sweeeet - battery cables are connected, grounds are connected, and on the first try the '12v switched power' half of the fuse block powered up perfectly , and with the headlight switch already connected the backlights for the gauges powered up too - even the dimmer works . Booyah

With no oil pressure, no fuel pressure, no power steering fluid, and no spinning alternator, the 4 warning lights are doin' exactly what they're supposed to be doin' . Soon as the radiator, steering, brakes etc. are wet and ready I should be ready to fire up the engine.

 

The Sniper main wiring harness comes with a 10-pin output plug for lots of accessory items...all but two of which I will not be using, so I dug back into the harness and surgically deleted all of the unneeded wires, leaving the white signal wire to the Hyperspark, and the tach...

My modified alternator bracket (removed the drivers-side half) is painted/baked/installed, and the serpentine is on. The power steering pump is a GM type-2 unit and it's located in the same spot as was original for a '94 Grand Cherokee. Not sure if a GC ever came without A/C, but if so they would have used the serpentine in the pic. Regardless it all fits great, and without the big A/C half of the bracket in the way there's lots more access to stuff.

Meanwhile, the ram, orbital and lines are filled, and the master cylinder and remainder of the steering hoses should be all in place in a couple days, along with getting the brake wet.

 

sweet - with a successful 'test bump' on the starter cable/wiring, and with the Sniper disconnected and serpentine belt off, I pulled the plugs and pushed/held the starter and free-spun the engine for about 30 seconds: Oil pressure warning light quickly went off and oil pressure began to build climbing up to about 55 psi...and held the starter button for several more seconds to get oil all squished around in there. No bad noises - just the starter which just whined along easily spinning the hardware. Bumped the starter a couple more times just to make sure, and again all good - and that's huge 👍 .

Then proceeded to bench-bleed the master cylinder, made a couple plugs to transport it to the engine bay to bolt it in place, then proceeded to gravity bleed the brake lines...which went about as smoothly as I've ever done. Pedal feels good, and no leaks 👍 .

Time now to install the fan, do the finishing touches on the shroud, and bolt it in. Remaining steering hoses are next.

Getting close!

I don't know why, but these 'Dodge' hydrobooster setups include a 45* adapter - probably something to do with the firewall orientation or something, but either way I'm using it all, including the 4-3/4" internal pushrod, and as such there ends up being about a 3/16" gap between the m-cyl and the adapter flange, so I made a 3/16" spacer for it -





...in a pinch just smash the ends of the tubes - makes for a decent plug - worked great for the short duration of transferring the m-cyl to the engine bay and avoiding a lot of messy brake fluid dribble...

 

original radiator had a leak so a fresh unit is in, along with the finished fan shroud and core support - if this OE off-the-shelf JK radiator doesn't cool the 5.9 I'll up to an AFE bladerunner unit. Coolant is in and no leakieleakie 👍 . Plan is to fire it up on Sunday .



...OE Dakota clutch fan -



...waiting for the parts store to open (to ask if they have a new radiator) provided a good opportunity to clean and paint the core support...















...and the full-hydro hoses are all installed and filled with Prestone - had a bad o-ring at the pump but a new one cured the leak, and it's all filled and no leakieleakie 👍 -





...pic of the brake flex hoses to the chassis - these are really nice because if I ever need to maintain the hydrobooster I can unbolt the m-cyl and set it aside without losing any fluid -



...and picked up this simple Outerwares mesh cover for the breather

 

...with no leaking fittings/hoses, I connected Sniper power wires, hit the main 12v switch, and the EFI 'initiated' just like it's suppose to - fuel pump primed up, pressure warning light went out, throttle body 'squirted', fuel pump deactivated, all as expected. It's ready to fire now, but first have to bolt up the tires, re-bleed the brakes, clean the shop, and a few other things...including taking a couple days to 'breathe'...but everything appears to be 'ready' to fire it up this Sunday .

 

Wheels/tires are bolted up, engine bay is just about ready - just a few more minor items to finish up. Adjusted the rear track bar to center the rear axle - had to cut away a small portion of the gas tank shield to get more clearance between it and the 14 bolt pinion guard. Meantime, nice to take a breather and just let things gel a bit...

 

woohoo! - Kilroy is alive!! Note to everyone - when first firing up a fresh build after 16 months and 1300 hours of building...make sure ALL of the EFI wiring harness terminals are plugged into their respective plugs - if the distributor plug isn't connected you'll get a whole lotta nuthin' when you try to fire it up...but hey it gave the engine one last oil bath before firing...

I had a half dozen friends standing by as my pit crew ready to immediately begin filling in the tranny, power steering, and coolant, while also checking for leaks and any signs of 'badness'. Once the dizzy was connected it fired right up like it had been running yesterday.

Cooling. My #1 unknown was whether or not the stock 3/4" off-the-parts-store-shelf JK radiator would be 'big' enough to cool the 5.9 Magnum engine, and I'm very happy to report that apparently...it is - at no time during the initial break-in or subsequent drive-around afterwards did the engine get 'hot' - not even 'warm' - it has a 180* thermostat and it never went north of 185* on the Sniper display, with the dash gauge matching suit.

Camshaft/lifters. All I can say is it runs smooth and seems to be making less of the 'chattering' sounds it had before, so I'll take that as a win.

Voltage. While both a multimeter and Sniper display indicate the charging system appears to be nominal kicking out ~14.3 volts, the voltmeter gauge and charging monitor gizmo are not matching suit - the voltmeter reads high and the charging monitor gizmo doesn't appear to be working right, neither of which are a problem - just annoying. But in the 'well that's cool' column, Don at ISSPRO tech wants me to send the gauge in so he can check it out and see if it's faulty - great customer service at ISSPRO .

Mid way through the initial run a new sound started coming down from the water pump area - a very strange thunking/slapping sound, which ended up being the serpentine belt slapping itself back into the proper grooves. I hadn't pressed the power steering pulley onto the shaft quiiite far enough, which meant the serpentine was trying to slip itself out of place and was slapping back in place, which was resolved 5 minutes later by wrenching it about 1/8" further onto the shaft with the installation tool - didn't have to disassemble anything (my kind of fix).

Transmission and power steering were both taking on fluid and bleeding themselves out nicely, repeatedly cycling through the gears and turning the wheel from lock to lock.

With everything looking good and the brakes feeling good...we shut it off, grabbed some beers, and celebrated a very successful break-in. Buuuuut it didn't take long before the shop got cleared out so I could back it out for a few test-passes around the property. I quickly discovered the tranny was still thirsty, and the steering was still bleeding itself out, but after 3 or so trips back to the shop and several figure 8's we had the tranny topped off and the steering better and better after each turn, and then to the pit and rock pile I went. Oh and the Prestone power steering fluid is performing every bit as well as the Swepco - no bubbles or signs of aeration...like at all.

We have a 12-foot deep crater out back and a pile of boulders next to it, both of which have been sources of big fun over the years, and this time was no different. Went into the pit, and started the first dose of trials. First thing we noticed was the fan was contacting the shroud juuuust a little, and would need more clearancing, which I did this morning. Other than that...well it did great, and in no time I had a really big grin clear around my whole head 😁 .

Fortunately the list of 'not goods' is really a list of 'not so bads', and is short to boot. The rear main is leaking a little...which might be partially due to me having the oil pan overfilled by a quart and the Jeep being at a 40* angle for a bit, so I drained a quart out and that might help a little - otherwise not much I'll do in the short run - maybe address it at the end of the season.

Another thing I'm less thrilled about is how much the front coils seem to have compressed - even with the 6.5" coils (and 4.5's in back) I'm wanting another inch or two of up-travel in front, so I may have to look into either stiffer coils or spacers.

SO - very successful first run, and I'm really pleased with how well everything is working out. Love the size of it, love the Jeep JK muffler and resonator - it's nice and quiet with just the subtle hint of a big V8 under the hood - time will tell if my decision to run a 2.5" single exhaust was a good or bad one...but so far I'm really liking it.

Ok - now it's time to start bolting the rest of it together 👍 .

- Sam

 

A couple more big milestones today. First was...with the plates, registration and a fresh insurance card stuffed in a bag...I drove it to the gas station! It drives really well - doesn't steer one direction or the other so my 'tape measure alignment' must be decent. Second, the steering has good return-to-center, so I must have decent enough caster in the front end. Third, I can 'fill 'r up' like a normal machine - nozzle kicks off normally with no gas pouring out the spout. Fourth, the gas tank doesn't leak anywhere, and that was the big one; the return line and fuel float ports are bone dry, so the seals in the respective kits are apparently working great.

We're taking it to our local off road park this Sunday to stretch it out a bit - check clearances, etc, and keep it running and continue testing the cooling systems.

 

access hatches and covers are done - waiting for paint to dry and final testing before bolting them on. Grille and soft top and fire extinguisher installed. Taking it to our local off-road park (Ram Off Road Park) tomorrow for final testing. If it survives and fluids aren't leaing out of everywhere it'll be ready for final assembly, and the trails, the first of which is next weekend.

- Sam



















...and like so many other lifted Wranglers it has the iconic "JK lean"...so some right side spacers will be going in -

 

ok - yesterday's test-n-tune event to our local off road park went well - couple things to address but none too big to handle. First some poser pics -





Gas tank. The gas tank fittings remained bone dry the whole time!, and I was tippy enough for it to add up - with these two fittings proving themselves good to go I can now bolt on the covers, and I can say for the entire build these two fittings...and them remaining leak-free...made their way to the very top of the 'must work' list -



Cooling. Radiator is apparently plenty big enough for the 360 - no worries at all 👍 . But, the heater hose fitting sprung a slow drip again, so this morning I pulled the pump out and will take it and an aluminum heater hose fitting to my welder to glue it together permanently...and my oldest doe wanted me to snap a pic of her 'hanging around' -





Steering. For reasons yet unknown the PSC reservoir vent was leaking fluid out of itself...so I'm addressing that...