Part III - The V8 Option - Chevy V-8 Swap into a Jeep CJ (or YJ)

The V8 Option - Chevy V-8 Swap into a Jeep CJ (or YJ), Part I

The V8 Option - Chevy V-8 Swap into a Jeep CJ (or YJ), Part II

Part 3: Engine installation, startup, and final details.

OK, here we are, the real deal. This is the most exciting part of the project, the ACTUAL installation!

At this point, the chassis is prepared, the old engine is out, you have the new engine (and possibly transmission) and all your parts ready to go.

Installing the engine into the Jeep:

Trying to move the engine on the engine hoist yourself is difficult and dangerous, get a helper during the actual drop in of the engine. Also, pay attention to the load ratings on the boom of the hoist, weight could be come a safety issue! First get the engine on the hoist from the stand. If you have a fixed transmission placement (driveshaft length problems, or existing tranny position you want to use), you can drop in the engine only after the tranny is in place. For me it was much easier to mate the engine and transmission together first, and then mount them into the Jeep. From here, it’s is simply lowering the engine in place and bolting it in. You should have the skidplate in place first for the transmission to rest on something when the engine is first installed. The combination will NOT be balanced on the engine mounts only.

I used a small table to mate the engine and transmission together. In the picture, the Lokar transmission mounted shifter bracket can be seen

You might want to use some towels to protect the firewall and cowl against scratches and dings.

The 2 ears on the engine side of the Mountain Offroad Enterprises (M.O.R.E.) mounts needed a little spreading out in order to go over the frame side of the mounts, so look for that with the M.O.R.E. mounts. Also a little grease over the urethane bushings makes it easier to slide the two halves of the mounts together.

These threaded holes in the head (red arrow) are good attachment points. Another alternative is a plate which can be bought, that bolts to the intake manifold.

A balancer is almost necessary since you have to tilt the engine into place under the body. The handle on the left is rotated to tilt the engine.

If you haven’t removed your front bumper, you may have clearance issues between the hoist and bumper here

A few words about engine placement:

If you are choosing your engine placement on your own (instead of letting the mounts place the engine for you like I did), here are a few things to consider (you will have to decide for yourself what your priority is). Most Jeep engines have a natural tilt down at the back. If you decide to install the engine higher in the engine bay, this angle will get worse and you may have body clearance issues above the transmission, as well as worse front driveshaft angles. Higher should be no problem for clearance to the hood with most intake or carb options, but always check before welding mounts. The plus side of a higher engine position is more oil pan and exhaust clearance to driveshaft and front axle. Further forward gives a longer rear driveshaft (this could help with a 4 speed automatic which is longer), but there is less radiator clearance, worse weight balance, and the engine sits closer over the front axle pumpkin, which might cause other clearance issues. Also, having the engine so far forward may cause the shifters for transmission and transfer case to be forward of the floor holes. Finally, some people have mounted their engine with a bit of a “twist” (front is more to the left than the rear) to help with driveshaft clearance and other issues. With so many variables, you can understand now why I chose the M.O.R.E. mounts and was done with it.

If you have weld in mounts, you can tack them in place, but DO NOT fully weld until you have all your exhaust run, and driveshaft clearances checked. Shown are my engine mounts welded in place after final line-up and clearance check.

Transmission to transfer case adaptor:

I wanted to “clock” my transfer case flat for more ground clearance, so the adaptor I chose had to have this feature of additional mounting positions. I looked first at Advance Adaptors and Novak which both have a long history and decent products so I have been told. Both Advance and Novak adaptors use cast aluminum adaptors of about 3.5” in length. I decided to buy the lower cost, all steel Rube Adaptor. When I received the Rube adaptor, the build quality was poor and the output shaft replacement had poor quality spline cuts. After having to send it back once for holes out of position, it still did not work (holes for Dana 300 didn’t line up with adaptor hole patter), I sent it back and received a refund. Rube adaptor was polite in dealing with me, and I did get a refund, but I would not recommend the product.

The first adaptor I tried was not the quality I expected.

The Splines on the Rube adaptor were galled and did not appear to be machined with quality

After much research and not wanting to have problems again, I chose JB Conversions adaptor. The most expensive of the bunch at almost $600 with shipping, but it is made of billet aluminum (not cast) and was only 1.5” long INCLUDING the clocking ring. It is beefy and everything mated perfectly to the transmission and transfer case. Highly recommended.

JB Conversions adaptor was high quality work with precision machining. The adaptor and clocking ring are two pieces, which bolt together. Seen in the picture are the optional mounting positions to rotate the transfer case up.

Here you can see the new output shaft and bearing retainer installed (shown next to the original retainer).

You will probably have to drill new holes for your transmission mount in your skidplate. After the engine is in place, line it up (make sure you check shifter side to side location first) and drill your new holes. Attach the transmission mount to the adaptor, not to the transmission. The transmission mounts are not nearly strong enough for this application, and I have seen them crack under normal use.

Oil pressure sender located at the rear of the engine. There is also a position directly above the oil filter, but mine was rusted solid.

This is the best position for the coolant temperature sending unit because it reads the same temperature the thermostat does.

Exhaust (Three general choices):

No matter what choice you go with, you will almost certainly have to make (or have made) a custom exhaust. Find a local place willing to take the time to do it right. If they can do mandrel bending (no kink at the bends), that is a plus because without mandrel bending, the kink in the bends effectively reduces the airflow carrying capacity. Welding will most likely be required as well.

Copper header gaskets I used.

You may have to use these fiberglass heat protection sleeves on your plug wires. If the wires are 1” or less from the header tube, you should use this type of protection. If not, excessive heat can burn and short out the wire.

Exhaust option 1: Full dual exhaust

I had been planning a full dual exhaust from the beginning. There are companies out there, which make headers specifically for this swap into your Jeep. Headman is one I know of for sure. I had their headers, and they were well made, and fit properly, but with the clocked transfer case, there was little way to run the exhaust down the passenger side, so I sold the headers, and moved on.

In the full dual exhaust option shown, you can see the Headman headers fit well to the Jeep, but I did not have room down the passenger side to run a full exhaust pipe

Two into one exhaust:

In this option, the passenger side exhaust goes under the oil pan, meets up with the driver side into one pipe, and then out. This was my favorite option (at least for Jeeps which will drive on the trail and need proper ground clearance). Shorty headers, or “rams horn” style headers are both good choices because the output needs to be very tight to the engine. I went with 2.25” pipes from both passenger and drivers side, coming together into a single 3” pipe. Then into a 3” muffler, and out the back. The guy who did my exhaust did a great job of tucking everything in tight to the body. Problems you may experience: There is little clearance in the area of the oil filter and frame rail. I had to pinch the exhaust pipe in this area. Moving your brake-proportioning valve up near the booster (TJ style) will help this. The front driveshaft may be very close to the pipe going under the oil pan. If you have less than 4” of lift, you will have low clearance here. Just keep that pipe tucked close to the oil pan to help the clearance problem.

Here is the custom exhaust under the engine.

Low clearance at the oil filter.

Fenderwell headers:

I like inner fenders because they keep water, mud and guck out of the engine compartment. If you are willing to loose the inner fenders, this may be a great option for you. BUT be aware that the exhaust going down the outside of the framerail will sit below the body mounts and be vulnerable to trail damage. Also Tire clearance may be an issue depending on your setup.

Muffler choice:

Part of the attraction to the V8 is the sound, so I chose a Flowmaster Super 40 muffler (3”in, 3” out). It sounds strong and loud, but not obnoxious or “sharp”. I was worried that a single out would sound not so good, but as compared to a full duals I have hear, the sound was almost the same.

Driveshafts:

My rear driveshaft length was perfect, I didn’t even have to have it shortened. The front was a disaster. I had to run a custom 2-piece front driveshaft with a pillow block to clear the transmission pan. Even with the stock 1.25” diameter front driveshaft, I could not clear the pan. Tom Woods driveshafts made an excellent solution (at cost of $525 not cheap). I know high angle driveline makes them too. This is not unheard of, but not common. Whether or not you will have to do something similar depends on your combination. I would have moved the engine over to the drivers side more, but then the exhaust would not have fit, and the shifters would not have lined up. For the record, I have 2.5” of spring lift, 1” of shackle lift, clocked Dana 300, and Dana 44 front axle. If you have this combo, you WILL have front driveshaft clearance issues. Your situation may not be this bad, but plan on having the length changed due to new driveline length no matter what.

Here is it, my high dollar solution to front driveshaft clearance problems. A Tom Woods 2-piece front driveshaft with Pillow block. The central pillow block shown will be mounted to a bracket welded to the inside of the framerail. From the experts I talked to, this option is not common, but sometimes it is necessary. I was told to expect some vibration above 25mph no matter how perfect the driveline angles.

Front driveshaft installed. The temporary mount was replaced with a solid steel block welded to the frame.

Power Steering pump:

You can re-use your Jeep pump (because it was a GM part which Jeep used). If you buy a GM/Saginaw pump (like I did on Ebay for $50), it is likely to have a compression fitting, instead of the Jeep O-ring fitting at the pump pressure hose (depends on year, options, etc). I could have had a custom hose built, but instead I decided to make a half-breed hose. I cut off the original pressure hose just before the rubber section. Then the local tractor sales place made a custom hydraulic hose for me. The flare fit right into the pump, and on the other end, a heavy-duty compression fitting was used (the kind which uses the little crush ring around the metal tubing). Total cost was $22 and it works perfect.

Here is the original hose cut, the original flexible part (red arrow) is thrown away

The compression fitting pieces before tightening. The rubber hose shown on the right is the new hose the tractor supply store created for me.

This is the flare fitting on the new hose, which goes to the pressure side of the power steering pump.

Here is the hose installed. The original hose is the hardline forward, the new piece is the rubber line to the pump.

Alternator:

Jeep CJ alternators were GM style alternators, so they should swap onto SBC alternator mounts without modification. But if you buy a new one, do yourself a favor and get a higher amp single wire alternator. The prices are pretty good if you look around. I got a chrome 100 amp, 1 wire alternator, with billet fan for $83 on Ebay.

Cooling:

Previously, I’ve explained how to have your existing radiator modified for SBC use (or that you can get a new radiator, which are made specifically for this swap). For cooling lines, you will probably have to use universal type. I prefer not to use the steel coil insert kind because the wires corrode over time. I bought corrugated stainless steel ones on Ebay for $22 each (cut to fit).

This cooling line is stainless steel, flexible, and is cut to fit.

A swivel water neck will help point that hose in just the right direction, no matter what radiator option you choose.

After doing quite a bit of research, I decided to use distilled water to mix with the coolant. Apparently, the minerals and solids in tap water can cause mineral deposits, and contribute to corrosion in the cooling system.

Throttle bracket:

I first chose a super nice Holley throttle bracket thinking it was the perfect solution. As it turns out, the springs were WAAAY to stiff, and the design did not accommodate the Jeep throttle cable snap (as it was supposed to). Thankfully Summit returned my money in full. Eventually I chose a Spectre brand universal style with kickdown bracket. For $20 it worked perfect.

Nice looking (but poor functioning) Holley throttle bracket. I ended up replacing with a cheap auto parts shore universal bracket

Timing:

If you rebuild your engine, or have removed the distributor, make sure the timing is set right before proceeding. Do not assume that if the pointer is pointing to number 1 plug, that you are all set. You could do major damage if the engine is 180 degrees out (remember, the cylinder comes up 2 times for every one time the spark plug fires). If you need to, do a static timing like this: stick your finger in the number one cylinder hole. Rotate the engine manually (no plugs installed) and you should feel the pressure pushing your finger out, as the timing mark comes to zero on the balancer. Then set it to about 5 degrees, that will be a good start. My engine is running well at about 15 degrees.

Fluid fill:

I put a piece of tape covering the keyhole in the column with a note on it: FLUID FILL! This way I wouldn’t forget. You could also write a checklist. In any case, be sure to fill your engine oil, coolant, power steering fluid, transmission, transfer case, and fuel (if this applies to you). Check for leaks after you have filled, and before starting. I had a leak in my valve cover gaskets (because I had not tightened the bolts enough) after initial start.

Safety prep BEFORE starting this engine.

First go back and check all your connections. Pull on the hoses, tighten the bolts and fitting, and so on. This may take an hour or more, but better to find it now. Now get some rags and towels out, have extra fluids available for final fill, and also have a fire extinguisher handy. It helps to have a second person with you when you start the engine for the first time to look for issues, and be there for assistance. Wear your safety glasses. I also had some bolt cutters handy just in case I had to cut a battery cable in a hurry.

If you have a carburetor, here is your startup procedure: put a small amount of fuel (like a 2 liter soda pop cap full) directly into the carb, then crank the engine. Don’t do what I did and pump and pump after you’ve already dumped fuel in manually, you will flood it. With the engine cranking, it should take only about 10 seconds or less to fill the fuel line if you have a mechanical fuel pump. If after about 3-4 tries you don’t get any popping or starting, you will have to diagnose whether or not you are getting spark and fuel. DO NOT stick your face above the carb when cranking at any time, a backfire could seriously injure you. If you think the engine is flooded, follow this procedure: Let the engine sit for 10 minutes in a fresh air place (open the garage door), then put pedal to the floor, and crank. If you pump the gas pedal it will flood more, but if you don’t touch the gas pedal, not enough air gets in. By pushing the pedal all the way down, you open the butterfly valves full open and allow more air to mix with all the excess fuel to clear the flooding.

Once it is running, check IMMEDIATELY for the following:

• Fuel leaks (first and most critical) all along the fuel path from tank to engine
• Coolant leaks (even more important once up to temp and coolant is circulating)
• Power steering and transmission cooling line leaks.
• Smoke, sparks, etc.
• Listen for excessive rocker noise, grinding metal, or anything out of the ordinary
• Look at your gauges (if you have them) for oil pressure and fuel pressure. Little or no oil pressure means turn off the engine fast, and figure out what’s going on before you ruin your new engine.

I had two things fail the first two startups, and both were extremely dangerous. First there was a small fuel leak at the fuel pump due to a cheap Autozone bad flare fitting. The open headers ignited it, and my new engine was on FIRE! I quickly grabbed the extinguisher (you had it ready right?) and put out the fire. Second time starting, the engine was coming up to temp, and the upper radiator hose (under pressure) popped off of the water neck , spewing hot coolant 30 feet! I had just turned my face away from the engine when this happened. What I am saying is to pay attention and be careful! The first few times you run the engine, anything could happen.

See the wet line in the driveway? That is how far the hot coolant spit out when the upper radiator hose let go and coolant shot out of the water neck.

Before you take the Jeep for a drive, let the engine get up to temperature, and keep looking for problems. Also properly bleed the power steering system, check your oil level, and do a final fill if you have an automatic transmission (cycle through gears, check in neutral, repeat). You don’t want to be 2 miles down the road with a break or leak. After you drive it, carefully flex the suspension (ramps, ravine, dirt pile, whatever) to check for clearances, make sure you’re not pulling on a fuel line or something. That’s it, go out and enjoy the power!

Engine installed, all done!

That’s it. It’s time to enjoy your V8

A few additional notes about this swap: Feel free to email me at

superfunkydog123@yahoo.com

for questions or pictures you would like me to take for you. I received no free products or services from anyone when doing this swap. I cannot promise all of the information is 100% accurate, but I did check my facts as best as possible before writing it here. EVERY Jeep is different (even one right behind the other coming off the assembly line), so keep that in mind that what did work for someone else might not exactly be the best solution for you (and the other way around). These articles are my opinion based on my experience. Don’t send me hate mail if you don’t agree. Do all of this work at your OWN risk. I am not responsible if you don’t know what you are doing and you hurt yourself or anyone else in any way.

Post Script:

For anyone who thinks my bling machine never makes it offroad………. I’ll see you at Silver Lake Sand Dunes, and at the Badlands.