Andrew

Other than working on and driving Corvette's, the other toy is a 1999 Jeep TJ. Thought some would be interested in the winter project of stuffing a 5.3 Vortec into the TJ. First some history.

I purchased the project "Project Smurf" (named by my daughter) about 3 years ago. It was mostly stock with a 4" lift, 33's and 15x10 weld wheels. Great for a driver.



The first project was to install an 8.8 under the Jeep. It is a 4.10 LSD with "Solid" diff cover and disc brakes. Since the Jeep has 3.73's, I purchased a 4.10 r&p for the D30 and an Aussie locker.








Then came the body armor and bumpers. Metalcloak front fenders and SB rock sliders, rear quarter, swing arm rear bumper and SB KO front winch bumper. Then decided to use 35's on the trail.







Having fun on the trail.



Having too much fun on the trail

Andrew

After having too much fun on an outing, I found the weak link. The d30 front axle is ok, but did give way. The short side of the front axle u joint snapped, which caused the axle ears to eat themselves, which pushed out the lower ball joint. So, time for a new front axle. Well, if I get a new front axle, the shafts must be sized and cut. So, if half of the front is in parts, time for the motor swap. "While I'm at it.....". This has been planned for some time, the axle was the excuse to get it done.

Teardown is complete - ready for reassembly!! The shop doing the work is wonderful to work with...









Here is a list of upgrades and additional details about the LS swap. If interested, I'll post more as the progress continues. I must disclose that this is getting over my head, so there is a shop doing the majority of the work.

Exterior:
Metalcloak fenders
Smittybilt rock sliders
Smittybilt rear armor
Smittybilt rear bumper and swing arm
Front bumper with integrated winch plate

Recovery:
Harbor Freight 10k winch

Axles:
Rear: Ford 8.8
4.10
LSD
Disc brakes
Artec truss

Front: Rubicon D44 with stock air locker
Chromo axle shafts
Sleeved
Gusseted
Next upgrade will be super u joints

Driveline:BUILD IN PROGRESS
5.3 LS V8
LS6 headers
4L60E transmission
NP231 (Chevrolet) HD front half, NP231J rear half
SYE
Custom wiring harness
Custom speed sensor adapter
TBD - Shifter, exhaust and driveshafts

Lift:
Rough Country 4" lift
JKS front and rear adjustable track bar
Rough Country front and rear - upper and lower adjustable control arms

Tires:
Maxxis Mudders - 33x12.5x15 on Weld 15x10 for the street
Goodyear MTS Kevlar - 35x12.5x15 on black steelies for the trail

Interior:
None - looking for right set of new seats

BeaZt

Awesome

1993C4LT1

Very cool. Look forward to the progress

Dave68

Very impressive! However, don't be surprised if you see a 911 trying to pass you while you're off-roading. That'd be Guibo or Peter K (with kids in the back).

Andrew

Yea, gotta watch out for those awd 911s on the trail!

I will keep updating as reassembly continues. This is what the motor looks like.

Dave68

Andrew,
Is that Vega in the background? What's the story with that? Another LSX conversion?

Andrew

Not my car, but from what I hear, it is getting a worked over 6.0 with twin turbos. Will be a wild car when completed.

Andrew

Frame is notched, motor mounts are done and engine is in! Lots of things left to do. The motor is actually Chevy orange.... looks like a different color in the picture.

IMXCITD

awesome project!

Andrew

More updates

ILLUSHN

Looking good! Keep us posted!

Dave68

Looks like there's not much room for headers? I know my 68's ZZ3 was barely able to fit the Doug Thorley LTs, but dang, those things made the Dynomax super turbo mufflers sound incredible.

Andrew

Corvette LS shorty headers will fit, however I'm sticking with manifolds. I don't need the extra flow for high rpm power with this project. Looking for very low rpm torque more than anything. It will also be single exhaust as there is not enough room to run true duals on the drivers side due to the transfer case and drivers side axle drop while keeping the tube above the frame. Jeeps used on the trail with exhaust hanging below the frame is beat up and often tore off within the first mile or so of trail driving.

So far, the garage doing the heavy lifting is doing a great job. Hope to have it on the road in the next few weeks.

Andrew

Wiring, wiring and more wiring!! Who knew there was sooo much wiring in a simple TJ. Things are progressing along...

briankeery

Pinky...

Awesome project!

Andrew

The Jeep is running and I should get it back within the next week or so. Everything is turning out really nice. The only tell tale sign that a V8 is under the hood is the B&M shifter (see picture below). It even looks like the original manual trans. shifter, however the stock manual shift lever would not work. Other than that, everything looks and works just like stock (tach, speedo, oil pressure, temp, cruise, AC, etc., etc.)

Also, the garage added some bling under the hood that was a surprise to me. Since my last name is Wheeler, he wanted to incorporate that into the build somewhere, so they made a fan shroud extension, with the words "Weekend Wheeler" on it. Once I get it back home and cleaned up, I'll list all of the pieces needed to do this conversion, post some pictures and give you an idea how the thing drives.

Dave68

....getting close!