So, now that I’ve got yet another vehicle on my property, where to start? Goal one is to salvage all of the wiring and associated sensors going to/from the ECU as this will obviously be necessary from either a control or emissions standpoint. Since this is a Drive by Wire engine, the TAC Module (near the brake booster) and throttle pedal will need to be removed. The exhaust system containing the catalytic converters must be retained, as well as the EVAP sensors, pump, charcoal filter and associated wiring. The transmission will need to be removed, but the transfer case on the Jeep will be utilized. I will be adapting the stock instrument gauge to the GM drivetrain, so the Jeep NP231 transfer case (and speed sensor) as well as stock ECU and sensors will remain in the Jeep. Everything else? For sale. Rear diff? Take it. AC controls? Can’t use them, gone. Seats? Yours. At the time of this writing, after harvesting the drivetrain and parting out the remainder of the vehicle, I have profited. Yep, free Gen III small block, ECU, smog equipment, and 4L60E. Parting out a vehicle and stealing its drivetrain? It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.
That’s not to say this was easy. Having worked on vehicles I’ve had apart many times and not re-installing the useless brackets and other shit an OEM sweats, you forget just how terrible it is to take apart a perfectly good car for the first time. Wanna remove the exhaust system? Hold on partner, you’ll need to remove this bracket, and that brace. Removing the transfer case was a real joy since one extra long bolt holding the crossmember in place is unexplainably installed in the wrong direction wouldn’t clear another part. After staring at it for a couple of minutes, gleeful realization dawned on me: I am not putting this vehicle back together. Out come the cutting implements.
That’s not to say the hackery didn’t result in problems. One major snafu that resulted from wanton destruction came to be when I realized the engine and trans absolutely will not come out if you don’t either remove the intake manifold or the front axle first. Since I had already cut off the motor mount brackets in a vain attempt to not tear the front axle assembly out, I certainly couldn’t reinstall the engine to remove the intake manifold, I was forced to take apart entire front end of the vehicle. With the engine dangling from magic-oil-powered hydraulics above me. Learn from me: remove the intake manifold prior to attempting to yank the motor, and since you’ll probably have the universal socket set (4.5” angle grinder) helping, cover the intake ports with tape.
4 comments
Legality is so overrated.
Pretty much. From James Madison:
The internal effects of a mutable policy are still more calamitous. It poisons the blessings of liberty itself. It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood: if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes, that no man who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow.
Very entertaining read. Looking forward to the next update!
Very interested in the project. Hoping to do the same thing in my 2000 Discovery some time over the next year or 2. Fortunately, I don’t have any emissions requirements.