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Starting over on my CJ3B

I have a parts Jeep out back and I cut a chunk out of the doorway. Welded it in as it’s double thick on the top. Driver side even has the holes for the seat bracket not expected to be used but looks right.

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And we finally have the pool fixed!!
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Looking good! Hard to tell from pics. Might need to sink the engine 5” and maybe forward 2-3”
 
Frame welding is done except the caps on the angled ends on bottom.

Don’t zoom in.
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Solid gold TC mount.
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I’ve got 5 cans of gold paint Cynthia bought for decorating wedding stuff. I’m going to use a couple on parts on this Jeep.
 
Buildflycrash said:
The oil pan on this engine is very deep. We’re already well below the frame. Nothing is permanent here but we’re trying to have the belly flat as possible.
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Someone makes an aftermarket pan, I saw when I was doing my 4.3 planning, supposed to give better driveshaft clearance.

Edit: it’s the 4l60 pan, Novak makes it. I think I remember reading about a low clearance pan from some stock application of the 4.3 I’ll dig later and see.

2wd s10 blazer
 
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GeoffreyL said:
Someone makes an aftermarket pan, I saw when I was doing my 4.3 planning, supposed to give better driveshaft clearance.

Edit: it’s the 4l60 pan, Novak makes it. I think I remember reading about a low clearance pan from some stock application of the 4.3 I’ll dig later and see.

2wd s10 blazer
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I was just poking around Novak and didn't find it. Post or text me if you find it.
 
Buildflycrash said:
Saturday progress.
I did a bunch of welding on the frame and Jeff cut the floors out.
We got the engine mounted and dropped the tub on the frame.
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Crank pulley just over the front axle and 90" wheelbase.
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Please start off and lower the engine before you do anything else.
There is no way you are going to get the air intake system on with the engine that high, much less the intake tube and MAF.
That engine is very sensitive to the location of the MAF in the intake tube.
Get the correct steel oil pan and weld a skid plate on it.
That engine needs to go minimum 3-4" lower.
Assemble the air intake system, install the entire body/fenders/grille with your chosen body mounts bolted down and cooling system.
From there you can properly locate the engine rather than peck/poke guessing and doing it 3-4 times.
 
Engine clearance under the hood has always been an issue with my 2a and 3a builds, but didn’t think it was an issue on a 3b…wow. Sounds like the oil pan is the issue. You can always build an engine skid like I have on my 2a, don’t think anything is going to get to the oil pan…

IMG_3301 by Rick , on Flickr
 
Norcal69 said:
Please start off and lower the engine before you do anything else.
There is no way you are going to get the air intake system on with the engine that high, much less the intake tube and MAF.
That engine is very sensitive to the location of the MAF in the intake tube.
Get the correct steel oil pan and weld a skid plate on it.
That engine needs to go minimum 3-4" lower.
Assemble the air intake system, install the entire body/fenders/grille with your chosen body mounts bolted down and cooling system.
From there you can properly locate the engine rather than peck/poke guessing and doing it 3-4 times.
Click to expand...
Finding a suitable air horn is not as easy as it should be in my experience. They are generally too tall. I used an S-10. Body mounts can be fabricated that will allow extra clearance for engine/transmission and rear tank fuel lines for the fuel pump. I got this engine under my hood with taller body mounts that were also legacy from the 225 with a 4 barrel and air cleaner. The 4.3 is a tall engine.

Before engine placement, remember you have only so much space from the grill to the firewall. The frame stretch does not change that. In this respect it's the same for my 2A and your 3B. Bolt your serpentine belt with AC delete kit, water pump up and mechanical fan if thats your preference, then mock the rad and grill too. You will most likely need to cut the shroud out and probably notch a headlight bucket. I used a mustang rad for the 289 and the stock clutch fan that I cut the fins down on to fit the lower hose. Ideally relocated teh lower hose would be best, but to where?

The engine requires at least 58PSI. You may need a custom tank and I would go with a manufactured sump/pump assembly. The fuel rail at the back of the engine requires AN fittings that you cant easily access. run these lines now. I used NiCopp, but there are flexible FI hose kits that seem to work.

I run the cast aluminum oil pan and I get enough clearance to not be too worried because im not wheeling my jeep ATM. If I was, I would be making the correct skid plates.

Exhaust... Make a 2 into one and go out the back with a single muffler. Run the whole thing up in the frame rails. The D18 is the lowest hanging thing non my jeep at relatively stock location.
 
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47v6 said:
Finding a suitable air horn is not as easy as it should be in my experience. They are generally too tall. I used an S-10. Body mounts can be fabricated that will allow extra clearance for engine/transmission and rear tank fuel lines for the fuel pump. I got this engine under my hood with taller body mounts that were also legacy from the 225 with a 4 barrel and air cleaner. The 4.3 is a tall engine.

Before engine placement, remember you have only so much space from the grill to the firewall. The frame stretch does not change that. In this respect it's the same for my 2A and your 3B. Bolt your serpentine belt with AC delete kit, water pump up and mechanical fan if thats your preference, then mock the rad and grill too. You will most likely need to cut the shroud out and probably notch a headlight bucket. I used a mustang rad for the 289 and the stock clutch fan that I cut the fins down on to fit the lower hose. Ideally relocated teh lower hose would be best, but to where?

The engine requires at least 58PSI. You may need a custom tank and I would go with a manufactured sump/pump assembly. The fuel rail at the back of the engine requires AN fittings that you cant easily access. run these lines now. I used NiCopp, but there are flexible FI hose kits that seem to work.

I run the cast aluminum oil pan and I get enough clearance to not be too worried because im not wheeling my jeep ATM. If I was, I would be making the correct skid plates.

Exhaust... Make a 2 into one and go out the back with a single muffler. Run the whole thing up in the frame rails. The D18 is the lowest hanging thing non my jeep at relatively stock location.
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Exactly.
From the factory the fuel lines have connections down inside the frame rail that allow you to harvest the section that runs up from the frame to the back of the engine.
You can harvest a complete line set from an S10 series truck and shorten it to work in a CJ. The lines have simple flare connections that can be recreated on the shortened hard lines.
This allows the use of the entire S10 fuel system including the fuel filter and fuel filter frame mounting bracket.
I recently harvested this from my wrecked 96 Yukon. The Yukon is a V8, but exactly the same otherwise.
The later 90's S10 fuel tank is metal and the fuel pump mounting hole/lock ring section can be cut out and welded into a CJ tank. The factory fuel pump assembly is spring loaded and height adjustable for a variety of tank depths.

Buildflycrash needs to get the engine complete and body complete with cooling system before locating the engine.
I am positive that there are other oil pan solutions for the 4.3, it may require changing the oil pump/pickup to match a different depth pan.
 
Norcal69 said:
Please start off and lower the engine before you do anything else.
Click to expand...
The body was not at anything near final height when that picture was taken. The back was up on the frame and the front was way lower than it should be. We were mostly looking at the firewall and how much we were going to have to modify. There’s nothing fully set on the Jeep except for the frame center section.

I would however love some leads on a shallower oil pan. I see many for earlier models but not for this engine. Mostly I’m just seeing pans with 16 bolt holes. This engine has 6 per side so 12 total. It was from a 2003 S10 4WD.
 
Buildflycrash said:
The body was not at anything near final height when that picture was taken. The back was up on the frame and the front was way lower than it should be. We were mostly looking at the firewall and how much we were going to have to modify. There’s nothing fully set on the Jeep except for the frame center section.

I would however love some leads on a shallower oil pan. I see many for earlier models but not for this engine. Mostly I’m just seeing pans with 16 bolt holes. This engine has 6 per side so 12 total. It was from a 2003 S10 4WD.
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A 2WD pan and oil pickup seems to be the first place to look. You will need to change the oil pump pickup to match the shallower pan.
Take a look at the oil pickup tubes......

4WD oil pickup tube: Melling 259S

259S-1-ANG.jpg



2WD oil pickup tube: Melling 258S


258S-1-ANG.jpg
 
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