OP
Thanks Grant....the students are all watching this build thread and are keenly interested in all the comments....thanks for looking.....and all of your input/suggestions are appreciated!
VM 2.8 turbo diesel frame-up TJ build
- Thread starter Mike Alfano
- Start date
OP
To be honest with you, the amount of wires and the size of the harness that we pulled out of the Liberty is unreal and quite intimidating. We are not just using the engine harness but the entire wire harness (engine, transmission, body control, ABS, SRS etc...). At the same time I'm confident that we'll get it installed and everything will function as it should....what I'm going to do is take the harness home for the summer break and prune it down to the essentials.....for example, the 4 door wire harnesses that make up a sizeable amount of wires can be removed, also the rear gate, sun roof, etc....so much of the harness can be pruned down....I all of the wiring diagrams and so it will just be a little time consuming identifying and pruning the wiring. Also to help us along, I had my students label with masking tape and marker, every connector that we know we will need for the swap....so yes....I'm also scared about the wiring....but at the same time I'm confident that we'll get it done....
Thanks for your comments...keep them coming as the build progresses!
I started looking into this when I was trying simplify my wiring and I found a guy on some LS swap forums and I've seen others as well, they simply lay everything out on like plywood or something and go through, label, mark, etc. Then at some point you've got make it so everything routes properly as well for the intended vehicle.
I cleaned up fist fulls of wiring and have fist fulls left, but they aren't really in the way physically at the moment so I'm leaving them be.
One problem I ran into is that my wiring diagrams are incorrect, missing, etc for various plugs, wires and systems, so I've been swinging in the dark with the DMM and then on the peripherals where I have swapped to LEDs sometimes they don't draw enough current to trigger gauges properly.
One of my buddies does a lot with electronics and I'm pretty sure he would probably figure out both systems and then make a conversion box so stuff will talk with each other. I have a bit of an idea how to do this, but the time to do that for me would be like non-stop work for months and I just can't do that. For him I think it would be an interesting challenge, but he's more familiar, capable, and equipped.
OP
Hydro blue (Dodge/Jeep colour) in satin finish...body goes on Monday...then we can take measurements and install motor mounts and plant the powertrain
Wow. I just love the prep and detail of this build. There's always been a part of me that wished I'd completely torn mine down and fixed everything, but honestly I was just trying to get mine back together before something broke on my truck, which happened a few weeks after starting to drive my Jeep again.
I know it's going to be awhile until you get to it, but I can't wait to see your dash when you're through.
I know it's going to be awhile until you get to it, but I can't wait to see your dash when you're through.
Most of my adult life I've been dying to do a build like that. In high school we barely had a shop class and I was stuck in art class or something like that and no shop class ever because it conflicted with extra curricular stuff or some reason.
OP
Going to try to install cluster into dash before school lets out for summer...I'm pretty anxious to get that done..was even thinking that I might get another 2005 liberty cluster from the salvage yard to use as a test mule..... especially if we have to start carving up the cluster case or transplanting all the innards of the cluster into the tj cluster casing.
Are the CRD clusters specific to that engine or are all similar year Liberty's the same?
OP
I'm not sure...I've read online somewhere that the gasser cluster will work in the crd but tach rpm is not accurate...size and shape of the two clusters is the same...
Tach always seems to be the issue for diesels. Where does the VM get the tach signal?
OP
Makes sense. I just remember there was something weird when I was looking at keeping my stock cluster, but I ended up using a converter or something with the tach signal generator from the Cummins ECU.
To be honest I was kind of frustrated with my options for aftermarket gauges, because of the Cummins J1939 protocol. I wanted to just run either a tablet or a digital dash, but nothing would clearly work and I didn't want to drop a bunch of money testing it and working with suppliers to fix something that some suppliers honestly just said it may work, it may not and we likely won't have any support.
OP
That is our saving grace having the complete doner vehicle...if you have wiring diagrams and enough patience..you can make everything function correctly.
If your diagrams are correct that is...But again I didn't spend the money and do it right either, just used some free stuff.
That is a beautiful color...Mine is getting a respray and that is on the short list. Did you need to do a silver base coat, like a candy apply color?
OP
No silver base coat..just regular hydro blue base coat with dulling agent in clear coat...
OP
We got the left wheel bearing installed and both front wheels are on the ground. Body is on the frame (temporarily) so that we can take measurements for the motor mounts, which we cut out of the Liberty. Hope to have mounts installed and engine in by the end of this week...
OP
Made minor modifications to the steering column to make it fit....also mounted the heater box...
The steering wheel and column look really good! Slow and steady seems to be working great, can't wait to see further updates!