cummins in a cherokee

[gotmike]

just thought i'd show off mine a bit...

my dad had an old '77 jeep cherokee chief that broke down and sat in a field for quite a while... he was about to the point of hauling it to the crusher when i piped up and asked if he'd just give it to me... it was purchased by his car dealership and the title basically dissolved at the same time as the dealership did... so i had a jeep with not title... and no way to get the title... not without alot of work... so i hatched the plan to get the state of wyoming to issue me a new VIN... use enough donor parts and change the vehicle enough that the original vin would no longer pertain. i had just finished paying off my '92 dodge standard cab, and with the recent addition to my family i really needed a back seat... so i took a week, and merged the two vehicles... 3 VIN inspections, an envelope full of paperwork, and 2 weeks later the state issued me a new vin and an estimated value of the vehicle... so in the space of a month i had taken two vehicles and created one monstrosity unlike much any other vehicle within several hundred miles... fortunately i had use of several welders, an overhead crane, and most any other metalworking tool i could need... i fabricated my own body mounts, and pedal brackets along with a slew of other brackets for the clutch reservior, radiator, air filter housing and toyota bucket seats... i found a fuel tank in a buddy's back yard that fit perfectly between the rails behind the axle, and am now installing an onboard air system...

[TPICherokee]

Very cool! It has been done a few times before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8q4KPP3N2U

and...

[gotmike]

pics

[gotmike]

[gotmike]

[bigun]

Any pictures taken during the swap?

[gotmike]

there were pics taken of almost everything... but my brother changed the batteries in the camera without taking the memory card out... and it fried the card... and all the pics with it...

i started the swap by disassembling both vehicles... i had acess to a crane so it made some things easier... i removed the bed on the truck and then gutted the interiors on both... took the entire dash and steering column out on the jeep and took the column out on the truck as well... i then had to put both columns back in to to keep them moveable... i unbolted the body of the jeep in one complete piece then took the hood off... i left the doors closed and ran one strap completely around the body just behind the doors... i then ran another strap from the middle of the main strap, up through the tranny tunnel and then hooked it to the crane... i was able to pick the entire body off in one piece... that way... and then i just rolled the frame back out the door... at the end of the night i just set the body back on the frame and wheeled the whole thing out... that was the one stipulation my boss made... that i be able to wheel everything out of the way each night... i took some measurements and was able to figure out how much of the frame to cut out...

i cut the frame right in front of the rear axle... on the dodge trucks there is a nice straight section there that was very easy to cut and line back up... i cut the frame at a fairly severe angle to limit the chances of articulation cracking/shearing my welds... i then put a large diamond shaped fish plate on the outside of the frame and welded all four sides around leaving stress reliefs on the very tip... i eventually want to box that section of frame to re-inforce it more... but that will not be easy... my cuts were directly between the two fuel tank cross members so i left them intact to re-inforce the frame itself...

when i made my new body mounts for the jeep body to sit on the dodge frame i set my height with small pieces of metal stacked in to get clearances everywhere i needed them and then took extensive measurements to keep them all the same... i then used an iron worker to notch pieces of 3" channel and bend them over into an L shape and welded the notched parts together...... which i punched a hole in for the body mount itself and bolted them to the "floating" body... when i had all the mounts made and bolted in place i plaz'ed open anyplace where there was an existing rivet in the way and welded them to the frame... i shortened the rear driveline myself too... i just simply cut out the weld and removed the yolk from the shaft and then cut the shaft with our band saw and welded the yolk back in very carefully...

with the dash removed i was able to put the dodge steering column in the jeep body and mount it in place... i was also able to remove the pedal assembly from the dodge and fabricate some brackets to hang them from... i then fitted the clutch master cylinder through the firewall and then the brake booster and master cylinder... i had to build a small bracket for the clutch reservior to bolt to... i used the main dodge wiring harness and re-cut the existing firewall plug hole to accommadate... i took the switch handle out of the jeep light switch and inserted it into the dodge light switch. i bolted the dodge switch to the jeep dash after i put it back in...

to put the radiator back into the jeep i had to cut a little bit out of the top of the front clip and drop it down into the middle space where the factory radiator went... the dodge radiator just uses two rubber feet that drop into punched holes in the dodge body and brackets that cap the same type feet on either side at the top... so i inverted those brackets and welded them to the front crossmember on the dodge frame and them built some tabbed brackets to replace the top brackets on the radiator itself... then all i had to do was bolt the radiator to the body and it was set... the intercooler was a bit more of a challenge... i wanted some fans on the intercooler and had thought of mounting it subaru style up against the hood but there just isn't enough room... so i had to fit it through the grille...

to set the body i had removed the the trans cover and the trans and x-fer case shift levers... i was then able to put some reference marks on the edges of the opening and set the cover back on... then i marked where the levers would come through and cut the openings... at this point i was still sitting on an egg crate for a drivers seat... so i had to fit my toyota seats into place... i had to massage the trans hump a bit on the passenger side to make room for the seat but it was a fairly straightforward install... though the bases are welded in place instead of bolted... more for offroading then for street use...

i cut the bracket for the jeep wiper motor off the firewall and bolted the dodge motor in it's place and the modified the jeep arm slightly to fit on the dodge motor... and bolt up to the jeep assembly... suprisingly there isn't all that much difference in the parts from the dodge to the jeep... since i am usuing the dodge wiper stuff i have intermittent wiper control...

to fit the heater element in behind the turbo downpipe i had to modify the stock housing and put the heater core directly against the firewall... then i used some galvanized sheet metal and made a new cover to direct the air from the factory fan, through the core, and then into the factory heater ducting...

i know there are more details about the swap but it's been a while since i actually did everything...
if i had had more time to spend on things i could have made everything much more finished looking but for having just one week to do all of it and have a running vehicle again i'm pretty happy with the result...

[1977cherokeechief]

is that on the cherokee frame?

[mattmopar440]

What the power like good 0-60 time ????

Yes please post more pics during the process

Thanks matt

[gotmike]

no... it's not on the cherokee frame... i modified the dodge frame to fit under the cherokee. gave me more room to work with... and it's got more then enough power... it's running 36 x 14.50's and it'll roast them 1st, 2nd, and 3rd if i let it... with that NV4500 first gear is pretty much too low to use unless i'm towing... and i get better then 20 mpg...

[bushwood44]

20 mpg and unreal torque that would be nice.

[El Jefe]

hey. your jeep was in one of the Petersens 4wheel readers rides. Or was it 4wheeler. cant remember. but it was you. bout time you got here.

Nice rig by the way.

[gotmike]

i just stumbled across it the other day... but now that i'm here it's great to see all these other rigs and know that i'm not the only one with bad taste...

[jaber]

i just stumbled across it the other day... but now that i'm here it's great to see all these other rigs and know that i'm not the only one with bad taste...

Your not, some of us have it BAAADDDDD!!!!

I hope to one day follow your que and do my own into a '77 J-20. Now if I could just find a motor I could afford.......

[gotmike]

i'd keep an eye out at insurance salvage auctions, and junk yards for a wrecked truck... the dodge frame is really very close to the same as the jeep frame... it's just heavier duty... i installed the dodge steering column and braking system onto the firewall of my jeep and kept most of he dodge wiring harness i used the clip that the fuse box attaches to and affixed that to the firewall so that the dodge fusebox isn't just hanging under the dash... and then i welded closed the factory hole where the main harness comes through the firewall and cut a new hole for the dodge setup to mount. This kept the cost down and wasn't all that labor intensive. in the long run, with selling off the leftover parts, i made money doing the swap... so my wife couldn't complain. though i don't count the cost of purchasing the truck... since i had already driven it for 3 or 4 years and it was paid for...