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4bta in a cherokee chief

14K views 22 replies 8 participants last post by  Fredduck 
#1 · (Edited)
since i am getting the info up there and around heres the thread so far. feed back and footnotes needed. nothings set in stone but boy she vibrates pretty well

Mid November or a hair before that the project started

Picture of the jeep 8 years ago in idaho


interior 3 years ago after i ditched the th400QT for NV4500/D300 and twinsticks


The motor from hammered scout When it arrived




What i thought i could do:
Specs
CPL 857 120 4BTA with VE pump
Lennys injectors
Late model 2003 HY35/9cm
24V intake horn ...... going with a 1st gen dodge intake. the 2nd gen hits my brake booster
planning on 3" tube and a small air to air cooler in front of the AC condensor
6spd flywheel and 13" disk
NV4500 dodge bellhousing 1.25" 10 spline input 23 spline output
York Air conditioning compressor to be mounted above the alternator. im going to fab that bracket this weekend
Dodge Vacum pump and PS pump
Dodge Accessories
Nipendenso alternator with mopus external regulator.

the 90* down manifold put the hy35 exhaust housing / downpipe out into the firewall.
 
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#2 ·
New shinny stuff for the exterior. i had all these ingenoius ideas in the begining



Final days of the big block...... . good bye 401 you and your 10mpg are best suited for my jeep cj.



91 dodge intercooler



intercooler clears radiator supports on the outside edges pretty well. little bit of hammering and sawzall to clearance the radiator support in front a bout as big as i could see fitting in there

 
#3 ·
1st gen dodge motor mounts 9-1/4" from the face of the 1/4" plate bolted to the motor to the face 1/4" plate bolted to the frame rail on both sides

diverside is set forward to clear the starter. passenger side centered on the mounting plate on the motor.

I reused the stock jeep frame bolt holes



2-1/2" x 4" sq turbing 1/4" wall




passenger side
 
#5 · (Edited)
re-used my old dodge pressure plate it didnt have a hot spot 1 on it. looked new acturally. bought a new 13" disc from south bend and used a dodge 00-03 6 spd nv5600 flywheel the heavy one.


oops mounts shifted a little. thats alright i was thinking about getting a all metal jeep heat core box so i could re shape things alittle and get some clearance......anyways so it seemed fitting that i smacked it during the final install now i'll just be more motivated



sewer pipe os cheap for test fits, if it fits then the steel exhaust tubing equivilkent will definately clear



gotta redo the throttle linkage bracket amongst other things

but hey. got the parts hanging around so i'll fab something up


anyways theres some pictures. seems like everytime i do a conversion i change something like the turbo & oil filter on this one and it brings about a bunch of other changes. changed the PS pump pressure fitting to a flared fitting instead of the o-ring so i was able to reuse all my hoses



Oil pan clears diff pinion webbing verticle by 1-1/2-2 " idle upon full compression since the axle swings forward upon compression and clears drain plug by 1/2" little tight but it clears


did a little more work this weekend. mind you i am still searching for an intake grid heater so the duct tape is doing the job right now




little ductape for mock up purposes




sewer pipe is 4" OD so i am using it to maintain the space until i get a piece of 4" tubing that i can crush a little and use in the same configuration to a air filter up on the fender


going to the wrecking yard today to get a set of seats and a suburban fuel tank skid plate and fuel tank pickup canister. i plan to order up a new 40 gallon suburban fuel tank and remove the old factory coffin tank. or build something we will see


11-29

doing a bunch of hose routing, rewiring and then oh yeah. the **** oil pan had a couple of small cracks or pin holes in it so after i filled it up with oil last night. thismorning i round 1.5 gallons of 15-40 on my garage. so i had to weld that up today also.

re routed battery cable to starter finished about 90% of the wiring under hood. messed with the brass fittings on the fuel return line what a PITA and sourced the fuel filter.

figuring next week will be spent messing with fuel tank and fuel lines. i hope to do the 42 gallon suburban tank but there also is a 30 gallon yukon tank that looks like a good contendet little narrower little shorter but also 1/2" deeper than the suburban tank. a mid 70's ford 38 gallon tank looks like a good choice also due to the fill neck and the vent location but the fuel pickup is no longer available and it is a goofy side mount so that could be a problem


hope to reseal all the cowl seems that i can and to do the roof plugs to get this son of a gun to quit leaking.

havent got to the hydraulic clutch yet but i did cut up the jeep radiator and figure out basically what i am going to need to do


rough wiring, no coolant or radiator yet fuel hoses into a 1 gallon jug and we have SMOKE


ALIVE.... ITS ALIVE hack hack cough hack ITS ALIVE "Ladies and gentlemen may I present for your intellectual and philosophical pleasure … the creature. "




Ok now i need to finish up all the other crap. mainly finding an intake grid heater and fabbing the intake tubing but she fired up naturally aspired.

HA 23 days start to smoke. by the end of december it will either drive out of the garage under its own power OR i'll be seved papers and still battling with it. not seriously but i have to hand it to my wife she is amazingly patient.
 
#6 · (Edited)


i am going to miss the 401 and the "what for" that you could pull on people when you opened up the 4bbls but not the sucking sound. or the constant gas stops

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikel
I think you'll be surprised with the power a 4BT is capable of. My bone stock one is rather peppy and it's at the bottom of the power curve.


i have been thuroughly impressed with several stock 4bts that i have help install for buddies. and even a couple that they have turned up but i have never cranked on to where i have always felt the point is for balanced power, performance and operation.these little motors in stock form are super impressive but i am hoping to push the power curve outward and upward.

I just recently got my 03 dodge dialed to the point where if i roll into the throttle unless i load it up it burns clean and snaps to 40 psi with a big turbo. and it tows like a dream but then again upwards of 891 ft/lbs adn 437 hp tends to be right on the money but pulling a 8% grade for 7 miles at 60-65 mph with 16k in tow and egts not spiking is what i wanted. i can blacken an intersection if i lug it down and load it up but otherwise mild throttle control and it ramps up very nicely. my old twin turbo'd 12v ran like this 03 adn im hoping to get the 4bt somewhere in between with responsiveness which shouldnt be hard since it was snappy out of the box and big hp numbers 180hp is a 50% increase over stock without over burdening the ability of the package to support and cool it efficiently while towing. via the larger intercooler and turbo i hope to have very well balanced hp/torque numbers without the dull haze and or excessive black smoke and with controllable egts when towing. cake and ice cream too i know but i like pushing the envelope while getting the desired result is what i am after while all keeping the budget in somewhat of a reasonable range.

right now motor was 1800 after selling a few tid bits
added parts have amassed about 1281
i still need radiator fuel tank hydraulic clutch and throttle cable as well as misc crap so i am figuring another $1k in all that

radiator looking for a 3" thick cross flow radiator with 1-3/4 upper inlet on driver side and 2-1/4 or 2" on passenger side down low total dimensions measuring 19" high by 27" wide there is some plus and minus factor there i could go as big as 21"x28 " but things would be tight and the cooling would be unnecessary

would i have been better off selling the chief an buying a a 89-93 dodge with everything already to go. Yep better axles, better frame better horse power, more availability and less botty fab. BUT no satisfaction................ no class no style


now about that leaky cowl .... who's the bone head at kaiser and then amc who designed these darned body seals that leak so well.....
its tight but she clears just fine




back to buying parts.

ordered up the radiator today. unfortunately my stock FSJ radiator had a cracked tank.

New radiator: summit part number BCI-35002
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=BCI-35002&N=700 +115&autoview=sku

water necks are in the right spot. they are a little small but i think i can size things down fairly easily.

let you know how it goes once it gets here


Used a std 1/8" flare "T" to accomodate the two 1/8" or 3/16" return lines and funneled them together into a 1/4" x 6" piece of copper tube that i plan to slide a rubber hose over for the return line. supply line will mostlikely be 3/8"

All PS hoses are hooked up. bolts are tightened and wiring is for the most part as complete as i can get it right now.

my focus this weekend will be the hydraulic clutch assembly. gotta hit up the wrecking yard for a ford F series 80-91 Master cylinder and line. then i'll buy a dodge diesel 94-97 slave cylinder new from Napa since i dont see any wrecked dodge diesels in the wrecking yards. IRRC the dodge ratio is 7/8" on the master and 1" on the slave the ford master is 7/8" so i can pop the roll pin out on the ford line at the ford slave and thenreuse teh ford line and roll pin on the dodge slave since the supply line holes for bothe ford and dodge slaves are the same diameter

Bought a new intake grid heater from cummins $65 gave up on trying to find a used one. people wanted $100 for a used one. May deal with (intercooler tubing) this weekend to clean up my bugger welds. i'll get some .023 wire instead of the .035 im currently using.

Fender is back on the jeep and cowl is all resealed.
 
#7 ·
12-15

As you all can see the heater box is too close to the turbo hence the nice hole in the side of my original core box.

Solution.

Redrill all holes 5/8 - 3/4" further towards the fender. weld two washers onto the metal supprt bracket on the fiberglass core box closest to the engine. fill the old holes with silicon. notch the blowemotor box and trim the edge closest to the hood hinge...... net gain 3/4" mor eclearance which results in 1-1/2 inches between the turbo and the heater box. plenty of room. then take the resistor cut the fiberglass heater box to that you can slide the resistor 2.5-3" higher than it is currently. us a piece of Galvanized flashing 3"x5" $.10 at your local hardward store 4 self tapping screws cut the correct size hole for the resistor in the Galv falshing. remember to seal the shingle to the side of the fiber glass box. then use four self tappers to hold it in place now your wiring is up and away from the exhaust pipe and the turbo is far enough away from the heater box




The hydraulic clutch is pissing me off........ ive got three differend holes in the pedal already i have tried three different master cylinders. i have a giant hole in my firewall and so far the (leverage is not enough) effort required is too much to achieve the desired travel if i move the master cylinder up the pedal to achieve the correct pedal effort and elverage it results in insufficient travel.

So i am going to put off the hydraulic clutch system for awhile. Deal with all the other fun stuff for now

Radiator should show up tomorrow



What is really interesting.
my dash was stamped with Dec 13 1978, my heater was stamped with Dec 13 1978, i have found a few other items stamped with this date. appearently Dec 13 exactly 30 years ago some or all of the jeep was getting assembled. in a way kind of fitting that on Dec 13 2008 i was finding all this stuff




fuel tank plan:

taking an old trailquest tank i bought off here and modifying it it is 26x26x8" which translates to 23 gallons had to cut it open anyways to do some work so i am stretching the tank sides to 11.5" all said and done i am adding a little more width ect i should come out with 7800 cubic inches so around 34 gallons in a package that i can weld brackets to and bolt up to my frame fairly easily hopefully it works out. seemed like the cheapest route right now




For brackets on the radiator since it is aluminium and i dont have a tig i will 2 part HD expoxy them local radiator shop said that is pretty common with the aluminium radiators.

The brackets to hole the radiator will be 1/8" thick aluminium 12" long broken into a 90* bend with a 1-3/4 lip and a 2" lip. you could probably get some 2" angle and make it work also. i may end up doing that its all up in the air. hope to finish sealing the cowl and then tighten up some stuff this weekend and get it into the exhaust shop on monday then hopefully to the AC shop Tuesday.


FYI do not epoxy the radiator brackets. go get it tigged. the epoxy is more of a headache than the radiator shop made it out to be it doesnt cure right half the time and then on top of that if you ever thought about welding the brackets on the epoxy is contamination that prevents a clean weld. Also even after 4 days the epoxy may be hard but isnt fully set up resulting in brackets slightly moving



for a battery i used a 9AGM49

it has 1120 CA and 960 CCA close enough to 1000 CCA for me and its height is ideal for this application. i made a tray from some angle i had laying around and welded it into the jeep I know i should have boled it but i got a little ancy.
the tray is 13-7/8" x 6-7/8" a little ponding on the inner fender and i think i got it to mount up well enough

i used a 72" battery cable to get from the battery to the starter on the driverside




The lower radiator hose was a PITA so a sleeve, a little rubber cememnt and two radiator hoses married together gave me the right angles to clear the serpantine belt and still get to the water outlet on the radiator.

i used the stock dodge lower radiator hose for the 90* 2-1/4 to 2" reductiona nd angle then i got a goodyear hose part number 61559 that has an S curve cut the hose with the s curve slide a piece of tubign inside it to make it riggid then put rubber cement all on the outside of the S curved hose and slipped it into the 2" hose. tight fit let it cure and so far so good



bad angle but it does clear the serpantine belt









Oh yes one other thing it did drive in and out of the garage under its own power. no clutch still but put it in gear and then fire her up she moves



Pulled the driverside fender cut the hole. epoxied the crap out f every seam inside and out. siliconed the crap out of the floor vent and put it all back together.

radiator is mounted. engine has coolant in it.

Engine fires up and runs fairly well. hope to get it to the exhaust shop tomorrow or tuesday depending on weather then once its up and running i will be able to dial it in.

cleaned up the last of the wiring zip tied and loomed as much of it as i could.

still gotta get a heater core box.

as well as the above mentioned items. still have the lingering hydraulic clutch headache to battle with before i can test drive it


after fabbing up the battery tray and getting that big battery in there i am going to proceed with jsut one battery which from 1989-1993 was sufficient for dodge diesels

Pictures of the intake tubing all finished up what a pita[duhhh]








 
#8 ·








down pipe by the heater box. yes i know there is a gapping hole in the heater box right now........... i am presently finishing up the new one. which involved moving the resistor up 2" and covering up the old hole. the current one in the pictures i cut the fractured area off because every time i bumbed it with my hand 2 more pieces of fiberglass crap fell everywhere. but i still needed it in there for mock up purposes. anyways moving the heater box over 3/4" + towards the passengerside hood hinge was perfect. yes there was a little trimming and a new homemade squirt on silicone gasket as well as a little grinding to the heater blower housing but its a pretty straight forward and simple solution to the heater box issue i had.







pictures are worth a thousand words right


where the radiator hoses are is within the margin of error for where the radiator will mount. hoses line up and fit over the necks jsut fine.

I'll mount the radiator next
 
#9 ·
mean while here are the pictures of the radiator









finishing up radiator filled it with coolant tightened up everything i could find












note the close proximity to the fan a smaller diameter fan may be in the future there is still close to 1"-1.25" of space between the tip of that blade and that ps line like one from a 6.2 chevy diesel but overall other than the slight twist in the lower radiator hose or the closeness of the fan to the ps box and hoses not many other clearance issues


i hope to chase down an old hidden ramsey winch mount for the fsj's. mount it behind the bumper and re-adjust the springs to finally have a fsj with the 4bt, p loks front and rear, a winch and a 33 gallon fuel tank. i might even go so far as to add a swing away rear tire carrier and 5 gallon jerry can jsut in case i need an extra 100 miles of fuel



As of today the list is

Fuel tank

clutch hydraulics

Fuel lines

Heater core box

seal roof rack

paint and install tail gate.

istall sound deadener everywhere i can find to install it

Get AC lines made up charge AC system



Tune that Ve pump to run the way a red headed step child should run when when you wack the throttle[coffee]
 
#10 ·









Should be a fun mild wheeler and cruiser.


ok not entirely hardcore with a 4" SUA lift and 33's but engine swaps provide some decent tech. guess i could have posted in the towing section under jeep tow rig, cruiser and mild wheeler. but somebody doing a 4bt conversion might find something useful in here motor mount measuremnts pictures and ideas so thats why its int he tech area instead.
 
#13 · (Edited)
1-13-09

used a early all metal heater core box. mild mods to the late model heater cor to get it to fit. thought was cool i used the fiberglass blower hosuing since i already had that. no problems getting the two to match up. install looks clean.

stumbled into the heater box at pick and pull. $10 .... thought about getting the all metal interior heater ducting also but i left it there......


the under hood is pretty much wraqpped up. down to:

hydraulic clutch pieces and parts moutning and sealing it to firewall
charging the AC
installing a intake tube and air filter
fuel tank.
alternator is fighting me, might have to get it rebuilt and put an internal regulator into it

and then she could be on the road....

but i still need to seal the roof (gotta get ahold of BJ's they forgot them on my order), paint tailgate and tightening the loose nut behind the wheel. should be pretty close to a runner by then


Super busy at work we are shutting down one of our yards and moving the inventory to a facility 10 miles up the road. somehow salary you end up on the job 6-7 days a week 10-12 hours a day getting the job done. wife wasnt too thrilled when i worked christmas day so she requested i stay home on new years day.... ha i still got two hours in moving things around with the forklift and moved two more truck loads of material...... i need a day off so i can catch up on this project ........... but now we just bought a house so two weeks from now things start moving from one house to the other
 
#14 · (Edited)
not much interesting to tell y'all

The hydraulic clutch combination is:

Ford Master clutch cylinder at fire wall. i used the 1987 model since it utilized a studs that come through the fire wall. this allowed me to move things around a little more plus the rod is threaded you cut it down rethread and adjust the eye to your desired length
1994-1998 dodge clutch slave cylinder.
I contacted scott at Tennesse Diesel conversions 805-809-7402 for the hydraulic line i used a 48" line i could have gone with 40" but 48" made routing a little better. his lines are custom made to your specs and they use the same fittings that dodge and ford use so its a direct fit and reasonably priced

little bit of a pain to bleed but setup works. to fill the dodge slave with fluid tip at an angle and fill to the top.

Then fill the line with fluid. put your finger over the low end after enough fluid has poured through it.

Insert the end of the line into the tipped dodge slave and pray you dont let too much fluid from the line drip out before you get it plugged in. (easy way put another finger over the top of the line hole to prevent fluid from slipping out.) Instert top of line into the Clutch MC pump the slave numerous times about 30 seems to be about when mine started toi firm up.


AC i used the jeep condensor. installed a new evaporator valve then had custom lines made. The Drier is out of a 1984-1996 Kenworth/freight liner/ Peterbuilt/ Volvo/ HD fords and some box vans 2-3/4" diameter x 10-1/2" tall. it has an inspection glass piece, uses o-rings and has a trionary switch on top. the reason for this is part to gain the trionary switch to protect the system... also the old system wiring had just barely started to melt into my fuse panel so now instead of fusing it throught he cab i am going to a direct relay system using the alternator switched wire is also serving as the relay actuator for the AC power feed, the AC wiring now goes from the fuse & relay on the fender by the drier down with the hoses and into the cab. Looks like later i will build a small fuse and relay box right next to the battery to help the headlights, AC and the fog lights in an effort to reduce the load going into the cab seems there are several interor high amp draw items that like to overtime self destruct so hopefully reducing the draw will reduce the headaches.

Hood bar is painted and installed. Razor conversion complete and looks Sweeeeet.

Tailgate is painted and will be installed when i get into the new house. gotta love a manual tailgate that isnt dented rusted or flaking paint.


Found a 1 wire converted dodge 130 amp alternator from destroked for $249 taht will clean up my wiring even more.



Down to:

intake tube/ air filter

Building fuel tank. I still really like the 33 gallon scout fuel tank idea for a reinforced bulletproof tank that is setup for a diesel application.

mounting interior accomodations

Sealing roof since BJ's forgot my roof plugs on my last order I need to call them about that i just havent had time
 
#15 ·
1-15-08

Scout fuel tank is 26" W x 25" Long and 12-3/4 top to bottom, has the tappered rear and comes with a thick skid plate bottom surface.

fill inlet is 2" diameter no in a bad location i may change it a little but its easy to weld to 1/8" steel. the odd thing is the top of the tank is tappered in the front. i may weld that up flat across the top and cut a hole for fuel to transfer through. it would net me an additional 2.5-3 gallons

anywhere from 33-36 gallons is spot on that will be 600 miles + of fuel plenty

it also is diesel compatible breather and fill neck wise. i still need to re-configure the neck from the side of the body down to the tank. i think thats going to involve some tight bent exhaust tubing.

approaching test drive. hope to dyno the rig sometime in Feb or March
 
#16 · (Edited)
pictures when i get my camera back from my wifes sister. :shaking:


looking to have some mileage numbers in about 3 weeks for ya. can't wait to get the rig on the road. keep the miles off my dodge.
 
#19 ·
#20 ·
Cool build, although the lower radiator hoses need to be changed.


I recommend going to an exhaust shop and having a steel tube built with the correct diameters on both ends rather than clamping two rubber hoses together. My guess is the setup you have now will probably suck close at RPM.
 
#21 · (Edited)
there is a steel sleeve inside there then the small hose is slipped over the steel tube and the large hose hose over the OD of the small hose all with 1.5" of over hang and rubber cemented together. we pressure tested it to 30 PSI with the test piece. unfortunately there wasnt an exhaust shop that could up with anything in that small of a space. you need at lease two inches (prefferably 3") of rubber on each end for flex especially when starting and shutting down the motor.

there is a welded lip in there also on the sleeve




UPDATE:
Rig was sold, bought a house, chief wasnt being used an fsj enthusist made me an offer that was hard to resist
 
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