I finally have something that gives the resemblance of progress!
Since Alabama weather in March is a mixed bag, I’ve tried to have stuff to do both in my shop and outside so I can maintain progress no matter the weather. With a BEAUTIFUL weekend of weather forecast, I enlisted the help of my dad to help me drag the green TJ out of storage on March 3rd (remember, I want to hear this run on the weekend around April 1st.)
Side note – I have a few Badlands winches from HF and bought their Apex wireless controller so it can be used on multiple winches. I’ve had really good luck with the winches and absolutely love the remote. It was used heavily this weekend.
If you recall, the green TJ had a 5.2/44re/231 out of a GC sitting in it, so the first order of business was to pull that out.
Since my 5.9 was in my shop getting a refresh, I opted to use the 5.2 as a mock up. I swapped the 46re transmission and the Durango exhaust manifolds onto the 5.2 to duplicate the final product. I’d thrown the 3in body lift that my TJ came with into the parts bin a few years ago thinking I might use it for something later (I’m kind of a parts hoarder). The body lift was brought out of retirement, cut down to 1.25” and installed to replicate what I have on my 97 TJ.
My wife says I can't ever live somewhere with an HOA. I can't quite figure out why...
The Advance Adapter mounts are (allegedly) designed to work with a 5.2/5.9 and an automatic transmission, so I set them in their recommended place and tacked them in. Using a digital angle finder, the mounts were angled back 5* relative to the flat frame section under the tub and tack welded into place. I researched several tummy tuck threads and most all of the builds required some form of MML. Since a Magnum swapped TT wasn’t very well documented, I assumed there was the likelihood I would need a MML, so I opted to keep the AA engine mounts in their recommended location and build some spacers should the engine need any vertical adjustment. Using the frame as a reference again, the engine is currently angled back just shy of 4*, so I currently don’t plan to add any spacers.
I raised the transfer case up within a 3/4" of the tub to give myself some room for the drivetrain to move. That tab contacting the body will go away with the SYE.
Up to this point I had intentionally not ordered any headers in hopes that the Durango manifolds and Y pipe fit as-is, mostly for the sake of the time it would save. Much to my satisfaction, everything fit like a glove. Score!
Just take my word that the Y pipe fits. It didn't photograph very well when its all right in your face.
I bolted the Summit radiator onto the grill to verify fitment with the mechanical fan from the ZJ. It clears the radiator by ¾”. I plan to run electric fans, but still wanted to keep the option to go mechanical.
With the engine on the mounts, the transmission / transfer case sitting roughly in their final home, and the manifolds and Y pipe installed I grabbed a cold beer and studied for a bit. Here were my initial observations:
Since Alabama weather in March is a mixed bag, I’ve tried to have stuff to do both in my shop and outside so I can maintain progress no matter the weather. With a BEAUTIFUL weekend of weather forecast, I enlisted the help of my dad to help me drag the green TJ out of storage on March 3rd (remember, I want to hear this run on the weekend around April 1st.)
Side note – I have a few Badlands winches from HF and bought their Apex wireless controller so it can be used on multiple winches. I’ve had really good luck with the winches and absolutely love the remote. It was used heavily this weekend.
If you recall, the green TJ had a 5.2/44re/231 out of a GC sitting in it, so the first order of business was to pull that out.
Since my 5.9 was in my shop getting a refresh, I opted to use the 5.2 as a mock up. I swapped the 46re transmission and the Durango exhaust manifolds onto the 5.2 to duplicate the final product. I’d thrown the 3in body lift that my TJ came with into the parts bin a few years ago thinking I might use it for something later (I’m kind of a parts hoarder). The body lift was brought out of retirement, cut down to 1.25” and installed to replicate what I have on my 97 TJ.
My wife says I can't ever live somewhere with an HOA. I can't quite figure out why...
The Advance Adapter mounts are (allegedly) designed to work with a 5.2/5.9 and an automatic transmission, so I set them in their recommended place and tacked them in. Using a digital angle finder, the mounts were angled back 5* relative to the flat frame section under the tub and tack welded into place. I researched several tummy tuck threads and most all of the builds required some form of MML. Since a Magnum swapped TT wasn’t very well documented, I assumed there was the likelihood I would need a MML, so I opted to keep the AA engine mounts in their recommended location and build some spacers should the engine need any vertical adjustment. Using the frame as a reference again, the engine is currently angled back just shy of 4*, so I currently don’t plan to add any spacers.
I raised the transfer case up within a 3/4" of the tub to give myself some room for the drivetrain to move. That tab contacting the body will go away with the SYE.
Up to this point I had intentionally not ordered any headers in hopes that the Durango manifolds and Y pipe fit as-is, mostly for the sake of the time it would save. Much to my satisfaction, everything fit like a glove. Score!
Just take my word that the Y pipe fits. It didn't photograph very well when its all right in your face.
I bolted the Summit radiator onto the grill to verify fitment with the mechanical fan from the ZJ. It clears the radiator by ¾”. I plan to run electric fans, but still wanted to keep the option to go mechanical.
With the engine on the mounts, the transmission / transfer case sitting roughly in their final home, and the manifolds and Y pipe installed I grabbed a cold beer and studied for a bit. Here were my initial observations:
- The Durango manifolds and Y pipe fit well, but wouldn’t allow the engine to come back any further if needed. Not sure why it would need to though.
- Just by eyeballing the transmission mount in relation to the center skid plate bolt, it looks like the 46re mount would sit back down in the factory skid plate holes (or at most require the Barnes 4wd skid plate)
- A completely flat skid plate is definitely possible, but you’d have to either bolt the transmission to the skid plate or get creative with the crossmember. The distance from the bottom of the frame to the underside of the CV joint on the front driveshaft is your limiting factor here – its about 1.25”.
- This swap might be doable without a BL if the AA mounts were moved slightly forward.
- Someone hit me - this is actually happening!
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