98 XJ 5.3 Swap and Other Stuff

[stomperxj]

That must be satisfying. Congrats mate.

Thanks mate. Hugely satisfying After 6 months of it being in the shop its pretty damn satisfying to have it working correctly and on the road.



And on that note I'm actually legal to be on the road as of about 40 minutes ago:

Went last Saturday and filled the tank up. It had about 2 ish gallons in it already:

Now I need to finish up the interior and tie up a few minor loose ends but it's back to daily duty.


Phase 1 complete. Now I need to save some cash for Phase 2 which involves axles and adding exterior LED lighting, getting my ARB copy bumper back on and getting a winch back in it... etc..

 

[stomperxj]

Latest vid is up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icP1eOkRK-k

 

[SilicaRich]

Wow! Never realized how big of a tank the XJs had. Awesome work, can't wait till it's a finished overland V8 monstrosity:elkgrin:

 

[Mitch502]

Wow! Never realized how big of a tank the XJs had. Awesome work, can't wait till it's a finished overland V8 monstrosity:elkgrin:

He built the tank himself, I think.

 

[stomperxj]

Wow! Never realized how big of a tank the XJs had. Awesome work, can't wait till it's a finished overland V8 monstrosity:elkgrin:

Its quite fun to drive, that's for sure Thanks for the nice comments.

He built the tank himself, I think.

You are correct Mitch. Custom built 30gal long range tank compared to the 19gal stock tank. Fits in the stock location and a factory skid plate 'should' bolt up under it. I may need 1/4" spacers

 

[Mekcanix]

That is awesome nice work and the detailed log and videos are amazing nice job

 

[caseyjones]

Very cool. LS is always the answer - makes me super jealous. I loved my old XJ, got me into jeeps, but it definitely needed a few more cubic inches under the hood on the climb from Golden up to Summit county!

 

[stomperxj]

That is awesome nice work and the detailed log and videos are amazing nice job

Thanks mekcanix

Very cool. LS is always the answer - makes me super jealous. I loved my old XJ, got me into jeeps, but it definitely needed a few more cubic inches under the hood on the climb from Golden up to Summit county!

Thanks CJ. I won't have any problems towing the next trailer at all with this

 

[andysgreenxj]

The only thing I'd do different, would be to use a hemi, as I'm a mopar purest... but, the LS swap is great too...at b least you didn't use a Ford mod motor...

 

[stomperxj]

The only thing I'd do different, would be to use a hemi, as I'm a mopar purest... but, the LS swap is great too...at b least you didn't use a Ford mod motor...

Putting a Hemi in one of these would be a big challenge. The Hemi is 4+ inches wider at the valve covers which means you'd have to hack the firewall quite a bit or move it forward a lot. That would in turn really screw with radiator placement and exhaust routing. The LS takes up all the available room already. The cost would be considerably more as well after a quick Craigslist search.

 

[stomperxj]

I've been chasing a trans fluid leak since I got this thing on the road and finally tracked it down today. Some gorilla must have installed my dip stick tube...

 

[indiedog]

Ha! You gorilla.

 

[stomperxj]

So if you remember I have this 3" flex going to the cowl for a sort of cold air setup.

I suspected that it was a bit of a restriction but didn't know how much. Well turns out it was a huge restriction. 0-60 was floating around 6.8-6.9 with the flex tube on. I decided to make a few runs with it totally open. I took the elbow off of the air box and ran it. Its now 0-60 in 6.0 flat. I'll be honest... it always felt like it should have been a bit faster and now I know why. Even with just the flex taken off and running through the 3" inlet on the back of the air box it feels faster. So I need to rework that tube and see if there is enough room for a 4" tube. It will be tight but I may be able to make it work.


Torque is reporting back around 20mpg on the freeway and about 17.5 in town which seems about right. I'll know more after this tank of fuel is gone and I can do a manual calculation.

 

[indiedog]

"..a sort of cold air intake". Interesting. So is that 3" tube leading to your only air intake? Does it come in through the vent in front of the windscreen? Any other ways you could do it? What about a small bonnet scoop? The air may be more forced into the system if facing forward. Snorkel time? You know you want one. I got no idea really, just thinking out loud. :ylsmoke:

 

[Clawhammer]

Hoooooooood Scooooooop!!!!!!

You know you want to.