Damn it feels good...

So... Thursday after nearly a YEAR... Black N Blue saw the light of day.

It was quite an ordeal to get him towed over to where I am working on him... Hour and a half at Uhaul...

The new motor was delivered last Monday... I spent from Friday thru the long weekend wrenching, cleaning, and painting...

New motor was a short block (no covers, intake/exhaust, etc)... so I have to swap it off the old block.

In the process I found mud in the throttle body, leading into cylinder 5 through the intake... so that was what did him in I am sure.

Pretty much stripped the entire engine bay, dropped the belly pan... I am going bumper to bumper on him to get all the dirt and crud out... not with a fine tooth comb obviously... that would take years.

But I am putting my eyes on everything before he is ready for the road.

New motor is just about ready for install.

I am stuck pulling the old motor out though... The top 2 "bolts" from the tranny to the block are actually studs with a torx bit shape to them... like i need a special 12 point socket or something. Hard to get a tool for something I can't see, but as far as I can tell if you pull a T50 torx bit out of your tool kit, that is what the head of this "bolt" looks like...

A six point 3/8" or 10mm socket fit it, but they don't have the grip to overcome the torque, and start rounding off the head... so I stopped messing with it. Of course it is the 2 bolts at the top of the tranny to the motor right at the fire wall, so I had to pull the motor mounts and lower the motor to the axle just to get clearance...

Those are the last 2 bolts from freeing the old motor out... everything else is done.

All the parts on the new motor (except oil pan, oil pump, and pickup) are on the new motor... dry fit for now...

I pulled the belly pan off to remove the exhaust and try to pull the motor with the tranny... that won't work... now I can't get the pan back on because wheeling has turned it from a U shape to a W shape so now the frame rail mounting holes won't line up... it sprung when the last bolt came out.

But the new motor looks great on the stand... and Blue looks ready for action on the new KM2s... 1500 miles to break the motor in... then I can wheel....

Grrrrr this is torture... but it feels good to spend the weekend wrenching again...



Pictures will be up on facebook soon... I will try to get a link here as well...

All I can say is "It's about damn time"

I think the 10 mm did work for me. Can you cut them off with an angle grinder and just leave them in the old motor?

projblacknblue wrote:

I am stuck pulling the old motor out though... The top 2 "bolts" from the tranny to the block are actually studs with a torx bit shape to them... like i need a special 12 point socket or something. Hard to get a tool for something I can't see, but as far as I can tell if you pull a T50 torx bit out of your tool kit, that is what the head of this "bolt" looks like... Just buy the tool, cause if you don't stay out of the mud this will happen again and you will need it.

A six point 3/8" or 10mm socket fit it, but they don't have the grip to overcome the torque, and start rounding off the head... so I stopped messing with it. Of course it is the 2 bolts at the top of the tranny to the motor right at the fire wall, so I had to pull the motor mounts and lower the motor to the axle just to get clearance... Good move.

Those are the last 2 bolts from freeing the old motor out... everything else is done.

All the parts on the new motor (except oil pan, oil pump, and pickup) are on the new motor... dry fit for now...

I pulled the belly pan off to remove the exhaust and try to pull the motor with the tranny... that won't work... now I can't get the pan back on because wheeling has turned it from a U shape to a W shape so now the frame rail mounting holes won't line up... it sprung when the last bolt came out. Drive over it a couple of times and then use heavy duty screw driver or something of the sort to line up one hole on each side. Use a floor jack with a block of wood to push it up. Once you line up a bolt on each side the rest should go smooth. It should go back on and you won't have to waste any money unless you have the coin for a new belly pan.

But the new motor looks great on the stand... and Blue looks ready for action on the new KM2s... 1500 miles to break the motor in... then I can wheel.... What size did you go with?

Grrrrr this is torture... but it feels good to spend the weekend wrenching again...



Pictures will be up on facebook soon... I will try to get a link here as well...

All I can say is "It's about damn time"

It is about time you get this back together but if you swamp the motor again no one is going to want to hear this story twice. So get in touch with your inner rock crawler and stay out of the mud. Good to see you resurface with news of progress. Hopefully you will see the trails soon.

10mm is just rounding it, and don't have clearance for a grinder cuz it is sunk into the bell housing of tranny...

Blue's days in "pits" are done... Mud is all out of my blood at this point... Rocks and hill climbs/decents... thats about it now...

Of course that leads to other carnage on the rocks... but there won't be a coating of grime to scrape off first

I think i had to hammer on a socket just under side and be VERY careful with removing it. BTW if you do get it removed there is no reason to use that same bolt, replace it with a normal one.

If that doesn't work you could try to get an air chisel in there to try to turn the nut a little till you can get a socket to work.

can you get enough room to cut into the motor? Just use a cutting wheel and cut the motor where the bolt goes in until you get through the bolt?

Right tool for the job they are not that much $.


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Nice... Making some major progress

SPP YJ wrote:

Right tool for the job they are not that much $.


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I have the same set. If you where local I would say come over and borrow them since I only bought them for the trans swap on the YJ

harbor freight is your friend for those one time use tools.

Rockn93YJ wrote:

I think i had to hammer on a socket just under side and be VERY careful with removing it. BTW if you do get it removed there is no reason to use that same bolt, replace it with a normal one.

The plan was to pull tranny, torch the stud, and just use a 5/16 grade 8 bolt in its place on the new motor... thats what is holding it to the engine stand now...

Thanks bill... I will try undersize first if I can't find a 12 point socket...

As I was checking out how to pull the tranny I discovered another issue... dead center on the bottom of the tranny... let's say 6 o-clock from standing at the grill... there is a crack in the bell housing of the transmission tunnel... hairline... but it goes from the bolt for the inspection cover, half way through the recession for a socket... so about 1" long.

I won't know it it went all the way through the casing til I get the motor pulled, but since you can feel a raised edge when you rub over it I would say it is through the case.

That section has no fluid... the inspection cover is open on the bottom so it is not sealed in any way... it is just the housing to cover the clutch assembly... I am worried about it growing and splitting the case from torque though...

Valid concern?

Weld a plate to reinforce it?

I have the skid row engine plate to protect it for the future... and don't care if it is pretty... I just want to address the issue before the problem grows.

Tough to get a picture, but I will try.

First thought would be can I get it TIG welded before it get bad? I personally dont know if thats a bad idea. I did have to get the case in the toyota TIG welded cause Ryan Ground a hole thru the side of the T-case in the toyota. I'm sure someone here can tell you if that is a good or bad idea. If not you need to get a new bell housing.

get it welded or replace it. Better to do it now then later. I got mine for $50 form a jeep junk yard in york. I would think welding it would be around the same cost or maybe a little less.

you sure its not 3/8-16. cause that's what fits in mine, and what I found on the interweb.

your better off replacing it if you can find one cheap enough the bellhousing is cast alu. it doesnt always weld the strongest

Hey Tony what are you going to do with your stock rims?