Jeep Wrangler diesel swap

[arveetek]

Hey guys!

I'm looking for a Jeep Wrangler to swap one of my 6.2L's into. I'm not schooled much on Jeeps, so I was wondering if ya'll could point me in the right direction to a good Jeep forum, or tell me what year Wrangler would be the best candidate to make installing the Chevy motor into real easy. I know certain years of Jeeps had Chevy drivetrains, but I'm not sure which. I'd prefer a Jeep with a 5 speed that I could mate the 6.2L to, whether directly or with some adapter.

Any info would be much appreciated!

Casey

[JeepSJ]

Well sir, I am here to help.

What year Wrangler? Do you want a Wrangler specifically, or are you looking at CJs also? If you are looking at Wranglers, do you want a YJ or a TJ? The only CJ that had a GM engine was the 80-81 with the 4 cyl. It used the Pontiac Iron Duke, which just happens to have the Chevy/GM bellhousing pattern, not the typical BOP pattern. No Wrangler (YJ or TJ) ever came with a GM engine.

The Jeep 5 speeds sucked. The best is the very late model NV3500, but even that will be marginal. Swap in a NV4500 with the engine and you will be happier. There are aftermarket mounts for GM engines into just about any year Jeep frame (CJ/YJ/TJ), and adapters to use stock Jeep trans or adapters to mate darn near any trans to a Jeep transfer case.

So, what do you want to do?

A good Jeep board for CJ/YJ/TJ is www. jeepsunlimited.com. Avoid the forums at jeepforums.com and pirate4x4.com.

Any other questions, ask away...

[HH]

This forum has some info on diesel Jeep swaps - http://messages.jeep2diesel.org/

Another plan is, you could look for a Wrangler, or CJ7 someone has conveerted over to a Chevy SB. Then the hard work is done and you can swap out the SB for a 6.2/6.5 diesel, it is pretty much a bolt in then. I have thought about the same swap.

[Robyn]

Local fellow here a few years ago had a wrangler that he got with a dead engine.
It came with the 6 and he stuffed in a 5.7 olds diesel. The little beastie ran right along and got great mileage.
Swapping in the 6.2 will need a little help in the front spring Department though as the diesel is HEAVY.
Another area of concern is the radiator. The deisel needs a huge radiator to cool it and the little jeep unit is not gonna cut it. Even a radiator that will cool a 350 gasser will fall far short of the task.
Do some exploring as to the amount of room you have in the core support area to stuff in a Blazer diesel radiator.
I am faced with this same issue on my Hummer Kit rig. My solution is to run a rear auxilliary radiator up over the rear axle with an electric fan. The jeep is so small Im not sure on any of these issues. My daughter had a 2000 wrangler with a 6 but I cant remember much about it as I hardly ever drove it.
Good luck
Sounds like fun
Robyn

[arveetek]

Thanks for the replies!

Here's what I would like to end up with, except with a diesel:

Ebay auction.

I missed out on this auction, but this would have been perfect, already had a Chevy V8...would have been an easy swap.

Like I said, I'm not schooled on Jeeps yet, but that body style is what I'm after....I saw a nice Jeep just like this one at the 2001 Rendezvous, only it was yellow. I don't remember who owned it, but it had a 6.5L diesel in it.

I'll check into the other forums, it's much appreciated!

Casey

[arveetek]

Here we go, here's what I intend on doing:

http://www.thedieselpage.com/readers/fleming.htm

This is probably the one I saw in 2001 at the Dayton Rendezvous.

Casey

[arveetek]

Well sir, I am here to help.

What year Wrangler? Do you want a Wrangler specifically, or are you looking at CJs also?

The best is the very late model NV3500, but even that will be marginal. Swap in a NV4500 with the engine and you will be happier.
So, what do you want to do?

Any year Wrangler will be fine, as well as any year CJ7. I'd rather stay away from the CJ5. I'd really rather just swap in the diesel and keep the stock Jeep tranny and TC.

What year model would you suggest? The 80-81 sounds good, since it has stock GM bellhousing, but I don't mind using an adapter. I do want a 5 speed, and not a 4. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Casey

[john8662]

What's this for?

Simply play or something you can make street legal and or a daily driver?

Just curious, I'm game as long as it's got one of those bubbly 6.2/6.5's in it!

J

[arveetek]

What's this for?

Simply play or something you can make street legal and or a daily driver?

J

Yes and yes!

This is project is purely for fun, but also to have something fun to drive to work in nice weather. Instead of a convertible sports car, I'd rather have a convertible truck.....and a Jeep fits that bill nicely! As a secondary reason, it ought to make a great fuel economy project.....light weight with a C model 6.2L.

I don't plan any serious off-roading. It will mostly be used for a fun on-highway vehicle.

Casey

[arveetek]

After doing a little more research, it looks like '87 or later models came stock with the AX 5 speeds. Anything older probably has a 4 speed, or might have had the T5 5 speed. However, I kind of like the CJ7's body style better....hmmm....decisions decisions.

Casey

[JeepSJ]

The lucky ones got the AX-15, the others got some POS Pugeot trans. 80-86 got the SR4 (way crappy 4sp), T4 (somewhat less crappy 4sp), T5 (crappy 5sp) or the T176 (good 4sp). The 87-95 YJ got the AX-15, and the 97-up YJ got the NV3500. Of those, I would only consider the T176 or the NV3500 for the diesel. Keep in mind that the 80-86 had the front diff on the passenger side, while the 87-up had it on the driver's side (same as late model GM). Little known fact is that the 80-87 CJ7 and the 87-95 YJ had nearly identical body tubs (so close in fact, that a lot of CJ owners with rusted tubs swapped in the YJ tubs because they were galvanized and don't rust like the older tubs).

As for the comment about the radiator, I disagree. You are not going to be pulling a 10klb load with it. Any radiator that you can fit in the stock location will be fine.

[HH]

IIRC, you can use the CJ front clip on the 87-95 year Wranglers and have round headlights like a Jeep should have. Go for the CJ7, CJ8, or Wrangler, the CJ5s are tight. Consider an aluminum radiator for added cooling.

[JeepSJ]

IIRC, you can use the CJ front clip on the 87-95 year Wranglers and have round headlights like a Jeep should have.

You can...sort of. The inner fenders, grill, radiator support and front mount are totally different between the CJ and the YJ. Guys have done it, but there is some fab work to be done.

[ThePIGSmith]

Avoid the forums at jeepforums.com and pirate4x4.com.

LOL! By all means, avoid asking questions at pirate4x4.com
It is a very unkind environment to be asking questions.
I am a member there, but I can not remember when the last I logged in and I have never made a posting there.

But, I would like to suggest that searching there, may provide you with some good information.

[arveetek]

Well, I picked up my 'new' Jeep this morning!

I found a sweet '94 Wrangler with only 55,000 miles! It's got the cute little 2.5L 4-cylinder backed by a 5 speed stick, and it looks and runs great! Really, it runs so good, it's a shame to yank the engine out to swap in a diesel. But, it will be quite a while before I have one of my other 6.2L's in running shape....although now I'm thinking a smaller diesel would be even better, like a Cummins 3.9L 4BT or perhaps an Isuzu or Toyota diesel 4 banger.

I'll post some pics soon. It sure is a fun ride!

Casey

[john8662]

Wow!

If you yank the engine and transmission, I know a perfect home for the two of them. Got a '93 in the family that's got close to 200k on it that needs BOTH an engine and transmission...

I like that combination though, backed with the 4.10 gears in the axles.

How much did you pay?

As for the 4BT, they're a little tall and deep...

J

[arveetek]

Wow!


How much did you pay?



J

The owner was asking $5500, but I offered him $4500 cash, and he took it. I was hoping to stay around the $3500 mark, but most everything I found in that price range was pretty well worn out. There was a similar '94 sitting at a dealer's lot, and they were asking $6900. All the cheaper Wranglers were '89 or older and had 150,000 miles or more.

Casey