The Gubblemobile- Series III from hell.

[Alaska Mike]

The current engine I have lined up is a '92 Wrangler engine. A little more complicated, but a little more efficient and powerful. Parts are also easier to source, and while the initiatl install will be slightly more difficult, the final result should make it worth it.

 

[revor]

Here's some shots I have of the conversion. Well and my Jeep with the Jeep crane monted up just because it's kinda cool..

 

[Alaska Mike]

Well, I got the transmission and transfercase rebuilt, adapted, and stuck together, so I'm making progress. It's a nice little package, although compared to the stock drivetrain it's kinda bloated. With the 1" adapter length, overall length is right around 30" from the rear yoke to the tip of the input shaft. Not too bad. The girth and weight of this transmission is pretty impressive, and it's amazing how the transfercase shifter mount tucked neatly between the cast ribs on the transmission. I'll have to try to get some pictures posted.

Novak is waiting on my clutch disc, and then will be sending me the new bellhousing and the rest of the conversion pieces. I'm still finalizing the engine deal, but it looks like I'll be getting a '91 Jeep YJ 2.5L (OBDI MPFI) with around 90K on the clock, and the entire wiring harness and various other required parts (fuel pump...). Depending on how the engine runs, I may tear it down and clean it up a bit just to know what I'm dealing with. The starter will have to be replaced with a Mean Green unit, but I'm not too worried about it. The motor mounts are interesting, since the engine is offset to the other side in a YJ, but I think I can make them work with a little fabrication.

Work continues on the springs. I have 1 pack completed and the other curing before I apply the tape. Burning out the bushings took a while, as did bending the spring clamps into a U shape. Hopefully this will all be worth it in the long run. My snot it brown from all of the rust I'm grinding, which I never fail to gross my wife out with. "Look honey!"

 

[Hltoppr]

Make sure you look that motor over well. My 2.5 was pretty tired at 120K, even with the maintenance schedule I had her on....Great motor...but no TEQ...

-H-

 

[Alaska Mike]

Depending on my build schedule, I might be pulling it apart for a quick once-over and mild refresh. I may just slap her in and see what she does.

Right now I'm looking at physical mounting and other big issues, like what kind of fuel storage I'm going to run. I'm considering getting the fuel tank from under the passenger seat and installing a fuel cell in the back. I should be able to maintain the stock YJ in-tank pump/sender unit that way, and keep my wife from freaking out when she hears fuel sloshing around underneath her. All of that is in the "what if" stage, and I'll have to see what's available. I haven't looked too closely at the stock tank, but I'm leaning towards not using it in this application.

A lot depends on what kinds of goodies I get with the engine and how it looks. Since this swap hasn't been done before (as far as I know- why would anyone want to?), there are all sorts of things I'm figuring out as I go. I stop by a friend's shop periodically to look at a couple 4 cyl YJs he has in and take measurements and generally look things over. I'm sure I'm going to have plenty of stuff to engineer.

 

[Alaska Mike]

Well, here's the biggest bit of work I've accomplished so far:

I'm pretty happy with the way they came out, even though it took me a few months to get it done. Just not enough hours in the day.

I worked on my second spring pack today, and dinked around cleaning/painting some brackets and other small stuff. I still need to drill out my shackles for the greasable bushing bolts, since I got the course thread ones to save a bit of money. In the near future I'll be mounting the rear axle on the new fame and generally clearing out some space for the engine and bulkhead work that is looming. That front axle isn't looking any better, either.

Even if it takes forever, I want to do it once and be finished (ish).

 

[Mercedesrover]

Looks great, Mike. SM465, Dana-18, right? Nice. Did you get the adapter from Novak? They're a great company.

jim

 

[Alaska Mike]

Yep, it's a Novak adapter. The big selling point for me was the length of the adapter. It's only an inch long (instead of the 2.5"+ of other companies) and that makes the overall length of the assembly within 1.2" of the original transmission/transfercase. I also have their SM465 to Jeep MPFI 2.5L adapter kit (bellhousing, arm, clutch, T/O bearing, pilot bushing, slave cyl...) on the way now. The kit should make the swap less painful. Even though they are a Jeep swap company and don't know much about Rovers, they've been great to work with and have provided a lot of technical information.

I do have some concern about the front driveshaft hitting the crossmember, since the front output of the Spicer 18 transfercase sits back about 6" compared to the Rover transfercase. We'll see if I have to notch the crossmember and put in some angle iron.

My big goal now is to get a rolling chassis, or at least get the axle housings and springs mounted.

 

[Alaska Mike]

I might get a picture of the old transmission/transfercase combo next to the new (if I can get the time to pull the old one), but needless to say the SM465 dwarfs the Rover transmission.

 

[Mercedesrover]

I was going to ask why you went with the SM465 instead of the NP435 but I can see that the adapter for the 435/18 is a good deal thicker. Hard to go wrong with either tranny.

And you're right, it's amazing how huge these transmissions are compared to the original Rover tranny while not being any longer. With my Pangoin4x4 adapter between the 435 and the Series transmission the whole package is only 1/2" longer than stock. Pretty cool.

Keep up the good work.

jim

 

[Alaska Mike]

Actually, I was initially considering a T-18/19 or a NP435, but TeriAnn steered me towards the SM465 as an easy fit with the GM engines I was initially considering (2.5L Iron Duke and the 4.3L V6). I can still move that way if the Jeep engine doesn't pan out like I plan. As luck would have it, the SM465 adapter length and the cheap (and very clean) 465 I fell into pretty much sealed the deal.

I just got a message from a guy wanting to buy my old engine, transmission, and transfercase, so I may be able to offset some of the conversion expenses.

 

[Mercedesrover]

Does the Dana 18 have a provision for a parking brake?

 

[Alaska Mike]

I was waiting for someone to ask that. This particular Dana 18 doesn't, but I'm casually looking for a setup. I rarely use them, since they tend to freeze in the winter. When I need to keep the vehicle running on a incline, I drop wheelchocks or a big rock (The Gods Must be Crazy). Mostly I just shut it off in gear. I'm considering line-locks right now, but nothing is for sure at this point. I'm a little concerned about clearances/lengths with the whole engine/drivetrain assembly put together, so I haven't really looked that hard at a solution. My Jeep hasn't had a parking brake for the last decade. Just not a big thing with me, since I run manual transmissions and we don't have a safety inspection (emissions is a whole 'nother story).

 

[Yorker]

Isn't that the same adapter/tranny setup Peter Hope used with the 6.2 in his 88?

 

[Alaska Mike]

I've been looking at his site, but the info is kinda lean. I've heard rumors of people using Spicer 18s in Series rigs, but I haven't seen much evidence of it on the internet (photographic proof). I never like being the first guy to try out these things, so I try to look before I leap.