Nashville TJ's Build - Continued

The 545RFE tranny is a good bit bigger than the 42RLE, especially when you add that reinforcing bracket on the top of the unit. In order for the tranny tunnel to clear that monster, I had to add a 1" body lift. Prior to the body lift the drive pulley on the supercharger, and the top of the shock hoops stuck up through the hood - which I always thought was pretty cool.

But now I had three holes in the hood for no apparent reason. Rather than source another hood, or do a lot of body work and painting, I came up with a simple solution (anybody know Occam's Razor?). I just added a few hood vents:

Jeep - 5.7 Hemi 7-7-2017 1066.jpg


Jeep - 5.7 Hemi 7-7-2017 1076.jpg


...and it was like the holes were never there:

Jeep - 5.7 Hemi 7-7-2017 1088.jpg
 
I took the easy (and expensive) way out on my wiring harness, and had Chris over at HotWire Auto build me a new one. His attention to detail on the harness was second to none, but on the labeling on the PDC cover? Not so much:

Jeep - 5.7 Hemi 7-7-2017 872.jpg


Now over at that other place, I was consistently accused of being a bit obsessive compulsive. I assure you that I am not - just ask my good buddy @Wildman. Now I've torn into that PDC a 100 times over the years, and I just like to be able to read the labels, that's all. So, I took some time to clean it up a bit. Is that so bad???

Jeep - 5.7 Hemi 7-7-2017 1221.jpg


:rolleyes:
 
The last fabrication task was to add a cowl intake. The beast puts out a lot of heat, and my IAT"s were through the roof, causing the Hemi to de-tune itself to compensate. The cowl intake solved the problem.

And here it is in its final form:

Jeep - 5.7 Hemi 7-7-2017 1486.jpg
 
Your Jeep is such a clean install and build.


OCD? You? Nope never you just like things a certain way and it's a good 👍way.
 
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The final step in the process was to get the rig dyno tuned. Although it took three visits to get the tune correct (another story all by itself), we ultimately got it dialed in. Here it is on the dyno:

 
Cool, I want to take mine out more but being a rookie all I do now is try and then report back what went wrong and get guidance for the next trip.
If you have not yet done so, there is a decent club here in Middle Tennessee called Jeeps and Wrenches that may be worth checking out. They have a face book page under the same name. It's a good group to connect with, especially for those just getting into the sport. They do a lot of organized easy and moderate rides, and at least once a year they do a nice introduction to wheelin' get together.
 
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Welcome to the other forum Jeff! :cool: Hope you've been well!
That you, Arg? Great to hear from you. And yes, I’ve been doing well. Still all clear, thanks for asking.

How’s the KB holding up?
 
That you, Arg? Great to hear from you. And yes, I’ve been doing well. Still all clear, thanks for asking.

How’s the KB holding up?

Yeah it's me! Glad you're clear, and I hope it stays that way!

The KB is doing well, just went to Hot Springs ORV this past weekend and beat on her! Haven't gotten to do much jeeping this year due to COVID and a career change coupled with a new house and DIY reno, been busy! But I have a shop and barn finally! haha

Have you been on the trails much this year? Looking forward to seeing your build again, my Jeep wants to be like yours when it grows up LOL
 
Awesome build and welcome. Yours is the first I have seen with the Kenny Bell, and always wondered how well they worked. I had the Avenger unit a few years ago (Almost identical to KB unit), but they never came with a flash. I ended up getting a Split Second piggy back, but it was pretty inconsistent, so I went with complete swap.

You have an amazing build!
 
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Yeah it's me! Glad you're clear, and I hope it stays that way!

The KB is doing well, just went to Hot Springs ORV this past weekend and beat on her! Haven't gotten to do much jeeping this year due to COVID and a career change coupled with a new house and DIY reno, been busy! But I have a shop and barn finally! haha

Have you been on the trails much this year? Looking forward to seeing your build again, my Jeep wants to be like yours when it grows up LOL
I’ve been out a few times, but never as much as I would like. Congrats on the new digs!
 
Awesome build and welcome. Yours is the first I have seen with the Kenny Bell, and always wondered how well they worked. I had the Avenger unit a few years ago (Almost identical to KB unit), but they never came with a flash. I ended up getting a Split Second piggy back, but it was pretty inconsistent, so I went with complete swap.

You have an amazing build!
Thanks! Alex0413 above is the King of custom Kenne Bell tunes.
 
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The last fabrication task was to add a cowl intake. The beast puts out a lot of heat, and my IAT"s were through the roof, causing the Hemi to de-tune itself to compensate. The cowl intake solved the problem.

And here it is in its final form:

View attachment 197464

Love the build, I'm sure I'll be drawing on your experience as I work through my swap! What valve covers are those?
 
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Thanks! Alex0413 above is the King of custom Kenne Bell tunes.

Far from the king, but I learned a lot from trial and error! FRPtuning is the only way to go on a boosted 4.0! These engines are a night and day difference boosted, but there's a lot of bad tuning out there and people don't get the full benefits.