5.3L Vortec V8 Conversion

[xj-grin]

D44 w/alloys out back and Ford HP up front....yeah it'll be fine. Besides, I drive like an old woman.

its true. he does. :cheers:

 

[pilotblake]

I have a carbed 350 in my comanche(xj front), and with a quality custom all aluminum radiator and 2 electric fans I cannot keep it cool. Not trying to hijack, but I want to be able to drive this thing but cannot get 30 minutes of fun out of it before it gets up to 240 plus. Any ideas? Also have a custom cowl hood I built to help get the heat out.:smsoap:

 

[Frank Z]

How many rows in the radiator?

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

what cfm do the electric fans pull. I have seen someone hook up two aftermarket fans meant for a tranny cooler thinking it would be enough.

Does it overheat going slow, or on the highway, both?

Anything blocking the radiator, is the lower hose sucking flat. How much "high flow" cooling crap does it have?

 

[Frank Z]

I'll measure the airflow next time I work on the heep and let you know.

 

[pilotblake]

It is a 2 row with 1" tubes I believe made for me by superior radiator http://www.superiorradiator.com/. The owner told me a guy with a beefed up 360 in an XJ used this radiator with success. I run the stock water pump with a 160 degree thermostat. I have 2 electric fans with shrouds that move a decent amount of air puller style. Top hose builds pressure and bottom hose is kink free. At highway speeds it still slooooowly builds temps and then when you slow down it really goes up. In the dead of winter, with 0 degree temps it would still overheat(220-240+) when crawling around, but not on the road. My 350 is esentually stock. It was the only thing I could find at the time, since an LS1 was out of my budget. I figured I could always swap one in later. the only thing blocking the radiator is a small trans cooler, and the grill of course. I have tried different jetting, timing. I have used multiple methods to make sure all the air is out of the system including a vaccum bleeder. The system held pressure and didnt drop off at all. I am open to any ideas. Thanks guys.

 

[Frank Z]

Sure sounds like air in the system. Tried flushing it?

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

After screwing around with a wide variety of GM shifters, and being too damn cheap to buy a mega-dollar aftermarket shifter, I figured that there had to be a way to use the stock shifter to control the 4L60E.

Different gear position.

I was going to do the same exact thing using an early style shifter in my '89 MJ. I'm glad to see you got it to work well! I was also going to adjust the length/position of the tranny end of the cable/shifter. Did you do anything there? Can you take pictures of what that end looks like? Did you use an XJ cable or some other? Thanks, Jeff

 

[Frank Z]

See post #90

I used the GM mounting bracket at the tranny.

 

[kastein]

Any plans on what you're going to do with the shift indicator bezel? Just leave it stock and "know where you are" or going to adapt/custom build another one?

 

[John D]

It is a 2 row with 1" tubes I believe made for me by superior radiator http://www.superiorradiator.com/. The owner told me a guy with a beefed up 360 in an XJ used this radiator with success. I run the stock water pump with a 160 degree thermostat. I have 2 electric fans with shrouds that move a decent amount of air puller style. Top hose builds pressure and bottom hose is kink free. At highway speeds it still slooooowly builds temps and then when you slow down it really goes up. In the dead of winter, with 0 degree temps it would still overheat(220-240+) when crawling around, but not on the road. My 350 is esentually stock. It was the only thing I could find at the time, since an LS1 was out of my budget. I figured I could always swap one in later. the only thing blocking the radiator is a small trans cooler, and the grill of course. I have tried different jetting, timing. I have used multiple methods to make sure all the air is out of the system including a vaccum bleeder. The system held pressure and didnt drop off at all. I am open to any ideas. Thanks guys.

A few years back I had a stock 350 in a CJ-5. When I was putting it together I opted for a "fancy, big tube, aluminum, cool-anything on the planet radiator". I fought overheating for 2 years before one day I came across a stock S-10 radiator in the junk yard. Figuring I had nothing to lose I grabbed it and stuck it in there. I never had a overheating issue again. My problem turned out to be the big fancy radiator. Don't have a good reason for why it worked, but maybe you have a similar deal.

 

[rmm727]

A few years back I had a stock 350 in a CJ-5. When I was putting it together I opted for a "fancy, big tube, aluminum, cool-anything on the planet radiator". I fought overheating for 2 years before one day I came across a stock S-10 radiator in the junk yard. Figuring I had nothing to lose I grabbed it and stuck it in there. I never had a overheating issue again. My problem turned out to be the big fancy radiator. Don't have a good reason for why it worked, but maybe you have a similar deal.

That big tube radiator might be allowing too much coolant to flow through. The coolant doesn't spend enough time in the radiator to be cooled down. Might wanna try those restricter (sp) disks they sell in Summit or Jegs.

 

[Frank Z]

Any plans on what you're going to do with the shift indicator bezel?

This....

Although the gear position indicator doesn't line up with the new positions (I'll work on that later),

Got a few ideas rolling around in my G2 Housing Group (That's "Brain" for all you Silly-villians...)

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

That big tube radiator might be allowing too much coolant to flow through. The coolant doesn't spend enough time in the radiator to be cooled down. Might wanna try those restricter (sp) disks they sell in Summit or Jegs.

Yea, I was gonna suggest that the next thing you try be cutting a disk of plastic, cheap cutting board works well, that is the same size as the inlet to the radiator. Then drill a 1/2 to 5/8in hole in it and put it against the inlet inside the upper hose. See if it stabilizes the temps out.

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

See post #90

I used the GM mounting bracket at the tranny.

So, according to post 90, you are using a cable from an '01 Blazer. Are you using the shift bracket and arm from the blazer as well? A picture would be appreciated. I know there are a number of different configurations. Jeff

 

[Frank Z]

You can sorta see the modified bellcrank and shifter linkage for the t-case.

Tranny cable.

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

So the Blazer cable does an S somehow clearing all moving and hot parts to come from the pan back, 180 back to the front of the tranny and then 180 back through the firewall and into the modified XJ shifter? Jeff

 

[Frank Z]

Yes.

 

[John D]

So the Blazer cable does an S somehow clearing all moving and hot parts to come from the pan back, 180 back to the front of the tranny and then 180 back through the firewall and into the modified XJ shifter? Jeff

The cable is about 5 feet long. I am using the Envoy shifter with it, but mine goes as you describe and I have not had any issues with moving/hot parts contacting. You can't just throw it in there, you'll have to use caution and pay attention to where you are placing it.

 

[Frank Z]

FWIW,
The one I pulled was closer to 7-8' long. It goes from the shifter through the firewall, past the t-case then loops back to the tranny. Long, but no kinks and it shifts smoothly.