Davemayn13's 2004 LJ Hemi Swap Project

[Wildman]

Thanks for the info about RR using the advance adapters mounts, these are the mounts I planned on using.

Maybe you can answer another question for me: Why is a a 1" body lift required and a suspension (3"? 4"?) recommended? What clearances are an issue with the swap?

I'll be looking forward to your review on the rest of the kit, and hopefully sometime soon seeing that sucker run and drive under hemi power!

I think I can answer some of that.

The body lift might be for exhaust manifold clearance? Or exhaust clearance as you go back? Bellhousing/head or valve cover clearance?

The suspension lift is most likely the front driveline clearance to engine parts or exhaust?


These are the reasons when doing the Magnum V-8 swap. And unless you use a Jeep V-8 w/auto tranny the starter is on the drivers side which can cause issues.

 

[hardtailpan]

I think I can answer some of that.

The body lift might be for exhaust manifold clearance? Or exhaust clearance as you go back? Bellhousing/head or valve cover clearance?

The suspension lift is most likely the front driveline clearance to engine parts or exhaust?


These are the reasons when doing the Magnum V-8 swap. And unless you use a Jeep V-8 w/auto tranny the starter is on the drivers side which can cause issues.

Thanks Wildman, as always! Yeah, all of this makes sense. I don't want to Hijack this thread but I need to be careful about lift as my state has strict limits on it. Most mechanical lift I can get away with is 3", so I'm thinking I'll start with the 1" body and add in a 2" suspension should I deem it necessary.

 

[davemayn13]

Thanks for the info about RR using the advance adapters mounts, these are the mounts I planned on using.

Maybe you can answer another question for me: Why is a a 1" body lift required and a suspension (3"? 4"?) recommended? What clearances are an issue with the swap?

I'll be looking forward to your review on the rest of the kit, and hopefully sometime soon seeing that sucker run and drive under hemi power!

The 1" body lift helps with hood clearance for the engine, and tub clearance for the transmission and transfer case. The motor sits pretty close to the firewall, I think the recommendation on that is 1/2-3/4". AA provides a spacer to help get your placement on the money. Being that close, I think the upper part of the bellhousing on the tranny starts to bang into the tunnel without the lift, and you get real tight at the transfer case. On the suspension, I believe it's for clearance around the front axle, but I'll know for sure once I get the beast in place.

EDIT: Ha, Wildman beat me to it =)

 

[Daubie3]

Hey davemayn13,

Have been following your thread because I also am doing a HEMI swap in my 05 TJR.
I have most of the major parts purchased and waiting for me to get a good start on it. I had started my swap back in February and got laid off the first of March for 12 weeks because of Covid, and in the meantime I lost the building space I was going to use to do most of the major work in. So now I am getting estimates on getting my own building/shop built hopefully this spring and get this swap done over the summer.
I'm using a '05' 70,000 mile motor from a Rumble Bee with a '08' 3,000 mile 545RFE transmission.
My main reason I spoke up was to ask if you had considered using Todd at JEEP SPEED SHOP for your conversion needs. I have really not purchased much from him, but he has answered a lot of my questions about this swap and has done numerous of them on TJ's, and yes as with everyone, the bulk of his business now is with the JK crowd. However he is very knowledgeable with the TJ swap.
So anyway I was just wondering if you had considered JEEP SPEED SHOP and your thoughts on them. Not that it makes a lot of difference, but he is a lot closer to you than RED ROCK is.

 

[NDSpeed]

I bought that book way back in the day when I was going to do the hemi swap. Super surprised it’s not already on the internet somewhere.

and agreed when you’re dropping serious coin on anything some simple phone calls go a long way.

I was the first person to order the axis kit for the TJ. The owner called me up and asked of I was cool with him building my kit into one shipment since it was going to Alaska.
That meant people got their orders before I did.

but he called me first to ask me that.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

In a stock TJ, the only reason for the body lift is the tranny clearance in the tunnel. I tried to get away with no body lift when I did mine, and everything else clears fine. I considered redoing the tunnel to avoid the body lift, but in the end I went with a 1” lift.

My rig was nowhere close to being stock when I did the Hemi, and Jim was very good at helping me piece together a custom kit which included only the parts I needed. It did take a while to get all the parts, but I was always really happy with the help and support I got from Red Rock. I’m sorry to hear your experience has not been similar.

The only part I got from Jim that was not up to the task was the electric fan which comes with his radiator kit. It could not keep up with the heat load put out by my stroker 392. That’s the only part I had to replace. Happy with everything else I got from Jim.

One final thought is that I’ve always respected how Jim wrote his Hemi swap guide. In it, he tells you specifically which parts your need, along with part numbers, so you can source everything yourself if you so choose. It’s the Bible for anyone considering a Hemi swap into a TJ.

 

[hardtailpan]

One final thought is that I’ve always respected how Jim wrote his Hemi swap guide. In it, he tells you specifically which parts your need, along with part numbers, so you can source everything yourself if you so choose. It’s the Bible for anyone considering a Hemi swap into a TJ.

I ordered the manual transmission hemi swap guide from him and this no longer the case. No information is provided about the bellhousing (although this is somewhat common knowledge at this point), the flywheel, the clutch kit, or the starter used for this swap. I found this very disappointing as this was one of the reasons I ordered (and paid $50) for the guide.

Part numbers are provided for the GC exhaust manifolds and many of the other parts, however, and there is still a good amount of information included that can be found in one place.

I may reach out to him for this information to see if he will provide it, though we've hashed a lot of it out here and I think I have a decent idea of what fits and what doesn't.

 

[davemayn13]

Ok, let's talk about the kit. I'm going to preface this post with the following statement. I'm not an expert in any of the following fields: exhaust, manifolds, fans, radiators, air cooling, liquid cooling, heat transfer, welding, metallurgy, etc. I'm not qualified to determine if a certain part at $x is any better or worse than another part at $y. Any hints of sarcasm or annoyance in this post are strictly coincidental, I'm merely trying to share my observations with the group. Consider this, what the kids these days call an "unboxing" post.

As a refresher, I bought the Stage II kit from Red Rock modified to remove the following options:

EGR Delete Kit - I needed to be smog legal, and my motor actually had an EGR delete on it already
Body Lift - I had a savvy body lift kit already
OEM Pedal and Mount - Junkyard find and teraflex bracket already acquired
O2 Sensors - Bought from Rockauto
SYE kit - Already had one on the xfer case

Those adjustments removed $702 from the cost of the kit.

To the kit, I added a swap manual that I have yet to receive, and a hot rod exhaust kit. Those add $550 to the cost of the kit.

My out the door invoice (after the late shipping adjustment) was $5,241

Let's start with a refresher on what's listed in the Stage 1 part of the kit, with the description from Red Rock's website

"The Red Rock Offroad 'Stage 1 Kit' was designed to tackle all the key installation components and processes to jump start your conversion project. The objective of this Kit was to provide you with all the pieces to get the Drivelive properly, safely and quickly installed between the frame rails and then get all the primary fluid systems plumbed like the Engine Cooling System, Transmission Cooling System, Power Steering System and the Fuel Delivery System. The Kit contains all the current product versions of our install components, from our V2.0 Transmission Crossmember to our V2.0 Fuel System Kit.

With our Stage 1 Box Kit, you can have your HEMI sitting between the frame rails and plumbed within a Weekend.

KIT CONTENTS

• Conversion HEMI Motor Mounts
• American Made 2 Core Aluminum Radiator, custom made to our specifications
• Electric Fan and Shroud Kit
• Radiator Hose Kit
• Heater Hose Kit
• Transmission Crossmember Kit
• External Transmission Cooler Kit
• Drop-In EFI Fuel Pump Assembly
• Complete Fuel Line and Fitting Kit
• Complete Steering Shaft Kit
• Low Pressure Steering Return Line Kit
• 1.25" Body Lift Kit"

And the Stage 2 kit as follows, also provided by Red Rock's website

"Here is our STAGE 2 HEMI Conversion Kit for your 1997-2004 Jeep TJ/LJ Wrangler when installing a GEN 3 5.7 HEMI and 545RFE Automatic Transmission.

This Stage 2 Kit was designed to tackle all the key installation components and processes to jump start your conversion project. The objective of this Kit was to provide you with all the pieces to get the Drivelive properly, safely and quickly installed between the frame rails; get all the primary fluid systems plumbed like the Engine Cooling System, Transmission Cooling System, Power Steering System and the Fuel Delivery System; then provide the next set of components needed to further accell your build. .


KIT CONTENTS : Complete Stage 1 Box Kit plus the following components

• EGR Delete
• Thermal Activaction Fan Switch
• Reducer Fitting
• Factory Mopar Accelerator Pedal
• Accelerator Pedal Mount
• Complete Air Intake Kit
• PCV Kit
• Shorty Exhaust Headers
• [2] Upper O2 Sensors
• Battery Cable Kit
• Over-flow Recirculation Bottle Kit
• 4wd Cable Shifter Kit
• 545rfe Transmission Side Auto- Shifter Cable Bracket
• A/C Line, Fitting and Bracket Kit
• Mega Short SYE Kit for the 231J Transfer Case"

So, I'm going to go blow by blow, in order above to provide a review/observation of the kit:

Conversion HEMI Motor Mounts

The motor mount kit is in fact the Advanced Adapters Motor Mount Kit, as seen here.
http://www.advanceadapters.com/products/713098--jeep-tj-hemi-57l-motor-mount-kit/

Nothing really earth shattering here. AA makes a great mount.

Retail price $267.36

American Made 2 Core Aluminum Radiator, custom made to our specifications

So the radiator itself is in fact aluminum, with a transmission cooler built into the passenger side, and a bung on the driver's side for what I can assume is a switch. The sides of the radiator for attachment have clearly been cut, wallowed, and otherwise chopped. The shroud appears to be fabricated sheet aluminum and attached to the radiator with typical sheet metal screws.

The attachment points appear to be modified, it's a little rough but fine. Zoom in to those mounting points and you'll see what I mean.

The shroud seems similar, but not exactly the same to something like this

http://www.assaultracing.com/item/1213960-fan-shroud-fits-22-58x-18-58-its-19x28?category=8012

While I couldn't find an exact copy, it certainly shares a lot of characteristics with various aluminum TJ to Hemi Conversion radiators available. All in all, appears to be of good quality, and a competitve price.

Retail Price: 4-500ish
Retail Price alone at Red Rock: $415

Electric Fan and Shroud Kit

So, if you were to buy just the radiator/electric fan and shroud kit, here's the description on Red Rock's website:

"The Red Rock Offroad V8 Conversion Radiator is built right here in the USA, right here in Michigan to be exact. The Radiator is built to our specifications, so it has a few features most standard 'conversion radiators' dont.

The HEMI Conversion radiator works perfectly with our Hemi conversion based Upper and Lower Radiator Hose Kit.

Our Radiator is a custom built, 2 core, all Aluminum product. It is a direct fit for the 97-06 TJ/LJ grilles, replacing the stock 4c or 6c radiators.

We offer the Radiator with or without our Custom Electric Fan and Shroud Kit. We use high flow quality SPAL electric fans on our radiators to give our customers peace of mind that SPAL fans come with. If you choose to order the Fan kit, you can also choose whether or not, you want us to install it on the radiator for you before it leaves the shop."

For reference, the SPAL 16" puller fan retails for 178.31 direct from SPAL.

Now, one would assume that this would carry over into the kit. One would appear to assume incorrectly, here's what was delivered.

While it looks similar, it does not appear to be an SPAL fan. In fact, it appears to be eerily similar to this fan here:

http://www.assaultracing.com/item/1213632-electric-fan-16-in-s-blade-wmt-kit?keyword=16"+fan

The retail price of this eerily similar fan is $27.69.

Radiator Hose Kit
Heater Hose Kit

The hose kits are also very straight forward. Unmarked brands. Associated hose clamps included.

From Jeep Speed Shop's notes, the radiator hose parts as follows here http://jeepspeedshop.com/hemi-swaps-1997-2006-lj-tj-jeeps/

• Upper Radiator Hose (Napa Part #: 8030)
• Lower Radiator hose (Napa Part #: 7759)

Today's retail price on those, 46.99 and 18.79 respectively

Heater hose is non-molded, run of the mill hose, 3/4" and 5/8". Retail price is 1.99 and 1.19 per lf respectively.


Transmission Crossmember Kit

Full disclosure, I don't have the manual yet so I'm assuming my understanding of the assembly is correct. I will come back and fix this when I receive the manual, if I've misrepresented anything.

This kit is fully fabricated, the only off the shelf parts are the bushings and the bolts/nuts/washers. Essentially it has two frame brackets with various height adjustments and uses fabricated pipes to support the transmission, independent of the skid. Obviously this is advantageous as it allows you to drop the skid without needing to support the trans/transfer case from drooping. the frame brackets are made from punched and pressed steel, and have a nice logo cutout on them. In general, this solution is much beefier than the typical OEM mounting solution.

Pics of the kit. Simple welding required.

Retail Price: ??? N/A

External Transmission Cooler Kit

The transmission cooler kit appears to be a run of the mill add-on transmission cooler. Two ports via hose barb. Hose and fittings.

Suspiciously similar to something like this
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/d...erVDFuRSMSJNpmAY6IZAQ5wQctbMU-BUaAhFpEALw_wcB

Retail price: 46.99 plus hoses/fittings.

Drop-In EFI Fuel Pump Assembly
Complete Fuel Line and Fitting Kit

This kit can also be purchased separately from Red Rock. Description from Red Rock as follows:

"Red Rock Offroad has put together the only direct fit DROP IN FUEL PUMP KIT on the market. It works with either HEMI or LS swaps.

Our fuel pump assembly, will drop right into the 97-04 TJ/LJ fuel tank and secure with the stock retaining ring. The internally regulated pump delivers the required 59psi for both V8's. The fuel level signal sensor is correct for the Jeep TJ/LJ Fuel Gauge based on a stock fuel tank.

Plumbing your V8 Fuel Delivery System is quick and easy with our ROCK LOCK High Performance Race Quality adapter fittings and 'push to connect' line fittings. Our fuel system has only 2 connections- one at the pump assembly and one at the fuel rail. Done!

The Fuel Pump Kit also includes a universal adapter harness that with the included DIY WeatherPac Connector, will easily wire into any 97-04 chassis harness."

As previously noted, it appears to be an assembly from Autobest. The lower section of the pump does not appear to have been modified or replaced. The top ring has been slightly cut down to fit the older tank opening. Part number used in the comparison pic is f3211a from an 05-06 TJ. What was not included in the kit was any way to secure the line to the frame. I bought some 5/8 stainless clips to get it done.

Retail Price from RR: 379.99
Retail price for the DIY: $100 pump +$30 hose + harness + fittings + 1 hour or less of time


Complete Steering Shaft Kit

This kit is also available separately from Red Rock. Their description as follows:

"The Skinny Steering Kit.... this is the kit we designed to work with a Gen III or Gen IV HEMI outfitted with either the JBA or BBK Headers (Highlighted so you notice it specifically, will be reference later on) in your TJ or LJ.

We designed and created this kit out of need as you cannot run a stock pillow block with headers. Adding to this, Jeep no longer manufactures the 4cyl pillow block that was an option years ago. No other aftermarket solution works like ours! We use this kit on all our Hemi Conversions.

Our Skinny Steering Kit replaces the intermediate shaft on the stock jeep steering. This is the primary shaft between the Firewall Joint and the Gear Box. The kit uses both upper and lower bearing towers to support and orientate the new steering shaft correctly. This is a builders kit, so welding is required.

The basic kit utilizes a solid steering shaft. If you want a collapsible shaft, contact the shop for more information."

This kit includes a section of steering shaft, two support eyes as pictured, a fabricated tall support and fabricated short support.

Retail price from Red Rock: $95.99


Low Pressure Steering Return Line Kit

There's really nothing fancy here...it's hose plus two fittings.

Retail Price: xxx


1.25" Body Lift Kit

As stated above, I did not purchase this with the kit.

EGR Delete

As stated above, I did not purchase this with the kit.

Thermal Activaction Fan Switch

Super straight forward, this is an on at 200, off at 180 degree sensor. No control module, relay or wiring was included for the fan, just the sensor.

Retail Price: $21.89

Reducer Fitting

I am assuming this is the silicon/rubber reducer fitting for the air intake tube. Again, very straight forward.

Factory Mopar Accelerator Pedal
Accelerator Pedal Mount

As stated above, I did not purchase this with the kit.

Complete Air Intake Kit

This kit includes a bent aluminum pipe at 90 degrees, with a barb welded onto it for the pcv hose. A spectre air filter has been included.

Retail Price: TBD

PCV Kit

Per the previous email with Jim, this is no longer part of the kit since they welded the tube onto the intake. They just haven't updated the site or manual supposedly.

Shorty Exhaust Headers

I want to pull your attention back to the steering kit above. One might assume that the headers included in the kit are JBA or B BK based on the description of the steering, but one would assume incorrectly.

The headers sent are stainless steel, and have been modified by grinding the tabs off and welding in a reducer fitting and a vband coupler.

I bought a suspiciously comparable set of headers from DNA Motoring off Amazon for $166.

I'll let the readers draw their own conclusions.

Retail Price: $166 + fittings and stainless welding. A local fab shop here charges $150/hr for stainless welding. My estimation is this is less than an hour of welding.

[2] Upper O2 Sensors

As stated above, I did not purchase this with the kit.

Battery Cable Kit

This is pretty straight forward, 8ish gauge wire kit with ring terminals on each end for attachment. Labeled at each end.

Retail Price - Not much. $20 plus 30 minutes of your time

Over-flow Recirculation Bottle Kit

This kit includes an overflow bottle and bracket for attachment. The bracket is fabricated aluminum. The bottle itself is brushed stainless, 3"x10". It is suspiciously similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0816D7QWT/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Retail Price: $25 plus bracket

 

[davemayn13]

4wd Cable Shifter Kit

As stated in the email from Jim, they don't do cable shifter kits anymore, instead it's a linkage. The middle is all standard hardware, the ends are fabricated steel.

Retail Price: ???

545rfe Transmission Side Auto- Shifter Cable Bracket

This bracket attaches to the bellhousing bolts and provides a place for the cable to snug up. The suggested part number from other build threads is 52121832AC

A/C Line, Fitting and Bracket Kit

AC lines are nicely fabricated hydraulic hoses. Also includes threaded connector fittings. Can be sourced independently from Red Rock, or you could possibly have them made at a hydraulic shop. This convenience is hard to beat.

Retail Price from Red Rock: 389.99

Mega Short SYE Kit for the 231J Transfer Case

As stated above, I did not purchase this with the kit.

Hemi Swap Manual

I can't comment on this as I haven't received it yet.

Exhaust Builders Kit

As stated previously, I have yet to find a decent exhaust shop locally. That makes a kit like this far more valuable to me, as quotes I got for a custom exhaust routing from the header back were north of $1500. This kit includes a thrush muffler, and fabricated bends of 2.5" exhaust pipe. Also includes a 2-1 reducer. There are 45s, 90s, and 120s as well as a couple hangers. I have ordered the additional catalytic converters from them to appease the smog requirements here. Will update when they come in. That added an additional $350 to cost.

Retail Price from RR: $500 + 350 for cats.

There is a single bracket that I'm not sure what it goes to yet, pictured below. I assume the book will shed some light, it was not labeled or marked. Maybe @NashvilleTJ knows?

 

[davemayn13]

Overall, how do I feel about this kit? Would I do it the same way knowing what I know right now? Obviously this could change when I go to install, but I think I should take a minute to reflect.

This is a complicated answer, so I'm going to give you my positives and negatives...

Positives first, because nobody likes getting hit upside the head with the negative side of the sandwhich right off the bat:

• In general, nearly everything was either explicitly obvious or clearly labeled. There's one bracket that I'm not sure what it's for, pictured at the end of the thread above. That's the only piece I couldn't figure out without a book.
• The AC lines are done very neatly, and assuming they all fit fine, will be a welcome simplification to the process
• The fittings provided for the hoses are a nice anodized aluminum, and it doesn't look like corners were cut here.
• The radiator itself appears to be of good quality, and the pricing is as good/better than other swap radiators I could find on the interwebs
• The AA motor mounts are actually a bit of a relief, as they are well documented to work well and they make installation of them easy.
• The fabricated brackets of the transmission mount are very nice and present well. The same can be said for the steering support bracket. The Red Rock logo cutout on the brackets is a nice touch. A coat of paint after installation will really help the install look good.
• The transmission mount appears to be super beefy. Especially when compared to OEM or the Teraflex mount. Is it necessary? TBD, but I have to say I'd feel pretty confident if that thing took a direct hit that it'd be fine.

Negatives

• I won't rehash, I'll leave it at this. Communication, timeline, and fulfillment are lacking.
• Overall, I don't feel like the whole kit was worth the $ (continue reading for what I'd do differently)
• I made assumptions in two areas that proved to be incorrect
  • I assumed that the exhaust header kit would be either B BK or JBA based on the steering column listing description, and following the old threads of Jim's builds. As it turns out, they aren't. The modifications as near as I can tell are welding in a reducer and v-band coupler, and lopping off the mounting ears.
  • I assumed the fan kit would include an SPAL fan like the radiator listing, especially since he's charging SPAL prices for the upgrade. Again, I assumed incorrectly.
• As you may have picked up above, some of the items, descriptions, have not been updated. This makes me a bit concerned about what other parts of the book will be outdated or incorrect.
• If you had a good exhaust shop near you, you could definitely do the exhaust for less. That muffler is cheap, and a lot of off the shelf builder kits have the same parts and pieces, save the 120 deg bends. Again, for a guy like me though, I don't have a good shop. So this kit is 100% worth the money for me. My only gripe is that I probably wouldn't have chosen thrush for the muffler if I had a choice.
• You are paying a significant premium for convenience, which as it turns out probably isn't all necessary if you really dig into other threads, other builds.

What would I do differently?

I think the biggest take away from this kit and experience is that I should put more faith into my internet research skills. A lot of the extra items in this kit I bought because I figured there was some secret sauce, some sort of additional modification or part or fabrication that I just wouldn't be able to do/source on my own. As it turns out, there's not.

I would still buy some of this kit, assuming the communication, timeline and fulfillment improved. The kit I would buy in retrospect is:

Neither stage 1 or 2.

I'd pick up the following parts from RR

• Radiator and shoud (could be picked up elsewhere if you feel more inclined, but I do feel like this was the nicest part of the kit and reasonably priced)
• AC Line Kit (I don't know that anyone else is offering this. If you're super savvy, you could get these fabricated but I speak 0 AC line/fitting so this is worth every penny).

Maybe these parts too:

• Steering shaft kit (the new Holley Relocation Bracket is tempting)
• Exhaust kit if your local shops suck like mine

And I'd source these directly:

• The electric fan (leery of the quality/longevity of the one included..is a $30 fan really as good as a $150 fan? I'm also annoyed by the SPAL premium on the radiator to find a cheaper substitute)
• Trans mount (either Holley or Teraflex, but I definitely see the appeal to Jim's kit if you want the extra support/ability to drop your skid)
• Motor Mounts from AA
• Headers (a local fab shop or exhaust shop can do the modifications for likely shop minimum) namely because you could get one of the brand names instead (although if DNA is good shit, I stand corrected and you can cut more $ out of the process)
• Hoses, cables, fittings (a little internet research on sizes and thread pitches goes a long way)
• Air intake (either fab your own, or buy a hemi CAI and chop it)
• Trans/Transfer case connectors (again research would have given good part numbers)
• Overflow bottle (fab your own connection)
• Fuel pump: buy 05-06 TJ pump, modify top ring by removing ear and 1/8" around the diameter

By my rough estimation and using plugs for unknown/fabricated stuff, I could have easily cut $2500 or more off the cost of this swap, and avoided 3 months of drama.

I will also say that this is subject to change as I go to install, this is just my initial reflection/reaction.

 

[NDSpeed]

Nice “unboxing”

 

[davemayn13]

I'm also taking a moment to point out (and I may be behind the 8 ball on this) that Holley now has a Hemi swap kit to compliment their LS swap kit. Not nearly as sophisticated, but certainly looks like it could get it done? I'm certainly intrigued.

http://www.holley.com/products/engi...7-2006_jeep_wrangler_tj_hemi_swap_components/

 

[Wildman]

Damn now why can't they make some parts for the Magnum V-8?? Dang Nab it....

Looks good for those thinking about a Hemi swap.

The only thing I don't like is that just like with the LS Kits it's made for a 6 cyl TJ for the motor mounts to work. Seems to me it's the 4 cyl guys who want the power increase IMO.

 

[davemayn13]

Hey davemayn13,

Have been following your thread because I also am doing a HEMI swap in my 05 TJ Rubicon.
I have most of the major parts purchased and waiting for me to get a good start on it. I had started my swap back in February and got laid off the first of March for 12 weeks because of Covid, and in the meantime I lost the building space I was going to use to do most of the major work in. So now I am getting estimates on getting my own building/shop built hopefully this spring and get this swap done over the summer.
I'm using a '05' 70,000 mile motor from a Rumble Bee with a '08' 3,000 mile 545RFE transmission.
My main reason I spoke up was to ask if you had considered using Todd at JEEP SPEED SHOP for your conversion needs. I have really not purchased much from him, but he has answered a lot of my questions about this swap and has done numerous of them on TJ's, and yes as with everyone, the bulk of his business now is with the JK crowd. However he is very knowledgeable with the TJ swap.
So anyway I was just wondering if you had considered JEEP SPEED SHOP and your thoughts on them. Not that it makes a lot of difference, but he is a lot closer to you than RED ROCK is.

Hey @Daubie3

I definitely stalked JSS from the forums and research that I did early on, but I was discouraged by them taking everything off their site. I never did call them to ask about whether they still did/sold/advised on TJ swaps, which is my bad. In retrospect and knowing what I know now, it would have made a ton of sense to just make a call and ask. My only concern was, like Red Rock, reviews from years ago were a bit mixed. I don't know that there were any more or less positive reviews than there were for Red Rock, and since everything was listed on their site, I went with the "easy" button.

I also considered ordering kit parts from Hotwire, which in retrospect, given the difference in communication and service, I would have been happy to pay for.

Damn now why can't they make some parts for the Magnum V-8?? Dang Nab it....

Looks good for those thinking about a Hemi swap.

The only thing I don't like is that just like with the LS Kits it's made for a 6 cyl TJ for the motor mounts to work. Seems to me it's the 4 cyl guys who want the power increase IMO.

Because @Wildman , that would make life FAR too easy =). I tell you what, there's a lot more magnum engines laying around in our local junkyards than there are hemi's or LS's.

As an overall update, supposedly the book, rear cats, and exhaust diagram shipped today from Red Rock. We'll see.

 

[Wildman]

Because @Wildman , that would make life FAR too easy =). I tell you what, there's a lot more magnum engines laying around in our local junkyards than there are hemi's or LS's.

Exactly, And how many 97-02 TJ's compared to 02-06 TJ? I'm not faulting the Hemi swap or LS swap as they are both great options but right now the only thing available for the Magnum swap is AA motor mounts.

I didn't see you mention it but does Red Rock include a wiring harness with your kit? Or do you have to either DIY or send it out to someplace like Hotwire?

 

[davemayn13]

Exactly, And how many 97-02 TJ's compared to 02-06 TJ? I'm not faulting the Hemi swap or LS swap as they are both great options but right now the only thing available for the Magnum swap is AA motor mounts.

I didn't see you mention it but does Red Rock include a wiring harness with your kit? Or do you have to either DIY or send it out to someplace like Hotwire?

No, the harness was extra by him or by hotwire. I chose wisely and had hotwire do it, couldn't be happier with how they turned out.

 

[Wildman]

No, the harness was extra by him or by hotwire. I chose wisely and had hotwire do it, couldn't be happier with how they turned out.

I had the shop that did my engine swap do my wiring harness but needless to say he did a shitty job. So I am going to make my own harness this time. Once I have my engine in place then I can lay out the harness and start blending the two harnesses back together.

I've heard that Hotwire is great. A little pricey but you get what you pay for. The pictures the shop had shown me of his work appeared to look good but the final results were subpar. But he was almost 2 months overdue on delivery when I got there to pick it up. And it wasn't running when I got there which pissed me off more.

A lot of other things that happened but I didn't feel I was physically ready to try a engine swap as I'd only been back walking again for about 7 months after being no weight bearing on my right leg for 6 months. And he'd done a ton of these swaps already and I'd heard good things about him.

I won't clog up your thread with my shitty wiring pictures.

 

[hardtailpan]

arness was extra by him or by hotwire. I chose wisely and had hotwire do it, couldn't be happier with how they turned out

I've heard hotwire does amazing work. When I have both harnesses I'm going to put them up on pieces of plywood and determine if I'm going to do the mods myself or have them do it. It is pricey, but I also understand they are a lot of help even after doing the harness if you have issues.

 

[Wildman]

Here is a Hemi swap that was done about 9 years ago with the help of JSS.

https://tinyurl.com/y95evpjh
It's pretty detailed also so might answer some questions??

 

[davemayn13]

A comparison on the fuel pumps.

I bought an autobest pump to compare to the red rock, part number f3211a for an 05-06 TJ.

The pump itself appears to be the same, really the only modification appears to be taking 1/8" off the top ring of the pump.