Davemayn13's 2004 LJ Hemi Swap Project

Had to call it quits early today as the weather turned, but I got a solid half day of beautiful weather to keep going on paint. We've got a rash of storms headed this way, so I reorganized the garage into a miniature paint booth so I can keep going on that stuff even in crappy weather. It'll just have to be one by one instead of all together.

Engine Bay:

Got everything protected and sprayed the firewall. Soooooo satisfying. @Wildman If you get the chance to spray before you swap your motor....you definitely should.

After cleaning, before respray
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After resparay
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Also...found this little gem. When I pulled the cowl drain, it weighed a freaking ton. Lo and behold, the duct was literally packed solid with mud, sand, and shit.

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That was fun. A screw driver and good rinsing later, and we were back in business.

I did a little prep on the frame and shock towers, I'm going to repaint the front clip of the frame after the mounts are in and verified. Still some work to do there, but will definitely be worth it in the long run.

Body Parts:

While the weather held, I grabbed all the remaining aluminum and cleaned, prepped, and hit them all with primer. Front bumper, loop, winch plate, corners, and front fenders.

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Front fenders are going to be color matched blue, bumper and accessories will be satin black, I'm debating on the corners going silver or satin black. I had been going the satin black route, but the dark blue looked good with silver contrast when I was test fitting them. We'll see.

Hole cleanup:
My tub looks a bit like Swiss cheese without the corners. I went through and deburred all the holes, then painted all the holes to prevent rust.

I had mentioned earlier that I went with longer bolts to avoid nutserts. In the pics below, the holes in red are the only ones that I used nutserts. The yellow replaced with a 1.5" bolt, and the purple on the rear took a 4" bolt.

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As you can see, the PO hacked the shit out of the tail lights...hence the corners in the first place.

Interior:

The last thing I got after before calling it quits was the genright tunnel cover. It shipped flat, so I started with bending a curve into it using the edge of the front tire. Then I continued to bend it as I added more bolts. The holes circled in red lined up with original holes in the tub. The other holes need to be drilled.

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As you can see, the corner by the transfer case lever opening is going to need some serious...massaging....

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Also, the inside of the tub is going to need a good cleaning too when I gut it =).

That was as far as I got today, but I'm hoping for a light work week to keep moving on it.
 
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I forget if you'd said you were going to coat the interior floor or use carpet?

The rear sort of looks like the YJ I use to own. I hacked the rear to allow me to use the stock light but make them flush mounted. I took some cardboard and made a template but it still wasn't pretty.

Yes that drain fills up with CRAP and is a bitch to clean when it's on your rig. I might get some waterless cleaner and do my firewall that way. Watching all you guys painting your own stuff is making me think about doing that instead of powder coating. But I can still touch up power coat.
 
I forget if you'd said you were going to coat the interior floor or use carpet?

The rear sort of looks like the YJ I use to own. I hacked the rear to allow me to use the stock light but make them flush mounted. I took some cardboard and made a template but it still wasn't pretty.

Yes that drain fills up with CRAP and is a bitch to clean when it's on your rig. I might get some waterless cleaner and do my firewall that way. Watching all you guys painting your own stuff is making me think about doing that instead of powder coating. But I can still touch up power coat.

TBD on the floor, I've got a new set of bed rug bed tred carpets, but considering doing line-x. I think I'll hang tight on it for a little bit, may just do the carpets to start and coat it later if I think it makes sense.
Man that firewall spray job looks fantastic! the intake duct is hilarious. Where is this thing, under the cowl?

Thanks! It's all about distance from the can and speed. I typo'd, as @Wildman said, it's actually the drain duct, not an intake. It's behind the engine against the firewall. It was literally packed solid, crazy!

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Got my steering kit from RR today and of course it has NO instructions on how to install it. I'm sure I can figure most of it out but if I can get a copy of the instructions I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks
 
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Message sent.

Why the guy would not send instructions with his kits, when he clearly has said instructions already done and in his swap book, is beyond me...
 
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Bad news: I got called out of town for work for the next couple weeks. I'll be in @Wildman 's neck of the woods.

Good News: per diem (pronounced "Jeep Diem")

Transfer Case:

Atlas 3.8:1 showed up this week. Excited to get that under the Jeep. Not sure what degree I need to clock it at, so I'll leave it off the ass of the transmission and put them in one at a time.

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Steering:

Got the PSC steering gear box installed. Check out the comparison between this one and OEM

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Body:

Got all the front fenders and flares painted over the week, as well as the new savvy front bumper. The fender color match is decent enough.

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As you can see from above, I needed to trim the rockers to clear the nub for the front fender flares. I grabbed a square and sharpie and got to work

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Sneak peek side view of metalcloak fenders

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The rear corners are primed and ready to paint. I'm now debating whether I go color matched or stick with the satin black enamel. I'll get a couple weeks to decide that while I'm out of town.

I also slammed the nutserts into the body for the front mounts of the armor.

Engine:

Got the mounts located and tacked in. I need to drop the engine in and confirm fitment before I go to town on locking them in.

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I also drilled a 1" hole for the SPod feeder wire. The grommet is way oversized so you don't have to pull the pins of the wire from the connector. I'm going to use the open space to run feeder wires for my homemade SPod as well. More on that later.

I think that by the time I get back, my rear bumper and rear flares should be here. That should be the last of the aluminum that needs painting, unless I snag the extensions from Nemesis. I also ordered a swaylock front track bar kit to replace my anti rock.

Won't get anything done over the next couple of weeks, but I'll check back in with more good news hopefully.
 
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I vote for the satin black for the firewall and color match the corners with black flares.

Clock it as flat as you can. I should get brave and cut my tub and get my STaK's box a little flatter.


YES JEEP Diem I like that....
 
How is the swap coming along? Been a while since we've had an update.
Well....my two week assignment in Seattle has turned into a 3.5 month assignment, so while good for the pocket book, bad for progress. I've been jones-ing to keep going, but getting a day or two at home here and there makes it tough. Work should chill out in April, and then it's back to full speed.
 
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Well....my two week assignment in Seattle has turned into a 3.5 month assignment, so while good for the pocket book, bad for progress. I've been jones-ing to keep going, but getting a day or two at home here and there makes it tough. Work should chill out in April, and then it's back to full speed.

Well damn you're close to where I'm at...
 
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Had a weekend at home and actually got something done...

As stated above, I've been on an out of town work assignment since January. It's going to continue until late April, which is really putting a kink in my progress. That said, I did get a chance to do a few things on the jeep.

Engine:

Did a once over to make sure all my bolts are right and tight. Installed stage 8 exhaust hardware due to the thinner castings of the aftermarket headers. Also got the dipstick tube put in and should be ready to drop between the rails for test fitting.

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Body:

Decided to go color match on the side armor. Will go satin black on the rear aluminum fenders from Nemesis. Got the first few coats of paint on the corners.

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Fuel:

Finally got my savvy gas tank skid and gas tank installed. Fit up just fine without issue (was definitely tight up against the driver's side frame/bumper plate corner), and gave a fair amount more clearance from the rockjock 60 rear diff cover vs the oem skid. Hooked up and stashed the sub wiring harness and new fuel line, ready to snake that up to the engine bay and clean up all the electrical/air line spaghetti that is currently lining the frame rail. The skid is on the "high" setting.

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Before: Oem skid
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After: Savvy skid on "high" setting
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Parts:

My woes with parts continues. Red Rock still owes me a bracket for the accumulator attachment to the radiator. It's been months of "my waterjet guy sucks and I'm finding a new one". I've probably emailed him every 2 to 3 weeks for the last couple months and continue to get the run around. At this point, I persist out of principal. My last note from them was a month ago of "my new guy screwed up and cut the brackets out of 1/4" stock instead of 1/8" stock, but I'll box it up anyways and send it in the next couple days". 1 month and a couple silent emails later, still no bracket. I can tell you with certainty, I would not recommend that shop to my friends or enemies with my experience. If you need a hemi swap kit, message me and I'll give you all the info, links, etc I have to save you the headaches I've dealt with.

Back in November, I ordered front and rear bumpers from Savvy. Front was the aluminum stubby, rear was the aluminum with recovery points, no hitch. The front shipped within 4 weeks, at about 7-8 weeks I got a notice of the rear shipping, but that was quickly voided. Since then, I've called and emailed multiple times, but gotten no response. I'll give it another few weeks, but if I continue to get crickets I'll likely file a PayPal claim, only because my window to file a claim is quickly closing. Love their products, but man it's tough to get any info or timeline.

On the flip side, I ordered and quickly received the ORO swaylock front system with manual lever, pretty excited to throw that on after I button up the engine.

Other than that, most of my parts are on the shelf in my garage. Just need the ever elusive time to get it done!
 
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Bummer that you are having so many issues getting your parts. I feel your pain and don't understand why shops won't at least offer be up front and honest time lines of what is going on. I had that happen on other builds and would just rather hear the truth.
 
Apologize if you said already but what product are you using for body match paint. I picked up a couple cans of Dupli Color PBT to try but not sure that is best idea for something like corner armor.
 
Did a once over to make sure all my bolts are right and tight. Installed stage 8 exhaust hardware due to the thinner castings of the aftermarket headers. Also got the dipstick tube put in and should be ready to drop between the rails for test fitting.

View attachment 235321
What headers are these? Are the O-port or D-port?
 
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