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YJ rebuild with my son. stretch, 5.3 swap

Benderff

Red Skull Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2022
Member Number
5260
Messages
42
Loc
Oregon
Picked up a salvaged 95 YJ to rebuild with my boy for his first vehicle. He’s 13 now, so we have a couple years to get it going.

The frame ended up being tweaked so we picked up a replacement. The plan is a 5.3, 4l60e, np231, 8.8 for the rear. Small lift with some cutting for 35s. CJ swap front clip and dash and a full cage. Building it from the new frame up.


Kid was stoked when it showed up.

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Moved it into the shop and he got to work.

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The original idea was to rebuild the 2.5 4 banger. That would be the smarter plan for a new driver. I told myself that for a couple weeks, then started looked for an excuse to upgrade.
 

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Haha Thanks! The Jeepster has been on the back burner way too long behind other projects. I was getting back to it when we started his Jeep. It’s a 1971. I have a super low mileage LV3 and 6L80e waiting to get set in. I’m waiting for the next version of a stage 2 cam from SDPC. We rebuilt a dana 300 a couple winters ago that I’ll flip. I’ve went back and forth on the plan for tire size and axles. It will end up with either 37s or 40s. I measured out and ran the calculator for link suspension. It really comes down to I gotta make my mind up on tire size.
 

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The kid loved his first run to the wrecking yard. We hauled an 8.8 home so he can dump the Dana 35. He got the old brackets off and I started ordering parts for him. He did welding last year in school and loved it. We built a little certiflat table and he is pumped to do some more welding.

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Decided to stick with leaf springs and I already wish we would have just linked it for him. I think we’ll get it on the road with suspension changes down the line. Picked up ARB-OME springs, and some shackles.
 

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My son loved the K10 I built when he was younger. He liked the “hot rod motor”, a 383 stroker I built. I did a majority of the work on the truck at his Grandpa’s, who was big in hotrods. My son has a lot of great memory’s in that barn and with his grandpa. When he got the Jeep I mentioned that Grampa would have liked the wheels. He immediately replied “they have to stay”.. We’re going to try and work in a few nods to Grampa with some hot rod ideas.

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Starting to get parts stacked up. Made a run into town and picked up his motor. It’s a 5.3 LM4 with solid hot compression numbers. I was happy at how clean it looked when we popped the valve covers off. Hoping to get into this weekend.

The kid is a good sport. Remade a picture from his younger years helping me with a TJ.

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Found a guy in a local off-road group that needed a transmission to get his YJ on the road. He had an auto but wanted to swap out to a manual if it meant getting it back on the road. Pulled everything he needed to make the swap. Swapped the clutch/ brake pedal assembly for his brake pedal. He also needed the transfer case since it’s 21 spline for the AX5. We got his 23 spline 231. We’ll end up pulling the case apart to rebuild it and do a Super short SYE. The boy had a good time pulling the dash apart while he was at it. He’ll end up with a CJ’ish dash.

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The boy is back in school and football. That limits the Jeep time, but he is ready to go when we have time.

He had a good time tearing down the motor before the machine shop.

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A little progress. He dropped the old tank, cleaned it up and mounted it with a new skid.

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I was thinking the same thing… I was like damn I would be working out with grinding dust and shards stuck in me if I had a gym in my garage.
 
Ha, thanks. We have been doing to messy stuff outside or in the barn. Pain in ass for sure. This spring we are looking to do an ag building which I won’t worry about making a mess in.
 
As a process guy, yer driving me nuts: You painted the frame, then hacked it, then welded to it... :flipoff2:

Love the project. I've had a few with my kids. Most are gone these days.
 
Thanks! If I had stuck to the original plan it would have went in line. I have a hard time leaving things alone.
 
Badass. I "built" a 91 YJ with my dad when I was in HS. Great memories for sure, and that project help steer me where I am today. Good job!:beer:
 
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