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Intermediate Frankenjeep Build

Jon B. said:
The answer is “Yes”.

My path of last resort is to do that: buy an ECM from, say, a ‘99 GM pickup, grab the harness from same, change my throttle body (and maybe the entire intake manifold) and have that setup retuned. It’s a boatload of work, a few hundred dollars, and a general PITA.

Jon B.
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I'd be willing to bet that you aren't talking to the right people.
Plenty of GTO's and Corvette's have been tuned for big cams and HP.
I know that Justin at Black Bear Performance has a TBSS that he has tuned.
You are probably going to have to use a tuner who can send you data logging equipment ($400 refundable deposit).
Your other option is to re-pin your harness for an 0411 ECM and then get it tuned from there. A company like Current Performance in Florida may be able to do this for you if you send them your harness.
Either way it is not an "I know a guy who can do it cheaper" kind of thing. You will gladly pay for a tuner who knows what is necessary to make your swap run right.
The only way to do an LS swap without tuning is to swap from a like vehicle to a like vehicle maintaining engine and trans mated from factory. This is commonly done into full size Chevy pickups, Suburbans, etc. All other swaps need to add $500-$1000 in the budget for tuning.
 
The electronics are back home!

They’ll get reinstalled today so I can run it again. The plan is to drive it to a local car show on Sunday. It’s 16-17 miles, so not a big adventure. Gotta clean it up first, though

I’m gonna try to have the winch mounted, too. Things won’t be painted all pretty if it’s on…

Jon B.
 
The winch is wired & functioning. Yay! I may get the line pre-stretched today; we’ll see.

I want to add two hooks to the winch mount for recovery.”

The whine/howl I mentioned in an earlier post is coming from the rear differential. Yesterday, I engaged only the front axle & hubs and drove around a bit. No loud whine. Hmmm… Checked the lube; it’s good. The pinion pre-load may be too much or too little. Bad bearings? It’s only noisy while under load, not while steady or coasting.

I had the scan tool on it while driving. The speed signal if getting to the ECM, so that’s good. I have to fine-tune the Dakota Digital interface so things match. My temp gauge reads 20 degrees or so too low. I’m thinking of a different sensor; got tips from the engine shop regarding location.

Overall indications are positive. The flex test will be interesting; gotta find a ditch or something.

The soft top is clean, awaiting repair and installation.

Jon B.
 
The winch rope got pre-stretched today when Son 2 was here.

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We also found a ditch for a flex test:

IMG_4004.jpeg

The back tire was kissing the wheel opening pretty hard so we stopped there. When the rear axle was installed, it was moved back one inch to make the driveshaft just a bit longer. The opening may need enlargement…

Jon B.
 
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As are we all, I’ve been wondering what the finished project would weigh. Today, Son2 came to get his one-ton dually and camper. He also wanted the weights with the truck empty, then with camper loaded. My neighbor and former employer has a certified truck scale. So…

The FrankenJeep with me behind the wheel. All that was in the rig was the recovery kit - about 12-15 pounds of stuff.

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Son2’s truck, empty, then with an 11’ Arctic Fox camper.

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That rig is *heavy*.
Jon B.
 
Jon B. said:
As are we all, I’ve been wondering what the finished project would weigh. Today, Son2 came to get his one-ton dually and camper. He also wanted the weights with the truck empty, then with camper loaded. My neighbor and former employer has a certified truck scale. So…

The FrankenJeep with me behind the wheel. All that was in the rig was the recovery kit - about 12-15 pounds of stuff.

View attachment 102486

Son2’s truck, empty, then with an 11’ Arctic Fox camper.

View attachment 102487

View attachment 102488

That rig is *heavy*.
Jon B.
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I love truck campers, but man they require a lot of truck!
 
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Winter is a good time for Jeep upgrades…

In my pole shed is a Dana 30 with disc brakes. The plan is to swap out the current 11” drums with discs.

How much of the old stuff has to go? Knuckles? Spindles (I presume)? Axles? Hubs?

Noob? Me? Indeed!

The E40 ECM is going to get replaced with an older unit off a ‘99 Chebby pickup. The electrically-operated throttle body will go, and a cable-operated one installed. The rear axle will come out to see if the howl can be diagnosed and repaired.

Jon B.
 
As I understand it, easiest is to take the complete knuckle end, split at the ball joints and the U-joint.
Not sure if you can use the whole axle shaft - maybe.
The shaft outers are slightly different length between drum and disk.
 
Today, I manhandled the Dana 30 into the bucket of my tractor and got it into the shop. Most of the bits came off easily enough but the long driver side axle was rusted into the spider gear. Grrrrr.

Since the differential parts were rusted junk anyway, I grabbed the angle grinder and Sawzall. I could move the axle about an eighth of an inch with a pry bar from inside but it wouldn’t pull out. The parts were rusty enough that nothing would turn. I cut the case with grinder & saw, then cut into the gear into which the axle went. That relieved enough pressure that the axle could be pried out from the knuckle end. Success!!

The passenger side knuckle is off, as well. I’ll need new ball joints but that’s OK, as I didn’t replace them on the original axle in the Jeep.

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Jon B.
 
Jon B. said:
Today, I manhandled the Dana 30 into the bucket of my tractor and got it into the shop. Most of the bits came off easily enough but the long driver side axle was rusted into the spider gear. Grrrrr.

Since the differential parts were rusted junk anyway, I grabbed the angle grinder and Sawzall. I could move the axle about an eighth of an inch with a pry bar from inside but it wouldn’t pull out. The parts were rusty enough that nothing would turn. I cut the case with grinder & saw, then cut into the gear into which the axle went. That relieved enough pressure that the axle could be pried out from the knuckle end. Success!!

The passenger side knuckle is off, as well. I’ll need new ball joints but that’s OK, as I didn’t replace them on the original axle in the Jeep.

View attachment 103449

View attachment 103450

Jon B.
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That 30 will be worth all the work it takes.
 
Buildflycrash said:
That 30 will be worth all the work it takes.
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Well…

The F-Jeep already has a Dana 30, but with drum brakes. I’m just moving parts for the conversion to disc brakes.

I did some “horse trading” with @RATTYFLATTY for this axle. The ring gear has a 1979 date stamp, so I now know what to tell the parts counter peeps.

The axle under it now has a lot of new parts - like, everything in the housing except the bearing clamps, axles and hubs. I’ll be swapping over anything that fits, and buying what doesn’t.

This is the easiest of the modifications I’ve planned for this winter.

Jon B.
 
Oh, yeah…

Now there’s just a bare, stripped housing on the shop floor. Yay!

I wonder if any shops still turn brake rotors. These are pretty decent, but the surfaces are rusted. Probably I’ll just buy new rotors, calipers and pads. That stuff is pretty inexpensive, considering the current price of parts.

Jon B.
 
Holy Moly, Rocky! It takes a bunch of money to do a conversion to disc brakes!!

Rotors, calipers, pads & hoses.

Wheel bearings & seals.

Spindle bearings & seals.

Two ball joints (one set was OK).

I ordered from O’Reilly’s, Rock Auto and Summit. Amazon had decent pricing on ball joints but those are the first things I need. Amazon’s shipping lately has been terrible.

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Jon B.
 
cj2atruck said:
What’s your total looking like?
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Well…

I can use the knuckles, axles, spindles and hubs off the (almost) whole axle I got from Kevin (@RATTYFLATTY).

The new parts will be at or near $500. About $35-38 is shipping, and not quite 7% is sales tax (another $30+)The old calipers are good for cores. Very few parts are shared between the drum and disc brake versions of the Dana 30. The axles are the same length but the spindle seals are radically different.

I looked at a couple of our Jeep parts suppliers but too much of it is Omix stuff. Most of what I ordered is SKF or Spicer or Timken; the ball joints are US-made Moog parts.

Jon B.
 
cj2atruck said:
$500 for disc brake conversion is a lot less than I had anticipated.
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I found out that it’s even less! I ordered brake pads with the rotors on Rock Auto, AND I ordered pads with the calipers from O’Reilly’s Auto. Duh.

The O’Reilly set should be easy to return, I hope, as I’d have to pay shipping back to Rock Auto. (I guess we’ll see.)

Jon B.
 
This afternoon, I was cleaning up the hubs when I noted a broken off bolt for the locking hub. Hmmm… That’s why one bolt was shorter than the others.

I decided to see about removing it. Grabbed a 1/4” left-hand drill and went at it. Whew! Grade 8 bolts are hard. Got through it, then went with a 5/16” bit to prepare for tapping new (or fixing the old) threads. Gah!! I broke it off in the hole! Aarrrrggh!

Several failed attempts at removal, and I stopped for coffee with Mrs. B. and to see about a new hub on the ‘net. Hmmm… Maybe the hubs interchange; I’ll take some measurements. The dimensions are all the same but… The back side of the flange isn’t machined flat on the drum brake hub. Drat. Back to the extraction effort.

Success! Wiggling it with a long needle-nose plier got the piece out. I carefully finished drilling with another 5/16” bit, then ran a 3/8-16 tap. Presto! New threads, and no new hub needed. I’m blessed.

Jon B.
 
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