have to see how bad it is.
B
What I'm thinking for the hood is, who needs a stinking hood?
Actually I will likely cut a hole in the hood and plop a scoop on there to cover the hole. I'll have to see how bad it is.B
John D
NAXJA Member # 788
- Location
- Rockford, Mi
It will look bad.
Post #71 starts where FrankZ modified his hood, it turned out pretty good. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1007477&page=5
Post #71 starts where FrankZ modified his hood, it turned out pretty good. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1007477&page=5
So did he use a donor hood to make that scoop?
What he did is pretty much what I'm planning to to do though I may just use an off the shelf set up. That way I could just hack in the hole and rivet my way to glory. If I did do a hack and weld I doubt I'd spend too much time with Bondo though. I'd likely grind the welds smooth, slather on some red paint and call it good.
B
What he did is pretty much what I'm planning to to do though I may just use an off the shelf set up. That way I could just hack in the hole and rivet my way to glory.
If I did do a hack and weld I doubt I'd spend too much time with Bondo though. I'd likely grind the welds smooth, slather on some red paint and call it good.B
