Waiting is the worst part, lol. I've seen some u-bolts advertised that are strong enough to be reused after torquing down. I would go for those. How do you know what shims you need? Nice work so far but I think you're gonna need bigger tires!

I just picked up my 231 today to swap in place of my 242 t-case. That will happen when it's time to do my long arms.

 

I got 6deg shims with my Rustys lift kit. Guess I just assumed that's what I needed and I'd find out for sure when its all in. Does that sound about right? Anything I should/can check during my down time to make sure?

I got 33" tires for it, think I should have went bigger (rears were still the old little ones in the pic)? It looked like most sites said with a 4 1/2" lift and some trimming I'd be good for 33's, but it does look like I have some room to spare. I think I'll be upgrading when I do my axels if that's the case. I found a deal on a Dana 44/Ford 9 combo, 4.88 gears, Detroit lockers, rear disc brakes, high steering knuckles, all in very good shape. Picked them up and figured rather than re-gearing and everything on the stock I would do the swap when I feel like it (prob a winter plan since it'll be some down time). Those should be good for 35's or so too, just depends on what I can fit with the lift and all. Does mean pulling out some things I just put in, but oh well. I'm sure it won't be the last time I do that.

Is the transfer case swap pretty easy? That's another thing I figured may end up on my list at some point but I haven't looked into it at all.

 

Figured I'd give an update, even though it feels like nothing. Progress hasn't been much during the last few weeks. Lots of not too fun stuff keeping me busy. Lately I've been working on my school work (so far my most time consuming class), some yard work/landscaping, and trying to get things moved into my new pole barn. I think the first and last are going to be high priorities for a few weeks, so probably not going to see a chance to wheel Jezebel this year. Maybe not a bad thing, if I get all my crap into my new pole barn I can use my shop to keep wrenching on her this winter and can hopefully hit it pretty early in the spring (of course there is the chance to play in the snow some too). On top of this stuff I also seem to be getting the Lyme's symptoms back in strong force. Been obnoxiously tired and had extreme muscle pain/cramping. I hoped the 10 weeks of pills would have beat it, at least for a while, but I guess not. So that will slow me down for a while and I'll see what happens next with it.

Enough rambling, figured I'd throw up a few pics of things.

Here's a shot of the 3.4L that's going in her. I'm likely going to take a decent amount of time on the swap, but since it is winter soon that won't cost me any wheeling time. I'm flirting with the idea of an automatic while I'm at it but I'm not sure yet.


Here's a pic of her sitting with the lift in and all 33's on. I have to say it looks quite a bit better than when I started.

 

I find it funny that we're both doing 3.4 swaps at the same time in our '86s. Have you decided your trans/tcase combo if you go auto? The a904 has held up well for me and I'm building a 231 case for my junk.

Everything looks good. She's really coming together.

 

Looks great!

 

Thank you PocketsEmpty. Saw you bought a welder. Nice purchase. I bought a cheapy Harbor Freight one to last me a while (got an old AC stick for big stuff too), just gotta get good with it some time now. Prob going to try to practice with it every couple of nights to get some skills.

Thank you too emptypockets. Good luck on your swap. I haven't thought a ton about what combo I'll put in. The site I saw the 3.4L swap info on mentioned an AW4 with an NP231 as a good setup, but I haven't done my homework to know what I want for sure yet. Got any suggestions?

http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/...Project_XJ.htm

 

You'd need an adapter for an aw4. You'll need something with a GM small bellhousing bolt pattern. You can use a 700r4 out of a s10 and use the Chevy case (you'd need to clock it) or buy an adapter for a 231.

This is from pirate as another option:
Or the a904/a999 from an AMC era Jeep will work. Provided the input gear of the 231 case is correct, it'll bolt right up to the trans.

 

Been a slow couple of months but I wanted to give an update (although not much to report). Between school, work, house work, and some more Lyme's treatments I had to put the toys on hold. Haven't done anything on the XJ lately other than getting a new battery in it so I could move it into my other shop for the winter. As much as it'd be nice to keep it in the heated shop, scraping frost daily isn't too appealing. I think I'll manage in the one it's in though since I can always fire up a torpedo heater if needed and will probably tarp off a smaller section to hold in the heat better. I've picked up "most" of the stuff I'll need for the engine swap. I've got a buddy who offered to give a hand this winter. He's done a bunch of engine swaps/work, so should be a big help. I'm going to swap the tranny and transfer case at the same time, still haven't decided what those will be. Will probably try to figure that out in the next couple of weeks so I can get them picked up during or before Thanksgiving time. I've also picked up a bunch of odds and ends I'll need (amazing to see how much my shop needed, but how much better shape it'll be in after this work). These include relays/fuse box to get some of my lights and other future electrical toys wired in, some good sheet steel to make the custom battery box I'm thinking of and interior pieces to replace the plastic I took out, and a bunch of tools. Although I picked up the 44/9 combo to upgrade with, I'm going to hold off at least this year (or til I break something) to put them in. I figure it'll give me a chance to run it somewhat closer to stock first so I can more appreciate the upgrade (kind of something that's been on my mind since I never wheeled it before going nuts on upgrades). I do have a spare Dana 30/35 combo from the guy I got the Jeep from that has a better gear ratio that I may swap in since it shouldn't be too hard and would help.

Well, for a quick update with not much to say this got a little long. I will keep posting when I do get updates to give. Hopefully I get some more time to put back on the project.

 

Figured time for a quick update so ya know I'm still alive and kicking.

Progress is pretty much on hold. This winter is the first real one in a number of years here. If it was like the last few I would have gotten a ton of stuff done on the XJ, instead I'm riding my sled (this year should beat the last 2-3 combined or more easily at this pace) and doing a few productive things. It doesn't help that along with our extreme snow and cold has been shortages of propane, so I don't really want to use my last tank on my torpedo heater in the garage.

I did spend a few $$ recently though for the project. I saw some Harbor Freight coupons that lead to the 9000 lb Bandlands winch being $225, so I grabbed it. I know it probably isn't the best, but the reviews I read were pretty positive and it did mean having the winch so I can get it installed right after the engine swap.

I worked out a deal with a buddy to sell him my CJ. I wasn't planning on it, but he was interested and willing to pay what I did so I figured why not. I came to the conclusion my existing '85 Bronco plow truck will be my future project and I'm going to go the route of total functionality and probably minimal worry on looks.

I also talked to a buddy who was actually interested in my Dana 30 front axles (I have the one in the rig and a spare from an '88 or so with the vacuum disconnects). He does mud runs with a kick *** rail car and he said the Dana 30's are actually what they look for on them. He's great with tools and has connections for parts/etc, so that may motivate me to do my axle upgrade and see how much help he's willing to do for trade. Guess we'll see this summer.

So, there ya have it. With the amount of snow we have on the ground now I'm not banking on a ton of work on the XJ for a month or so. With at least one and maybe 2 friends offering to help with the engine swap, I'm hoping that is a 1-2 week job or so. That should still get me on the trails pretty early this summer.

Hope all is well with anyone reading the thread. I will try to keep things going when progress returns.

 

Hey i got an 86 2.8L that is giving me some carburetor issues. im new to this whole forum thing wondering if you could help me out?

 

Hello Gabrielrod. The good news, this forum is pretty good to find info on. The bad news, despite me having the same '86 with a 2.8L I've never actually worked on it as-is. Since my engine is near inevitable failure (according to the guy I bought it from, who is pretty knowledgeable and that's one of the reasons he never fixed it up) I've had it in my garage for off road upgrades the entire time I've had it at my place other than a few runs down the road to see how it feels.

I know DougyFresh and emptypockets mentioned having 2.8l's also. You might want to send them a personal message. Otherwise try a search (I really hate to be "that guy" and suggest a search on here, but there is a ton of info to be found). If you try those routes and don't find much, shoot me a PM with some details and I'll try some looking to help ya out. Hopefully I will never know the woes of any carb problems on the 2.8l, I'm going to do the swap to a 3.4l and try to keep it injected

 

Your 3.4 will be a direct bolt in. Ive got the 3.1 version with the 2.8 intake and carb on it.

 

Good to hear it should be easy. Most articles I've read have said basically that too. I'll have a few things to mess with but overall doesn't look too bad. Won't be too long and I'll be able to get to it.

 

Getting closer to time to start the swap. As much as I figured winter would work for progress it just didn't happen. I did spend some $$ on some new things so I'm closer to being prepared for things.

Yesterday I picked up a few rolls of wire. I got enough #0 for running power from the battery (relocating to rear) to the front. Along with that I got the distribution blocks, fuses, etc that I will need with it. I got a few 100' rolls for upgrading other wiring and for wiring controls and relays for the roof rack lights. Think it was a roll of #10, #14, and #16 and a bunch of terminals and things to work with it. A while ago I picked up some relays and a DC distribution block, so I should be reasonably ready for that.

I was looking at the work it will be to keep the SPI working for the engine swap and that led to a few purchases. I picked up a bypass module for the anti theft system (a little 3 wire deal to splice into the wiring). I also picked up a scanner/flash programmer since I'm 99.99% sure the engine and PCM I got were setup for an automatic transmission. For the price I figured that would be a nifty thing for tinkering and tweaking settings anyway, even if I could get by with reasonable performance as-is.

I think I've got about 2 weeks of school work to get done and a little garage cleanup before I start the job, but then I should be able to hit it pretty hard. I'll make sure to get before pics and a number during and keep you posted.

 

Looking forward to seeing your swap happen. I just picked up some more parts for my swap as well. Now which of us will get their swap done first?