87 Jeep FrankenYJ Build

[dvn4life1972]

Hello all. I'm still very new to EP here. I picked up a suburban a few weeks ago, and some online perusement landed me here on behalf of that vehicle.

Lo and behold, there's Jeep stuff here! Woohoo win/win for me!

Not quite sure where to start with this thread.

Let's see...I picked up this YJ relatively stock in 2016 with a hard top, full doors from a CJ, original half doors, and it had a couple of aftermarket bumpers on it. I'm actually not a hardtop fan on Jeeps, so I recovered a good bit of money from the sale of that and the full doors shortly after purchasing. It had 31" Mastercraft MT's on it and a 2in daystar body lift on it. Original drivetrain (AMC 4.2l and GAG Peugeot BA10/5 manual).



I drove it just like this for about 20k miles all over Texas in the summer. Lots of fun, but the 4.2 just isn't made for modern interstate travel, and the transmission just wasn't made to not break lol. I never wheeled it, as I had a 2014 JKU at the time on 37's...




I've had a Jeep (CJ models) of some form or fashion since the age of 16, and I have to say that while the JKU was nice for sure, it just didn't feel right to my Jeep innards if that makes any sense. Not knocking the JK's or even the newer models, but they just don't get me to a happy place personally. So, I sold it about the time I decided to do a build on the YJ.

Then the YJ teardown commenced. Out with the engine, transmission, t/c, and both axles. This was the year 2018 ?



....

 

[dvn4life1972]

I had a friend that lives in the boonies of the Sam Houston National Forest here in Texas. He picked up a 2004 1500 Silverado 2wd that was a disaster. He doesn't know much more than how to check engine oil, and discovered a crack in the 5.3l block. He then reported that to me, and I quickly found him a non-junkyard pullout 5.3l LM7 from a 2000 Silverado with 163k miles. I did get to drive it around a 5 acre property, then waited about 45 mins for the guys to pull the entire powertrain. $400 for the engine, ECM, and harness. They accidentally chopped the trans harness and VSS harness off with the reciprocating saw (when they were cutting the down pipes), otherwise all was there.

Well, I said had a friend...after going and picking this thing up, he decided he didn't want it. Neither did I lol. My plan for my only build (this YJ) was to throw in a 4BT I have in the crate down in my barn. Since I had this LM7, I decided to just use it in the Jeep and save the 4BT for something else down the line.

As with any build, plans change and whatnot. I grabbed this pair of 3/4T Ford axles (D60 rear and D44 front from a 1976 F250) for free. I also picked up a 4l60e (OEM from a 2000 model GM) rebuildable core from a place I know in San Antonio for $75. Also grabbed a NP231C HD from some dude in Austin off CL for $50. About 2 weeks later I found the 4 H2 wheels on CL for $250, pristine and complete with flawless caps.

 

[dvn4life1972]

And then...fast forward about 1.5 years of life getting in the way a lot, and we are here...



At this point a lot still needs to be done. The intention is to make this thing totally driveable to most anywhere and very wheelable too, while later on building a nice overland style trailer for it as well.