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| The Vortec V8 engines have become a very popular conversion into the later Jeeps. After David Herrera heard of the ones we had previously done, he decided that he wanted one installed into his 1982 CJ 7. He was also able to see the final results in one (the CJ on the Home Page of Pomonagear.com) we did for Sam (the owner of Pomona Gear and Axle Repair). So Pomona Gear and Axle Repair and Hicks 4x4 joined forces to do this project. | |
| David's Jeep came originally with the 4.2 six cylinder and T 5 transmission. He has the Dana 44 in the rear and the Dana 30 up front with 4.56 gears. He has 33" tall tires and Detroit Lockers front and rear. He had the combination for some good 4 wheeling except for the horse power. |
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| The first thing was to get the engine and transmission. Since he had the overdrive in the T 5 he also wanted one in the new package. We picked up the package from West Coast Auto Parts in Montclair, Ca. We got the Vortec 5.3 engine, 4L60E automatic transmission, stock wiring loom for the engine and computer. Tony was very helpful to make sure that we had everything we needed to do the job. Since West Coast Auto Parts only deals in late model vehicles we were assured that we got a very low mileage engine and transmission. | |
| Now that we have the engine in hand we can start ordering the rest of the parts needed to install the engine and transmission. The first thing we did was to ship the computer and wire loom to Fuel Injection Specialist in San Antonio, TX. They modified the wire loom and reprogrammed the computer. When we got the loom back we only had to hook up 4 wires. The rest of the connections plugged into the original sensors on the engine and transmission. |
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| While we waited for the return of the loom and computer, we ordered the rest of the parts we need to do the installation. This way we had everything we need before we even pulled the stock engine and transmission. We ordered the motor mounts and adapter from Advance Adapters in Paso Robles, CA. We also decided to order a larger radiator with the GM off set inlet and outlet. 1-800-RADIATOR had one available that bolts right in with more cores than the stock one. Since we were changing from a standard transmission to an automatic we ordered a heavy duty Hayden transmission cooler and B&M shifter and to make sure the Jeep ran cool we also got a TorqFlow electric fan. These were all available from your local big chain parts stores (Auto Zone Kragen or Pep Boys). They also had available the K&N filter we were able to use on the stock M.A.F.sensor. The high pressure fuel pump had to be ordered from one of the larger independent parts houses that carried A/C Delco or Delphi. The last thing we had to order was the EVAP Canister Vent Valve Solenoid and a throttle cable from a later model C1500. Those had to be ordered from the local GM dealer. | |
| Once we had everything in hand we were ready to start removing the stock engine, transmission and transfer case as a package. To make it easier we pulled the grill and fenders. We disconnected the wire harness from the firewall and removed it with the engine package. With the engine out of the way we could now remove the stock motor mounts off of the frame. Since they were bolted in we were able to use the top front holes to bolt the new ones temporarily in place. This gave use the position we wanted for clearance at the back of the engine. Once the engine was out we could isolate the wires we wanted to reuse. The wires included water temperature, oil pressure, starter solenoid, switch wires from transmission and transfer case, main power source and keyed power source. All the other wires we needed were in the modified Vortec wire loom. The next thing was to adapt the two stock sending units to the Vortec engine. For the water temperature sending unit we drilled and taped an existing hole in the passenger side head and for the oil pressure sending unit we ran a tee off of the stock Vortec sending unit. We also took the time to reroute the fuel line up and toward the center of the firewall. This made it easier to connect the fuel line to the engine because the fuel rail connects toward the rear of the engine. | |
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