Third time is a charm

Bierpower

Bierpower

Hooked
I figure it's time to start another build thread for the new jeep. I've had it a bout a year now. Feb 18 2020, a lady slid through an intersection in the snow and it ended up totaling the jeep 13 months after my first engine swap. Luckily things worked out and I'm now in a much newer setup with a better drivetrain to swap in.
 
Here's a look back to last year when I got the jeep. The dealer was going to send the jeep out for wholesale so it had some things that needed attention.
The worst of all was the tires. The were worn pretty uneven and nearly to the belts. It needed brakes as well and then they gave me a long list of engine issues that it had.
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It was really the perfect candidate to replace the old yellow jeep.
With all the covid scare they came and dropped the jeep off at my house. I had to take it up to the neighbors to make sure the lockers and sway bar were functioning properly.
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It had a few dings and dents so I decided to refresh some body work knowledge since it was going under the corner armor anyway.
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I had the Evo corner armor and rear shackle mounts from the old jeep so I threw them on the first weekend I had some time.
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Since then it has mostly just been my 4wd vehicle for snowy days, until now...
 
A few weeks back I got my engine swap kit ordered from MOTECH. Last week the hardware came in and I set aside this Saturday to dive in and get some horsepower back in my life.
jlbanzet came over for the day and helped me turn some wrenches.
We started by pulling the engine and engine hoist out of the shed and pulling the jeep inside.
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It was a bit of a slow start but we got the grill pulled and fluids draining in about an hour. We spent a good amount of time getting tools together and cleaning some things up.
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At that point jlbanzet crawled under and started pulling driveshafts while I pulled wiring and got the front clip off.
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From here we pulled all the wiring around the engine and pulled the transfer case.
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From there it was a lot of connections in tight places and once we got everything unhooked jlbanzet had to take off because he promised his wife dinner (I may need help again at some point so I figured it was better to make sure he made that one). The pictures got less frequent because I was working by myself at this point so it was major milestones.
I got the engine and trans pulled out of the frame.
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Then I pulled the remainder of the factory exhaust and pushed it outside to clean it. In hind sight we should have hosed it off before starting but it was a day full of sand in eyes and gravel racing down frome everywhere.
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Hopefully tomorrow I can get the new engine set in and get some thing cleaned up while I wait to get all of the electrical components from MOTECH.
 
bmkrinne said:
This is cool! Pretty awesome you’re doing the swap yourself!!! What year is it?
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The jeep is a 2015 hard rock. The new drivetrain is a 2019 L86/10 speed. Should end up real similar to what Moby is running right now.
WJCO said:
Nice, man. Glad you were able to get going on it.
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Ddays said:
Looks like a nice project going on (y)
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Feels good to make some progress. I got the engine and the jeep around the same time. About a month ago my Google popped up with a one year ago album and it was pictures of the day I got the engine. I don't like the idea of that engine sitting around not running so I ordered the kit the following week.
Elroy231 said:
Good accomplishment so far. Excited to see where the build ends up.
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It'll likely be a little slow going after this but one big box will be checked off the build list.
 
Got the new setup dropped in today. It was a bit of a process by myself but not too bad. I was able to get the engine about halfway in and set it on a cross member after I put the jack under the tail of the transmission. After that I hooked the engine hoist to the front of the engine. This setup gave me more independent control of the front and rear heights.
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After a bit of jiggling and making adjustments I decided that it would be beneficial to remove the intake as it was hitting the firewall but I still needed to go up to get on the engine mounts. Once that was off it went into place fairly easily.
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Once the front was in I threw the transmission cross member back in and the jeep was freestanding again.
I'm going to ask MOTECH about the intake. I tried to set it back in the valley but it was hitting the firewall. After giving up on that and cleaning some things up I noticed the engine had come back a couple inches so I may be able to pull it forward and use that intake. Worst case I'll just get a LT1 intake like Moby and call it a day.

Anybody who has ordered an atlas, do they offer any other shipping if you call and make the order? I was looking online and they only offer 3 day shipping for $500.
 
Bierpower said:
Got the new setup dropped in today. It was a bit of a process by myself but not too bad. I was able to get the engine about halfway in and set it on a cross member after I put the jack under the tail of the transmission. After that I hooked the engine hoist to the front of the engine. This setup gave me more independent control of the front and rear heights.
View attachment 364162
After a bit of jiggling and making adjustments I decided that it would be beneficial to remove the intake as it was hitting the firewall but I still needed to go up to get on the engine mounts. Once that was off it went into place fairly easily.
View attachment 364163
Once the front was in I threw the transmission cross member back in and the jeep was freestanding again.
I'm going to ask MOTECH about the intake. I tried to set it back in the valley but it was hitting the firewall. After giving up on that and cleaning some things up I noticed the engine had come back a couple inches so I may be able to pull it forward and use that intake. Worst case I'll just get a LT1 intake like Moby and call it a day.

Anybody who has ordered an atlas, do they offer any other shipping if you call and make the order? I was looking online and they only offer 3 day shipping for $500.
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It’s been awhile since I ordered mine, but I did order it on the phone and I’m sure the shipping wasn’t $500. I’d give them a call.

I can’t believe you were able to muscle that thing in there by yourself! Progress!
 
wjtstudios said:
It’s been awhile since I ordered mine, but I did order it on the phone and I’m sure the shipping wasn’t $500. I’d give them a call.
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I'll probably call them this afternoon. I couldn't believe that 3 day express for $500 is the only shipping they offer.

wjtstudios said:
I can’t believe you were able to muscle that thing in there by yourself! Progress!
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It wasn't easy but with a little time and some round about thinking it was too bad. Definitely tight but it fits.
 
A few minor updates. Talked to Motech and Robbie said they can get the L86 intake to fit it just takes some work.

Also called advance adapters and shipping is not $500. They know about the issue with the website and shipping is somewhere around $100. On a side note, they said late October for an atlas build so I got a cheapo T/C to make it through the summer.

Next thing to figure out is going to be the exhaust.
 
Bierpower said:
A few minor updates. Talked to Motech and Robbie said they can get the L86 intake to fit it just takes some work.

Also called advance adapters and shipping is not $500. They know about the issue with the website and shipping is somewhere around $100. On a side note, they said late October for an atlas build so I got a cheapo T/C to make it through the summer.

Next thing to figure out is going to be the exhaust.
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That sounds about right, even in normal times, it took a couple months to get my atlas
 
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