For the most part I agree with
@Jamison C regarding engine placement. DON'T beat the snot out of your firewall or try to save on drive shafts and compromise other areas of the swap in the process..... AA has figured this out for you, work with their recommendations unless there is a REALLY good reason not to on motor mount placement.
As far as body mounts go, skip the add-on 1.25" style and go for just the plain 1-piece replacement motor mounts that are 1" taller. I have done a LOT of body lifts and will not be using any lifts that re-use any factory mount hardware again. Not worth it on vehicles that are 20 years old+. And with the more than 50 body mount lifts I had performed when I owned the shop the experience tells it....
AA Magnum motor mounts are definitely the way to go rather than try to kludge something up using the original style mounts that don't hold up well off-road BY THEIR DESIGN. The torque off-roading will shread and rip the factory style mounts apart in short order causing you to risk an engine shift that can cause massive radiator damage and all kinds of other problems. Not worth trying to re-engineer the apple cart here again IMHO.
I also watched Montana-LG's documentation of his swap. I looked at
@Wildman 's swap he documented and talked a lot about on another forum. Also looked at member
@pcoplin 's swap and chat threads, particularly his experience with outsourced wiring harnesses and the makers repsonses to the problems he had experienced. Research is key here. I read every post on all the major forums including Pirate and their supposed "bible"(which I didn't agree with a lot of), JF's more than 168 pages (at the time), Wrangler forum & the excellent documentation from "Project Culpepper" done by Slangy over on RME4x4. After more than a year of research and gathering parts, I learned what and what
NOT to do on my swap before ever spinning a wrench. THIS INCLUDED BUYING AN ENTIRE DONOR ZJ VEHICLE to keep from getting nickle & dime'd to death on the small things.
The key to my swap is I WANTED IT TO LOOK COMPLETELY FACTORY. It had to look AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE like my Jeep rolled off the assembly line from Jeep with the V8 installed in it. In my research I learned a lot of things and by asking dozens of questions to those members of these other forums that had already done the swap of what pitfalls to look out for.
This is where I learned that I definitely wanted a ZJ Grand Cherokee transmission, the heavier 46RE automatic transmission (if possible over the 44RE), for the passenger side starter motor mounting and the factory "Y" pipe exhaust fitting without totally going crazy on the customized mandrel bender.... It must also pass the stringent CARB (California Air Resources Board) SMOG check program without flagging ANY changes the 1st time out of the gate. I wasn't going to waste time back & forth with the inspectors to get it signed off. It had to pass and not waste my money or time in this process so I used virtually EVERY part I could from either the donor ZJ or the TJ Wrangler including the air intake and filter housings just to get it through the certification process.
My jeep has modifications no doubt with the flat tummy tuck, the V8 conversion, the Rock Jock 60 axles and suspension etc. But the main point is this:
The engine and all it's operation is completely stock. The harness was blended as I said in an earlier post from both the TJ and the ZJ harness and the ECM was from a 1998 Dodge RAM that came equipped with the same powertrain combo I have. It was also a California emissions certified vehicle to boot. Other than the engine and transmission being different, the scan tool read my Jeep as a Dodge 1500 V8 automatic 4x4 pickup, not a 1997 2.5L Automatic TJ Wrangler. That's it.
The radiator has outlets different, the hoses are different but bolts in the same place with the 4.0L shroud and ZJ engine driven fan. There was no way I was going to rely on an electric fan to keep my baby cool in 120* desert temperatures here in the south-west. The serpentine belt, accessories and even the A/C are all stock ZJ or TJ parts. Even the cruise control is factory MOPAR parts. The exhaust from the "Y" pipe down to the catalytic converter is ZJ, the Catalytic convertor to the exhaust tip is TJ Wrangler CARB approved Gale Banks "Monster" stainless exhaust. O2 sensors up & down stream and all sensors or actuators on the engine are factory MOPAR parts, nothing aftermarket.
Since all J-Tech series ECM's Chrysler used in this era of CCD bus computers are the same, it all went together relatively easily and is 100% compatible to run the dash gauges on the TJ. (Note: 1997 Dodge RAM ECM's did not use the ECM to run the gauges so I had to go with the 1998 which did use the ECM to run the gauges in the truck so they would run my TJ dash) also found out about by asking questions and advanced research.
A lot to digest here but none the less, if you want the job done right, better take your time and make it like the factory would have done it.
Sorry to say it but anything else is just a hack job and I don't want that on my Jeep thank you very much.
RR