Jeeptunes

Lets just start out with saying this jeep has begged and pleaded with me for me to take it to the local scrap yard.

This jeep is a 97 laredo with the 4.0 and came factory with an auto trans. i call the dealer up the other day looking for parts and they said that it wasnt even offered with a manual trans lol. i wanted flywheel bolts lol

A few months back the transmission did the thing where it would get stuck in third gear and not shift until i shut it off and started it back up. At which point i knew it was time to start coming up with a plan of attack.

I decided to make it a manual trans and i started collecting parts.

Nv3550 transmission with broken trans mount and np231 t-case
Nv3550 transmission cases with good trans mount
clutch pedal assembly from an 86 xj
clutch/flywheel/pressure plate from any 90s jeep
and 2 pilot bearings (mixup at parts house resulted in having 2)
that was as far as i had gotten until recently

i blew a tranny line and lost 2 gallons of atf and had to get towed.
i put the hose back together and added two gallons atf and it drove great for two days, then things started to get funky. by the end of the week i only had first gear. now the jeep is sitting at my shop waiting for the trans swap.

so far i have the pedals installed.


i have the prebled master/slave being delivered tomorrow. when i take the brake booster out to install the clutch master cylinder i will take some pictures of the pedal assembly and explain what i did to make it fit.

this weekend i will also post pics of the inside of the manual transmission and explain why the new cases ended up at the machine shop.

over the next couple weeks as i get my pile of scrap back on the road i will post some more pics to help explain some of the details of the project

Jeeptunes

there is also a stroker motor in the works for this jeep as well but that is my long term project i dont have enough money for machine shop bills for the engine so im holding off on that for now

OverlandZJ

How are you planning to get around the issue of a CEL with OBDII?

Is this a trailered rig that wont see state inspection?

harv003

I swapped my OBD11 zj about a year ago and have had the CEL light on since then and i didnt have a problem passing inspection. Just find a garage where you hand them money and they just give you the sticker.

Jeeptunes

This jeep is my daily driver no trailers involved.
I just recently had it inspected so i have plenty of time to make that light go out. When the light comes on i will check the codes and see what i have to do to convince the computer that there is nothing wrong.

once i figure out how to trick the computer i will post results

OverlandZJ

Wish you luck.. hope you do figure it out. Dont forget to update if you do please..

If you feel like digging a bit you can find some swap info over @Jeepforum, look for input from Ratmonkey.

Jeeptunes

I mentioned previously that i had the housing at the machine shop.
The following are the races from both transmission housings.
The race on the right is the race from the full transmission that had a broken case. The smaller race on the left came out of the housing which i intended on using to repair the trans.



I went to the local bearing shop to try and address the problem with a bearing that would match the housing and the counter shaft. That solution did not work. They could not provide me with the bearing i needed. so i sent the housing to the machine shop to have the hole where the counter shaft bearing fits enlarged.


Today i got as far as locktighting the race to the housing. tomorrow i will attempt to reassemble the trans.

MtPockets

I have been seriously contemplating this swap, too, so please do keep us informed on how it's going!

Jeeptunes

Here are a few photos from today. I had a bunch of fighting and cussing trying to get this trans together but after alot of resisting i managed to pull a victory for team jeep lol. im gonna order the c clips before i put the seals in.

Jeeptunes

turns out those c clips/ snap rings were a little trickier to find then i thought. crown sells a small parts kit for something like 40 dollars but i didnt want to pay that much. i ended up calling the dealer. they have them on order for me i should have them some time this coming week. 5 dollars each. i can work with that so hopefully next weekend i can start actually putting the trans in the jeep

sycoglitch

Ah those garages. The ones that put the unsafe vehicles back on the road.

Jeeptunes

ok today was a fruitful day i actually worked on the jeep.
i installed the clutch master cylinder.
i initially opened the hole that is next to the brake booster and then i measured the pedal assembly i had put the hole in the wrong place. gi enlarged the hole with the grinder using a cut off wheel. i then made a plate to go over the hole and used that as a template to drill the holes in the firewall for the master cylinder gI used rtv to seal the plate to prevent leaking

since i never posted any pics of the pedal assembly



i used the bracket from the pedal assembly in the 86 cherokee and welded it onto the bracket from my zj also used the pedals themselves from the 86. after the transmission is installed i may need to adjust the angle of the pedal



the master cylinder is a pre bled unit with the slave cylinder and the hose ordered for a 93 zj since they came stock with a manual trans option

XJman.blogspot.com

This is so awesome! I can't wait to see the finish product.

Jeeptunes

i cant wait either im tired of driving the tow rig to work everyday it uses too much gas

Jeeptunes

snap rings showed up today so maybe next weekend i can get the trans in the jeep