1990 Montero V8 project

[Toasty]

Man tons of talent, cool to see. Did you replace the starter in the 2UZ? I assume you the timing belt and valve cover gaskets. Love the pics!

Yeah, new Denso starter and alternator and completely resealed, all new timing, water pump. Everything has been gone through top to bottom, only thing not done was removing the heads. Should be good for a log while.

 

[EpicPlanet]

Any plans to address the rust?

 

[Toasty]

Any plans to address the rust?

Yeah, most of it grinds right off and for as scaly as it looks it's not terrible. On the frame it just needs a grind/wire wheel'ing and some paint. There are a few spots on the body that need actual repair, again nothing major. I got a product called "Rust Mort", I used it on my fuel tank and it's skid plate and it worked pretty well. I'll get it all treated and painted once it's running.

 

[Toasty]

Got the coil buckets modified for the Wrangler coils, this was simple and could be done a couple ways. Either a smaller diameter ring to locate the isolator or a large dowel to run through the center of the isolator. I chose the dowel because it was easier to weld and really easy to center, it literally centers in the existing hole dead center of the Montero bucket. The down side to this method is that I can't now install a lift spacer unless the spacer ID was the same and reached the dowel height. A ring around the OD wouldn't have this issue, I plan to adjust height via lift coils once it's all settled in.



The 5-link is basically finished, I had to cut a hole through the frame and sleeve it for bolt access.
I did check for flex and it has a ton but being a short arm the arc is pretty tight so I'll have to limit based on tire clearances in the wheel well. No biggie.

 

[Toasty]

The ride height is 1.5" lower in the rear, I got some Mopar 2" lift coils for $100 shipped. I'll get those installed and then adjust the front accordingly.



Not the greatest picture but I got the power steering system buttoned up as well.




Not real exciting but it's coming along, the list is getting shorter. Up next...

Radiator, fan and coolant plumbing
Permanent transmission crossmember
Weld air box mounting tabs
A/T cooler and lines
Pinion conversion and drivelines
All fluids
Test drive
Stereo and interior completion
A/C lines and service.

 

[Toasty]

Got the new coils installed and they gave ALL of the 2" advertised, we'll see how they settle in. I still have some ride height stuff to even out. I got the pan hard mount at the axle end fabbed and welded, I'll paint and install the bar next and then I can reinstall my gas tank.



Finally getting around to finalizing my transmission crossmember, made a rough template last night. I'll probably make a hand made part first and then a machine made part later, all of this rear axle swap has been hand made so far because I doubt anyone would ever go JL axles but I could totally see someone wanting to UZ swap their Gen 1 in the future so it'd be good to have a part file.




That's it for now.

 

[Toasty]

Finished up the crossmember today, ground down and ready to paint. Nevermind my gouging, all I had was a 24 grit disc and nobody will ever really look at this again anyway. Fits really good and the bolts are all recessed in case I get nutty.

 

[Toasty]

Got my air box mounting finalized, just needs an 1/8" nipple for a vacuum line and paint.

 

[Toasty]

No cool pictures to post BUT, I got a battery and did a real systems test. Everything comes online and the DBW works, feeling pretty good on moving forward. Lots of plumbing to do still.

 

[Toasty]

The more I looked at the 4 Runner shifter in the Montero the more I hated it, I started looking into other options. Originally I thought the Montero shifter was going to be too much work to make it shift the A750 and It would be clunky. I looked into a few aftermarket shifters and then took apart a couple Gen 1 and 2 shifters, the Gen 1 shifter is the style I want but there is no way I can fit a linkage shifter under the body now. The Gen 2 cable shifter will work but the challenge there Is that the throw ratio doesn't match the new transmission. I learned the Gen 1 shifter itself will physically install on the Gen 2 cable shifter, this got me motivated to make it work because It will look like it belongs aside from the height.
I cut apart the Gen 2 shifter and shortened the throw of the shift arm to match the ratio of the transmission, this is important because the detents on the in cab shifter need to match the positions in the valve body otherwise ranges won't work or there will be hydraulic bypassing. I also moved the cable position to dead center because that's where the shifter mounts on the Gen 1, hopefully this will allow me to modify a stock center console to cover this mess.


All cleaned and cut apart *did not take a before photo*, I had already measured how much the arm needed to be shortened (9/16").



Refit the cable mount to test the operation and detent matching.



Somehow I managed a first time perfect fit and throw!




Super stoked on this fit up, also forgot to take pictures of the floor mounting bracket. I am aware that the center console mounts to the same holes the mounting bracket is bolted to. I'll try just using longer stock panel screws but I'm prepared to do nutzerts and stainless screws for a clean finish.

 

[EpicPlanet]

I wish I had your genius.

 

[Toasty]

I wish I had your genius.

Well, neither of my engine swap trucks run yet so...

However, this one should run as soon as it has fluids and transmission lines.

 

[Toasty]

...hoes'es. Wrapping up the small details now, was planning on a start up this weekend but I was short a 90⁰ #10 fitting and I'd like to have my AC lines in place before the radiator goes back in for the last time.

Converted my high pressure fuel line to -6 AN.



Braided line from Luso at the tank side with all new rubber hose, he had a new filler for me as well.



Started on my AC lines but I'm short one fitting so, this is what's holding me up now. Allegedly it'll be in today. The cool part is I had a door grommet and it fits the stock hole and the hose perfectly!



Last PS hose, it's an aftermarket return line and it didn't come with an orifice like the stock one so, I cut it out of the original and installed it in the new hose.

 

[Toasty]

Cleaned and resealed my blend door with fresh foams.



Fresh foam at the connection



...and at the outside air hole.



In doing this I found two things, the first being that my blend door doesn't work, the plastic holding the cable is broken so the cable doesn't pull. The other is that the blower motor is shot, the brushes were wasted and the commutator is all chewed up. So those need to be replaced.

 

[Toasty]

The truck was sitting too low in front after everything had a chance to settle, the V8 is about 250lbs heavier than the Jeep v6. I did some research and found the Diesel JL engine was much heavier than the v6 and the Jeep guys were running the diesel front springs to better carry the weight of a bumper and winch while giving 1" of lift. Luckily, a friend had a set of stock diesel springs just sitting on the shelf. He also had new LCAs and shocks plus a used sway bar, I took everything. I finished the welding on my rear suspension brackets, painted everything and installed the new arms. The plan is still to go adjustable but these are better place holders than what I had before.



The JL sway bar is tiny which is perfect for just adding a little extra stability while allowing for my full range of travel. I worked on mocking it up since I'm waiting on a hose fitting, It'll sit reverse of the Jeep but the fit is nice and the bar doesn't actually care if it's backwards (up is up)



Should be about the easiest sway bar install ever, just need to make up some mounting brackets.



The new springs are not only heavier but taller as well, they also are the same left to right unlike the gas springs. It was slightly sketchy to install them in my driveway but I got it done.



The result was better than expected, It's now riding 1/2" higher in the rear and more level side to side than before. It had a slight 1/4" lean because the stock v6 springs are heavier on one side to compensate for the off balance Pentastar v6. The Montero is known for being almost perfectly balanced and the 2UZ compliments that so my future plan was to find another RH front JL spring but this move was better in every way.



Looks front high in the picture but it's not, the rear wheel wells are lower. It measures out and I'm stoked.