LM4 5.3L and 4L60E swap into 2004 LJ
- Thread starter LBarr2002
- Start date
Sunday night I went ahead and ordered the Dave's Customs high mount ac brackets to catch the end of the July 4th sale.
Today I ordered a set of ebay block hugger headers. After much contemplation $76 is a pretty good deal for not hunting for factory manifolds that might work.
Also ordered plugs, wires, a couple pieces of the fuel system and some AN wrenches.
I'm not counting general maintenance items or tool costs in my overall tracking.
Today I ordered a set of ebay block hugger headers. After much contemplation $76 is a pretty good deal for not hunting for factory manifolds that might work.
Also ordered plugs, wires, a couple pieces of the fuel system and some AN wrenches.
I'm not counting general maintenance items or tool costs in my overall tracking.
Piddled for about an hour tonight. I removed the tub mounted tcase shifter bracket to make way for the Novak cable shifter. Also removed the reservoir from the Buick ps pump and ordered an LSx concepts adapter to remote mount the tank. I removed the low oil sensor plug and put in an ICT Billet plug. Also installed the jeep water temp sensor at back of passenger head using ICT adapter. Not sure if this is going to work yet as it sticks way out. Might need a 90 or could drill out the M12 hole and tap 3/8" npt???
I'll do a more in depth analysis when we get closer to the end, but I had a pretty good idea of the issues we'd face and had plan b in place for the known things.
Things like the recommendation to run a high mount ac bracket, I thought I could be cheap and avoid it. As soon as the motor was test fit, you can tell why its recommended. Unless you have a 6" lift with 5" bump stops, or a drivers side 3 link, the factory ac isn't going to work. I wasted time and money hunting a truck ac bracket and compressor because I knew the Buick one wouldn't work, just to have the truck one not work either.
Same with manifolds. I could have made a camaro manifold work on drivers side, but the 02 bung would have to be plugged and it has egr I dont need. Just buy the headers...
The power steering tank was unexpected. I had never seen anyone mention that because I guess the truck pump and reservoir fits. This turned out to not be a bad thing as the Buick pump is a GM type II or Saginaw TC pump.
Things like the recommendation to run a high mount ac bracket, I thought I could be cheap and avoid it. As soon as the motor was test fit, you can tell why its recommended. Unless you have a 6" lift with 5" bump stops, or a drivers side 3 link, the factory ac isn't going to work. I wasted time and money hunting a truck ac bracket and compressor because I knew the Buick one wouldn't work, just to have the truck one not work either.
Same with manifolds. I could have made a camaro manifold work on drivers side, but the 02 bung would have to be plugged and it has egr I dont need. Just buy the headers...
The power steering tank was unexpected. I had never seen anyone mention that because I guess the truck pump and reservoir fits. This turned out to not be a bad thing as the Buick pump is a GM type II or Saginaw TC pump.
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Parts parts parts 
Lots of things have come in. I need to get the parts in place that don't have much flexibility so I can figure out hoses and wiring. We plan to get the trans crossmember made this weekend so I prepped the tcase. I swapped the speedo gear from my original over and set up the cable shifter.
I also cut a couple reinforcement plates to weld back in the motor mounts. I still don't expect any issues from what I cut, but now is the time to do it right.
Lots of things have come in. I need to get the parts in place that don't have much flexibility so I can figure out hoses and wiring. We plan to get the trans crossmember made this weekend so I prepped the tcase. I swapped the speedo gear from my original over and set up the cable shifter.
I also cut a couple reinforcement plates to weld back in the motor mounts. I still don't expect any issues from what I cut, but now is the time to do it right.
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The fuel line selection has been an exercise in overthinking. I have -6 AN fittings for the fuel rail so I wanted to run new line with all matching fittings. I was set to order the standard Summit braided AN line kit and I started reading reviews saying the rubber broke down and weaped, smelled fuel, etc. Then I looked into the PTFE (teflon) lined hose, was ready to order it and it switched to backordered. Then I looked around for other PTFE hose and found a kit from Amazon but i would need 2 kits and it came with 90° and 180° fittings I wouldn't need. I found another company, Hot Rod Fuel Hoses that had a customizable kit with whatever fittings you wanted.
I had read something about carbon impregnated PTFE to dissipate static charge. I asked the Hot Rod sales guy and their hose does not have carbon (neither did Summit or Amazon stuff). He said it was not necessary unless it's high volume race application. I went ahead and ordered, then I over thought. I did some more research, looked at Earl's lines and other high end brands, that have carbon. I ended up finding Racetronix that sells conductive (carbon) teflon by the foot. An extra $35 for peace of mind is worth it. I canceled the order from Hot Rod and ordered from Racetronix...
I had read something about carbon impregnated PTFE to dissipate static charge. I asked the Hot Rod sales guy and their hose does not have carbon (neither did Summit or Amazon stuff). He said it was not necessary unless it's high volume race application. I went ahead and ordered, then I over thought. I did some more research, looked at Earl's lines and other high end brands, that have carbon. I ended up finding Racetronix that sells conductive (carbon) teflon by the foot. An extra $35 for peace of mind is worth it. I canceled the order from Hot Rod and ordered from Racetronix...
Tripp and I put in a few hours last night. He worked a little more to get the jeep harness cut down as much as we're going to do before hooking things back up.
Then we wanted to make sure we had a materials list for the cross member, and this is where things went sideways...
The Advance Adapters universal transmission mount 716003 does not fit the 4l60e to 231 adapter. The adapter has threaded holes in the bottom, and the 716003 doesnt have any dimensions listed, so I wrongly assumed it fit... The holes in the cast piece are too far apart. Also, the fancy counter sunk holes were too close together for the transmission mount included in the box...
So, Friday night, AA closed until Monday, no mount. Good thing Tripp has a machine shop.
The threaded holes in my adapter are closer together and didnt allow for a single piece of stock with bolts going both ways like the AA piece. We devised a two piece adapter that one half bolts to case, one half to trans mount, then they bolt together. I have no pictures of this so Tripp will have to post or send them to me.
So with a solid plan around 11:30 last night, we went to bed. This morning I picked up a few more supplies and went to his house to finish the machining.
With the adapter sorted out, we started working on an independent crossmember that can hold everything up with the skid removed. We used 1x2 tube, some 3x3 angle, some nifty threaded bungs in the frame, and again Tripp will have to post pictures. It worked out where it is very close to the skid plate original bolt holes, so we added a plate to the back of the 1x2 that will allow it to bolt into the skid for extra support.
Almost finished product.
Then we wanted to make sure we had a materials list for the cross member, and this is where things went sideways...
The Advance Adapters universal transmission mount 716003 does not fit the 4l60e to 231 adapter. The adapter has threaded holes in the bottom, and the 716003 doesnt have any dimensions listed, so I wrongly assumed it fit... The holes in the cast piece are too far apart. Also, the fancy counter sunk holes were too close together for the transmission mount included in the box...
So, Friday night, AA closed until Monday, no mount. Good thing Tripp has a machine shop.
The threaded holes in my adapter are closer together and didnt allow for a single piece of stock with bolts going both ways like the AA piece. We devised a two piece adapter that one half bolts to case, one half to trans mount, then they bolt together. I have no pictures of this so Tripp will have to post or send them to me.
So with a solid plan around 11:30 last night, we went to bed. This morning I picked up a few more supplies and went to his house to finish the machining.
With the adapter sorted out, we started working on an independent crossmember that can hold everything up with the skid removed. We used 1x2 tube, some 3x3 angle, some nifty threaded bungs in the frame, and again Tripp will have to post pictures. It worked out where it is very close to the skid plate original bolt holes, so we added a plate to the back of the 1x2 that will allow it to bolt into the skid for extra support.
Almost finished product.
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