by "sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
Published 06/19/2017 at 22:04
by "sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
Published 06/19/2017 at 22:04
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STARS: 3
Short version: engine almost ready to be yanked out, super excited to have it rebuilt.
Long version then more pictures:
Got some good hours of wrenching in on Sunday afternoon / evening and a few this morning before work. I managed to get the intake and exhaust manifolds off on Sunday and got the last bellhousing bolts out today. All were super tricky and involved lots of universal joints, extensions and wrenching tricks. I also used a ratchet today that I’ve never had a legitimate use for in the previous 14 years I’ve owned it. It was the hero of today. There was no clearance for a UV joint or a swivel and I don’t have my stubby wrenches at home. But this ratchet let me get the tricky top 2 housing bolts. I only brought it home on a whim.
The only hinderance to lifting it off the mounts is that the front differential and axle assembly uses the engine and the driver’s side engine mount as a crossmember. The shop manual recommends totally removing the half-shafts but that seems unnessary to me. I’m just going to wire it up and block under them and figure that should do. I’ll be ripping the entire suspension system apart while the engine is out anyway. I just really need the block out to get it remanufactured with a bigger bore, roller cam, and new Edelbrock head. I was hoping to have the engine shop plop the manifolds onto the block and install it as such. But after taking the old ones out I’d never get it bolted back up to the bell housing. So that sucks.
BUT, once I get it back I get to rip out almost every emissions vacuum line and electrical harness and replace them with the new fuel injection conversion. Should be a lot nicer running at that point.
Old exhaust and intake manifolds:
New and shiny!
Just need to pick out some new headers. Will probably have to use shorties to make the required horizontal-to-sharp-downturn.
Really hoping all this, and a newer and 1/2" bigger diameter exhaust get me close to 200 running a naturally aspirated setup. The head has WAY more flow than stock, and is much thicker, a smoother header will make quite a difference, a more aggressive cam is going to help, a fresh rebuild running clean with this injection kit is supposed to net 40-60 hp on its own... cross your fingers for me that I can get all the Jeep stuff mated to my AMC wagon smoothly! I’m pretty pumped about the potential.
"Tristan" (casselts)
06/19/2017 at 22:24, STARS: 0
Any plans for a transmission swap or regearing? IIRC, Eagles had around a 2.55:1 gear for fuel economy. While thrifty, they’re less than exhilarating. 3.55s and an AX-15 manual swap would be a blast in that thing!
"Aremmes" (aremmes)
06/19/2017 at 22:29, STARS: 0
Pretty beefy boat anchors you got there in those old manifolds.
The new head and intake kit look sweet. :thumbsup:
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
06/19/2017 at 23:10, STARS: 0
Thanks, I almost never found out about the performance head. Just stumbled across it on an old Wrangler posting somewhere. Edelbrock didn’t go out of their way to make it easy to bump into on their site.
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
06/19/2017 at 23:16, STARS: 0
I’m looking at a potential rear-end rebuild coming up as it sounds and / or feels like the pinion gear might be going. I also doubt it’s ever had the gears changed out. So at that point I’d probably get a bit more aggressive gearing.
I’d like to eventually convert the 3-speed auto to a 4/5 speed manual. But I REALLY want to be able to keep the current transfer case that works with the “Select-Drive” switch. So whicher transmission I go with has to mate with that. I haven’t really gone down that rabbit hole so if you happen to have some knowledge there feel free to toss it at me. I’m trying to learn all I can about this car’s options. I’ve been pretty narrowly focused on getting the power-plant side of the equation working first. Future work includes brake conversions and whatnot as well. Would like better calipers in the front and convert the drums out of the rear too.
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
06/19/2017 at 23:21, STARS: 0
Oh, forgot to mention, you can probably tell my focus isn’t fuel economy... I mean, I’d like it to at least be as good as it is now... I guess... but more hp to go with it’s boatloads of torque is my aim. I figure the injector kit will make a MASSIVE change in how much fuel it wastes.
"Tristan" (casselts)
06/19/2017 at 23:28, STARS: 0
I believe the transfer case in your car uses the same input shaft as many of the Jeep transfer cases. If there is a difference, (I know earlier XJs used a smaller output shaft on the transmissions) you should be able to swap in a shaft from a NP 231 or the like. Your transfer case only has 2 high and 4 high and is shifted using a vacuum diaphragm. There is a surprising amount of info out there on these cars. I’m just going off of my limited knowledge from many years ago, so YMMV.
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
06/19/2017 at 23:52, STARS: 0
Should be able to find a transfer-case adapter for whatever transmission you end up with. Check out Novak and Advance for some popular in the Jeep world. If whatever trans you swap in isn’t the same length, my guess is you’d only be looking at different driveshaft lengths and either lengthening or shortening vacuum lines. I’m not positive how the eagle’s tcase works, but it’s common for Jeeps to have a vaccuum-operated disconnect in the front axle, which moves a locking collar over between two parts of an axle shaft, and only has vacuum lines running to it.
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
06/20/2017 at 00:39, STARS: 0
Thanks. I’ll look into this a bit more. I thought my options were very narrow.
Not really ever planning in needing 4Lo in this car. If over the next few years it’s transformation go really well I might look for an SX4 as more of a “toy” to get a bit more crazy with.
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
06/20/2017 at 00:50, STARS: 1
I’ve found quite a bit of info on AMC / Eagle forums but I only had an ‘07 Wrangler and lot of the folks in the boards have a high level of base knowledge that leaves plebes like me clueless. I never thought to look at the older XJ’s. My Jeep had a totally manual transfer case so it never occurred to me to think of the more civilized Jeep models.
Driveshaft length isn’t a huge deal. I used to do axle rolls on big rigs and driveline shops can pump out a new balanced DS in a couple days.
Good tips though. Gives me another good lead to follow up with. Thanks.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/11/2017 at 09:35, STARS: 0
That’s an impressive parts pile. Curious: why didn’t you pull the engine/trans at the same time?
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
08/14/2017 at 22:05, STARS: 0
They don’t really easily fit through the engine bay as a unit without removing the entire front drivetrain / steering assembly / front end of car. The shop manual warns against doing a combo pull. It goes as far as stating that if for some reason the bell housing cannot be removed from the block that they should be removed by “dropping” them under the vehicle. But that 100% involves removing more stuff. And I don’t have the machinery to get the car that high.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/14/2017 at 23:06, STARS: 0
Very interesting. Pretty tall engine, too, I should think.
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
08/19/2017 at 19:02, STARS: 0
Yeah, just got some bad news from the engine guys. They had done all the machining and we’re doing the reassembly and discovered a crack in the brand new Edelbrock head. So now I’m in limbo until E gets back to me.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/19/2017 at 22:21, STARS: 0
Glad they discovered it early. What kind of horsepower number are you expecting?
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
08/20/2017 at 14:39, STARS: 0
Well, it was originally 110hp and 232 lbs of torque from the factory in 1988. With all the new do-dads I’m hoping at the low end at least 180hp and at the high end maybe around 200+... With the amount of torque it had once it got going it would happily keep accelerating at a slow pace. It just had terrible response and no pep off the get-go because of the terrible carb and lazy cam. So if throttle response comes way up, and the stalling goes away, that alone would make me quite happy. Also better cold starts...
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/20/2017 at 15:06, STARS: 0
So it’ll have a TBI when you are finished? EFI?
"sn4cktimes" (snacktimes)
08/21/2017 at 04:25, STARS: 0
Yup to the EFI, but nope to the TBI. It’ll be a multi-point fuel injection system. So 6 injectors. I’ll probably go with what it come with for now for the initial “learn” phase, then switch to Bosch injectors as they spray a better mist.