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I thought some of you might be interested in my project. After getting a quarter million miles out of my AMC 360 (at 10-11 MPG!) I decided it was time to finally begin converting it to my dream rig with a Cummins diesel. After a sordid history of Jeep projects over the past 20 years, and a number of them that I was in WAY over my head, I opted to find the right guy for the job this time and pay someone to do it the way that it should be done, so I don't look back with regret at all the little things I wish I would have done differently.
I tracked down an incredible guy named Aaron Reeves (www.aaronreevesgarage.com), who has a diesel swap business down in Mabank, and after a few conversations back and forth it became abundantly clear that he was the right guy for the job. I am not sure that I have ever spoken to someone how is more enthusiastic and passionate about their job. Since he has had my rig, he has treated it like it's his own, has been really amazing to deal with, and I really can't say enough about him.
As he and I worked out the initial details of the swap beforehand, we ultimately decided to try to keep some of the stock equipment in tact, keeping the stock NP229 transfer case right where it is and building forward. The Grand Wagoneer comes with a TF727 3 speed auto. Unfortunately, getting that to bolt to the 4BT was going to be an effort that wouldn't be worth the cost. After doing a little research, I found that some Dodge trucks came with a Dodge version of the TF727 as well, and specifically a diesel version with proper shift points in some of the old D300 trucks. If we take the front half of it, it will bolt up just right to the 4BT with a Dodge adapter, and by swapping out the tailshaft with the AMC TF727 I can still bolt directly to the 229. Cool huh?
So, I found a guy in California parting out a military D300 that had 24K on it.
I found a donor transmission from a military rig that had 24K on it. As luck would have it, he was selling other parts to a guy that was about to drive to OKC. For a hundred bucks, the guy took it up there and I drove the 3 hours up to pick it up. On top of 250 for the transmission, I think I came out pretty good on it.
The next step was acquiring the engine itself. I met a guy on the 4btswaps.com forum that had a few engines and I put a down payment on a complete engine, from radiator to transmission, with all accessories. This coming Monday (1/31), Aaron Reeves and I are going to drive up there to pick it up from him.
I dropped the Jeep off at Aaron's shop last Sunday (1/23). He started by sending it directly to the car wash on Monday morning.
Making things that looked like this:
look like this:
Once it was a little less miserable to work on, he created this video: YouTube - Jeep Diesels - 1986 Jeep Wagoneer Jeep Diesel Conversions. He is documenting the whole swap with pics and video, so I will have lots of goodies to share along the way.
Next, he began the task of labeling and taking notes on all of the wiring. And then, he began disassembly:
He sent me these pics late last night. Very exciting to see the progress!
On Monday, Aaron and I are driving up to Tulsa to pick up my new engine, so look for pics of that soon. That's all I have for now. I believe he is pulling the engine today, so perhaps I will have more to share later.
I tracked down an incredible guy named Aaron Reeves (www.aaronreevesgarage.com), who has a diesel swap business down in Mabank, and after a few conversations back and forth it became abundantly clear that he was the right guy for the job. I am not sure that I have ever spoken to someone how is more enthusiastic and passionate about their job. Since he has had my rig, he has treated it like it's his own, has been really amazing to deal with, and I really can't say enough about him.
As he and I worked out the initial details of the swap beforehand, we ultimately decided to try to keep some of the stock equipment in tact, keeping the stock NP229 transfer case right where it is and building forward. The Grand Wagoneer comes with a TF727 3 speed auto. Unfortunately, getting that to bolt to the 4BT was going to be an effort that wouldn't be worth the cost. After doing a little research, I found that some Dodge trucks came with a Dodge version of the TF727 as well, and specifically a diesel version with proper shift points in some of the old D300 trucks. If we take the front half of it, it will bolt up just right to the 4BT with a Dodge adapter, and by swapping out the tailshaft with the AMC TF727 I can still bolt directly to the 229. Cool huh?
So, I found a guy in California parting out a military D300 that had 24K on it.
I found a donor transmission from a military rig that had 24K on it. As luck would have it, he was selling other parts to a guy that was about to drive to OKC. For a hundred bucks, the guy took it up there and I drove the 3 hours up to pick it up. On top of 250 for the transmission, I think I came out pretty good on it.
The next step was acquiring the engine itself. I met a guy on the 4btswaps.com forum that had a few engines and I put a down payment on a complete engine, from radiator to transmission, with all accessories. This coming Monday (1/31), Aaron Reeves and I are going to drive up there to pick it up from him.
I dropped the Jeep off at Aaron's shop last Sunday (1/23). He started by sending it directly to the car wash on Monday morning.
Making things that looked like this:
look like this:
Once it was a little less miserable to work on, he created this video: YouTube - Jeep Diesels - 1986 Jeep Wagoneer Jeep Diesel Conversions. He is documenting the whole swap with pics and video, so I will have lots of goodies to share along the way.
Next, he began the task of labeling and taking notes on all of the wiring. And then, he began disassembly:
He sent me these pics late last night. Very exciting to see the progress!
On Monday, Aaron and I are driving up to Tulsa to pick up my new engine, so look for pics of that soon. That's all I have for now. I believe he is pulling the engine today, so perhaps I will have more to share later.
He has kept me very updated with txt messages and pics, so even though it's 1:40 away from me, I don't feel completely disconnected from the process.
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