When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
It took longer than planned, but we finally mated the Hemi engine with the NAG1 JKU trans. Notice the bracket holding the motor. In all of my research for parts and setup, I didn't address the issue of how we'd actually support the motor and transfer it to the vehicle. On the day we planned to install, we learned quickly that we needed a custom bracket. There are companies that sell them for $200-$350, but my local shop took a few hours and created one! It worked great!
392 is in! It went in relatively easy. We spent a day doing all the modifications as per the Dakota guide, which included flattening the firewall and slotting the factory motor mounts.
Before we could install, we also connected the Dakota wiring harness and headers. It was fairly straightforward.
There's still a to do to before we can get it running, but happy the motor is in its new home..
My 6.4 HEMI is completely installed and running! What an experience.
First, shout out to my local shop, TENNESSEE OFF ROAD, for making this project a reality. I had planned to do this project solo in my garage over the course of many nights and weekends, which I now know was a crazy idea. Even with the Dakota kit making the swap / sourcing parts easy, there are times when you absolutely must have multiple folks helping. Plus, being a DIYer, there were several times where the TOR guys kept me from making novice mistakes, which I'll humorously keep to myself..
In the end, I learned a ton and I'm comfortable around my new hemi powered Jeep, but I definitely could not have done it without TOR's support!
I personally put in around 80 hours on the swap. Yes, most shops could do this in about 40 hours or so, but hey, I'm slow and wanted to be very hands on here. I had to work around my work and summer travel schedule, so this swap lingered on for a bit. I also decided on a few upgrades and changes along the way, which meant waiting for parts. If you are thinking about doing this swap - I would recommend it, however, make sure you have all of the parts first and are 100% in your plans! Ha.
Here are some updated pics...
TOR even had a custom graphic created for this build for my airbox cover. PROJECT 392!
I also ordered the dual battery kit from Jeep Speed Shop. I'm only running the one battery currently, but I'll be ready to upgrade when the time comes! The JSS kit, although snug, fit perfectly with the hemi conversion.
Here's a view of the exhaust setup from Dakota, which uses the AFE muffler. Notice the routing is all along the driver side and eliminates the rear muffler placement, which often gets dented on the trails. Loving the deep sound this system produces!
Also notice, I swapped out my factory Sport transfer case for the Rubicon TC, which has the lower ratios. Combine the new TC with the front antirock and my Rubi axles, my sport is unofficially a Rubicon.
With the upgraded powerplant and 37" tires, we also updated the braking system. To save $, I skipped the Teraflex kit and used the Crown big brake kit which replaced the rotors and calipers. I did use the Teraflex extended brake lines. I only did the front for now and will likely roll with the Teraflex rear upgrade at a later date. As part of the Crown kit, I also swapped the master cylinder to allow more fluid flow. I actually feel like I can stop now...what a feeling!
Now that the Hemi is in and running smooth, my next project is all about cosmetics. I've decided I'm going to raptor line my entire Jeep inside and out....more to come here!
No problems with your Crown BBK? Bout to pull trigger on BBK so reading up a lot. Long thread on one of the other venues and another documented case on here about having to shim the Crown caliper to get it to center perfectly. There's such a big price difference between that Crown and TF. Just curious since you recently installed. I presume zero issues or you would have noted them.
No problems with your Crown BBK? Bout to pull trigger on BBK so reading up a lot. Long thread on one of the other venues and another documented case on here about having to shim the Crown caliper to get it to center perfectly. There's such a big price difference between that Crown and TF. Just curious since you recently installed. I presume zero issues or you would have noted them.
The only issue I encountered was the factory brake line on the driver side caliper would not stay tight. It would gradually loosen and I'd lose pressure. Switching to the Teraflex extended lines on the front solved that problem. I believe the factory line was just a tad too short.
As for the brake kit it self, loving it so far. I can stop my Hemi on 37s. I'm using the Teraflex extended lines, the Crown front kit and the larger Mopar master cylinder. I'll probably upgrade to the Teraflex rear kit later for added piece of mind, but happy so far!
My initial plan is to spray the interior and the exterior at the same time. So, I pulled all of the interior (carpet, seats, center console, etc) and marked up the inside with 40 grit orbital sander. I'm still working on my plan to remove the sound deadening on the floorboards. On the exterior, I sanded the body with 80 grit using said orbital sander. For the smittybilt fenders, I used a 36grit flap disc on my grinder and removed the smittybilt coating. I also removed the hood, front fenders, windshield wipers, grill and other small parts that I'll sand off of the body.
Here's exterior with driver's side sanded down and the metal fenders cleared.
The JK interior stripped before cleaning and sanding.
Plan for Sunday is to finish sanding and remove the sound deadening on the interior, then tape and paint - at least I hope so...
The sound deadening material came up quickly with an oscillating tool. Took about an hour to do the entire Jeep back to front. Not nearly as bad as I expected here. I then sprayed the bare metal with etching primer. Here's the interior before spraying.
With the Jeep in the garage, I spent a few hours taping up the windows, door handles. I went through about 4 large rolls of blue painters tape and a full roll of brown paper. Between the sanding and the taping, this was the bulk of the overall job. I pulled the fenders and the hood as well, so I could paint part of the front frame. Looking back, I missed a few places....
Here's the interior sprayed with the standard black Raptor. I sprayed it around 50 psi and used all 4 bottles. I wish I would have purchased 6 bottles, so I could make it a little thicker in the heavily worn spots. I also had a hard time getting up under the dash, so I'll purchased some spray can liner and will attempt that section later.
Here's the initial coat of custom blue on the exterior. I sprayed the hood, fenders, grill and cowls off the Jeep. I used 12 bottles of tintable Raptor, which provided about 3 full coats. As much as I tried to not miss spots, I'm not a professional, so there are a few spots I need to respray (for example, a section behind the handle on the tailgate). I also plan to paint the interior with the same blue (non-Raptor), so that none of the original white is visible.
My schedule was booked, so I let the Raptor cure in the garage for a week. When I returned, I was able to reassemble the Jeep. Here's how it looks now...
I have 4 more bottles of tintable Raptor remaining (yep, using 20 total), and I plan to touch up a few spots I know I missed. I also purchased new hood cowls (mine have been damaged since I got it), so I'll sand and spray those as well. Also, my local shop scored on some 10A hoods, so I'm going to go that route and see if it makes it looks better, as I like my current Fury hood, but just not crazy about the side horn look it has. Anyway, finally getting into cosmetics and getting this Jeep setup the way I want it.
When I finally finish the raptor project, next up are skid plates, slipstream rear cargo (bought used), rock lights, rock cameras and maybe I'll finally put on my inner fenders and rocker guards. Ha. Anyway, I'm now 18 months into this build and glad I can finally drive it proudly!
06-22-2019, 08:06 AM
