Vortec V6 in a flatfender with a power Saginaw conversion.

I had so much trouble with the saginaw hoses and the grill clearance. Its why I extended my frame 4 inches out front for this very reason. I al also running my rad 1" over the crossmember to allow P/S hoses to run straight under it. As far as battery problems.. i put mine sideways into the firewall.

The painless engine wiring harness looks like great quality.

Great work.

 

What did that do to your glove box storage? I still need to be able to secure a few things in mine.

 

I didn't have to worry about that as CJ2A's don't have them. What I did before was cut a ledge into my passenger fender and bolt a battery box to it making sure the hood would clear. It was not at all ideal, but worked. The other option that some have done is cut a hole in the bed and mount it under there. Under passenger seat?

 

I was leaning towards under the passenger seat. My fender has a ledge that I could widen, but I would have to cut it to max allowable and still have a tight fit. My Engine sits about 1" to the passenger side to allow headers to clear the steering shaft. Easy fix is in the bed. But I'm already planning a fuel cell between the rear fender wells. That alone eats up 7" of the very limited bed space I currently have. I have a week before I can get back out and work on it to think about it.

 

Not allot of options there for your lines coming out of that Steering Gear.........#1 either move the steering gear forward......#2 Butcher up that grill.....#3 a body lift or #4 you could tap into the high pressure system on the side of the Steering Gear and plug those ports on top.

 

The ledge I cut into the fender was not ideal because when the battery was in place I could not access the plugs, it was right over the header and it was not a great idea. I did not reuse that idea .

 

After what seems like a million setbacks, it sure is nice to have things go your way once and a while. Decided to make a run down to the local pick your part and scored some pretty sweet deals. Actually found a V6 4.3 Chevy WITHOUT air conditioning and was able to snag the correct idler pulley/bolt/spacer/dustcover for my conversion engine. I swear these things are rare as hen's teeth, especially in Southern California. It's a dealer only part and costs $75. I paid $7. The truck only had 100k miles, and several parts looked to have been recently replaced/maintained. While I was there, I snagged a working alternator for $25, (the pulley on the one that came with my engine was damaged) a gas pedal that I may or may not use, and 2, very nice, intact power steering hoses from a 97 S-10 with the same engine I am running.

Back to the garage and start marking/measuring the grill. The low pressure return hose was a near perfect fit. I trimmed off a small half moon on the underside of the grill with the plasma cutter. to clear the threaded fitting. I had to trim about 2" off the other end, and secured it to the pump with the hose clamp.







I took the high pressure line and straightened it up, then re-bent it to fit my needs. I know this weakens the line, and will take it to the hydraulic shop tomorrow and have them replicate what I created, as I need about 2" of additional length on the flex portion anyway. Here is what I came up with:

Front of the grill, looking straight down...











The 90* bend is compound and takes the line against the backside of the crossmember, protected and out of teh way of radiator placement.

 

This actually scared me a bit, as you have much more experience in the arena than I (This is my 1st jeep, and first attempt at anything that could be remotely called "fabrication" Maybe I just got lucky, the stars were aligned, Karma paying me back, I dont know. But I'll take it!

 

Looking good.
A simple solution is to mount the steering gear lower on the frame so the steering column shaft can pass under the crossmember and then you have plenty of room for the hoses.

 

Sold a 67 mustang project I've been sitting on for 11 years and freed up some cash for the Willys. Hit it hard this weekend....

Built this mount for the 2-core cross-flow radiator. Not as purty as the one 47v6 did in his build, but it's functional. I designed it so it could be bolted to and removed from the cross-member if necessary.


The bottom of the radiator is secure, but I'm not sure how to secure the top to keep it from vibrating against the grill. I was thinking welding a tab to the top portion then running a rod from the cowl lip to the tab. But I am open to suggestions from the forum.







Welded up brackets and installed the turn signals from my CJ-2 grill into the 9-slot. (Not sure what they came from, but I'm pretty sure they weren't jeep....) Headlight buckets are on order...

 

The Sanderson shorty's I ordered from Summit absolutely would not work. The passenger side was a front dump but directed the pipe too tight towards the front of the sump, leaving way too little front drive line clearance for my taste. The driver side not only would require a 3rd universal in the steering shaft, it also would've have required trimming the driver side motor mount. They were promptly sent back for credit.

Spent about an hour talking with my exhaust guy, and another two hours staring at the underside of the jeep with a nice cigar planning/rethinking the exhaust. Decided to give the long tubes another look, ultimately deciding to use them. They were the Sanderson ceramic ones. Turns out they are going to work out. They actually fit past the inspection cover I was worried about notching, and the only thing I need to do is remote mount the oil filter - easy $50 fix. The passenger side will fit between the transfer case and the frame. Just need to decide if I want dual or single exhaust. Leaning towards single, as this is primarily a hunting rig and quiet is more important than power. Besides, this V6 has more power stock than I will ever need...

Everything fits inside the frame rails. Tight, but it fits. Feeling very accomplished this weekend.....

Passenger side:




Driver side. It is tight, but not as bad as the picture looks. There is actually 1/2" clearance between that middle tube and the steering shaft....

 

Looks like it was made for it...........

 

Your setup is really coming together. Looking great!

Those are some really nice really expensive headers. It may be easier to do dual exhaust but I would prefer single. That being said, I did mine dual because it was easier and faster. A fast and effective manner for securing the radiator would be to take a piece of aluminum and make a tab. Dill and tap it to allow bolts to pass through the top rad flange. Dill a through hole in the part of the tab that is proud of the rad flange and use threaded rod or similar to secure it to the cowl hood flange.

Thats basically what I did with mine and very similar to what the original CJ2A's did. Those actually had a piece soldered onto the top tank to do the same thing.

 

Yes they are. But I traded for them, so the cost wasnt too bad. If I knew how to TIG weld or even had a machine, I would've considered building my own headers (there are some nice kits for this motor out there) but I didn't feel like trying that project with my MIG. Sometime's its worth a little extra money to save time and get it right. This was one of those times for me. I'll look into adding a tab to the radiator this weekend. I have a bottle of Argon and a spool gun for my mig welder. I might just weld the tab on.

 

I didnt make my own headers because it would be a project unto itself. If the manifolds didnt work for me I would have had little choice. Practice on some stuff before you go weld on that radiator. The griffon ones are a bit expensive to wreck, at least for me.

I really like the thick flange on those headers. Looks like great quality.

 

As far as mounting your radiator, look at how things like Ford trucks and Volvo mounted them. A c shaped rubber mount on the bottom and another rubber c shaped piece on the top with a metal clamp.

 

Bad case of Flu hit me on Friday, wasnt until today I started to feel better, Just in time for my workweek to begin tomorrow. I didn't get a lot done, but I did complete the radiator mounting. I'm pretty happy with the results.

The bottom mount was basically a "c" channel I welded up. I found some high density rubber to line it with, and after I get it painted up, I will bond the rubber to the inside of the mount. Holds it firm, but still allows some movement if the frame flexes instead of flexing my radiator.



During this part of the build I noticed that the outlet was directed at my tensioner pulley. I could shift the radiator 2 inches to the passenger side, but it would no longer be centered on the 9 slot grill - Not something I was willing to live with. It's kinda scary hacking off the outlet tube on a brand new radiator, but no guts, no glory, right? Cut the tube at about 35* and welded it back on. Ground it down and it is acceptable. I will be painting it with black Eastwood Radiator paint whenever it gets here anyway....



With as close as this radiator is to the grill (1/2") I needed to support the top of the radiator. Took a few ideas from y'all and came up with this clamp. Found some 5/16 rod in the metal pile, cut some threads on the end and braced it to the cowl. Absolutely zero movement front and rear.





Of course, while firmly "testing" I realized there was a slight possibility of the radiator shifting upward out of the lower mount. Had a bunch of the 5/16" solid rod still left, so I busted out the Craftsman dies again, threaded up another piece and welded it to the lower C-channel. Made another small bracket for the top and everything is held secure with a couple 5/16-24 nuts.



Best part?? That ugly vertical rod tucked perfectly behind the vertical slats of my grill, and the radiator is rock solid.

 

Looks great. Maybe you might have a bit more clearance for you air horn if you put the support rod on the passenger side and drilled a new hole in the cowl flange? Thats what had to do.

What kind of fan are you running?

 

Thought about that, but with the air filter mounted the way it is, there is no reason to remove the air-horn after I get this up and running. I can adjust the bend a hair to get a little extra clearance. The hole in the driver side was already there and reinforced, I figured if I could make it work, I would.

As far as the fan, I have 3.5" of clearance to work with. I found a 14" 2900 CFM puller that will work, but had to put the purchase on hold for a bit. My garage helper had a $1500 emergency vet bill Monday. She had an abcessed tooth and the infection had spread. Ended up with 5 teeth removed by the end of the day.