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Higher horses, higher revs & even higher torque, a streetable LJ engine swap

Man, I hope to make it out there. July will be 4 years since I bought the first part for the rig....... 🤬

I am plumbing and wiring now, so only time will tell.

If you are selling the LS3 water pump, let me know.
 
toximus--I think all will say that you didn't create any fuss. Tech stuff being discussed is always good!! So thank you. ( I didn't help matters here!!)
 
I don't think you created any fuss either, just trying to add some clarification. I can remove the post if you would like.
 
Wisconsinite said:
Man, I hope to make it out there. July will be 4 years since I bought the first part for the rig....... 🤬

I am plumbing and wiring now, so only time will tell.
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It's going to be a real beast once you're done.

Wisconsinite said:
If you are selling the LS3 water pump, let me know.
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The LS3 pump that came with the crate engine is available. I'm not sure of the part number. The 2010 Camaro pump may be available later but I'm hanging on to it for now in case I switch back. Having lots of varying parts to play with might be a new hording addiction of mine.

csutton7 said:
toximus--I think all will say that you didn't create any fuss. Tech stuff being discussed is always good!! So thank you. ( I didn't help matters here!!)
Click to expand...
Wisconsinite said:
I don't think you created any fuss either, just trying to add some clarification. I can remove the post if you would like.
Click to expand...

I'm glad I didn't come off that way. Tech discussion is always welcome in this thread. I appreciate it and enjoy learning from you all!
 
toximus said:
The LS3 pump that came with the crate engine is available. I'm not sure of the part number. The 2010 Camaro pump may be available later but I'm hanging on to it for now in case I switch back. Having lots of varying parts to play with might be a new hording addiction of mine.
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Let me know about the Camaro WP. I am running out of room in my engine bay. I ended up milling .250" off the mounting lugs for the tensioner assembly, making a .25" bracket that clocks it and brings it way closer to the Wp. Now, if I need to replace the waterpump, I will have to make sure I either: A) bring a pre-machined spare or B) make sure I have my bridgport packed in my tool box. Hahahaha
 
Wisconsinite said:
As you all know, our sport is evolving very fast. These brackets have been on the market for almost ten years. With that being said, some of our customers attempt to use our brackets on a supercharged set up running on the serpentine belt, or running a high output alternator and DUAL power steering pumps. Neither the Gates nor Dayco tensioner was up to the task, so we made a few modifications to the bracket, and now use a massive tensioner assembly from a corvette with a 350. It has a much higher spring force as well as a pulley with shoulders. Since making that change ~2 years ago, we haven't had any reliability issues.
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I beg to differ. Even with the bigger tensioner. But, like I said, it's easily fixed.
That's also something that has been brought up to Goatbuilt, so I know you guys are aware and don't think the design need updated. My friends experience tells me different, that's it.
 
Bebop said:
I beg to differ. Even with the bigger tensioner. But, like I said, it's easily fixed.
That's also something that has been brought up to Goatbuilt, so I know you guys are aware and don't think the design need updated. My friends experience tells me different, that's it.
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Are you refering to the added idler? Our new brackets have that.

PM me. I am interested to hear about the failure.
 
Damn, I was hoping for a new update on the build. Oh well......@Wisconsinite , do you have a part # for that beefy tensioner?

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Toximus, any update? Where are you on this thing?

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gt1guy said:
Toximus, any update? Where are you on this thing?
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We took our Khaki TJ to Moab for 2 weeks at the end of April and now that we finally have our 1 month of Summer in Northern WI I'm focusing on house projects.

Ideally next month I'll be making progress again.

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How was Moab? It snowed our first night at EJS. 3 inches, that's the most I've had there. Of course was gone by 10 for the most part. 40-50 mph winds brought the suck the first night too. Been a long while since I've been in a tent in winds like that.
 
NDCjeepsmith said:
How was Moab? It snowed our first night at EJS. 3 inches, that's the most I've had there. Of course was gone by 10 for the most part. 40-50 mph winds brought the suck the first night too. Been a long while since I've been in a tent in winds like that.
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Sorry for the late reply! I'm finally getting back to this build and will be posting more updates soon.

Moab was great. We stayed in a tent too but the weather was thankfully much milder. It was my first time in Moab and I learned a lot. On the drive home I transcribed my thoughts into a wish list of improvements that would have made the Jeep perform better. I don't want to build for just one terrain though so I'm curious to see what I end up actually implementing from that list.

After Moab we competed in the Alcan 5000 rally, getting home last month, also in my wife's Jeep putting on 10,000 miles in 2 weeks. Her Jeep performed excellently and we finished 4th in our class.

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As a bit of housekeeping, I listed a few part numbers incorrectly in my earlier post (on March 18) for the accessory drive. Here's the updated list:

  • LS1 Water pump / 1999 Corvette / ACDelco 252-846
  • Thermostat and housing / 1999 Corvette / ACDelco 15-11057 (no gasket needed with this thermostat)
  • Balancer / 1999 Corvette / ACDelco 12553118
  • PSC CBR Pump Bracket (order from Bomber Fab)
  • Alternator (order from Bomber Fab)
  • Bomber Fab LS Alternator Brackets
  • Bomber Fab idler bracket and pulley

---

I installed the BomberFab accessory drive and I must say, the fit and finish is excellent.

They supply black oxide hardware which I'm replacing with zinc coated and stainless steel hardware. My understanding of why they do this is because 1) they operate their rigs in dry climates. And 2) they rebuild their racing engines more often than I ever plan to. So for them it makes sense, but not so much for me.

20220405_bomber-fab-accessory-drive.jpg


I flipped the throttle body 180 to clear the alternator. I am using a 240 amp alternator but I did some testing with a 100 amp alternator I had laying around and I think the throttle body would clear the other way with that one.

20220405_ls3-throttle-body-flipped.jpg
 
Back in April I had ordered one of the last new OEM harmonic balancers (ACDelco 12553118) in the country. Unfortunately, it arrived cracked.

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The only new equivalent that I could find that is considered a direct replacement that meets OEM specs is the ATI 917264 harmonic balancer. It's pricey but it is a lighter aluminum so to avoid crying I'll take that as a win.

20220924_ati-harmonic-balancer.jpg


For installing the balancer, this flywheel locking tool works great: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087JB34VK/r

20220924_flywheel-locking-tool.jpg
 
NDCjeepsmith said:
Dang.. that's muffed up. I was expecting hairline, not chunks!
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I was pissed at the time. I was on track to be taking this rig to Moab on late April but this one thing screwed up the entire build timeline and forced me to focus on working on my wife's TJ for the trip last minute.
 
My old custom silicone lower radiator hose off the 4.0 fit perfectly with a little adjusting.

For the upper I ordered more hose lengths from Pegasus Auto Racing.

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For the engine radiator I mounted a Spal brushless cooling fan (Spal 30107125). Based on my research it should handle water crossings better than the brushed version without having to worry about turning it off... but we'll see. The wiring harness part number is SBL-YAZ-PT10.

It will be controlled by the ECU via PWM signal.

20220929_spal-brushless-mounted.jpg
 
Upper radiator hose is completed.

Parts list:
  • 1-3/8" x 1-1/4" 90 degree reducing elbow
  • 1-1/4" I.D. 90 degree elbow
  • 1-1/4" aluminum hose joiner
  • Gates PowerGrip SB41 clamp
  • (2) Lined hose clamps

These Gates heat shrink clamps help keep things tidy looking. You just slide it over the joint and shrink it down with a heat gun. They are one time use so I only used them for the non-serviceable center junction.

20221004_upper-radiator-hose.jpg
 
I got the interior harness roughly in its place (there's not much to show for pictures since it's all behind the dash). To optimize the path of the wiring through the firewall, so the interior and exterior harnesses can connect, I drilled out the old throttle cable hole to 2-1/4" and put a grommet in.

I'll be moving all of my wiring from that lower hole up to this new one and plugging it.

20220926_firewall-grommet.jpg
 
I put the fenders on and laid things out to get a better idea of what has to fit where and the routing between things. The LS is surprisingly conducive to tidy packaging.

20220929_engine-bay-test-layout.jpg


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20220929_air-filter-test-fit.jpg
 
Test fitting the reverse terminal AGM battery. I think I had mentioned this before, but by sliding the battery over to make room for the AC the positive terminal became uncomfortably close to the fender if it ever gets damaged and caves in. Now it has plenty of safety margin if things get damaged.

20220929_reverse-terminal-battery.jpg
 
Dayco 80407 and 80418 hoses for the heater core cut to length. Warm feet while wheeling is underrated.

I must have left my old constant tension clamps on the old engine when I sold it so I need to find a set of those.

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I was able to shorten my old power steering hoses off the pump to fit. I'm waiting on a couple of fittings for the other hoses.

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20221004_steering-feed-hose.jpg
 
The TJ radiator overflow bottle still fits in the stock location. However, I'm not happy with how the hose will have to run across the radiator to the neck on the other side. And it's not possible to change sides with the OEM bottle due to where the AC condenser piping comes out.

This also means that the windshield wiper fluid would have to be located on the other side, which is where I previously had it. And that hose had to be run across the grill too which feels sloppy and unintentional.

So, to shorten the hose lengths required and to try and keep things on the "correct" sides, I did some research into cooling systems and learned a lot. There are many different types of systems out there, the two main types are expansion tank, and overflow tank. This is a decent article that covers the main differences between them: Overflow Tank vs. Expansion Tank – Beyond the Checkered Flag

I actually like the idea of an expansion tank and how it can be a sealed system. But the overflow system will be simpler to package into my engine bay.

So I ordered a shorter overflow tank to fit on the non-stock side of the radiator.
 
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