Dave's 76 Cherokee

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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

Post by 243 »

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1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

Post by 243 »

Downpipe clearance should be fine but I do need the LS3 manifolds.


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1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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Removed engine, I wonder how many times this will be needed?

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1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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Jeep guys are not the only group that hates Torx bolts, apparently the GM crowd hates them too. The 4L60 bellhousing bolts are a known problem and after cracking a few loose I tried to drill one with a freshly sharpened bit and they are HARD! I did not have the correct T50P so I used a T50 until the bolts stripped and then grabbed the welder, it took about 45 minutes but the remaining 4 gave up.

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1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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The LS3 manifolds arrived today, I think they will work perfect! They tuck in tight and dump straight down so there won't be interference with the firewall or frame. The outlets are only ~2.125 but that is good for 460hp in a stock Camaro or Vette so it outta be good for a 295hp LS1 in a rusty Jeep

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1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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az chip
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

Post by az chip »

Getting there! Looks like the original AMC manifolds the way they turn like that.
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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az chip
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

Post by az chip »

That is looking really good. Looks like a lot of time on that wiring. That main bearing being exposed a check or replace? Doesn't look bad on the computer. Knock sensor install is a good idea while torn down. What is the green switch for?
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.

cmaje72
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

Post by cmaje72 »

Judging by the wiring I see you are following the same instructions I did. Lookin good!
79 Cherokee 5.3/4l65E/NP241C
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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Last edited by 243 on Thu Aug 30, 2018 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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toothofwar
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

Post by toothofwar »

If it's any consolation, I can see about 90%of the photos. Just finished reading the thread, and I'm following closely. Also, I might have a 3 piece bumper that the center is good in of you are interested.

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jaber
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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I have switched over to using a smart phone to upload to the Tapatalk app. I can upload them directly to my post, and then copy from there to post the same pics to IFSJA. It eliminates the need for pic hosting...
Jeff

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'75 J-20 Cummins service truck
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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Guy's, thanks for the update, I don't know why I can't see my own images since it's a free service so maybe it's my router, virus protection or router. I see them on Flickr and cut and paste the link in my browser and the message is something like "blocked by Flickr".
1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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A few updates,

I have not touched the 360, I really need to put it together or sell it and the TBI system and move on.

Anyhow, I have been distracted for a long time on the house, yard, shooting and really, everything but the Jeep. The transmission is the spoke in the wheel, I need to get it back on the engine to work on the crossmember, I need the xfer case on the transmission and brake cables installed to build the exhaust. There are some odds and ends I can do but found no motivation to continue, like install the front inner axles seals so that I can install the differential and reassemble the front axles and brakes, replace the rear pinion seal and brakes...the list goes on.

And it's hot, we had a nice spring but summer rolled in hard and it was over a hundred for a while.

This is where I stopped, the 4L60 has been sitting on the welding bench since April of last year, all that I accomplished is removing the fugg'n bellhousing torx bolts.

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I started thinking that it would take about 1,400.00 to install a mini-split in the garage and that would create another *project* and I could buy a transmission and torque converter for that stack of bills so I got a wild hair, I decided to bring the transmission into the house. I didn't want a mess either but had a plan in my head, and when I shift into gear I can chit and get. Left the office Thursday and bought one 45.00 folding table from Lowe's, another drip tray from O'Reillys and a canvas tarp from Harbor Freight, having a stack of cardboard handy and the diningshop was ready to go in an hour. The shop is 68 degrees, good light, five steps from the fridge full of Shiner and a big screen visible along with the laptop.

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Took the pan and valve body off outside to minimize the oil in the drip trays and had the sub-assemblies out before dark. I needed compressed air to pop out some gizmo in the bottom of the case and did that yesterday after getting off work.

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I won't pretend to know what i am doing or even the name of a lot of the parts but there are tons of videos and information on the 'net. It has not been bad so far, I am cleaning as I go using a bucket of mineral spirits and inspecting parts for wear. This is not a how to, just throwing up some photos to track where I am at.

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The 5.3 has about 180K and I was planning to replace everything in the trans with some upgrades but it sure is clean inside and appears to be rebuilt and fairly recently. I am checking the thickness on the clutches as I go and none of the steels have heat marks, I have found no bushing wear surfaces with ridges, the sun gear teeth are sharp, the roller bearing and little gears in the other gizmos are not wiggling much if at all. The reverse drum is not concave or heat marked from the band. I have read to always replace the sun shell but this appears almost new but I may do it anyway. I will likely order parts this week and start the rebuild soon after.
1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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I found a video online of a guy starting an LS on a stand using an un-modified factory harness and a co-worker just happened to buy a 5.3 this past Sunday and plans to use FiTech. I offered 150.00 for the harness and ECM and he gave me the airbox and MAF in the deal so I have some spare parts.

He was not sure it was a 5.3 like he was told so I used the bench harness I made a year ago and scanned the ECM, the bad news is he was sold a 4.8 and I am pretty sure the seller knew it.

However, I picked up the harness on Thursday and my coworker could not get the clip off the TB so he yanked it off, I was able to repair one wire and re-pin the rest and then found it has different injector plugs. Not a problem because the adapters are cheap from Amazon.

But I did find some motivation after getting the spare harness and worked on the engine. I installed the rear seal, flywheel and pulled the exhaust manifolds back off the heads. Found good quality M8x1.5 bolts (didn't buy enough), a drill powered pump to prime the oil pump but didn't find the metric fittings to hook up the pump and temporary oil pressure gauge, Amazon to the rescue!

I started cleaning up the head and remembered I had two broken exhaust bolts. This turned out to be butt-pinching ordeal that took a few hours and multiple trips to Home Depot to repair. I first tried to weld a nut to the broken bolt that was flush to the head. That didn't work and I air quenched it and believe that caused it to harden. I could not center punch the bolt with a mini-sledge.

So I went to HD and bought Colbalt bits and an ez-out. The first bit, I believe 1/8" would not even mark the bolt. So I searched online and found on Practical Machinist that heating the bolt would soften it so I grabbed the propane torch and tried for a half hour and broke the 1/8" bit. Went back to HD for another 1/8" bit and it would not mark the bolt after heating again with the propane torch.

So then I fired up the O/A and heated it up again, I was really concerned about damaging the aluminum but either I get the damn bolt out or I have to pull the head and take it too a machine shop. I heated the piss out of the bolt and grabbed the next size bit and the largest recommended for the ez-out. And it started cutting, it cut good with a long stream of steel but it cut slow. And the ez-out would not grab so I started drilling with the 1/8" bit to deepen the hole until "crack", I broke the second bit as it reached the end of the bolt.

Fortunately the ez-out grabbed but I was sure it was going to break, so I heated the aluminum with the propane torch and the bolt finally moved and eventually I removed the bolt. I believe this took about three hours and about a half hour for the other bolt that was not hardened by welding heat.

I spent a little more time gasket matching the exhaust ports that may be a waste of time and may not even be recommended but there was a good 1/8-3/16" of metal that needed to go.

I have some bits and pieces ordered from Amazon and on the way and need to pick up some more bolts on Tuesday. I did find Ace Bolt and that place turned out to be a garage mechanics "gold mine", so much that I can use in one location.

Today I am pulling the Blazer tank from the Cherokee so see what I need to use it for the test run. I used nylon hose and quick connects to connect steel lines to the fuel pump module but I need to do something similar to connect it to the LS.

I would like to run it long enough to log data on HPT so I am working on the cooling. I have read not to run the water pump without water and guess what, I chunked the Yukon radiator and evaporator after tripping over for a year :(

Maybe I can make the Cherokee radiator work.

My goal is to determine if my "re-flash" is successful. It it is, if the engine won't start using my modified harness that will point to my harness as being the problem.

I will also order the transmission parts this weekend and hope to finish at least the guts next weekend even if the pump and valve body take additional time.

And last, I was originally going to buy LS3 exhaust flanges to mate up to the LS3 manifolds but someone on LS1Tech suggested welding v-bands to the manifolds. I changed my mind again and want to buy the flanges and use the factory gaskets, they are expensive but tested and work so that is on my list for the upcoming week.
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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What a long but fun weekend!


Pulled the tank out the Cherokee and cleaned it inside and out, took the 4.3 Blazer fuel pump module to OReilly's and compared it to a 5.7 Tahoe module and the Tahoe will fit if I need more fuel pressure and flow.

Put the tank on the frame and used the nylon line and quick disconnects from the Cherokee to hook to the 5.3 and E85 sensor that I think I need to make it run.

Check fuel pressure and it's good for now.

Finished gasket matching the exhaust manifolds and mounted both.

Installed the factory harness.

Cleaned up and installed the knock sensors and harness, they were working so I am using them for the test run.

Mounted the intake.

Hooked up the battery cables.

Mounted the throttle pedal.

Bought a fire extinguisher.


As far as I know I need the following to make it run:

Install hot wire to starter.

Run wire from ECM to E85 sensor.

Connect two wires to the factory fuse block.

Find the ECM and plug it in.

Install three bolts on the exhaust manifolds, I didn't buy enough Friday.

Prime the oil pump. (Waiting on Amazon)

Hook up the oil pressure test gauge. (Waiting on Amazon)

Install both coil packs, waiting until I prime the oil pump so I can pull the valve covers to verify they get oil.

Install several grounds.
1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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I want to run it long enough to log data so I will be looking at cooling options and most likely fab a temporary pair of exhaust flange plates and use gasket material to seal them. I have the exhaust stubs from the Yukon with O2 sensors so I will use those without mufflers.

It looks messy but it's better than it appears in the photo.

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1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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Amazon came through with three of the parts, but I ordered the wrong injector connector adapters, I ordered pigtails last night that will work. I installed the oil pressure sending unit adapter and fabbed some exhaust flanges and welded those to the Yukon exhaust stubs.

I am waiting one Ebay part, a metric threaded hose barb fitting that should be here Friday so I have time to finish off the other odds and ends.

I have not had time to order the transmission parts but I will get to it sometime this week.
1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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Flashback to February 2018..........

I woke up this morning at 5:00, grabbed some coffee and turned on FOX Business (Fox News irritates me) and out of the blue I think hard about pulling the 360 and doing a down and dirty rebuild limited to rings, bearings and gaskets. It still starts and runs but sitting in the driveway isn't good and it will be a while before I have the rolling chassis ready for a body swap. A Federal Mogul kit will run 245.00, probably more if the bearing and bore size I need are not available in a kit. Of course I will need to have the crank turned and polished so I figure when it's all done I will spend 500.00 but have a roadworthy Jeep. I have what I need in the garage ready to go including a hoist, engine stand, cylinder hone and of course, all the other tools and should be able to knock it out in a few weekends.

The safety inspection and tags expire in October but I am still paying for insurance.

Stay tuned ;)
Last edited by 243 on Tue Sep 04, 2018 4:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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Re: Dave's 76 Cherokee

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I should know by experience that every time I go shoot on a weekday (working in higher education has it's perks...Spring Break :D) I need to call first. I was up at 5:00, at the range at 7:50 and they open at noon on Tuesday :facepalm:

Jim, repairing the 360 is temporary, I will finish the 5.3/4L60 swap but it will just take longer than I anticipated and I hate to have the Jeep sitting, I enjoy driving it!

I don't know if the engine would even sell in the current condition but running and with the TBI I should be able to recover most of the rebuild cost and move it quicker.

Deja vu????

For those that were not around for my CJ build, about 4.5 out of 5 years of work occurred under this canopy with a few replacement tarps along the way. I should have ordered the low profile fittings but it is what it is now. I did cut the legs from 7-6" to 6'-2" and I still won't bump my head. At my old house the wind blew the canopy around several feet in every direction and it was very annoying, so I found some PVC caps that fit the 1" conduit and used some concrete anchors to secure the caps to the concrete. And being anal about some stuff, I leveled the tarp so it looks like it was put up by an educated hillbilly :D

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So I raised the hood at 8:30 and by 10:00 have the topside ready to pull the engine, I will do the down and dirty stuff later this afternoon.

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1978 Cherokee NT, 5.3/4L60/NP241 in Progress
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