I started my 5.7 hemi swap the other night. Tonight I divorced the body from frame. I've been taking my time making sure it's done right. I'll keep posting up more pics and info as I go along. I'm not sure how long it'll take but hopefully it won't take me longer than a week or so to finish.

Background: I studied various swaps for months. Had I gone with the 6.1, Burnsville's kit is the way to go. You can run 6.1 headers with it, which is the biggest advantage over the AEV kit. I got a good deal on a 5.7 so I decided to use the AEV kit. It will allow me to do everything at home. No messing with fabbing an exhaust either. I won't have to customize any of the factory lines as I would with the Burnsville kit. In my opinion, if you're using the 5.7, go AEV. 6.1 use BOR's kit.

Donor Drivetrain: I'm using an 08 Commander engine/trans with only a few thousand miles on the odometer. I got a two year warranty with the engine so I think it was a good deal. AEV's kit requires that you change the 4wd adapter that's on the back of the transmission. It's roughly a $60 part so no big deal. Some words of advice, if you're buying a donor engine/trans, try to get it with everything...motor mounts, acc's, belt, O2 sensors, etc. I had to buy a few odds and ends but if you're using the 5.7 you will need the 6.1L power steering pump regardless of which kit you utilize. You'll need the upstream O2 sensors from your JK's engine. These will go in the downstream location. Upstream O2 sensors from the donor engine stay in the upstream position.

Divorcing the body/frame: It's really a pretty straight forward process however, there are a few tips you'll need to know in order to make it go smoothly. The gas tank lines can be tricky. Lay under the vehicle and near the evap canister is a handy spot to undo the main filler hose. It's held on with hose clamps only. The vent line is a bit trickier. There's a white plastic retainer on the top of the vent line (you won't see it when you're laying down but if you look at the union where you disconnected the main filler hose, you'll be in the right vicinity). Compress the line there with your fingers and it should slide apart. The tranny and t-case shifter cables just pop off the ball mount. Be careful, the nylon insert in the t-case cable broke when I pulled it apart. I'm not sure where I'll find a replacement for that. I haven't looked yet.
Unfortunately, AEV doesn't give much in the way of directions or pictures for you to figure out exactly how to take things apart. It's kind of assumed that you'll know what they're referring to. It wasn't a big deal but with some of the electrical/computer connections, I was fuzzy. Believe me, you'll figure it out real fast when you attempt to yank the body off. I missed one but caught it during one of my inspections when I was lifting the body.
The transmission cooler lines can be cut b/c you won't be using those again. Getting them undone is a b1tch anyway. They aren't worth saving. If you have wiring for a trailer hitch, you'll need to disconnect that too. Undo the driver's side tail light and you'll find the connectors in there. Here's a picture of where the wiring is attached to the frame with a "tree" (i.e. electrical body connector). Aside from that, just take your time.


If you have trailer tow, undo the tail light and disconnect all connectors here.


Here's the locations of some not so obvious points to disconnect. Left side of pic shows two points where the ground strap connects. The line that begins around 12o'clock and moves around to the right shows the routing of wiring that needs to be disconnected. Right side circle is the ESP/ABS module. Disconnect the lines going to the frame. As you can see, I disconnected and removed the battery box and air box prior to divorce. Most of the wiring over on the left side of the pic needs to be removed. Most wiring is held together by cam locks so disassembly is easy.


To be continued...

Divorcing the body/frame: It's really your choice in how you want to do it. I have a pretty heavy beam in my garage so I chose to use that. I used 2 ton beam clamps with 2 ton chain connecting them up to a 2 ton hoist. Nothing but the best Chinese made crap of course. I took the front seats out and used two seat bolts to connect chain to the hoist. I used a shop crane (e.g. engine hoist) to lift the back. I slid the shop crane up to the rear bumper and used the rear seat mounting brackets to use as a lifting point. Looking back on it, I could have lifted the entire body using the beam but I was being cautious.

Whatever you do, MAKE SURE YOUR HOIST OR LIFTING POINT IS CENTERED. I was off a bit and it caused the body to tilt. No big deal but it cost me some time resetting it and shifting the chain/hoist. I must've been in a daze or thinking of something else when I made that error. Doh! :shaking:

I put down the top, removed the doors, front seats, spare tire. I was trying to cut down on the weight as much as possible. I am not sure what the body weighed but I'm guesstamating it to be around 1000-1200lbs.

Here's prior to the hoist hookup.


Beginning the lift off.


Higher


Houston, we have separation


Moving the frame into a more convenient place


Body resting on jackstands


Overall impressions so far: I'm still way pumped about the swap. Getting the body off was a big deal for me. I've never removed a body from frame. I've built one hot rod before but this is definitely a major project for me. All in all, after removing the body once, I could do all the prep work again in less than 2 hours. Easy.
I looked at the 7 boxes I received from AEV and I must say that I'm impressed with the quality of the custom pieces. The battery box is sweet and the air box is also very nice. All steel pieces too. The motor mounts were welded with precision. I just hope that my skills can do all of this great stuff justice.

Here's a quick update on the project so far. I had hoped to get a lot of work done this weekend but I came down with the flu and it really goofed up my plans.

Before I got sick I managed to get the 3.8 all prepped to be pulled out. I still need to disconnect the t-case. I also got the battery box and air box in the body. I did the steering shaft modification. Reaching the bolts/nuts in the driver's footwell is a PITA. It just takes a little patience and some creative use of socket extensions/u joints. I also pulled the fan/radiator and condenser.

My next steps are to get the new computer mounted, pull the 3.8 and set the hemi into its new resting place.

Steering shaft mod all done.


Battery box/air box all mounted




Don't forget the purge valve


You'll need these clips from the old airbox


I didn't see these bolts in my stuff from AEV so I just used some from my stock.


I wasn't sure where to use the rubber isolators from the old airbox so I chose to use them in these spots:
Airbox:


Battery box inner fender mount


Battery box top fender mount

Well, I got a little more work in this evening.

I got the 6.1L power steering pump mounted, removed the 4wd adapter and replaced it with the ram version, mounted the 5.7L hemi engine controller, put together the condenser, radiator, coolant bottle assembly and I also removed the 3.8 engine/trans and the whole exhaust system.

Here's some pics.

New engine controller


Removed the 4wd adapter


Install a new seal into adapter and then install new adaptor using blue rtv around the edge to create a nice seal.


AEV must presume that the stock radiator hardware is reusable. It is not. You'll need about eight 1/4x20x3/4 bolts to reassemble. Here's a pic of the stock screw.


One stock engine coming out!




Engine-less






Finishing off the day in true Texas fashion

dammit, i missing out on all the fun. gotta get out there this weekend

Come on out bud! I hope to slide the engine into position and mate it back up soon.

On that note, anyone have any car dollies that I can borrow? I would like to use them to reposition the frame under the body.

That's so freaking cool I can barely stand it.

Ok lets all go out there this weekend then!

You guys are all welcome to come on out this weekend. I plan to get a lot of stuff done on Sat/Sun.

So far I've gotten the motor mounts cut/ground out and then I got the new mounts welded in this evening. I need to go back and clean up the welds and weld in the tranny mounting plates too. I should be all done with that tomorrow night. Then it's onto installing the motor/trans, t-case, exhaust, etc.

Here's what I did tonight.

This is way cool. My wife would flip if she saw her Jeep in that state!!!
Can't wait to see the finished product in person.

No, that should be just fine.

To anyone planning to come out, I hope to finish all the welding, cleaning and painting tonight. I hope to install the hemi on Friday and then work on all the other stuff this weekend.

If anyone has car dollies (the kind that go under the tires to move the vehicle around a shop), please let me know. I would like to borrow them this weekend.

The mounts are in and painted. I'm going back out to slide the hemi, trans and tcase into the frame. I took lots of pics of the mounts for anyone that may need them for reference later. :beer:

















Cooling Module: Cut a few inches off the top cover to clear the radiator cap.

Don't make fun of my work boots.

THE HEMI IS IN!!!! YEEEHAWWW!!! Happy as hell!

I had some ol' boys I know come by at just the right time and give me a hand. It woud've been a b!tch without them.

Exhaust is done.

More reference pics for anyone who might need them.

The body is back on!

Now I've got to finish up the a/c lines, electrical lines for the body, shift linkage, parking brake cables, some hoses and then it'll be ready to fire up. Here are some pics from the action yesterday. Fortunately I had a neighbor, Potlickinpirate and one of his buddies drop by to give me a hand when we married the body/frame.

I'm so close now!

My neighbor keeping an eye on the brake lines, etc.


We lowered the back down first to get a couple body bolts in place.


We used the engine hoist to assist.


Me putting in body bolts.


It's good to have friends with strong backs! Potlickinpirate mentioned something about strong backs and weak minds but I won't go there! lol.


Careful with the hood




All in place. I can't wait to hear that exhaust!

Make sure you secure the steering wheel so you don't break the clock spring.


Finishing off the day right. A Cuban cigar with a vodka chaser.


She has a little more rake to the front but not too bad. I think I'll install the 3/4" spacers with the kit.


One more post with more reference pics coming up.

Ok, onto some tech stuff.

These little suckers are what hold your hard lines in place (e.g. transmission lines). To remove them, use a thin blade screwdriver to slowly pop them out. Cover your hand over the clip so it doesn't fly away. You'll need to keep these for the new lines.


AEV's directions tell you to cut off the rubber portion of the new transmission lines as show. Well, there's no pic in the directions. However, it's pretty easy to figure out.

Here's a pic of the cutoff rubber section. It's held onto the hard line with a crimp fitting.


Just make a cut immediately behind the crimp fitting and use a flare tool to reflare the ends. Clean out any burrs or metal fragments in the lines. The finished lines will look like this.


Reinstall and reinsert the clips.