2000 Jeep TJ 318 5.2 Magnum Swap Build

Very clean is the only thing I can think to say. I'm looking forward to seeing the engine installed! Have you thought about a cheap Harbor Freight welder so you could do some of the welding yourself?

-Grant
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whitetrash
Very clean is the only thing I can think to say. I'm looking forward to seeing the engine installed! Have you thought about a cheap Harbor Freight welder so you could do some of the welding yourself?

-Grant
I have thought about it, I have done some mig welding at my old job. I just don't know if I know enough to feel confident with my welding skills, welding the mounts in and supporting the weight of the engine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RustyAutoholicGuy
I have thought about it, I have done some mig welding at my old job. I just don't know if I know enough to feel confident with my welding skills, welding the mounts in and supporting the weight of the engine.

Fair enough! Yeah welding is something that just takes time. I know throughout my project my welding is getting better. I have thought about taking my motor mounts and engine mount plates off my project and re-welding them but it's been holding up so far. It's not pretty but it works!

Seriously great work so far! Great pictures and I even the almost empty garage space. Mines packed to the gill and I would do just about anything to get it empty!

How much longer after you get the mounts welded in do you think it will take for you to get it running?

Thanks
Grant
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whitetrash
Fair enough! Yeah welding is something that just takes time. I know throughout my project my welding is getting better. I have thought about taking my motor mounts and engine mount plates off my project and re-welding them but it's been holding up so far. It's not pretty but it works!

Seriously great work so far! Great pictures and I even the almost empty garage space. Mines packed to the gill and I would do just about anything to get it empty!

How much longer after you get the mounts welded in do you think it will take for you to get it running?

Thanks
Grant
Thanks! Once I get the engine placed and mounts welded in, then ill find a trans (plenty around locally, just haven't had time to make the 1-2 hour drive to grab it with me always watching my little one) and bolt it to the engine, and try starting it for the first time. Once I can see that it fires nicely without any real issues, I will find the exact measurement for the driveshafts needed, and I will have those made. Really there isn't anything else I need to buy for it for the swap other than a few small odds and ends/hoses, and a radiator. Then it should be road worthy! It more than likely could've been running long ago if I wouldn't have focused on all the suspension components, brakes, etc etc, but I didn't want to throw an engine into a TJ with a VERY tired suspension and completely worn brake components. I guess my goal would be for it to be able to be driven by January of 2020. I know the holidays coming up could slow things down!
 
Went ahead and mounted the block hugger headers on the engine to make sure they fit correctly. SO close to dropping in. Seriously if I had a welder the engine would at least be placed in the engine bay!
motor11.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bad Habits
Keep up the good work, you'll love the outcome in the end. I honestly believe that Chrysler should have offered the first generation early TJ wranglers thru 2000 with the 5.2L engine as a factory option. Don't know why they never did other than maybe they thought kids would kill themselves with a V8? I dunno. Anyway, you will find the Jeep a totally different animal with a V8 in it, even the small 5.2L makes all the world of difference. It is NOT A HOTROD by any means but is well balanced for power in my opinion, especially when you add big tires and armor as most of us do on here for 4-wheeling adventures. I have owned mostly 4.0L Jeeps but a few 2.5's and never understood why they even bothered with the 4-cylinder engine except for the "Barbie Beach Jeep" crowd.

My suggestion on the cooling system when you come up to it is finding a 4.0L fan shroud and running the mechanical fan from the 5.2L V8, do NOT run an electric fan if you want reliability and good cooling in the summer. So many others I know who swapped to electric have had problems keeping it cool on the trail or on the highway, keep it like MOPAR built it for reliability. You can see my writeup for the radiator I bought when I did my conversion and you can keep your factory air conditioning just adapt it to the V8 and it works great.

I see you've decided to go with headders on the exhaust system. I would wrap them with fiberglass heat shielding to prevent lots of heat into your firewall and floor boards as well as the starter motor and spark plug wiring. Lots of problems with heat soak and burnt plug wires & boots. In my TJ, I went with the stock exhaust manifolds that have all the heat shields in place. It keeps a lot of the underhood heat at bay and the factory "Y" pipe from the ZJ Grand Cherokee for simplicity sake and heat soak of parts under the hood. I did get rid of the pinch point in the factory "Y" pipe where the exhaust was flattened to clear suspension parts in the ZJ by cutting out just that spot and welding regular round tube in place. Otherwise, all the heat shields and O2 sensor stuff is all in tact just as original equipment would be as if the TJ came with the V8 from the factory.

Looking good!

RR
 
Keep up the good work, you'll love the outcome in the end. I honestly believe that Chrysler should have offered the first generation early TJ wranglers thru 2000 with the 5.2L engine as a factory option. Don't know why they never did other than maybe they thought kids would kill themselves with a V8? I dunno. Anyway, you will find the Jeep a totally different animal with a V8 in it, even the small 5.2L makes all the world of difference. It is NOT A HOTROD by any means but is well balanced for power in my opinion, especially when you add big tires and armor as most of us do on here for 4-wheeling adventures. I have owned mostly 4.0L Jeeps but a few 2.5's and never understood why they even bothered with the 4-cylinder engine except for the "Barbie Beach Jeep" crowd.

My suggestion on the cooling system when you come up to it is finding a 4.0L fan shroud and running the mechanical fan from the 5.2L V8, do NOT run an electric fan if you want reliability and good cooling in the summer. So many others I know who swapped to electric have had problems keeping it cool on the trail or on the highway, keep it like MOPAR built it for reliability. You can see my writeup for the radiator I bought when I did my conversion and you can keep your factory air conditioning just adapt it to the V8 and it works great.

I see you've decided to go with headders on the exhaust system. I would wrap them with fiberglass heat shielding to prevent lots of heat into your firewall and floor boards as well as the starter motor and spark plug wiring. Lots of problems with heat soak and burnt plug wires & boots. In my TJ, I went with the stock exhaust manifolds that have all the heat shields in place. It keeps a lot of the underhood heat at bay and the factory "Y" pipe from the ZJ Grand Cherokee for simplicity sake and heat soak of parts under the hood. I did get rid of the pinch point in the factory "Y" pipe where the exhaust was flattened to clear suspension parts in the ZJ by cutting out just that spot and welding regular round tube in place. Otherwise, all the heat shields and O2 sensor stuff is all in tact just as original equipment would be as if the TJ came with the V8 from the factory.

Looking good!

RR
Thanks for the advice and details! About the fan, I actually planned on doing the exact thing you said, 4.0 shroud with the ZJ fan that came on the engine in the first place. Glad to hear it is a good way to go! Also, thank you for the advice on the headers! I will have to do that as well to keep the heat down!
 
  • Like
Reactions: RangerRick
Make sure you do your mounts back far enough too. Mines were place in the same spot as the factory 2.5L and my engine is too far forward. It's good for getting at the distributor and back of engine, but i had to get driveshafts, run electric fans, extend my shifter, and my a/c dryer doesn't fit the factory location because it hits my block hugger headers.
 
Make sure you do your mounts back far enough too. Mines were place in the same spot as the factory 2.5L and my engine is too far forward. It's good for getting at the distributor and back of engine, but i had to get driveshafts, run electric fans, extend my shifter, and my a/c dryer doesn't fit the factory location because it hits my block hugger headers.
Interesting. I was going to put the AA mounts exactly where they need to be. Perfect engine clearance for running a clutch fan, and accessing engine components from everything I’ve seen. I don’t mind getting new driveshafts made, as mine were junk anyway, as well and fabbing up a new shifter should be easy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RangerRick
Interesting. I was going to put the AA mounts exactly where they need to be. Perfect engine clearance for running a clutch fan, and accessing engine components from everything I’ve seen. I don’t mind getting new driveshafts made, as mine were junk anyway, as well and fabbing up a new shifter should be easy.
That is where I put my engine mounts.
Exactly where the AA mounts dowel pins indexed them to be. I tilted them 5 degrees, everything worked perfectly and plenty of clearance for everything. The hood has the fiberglass sound deadening material under it and the air horn just cleared it with the 1" body mount lift. Everything came together like it was factory and I am still very happy with the outcome.

I also have flat-fenders on the Jeep now and I cut up the original inner fenders to use as liners so all the original accessories along with the PDC fuse/relay box can still be where they originally were in the TJ. It all came together perfectly, just a lot of labor to get those inner fenders cut just right to fit in perfectly. Again, they look like factory installed just as I wanted.

If I could only scrape together enough to do an LSx swap in my wifes JKUR, we would really be happy.....
Or if I could get ahold of the right HEMI powered vehicle to be the donor on it, I would consider keeping it in the family. We shall see after I move if I have the energy for one more engine swap.

In the meantime, I will keep hunting.

RR
 
That is where I put my engine mounts.
Exactly where the AA mounts dowel pins indexed them to be. I tilted them 5 degrees, everything worked perfectly and plenty of clearance for everything. The hood has the fiberglass sound deadening material under it and the air horn just cleared it with the 1" body mount lift. Everything came together like it was factory and I am still very happy with the outcome.

I also have flat-fenders on the Jeep now and I cut up the original inner fenders to use as liners so all the original accessories along with the PDC fuse/relay box can still be where they originally were in the TJ. It all came together perfectly, just a lot of labor to get those inner fenders cut just right to fit in perfectly. Again, they look like factory installed just as I wanted.

If I could only scrape together enough to do an LSx swap in my wifes JKUR, we would really be happy.....
Or if I could get ahold of the right HEMI powered vehicle to be the donor on it, I would consider keeping it in the family. We shall see after I move if I have the energy for one more engine swap.

In the meantime, I will keep hunting.

RR

Is this where your driver side mount sit at? I thought I had the AA kit too but I didn't install it.
20190623_152201.jpg
 
It may be a tad farther back. There was a small hole in the frame that the dowel pin fit in to index and align where it should be located. I will have to look at the frame of the 2nd V8 conversion I was doing to see exactly where. If you look at my build, you may just be able to see the mount welded in position in one of the photos I've posted but I am not sure I took any closeups after cleaning up the frame and a full paint job on it.
RR
 
Well, last night the engine was placed in its final resting place! Sorry for the poor lighting, my garage doesn’t have the best of lighting, so to take the pictures we used my buddys light bar on his 360 swapped TJ. Just glad to have it in there! Now for all the small stuff, clutch/flywheel, driveshafts, installing trans and T case, etc. but at least the engine is in there now! Super excited!!
5BEB99F6-05EE-4C8B-B522-2901AD33D616.jpeg

333F7A32-FC07-4CAA-BB32-C5C5A48034E3.jpeg

19C96E65-5434-4604-A17F-D21085DA802B.jpeg

77F4994D-08F8-4FBA-874E-6694D7B8CAC3.jpeg

I’ll try to get some better pictures up this weekend!
 
Ok, here is a better picture from the next day with some daylight shining through my garage door.
pic1.jpg


That night I started hooking up some of the accessories, hooked up some engine grounds, power steering pump, and PS lines. I went ahead and ordered new Gates lines from RockAuto, because one, they were only $13 a piece. Two, my 2.5 lines were heavily corroded and the pressure line for the 2.5 with its pressure switch would have needed to be bent an insane amount to get it to fit. I just ordered the 4.0 ones for my same year and everything fit perfectly.

Then yesterday I picked up my AX-15 out of a 99 TJ here locally. I separated the bellhousing and then called it a day.
transmission.jpg


pic2.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wojoe and Ephry73
Decided to put the fenders back on so I could hook up some more of the accessories, and run the evap junk. With the fenders on, it's starting to look like a Jeep again.
fenderson.jpg

jeepagain.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blondie70
Well, it’s alive!.....kinda. Finished installing the flywheel, clutch, transmission and bellhousing, etc etc. Went to fire it up and it dies after 2-3 sec max. From all the research I’ve done, it seems like more than likely the SKIM system in the ZJ ECU I’m using. I didn’t plan on using this ECU long term anyway, since it’s for an auto trans. Heres a video!

Only codes that I have are for the evap(not hooked up yet), and the auto trans, so this still leads me to believe it’s the SKIM system. Will be testing it with a certified non skim ECU to rule it out. Only other thing it could be would be the ASD being wired improperly. I feel like I wired it right the first time so let’s hope that isn’t it. Was an amazing feeling though when the engine fired for the very first time!

Here's a tip for people who have worried about getting the transmission mount in place since it obviously wouldnt reach the stock mounting location, IF you place the AA mounts in the recommended location and you're using a manual transmission. People talk about needing to beat in the firewall, and all sorts of stuff; barely being able to get the transmission mount holes to line up, or having to fab up a trans mount out of 2 different mounts. I just bought the Barnes 4WD skidplate, which has a ton of front-to-back adjustment for where you're transmission mounts can be placed. This made mounting the transmission EXTREMELY easy. Just a quick tip. Here is a link to the skidplate.
https://www.barnes4wd.com/Jeep-TJ-Bolt-On-Skid-Plate_p_867.html
 
Last edited: