bought my wife a jeep, building it without her knowledge

[Rockn93yj]

We were looking for a new vehicle for my wife and test drove the camaro, mustang and the new charger. Loved them all and she really liked the rumble but said she was suprised how quiet those vehicles were. Ended up not getting one because the rear seat is worthless in all 3 and we needed room for our 2 boys who are getting very tall. Picked up a 2008 Sahara unlimited with 2300 miles. Wife said "you're not going to let drive around on little tires are ya? (what a woman!) We had a 2 door 2008 rubicon but needed more room so it was almost an even trade. I got with Appalacian Offroad and will be making some changes.
Plan is to do a 5.7 hemi conversion, 2" lift, new rims and tires and the AEV heat reduction hood. I will be dropping it off right before we leave for the beach for a week. She will think it is to change the tires to a bigger size but has no clue about the Hemi conversion. We are going to use the AEV conversion kit. This is the before picture. AOI will be posting some progress pictures once the build starts.
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/Elvasnewjeep.jpg

[Ripster]

Will you marry me?

[Shane]

if he doesnt, i will rip.

[Ripster]

if he doesnt, i will rip.

No deal. He's got a Hemi JK, you've got a Hemi Thunder Toad Ram. :flipoff2:

[Happy Bear]

Is AOI doing all the work in a week? That's going to take some delicate planning!

[CoveJeepsXJ]

Wow. I will be tuned in!!!

[Rockn93yj]

Is AOI doing all the work in a week? That's going to take some delicate planning!

No it will take about 2-3 weeks actually. just worded it wrong. I figure by the time we get back in town from vacation and get a chance to travel the 60 miles each way to AOI it should be close to done. I could always use the waiting for parts excuse.

[Rockn93yj]

Found some rims I like. Dick Cepek DC11
989431 18x9 27 5-5 4-1/2 -13 2,500 DC11
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/dc1wheels2.jpg

[md4wheelin]

hey Bill, while your at the beach i will be going over your house to steal your money tree:)

[Rockn93yj]

got to do something with the $ from the house sale.

[Rockn93yj]

Tires 275/70/18
1 Mickey Thompson Baja Radial MTZ
2. Goodyear Wrangler MTR/Kevlar

or

285/70/17
1. BFG Mud Terrain KM2
2. Goodyear Wrangler MTR/Kevlar

[dan58]

Found some rims I like. Dick Cepek DC11
989431 18x9 27 5-5 4-1/2 -13 2,500 DC11
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/dc1wheels2.jpg

You had me until this. Yucko on those wheels.

[Numidian]

You had me until this. Yucko on those wheels.

In that case, even though I'm sure you suck a mean cock, I guess it's good your not his wife :flipoff2::flipoff2:

[96zj]

Tires 275/70/18
1 Mickey Thompson Baja Radial MTZ
2. Goodyear Wrangler MTR/Kevlar

or

285/70/17
1. BFG Mud Terrain KM2
2. Goodyear Wrangler MTR/Kevlar

I like my Baja MTZs. I cant comment much on their road worthiness as the jeep may have seen a hundred miles of street at the most since they have been on there. But they are pretty good tires for the trail. They dont seem to collect mud, and they pretty much stick to rocks.

[Jack]

You arn't gonna wheel this are you?

[CoveJeepsXJ]

I wouldn't.

[Rockn93yj]

no this is a street jeep and will not see the trail at all. It's her jeep and i'll be lucky to drive it. she already loves the jeep and talks about how much she loves it while driving it around.

[96zj]

My vote is still for the MTZs. They are probably the least aggressive of your choices and should provide the best road manners.

Are you set on a mud terrain tire?

[frosty]

Granted it was the old style BFG MT but mine were extremely street friendly, great in pretty much any weather and wore like iron. So my pick would be the BFG KM2.

[Rockn93yj]

Gave AOI the go ahead to order the MTZs and 18" rims.

[96zj]

:flipoff2: frosty :lol:

[locked_n_loaded]

Sweet...at least we have a safe place to have this posted Bill!! You won't be driving this just like you didn't drive the 2 door, right? hahaha I'm also amazed that you convinced her that you would actually send this out to get a budget boost and bigger tires on it - good work! Any word on the AEV hood yet?

[Rockn93yj]

agreed. Only thing I heard about the hood was that they didn't have it in stock. They did ship the AEV hemi premium conversion kit today though.

[Rockn93yj]

Just heard today that the hood is on its way from Michigan to AOI! I will be dropping the jeep off on thursday with just over 3k miles on it. I was talking to her the other day about the jeep. she knows she is getting wheels and tires but nothing else. I told her that I had to have the professionals do the lift because they have to reprogram the computer to calibrate the speedometer. she said she hopes the bigger tires doesn't take any power away from it because it really doesn't do hills very well already and she doesn't want to loose the way the jeep drives and feels "like a car". I said well maybe they can "flash the computer" for power while they have it to gain a few horsepower. lol

[01TJ_03KJ]

oh those stupid women, they'll fall for just about anything, won't they?

[Rockn93yj]

just about, she knows not to fall for headlight fluid though.

[Dave01XJ]

I seen a guy (in his 50's) run a four door at camp jeep in 07 and he had running boards on his...and he tried to remove one via the rocks he was going over and the dead tree he was dragging......the look on his wifes face was priceless hahaha....you know he heard the word's dumb ass all the way home!

[Rockn93yj]

LOL, I doubt this one will ever be off road except maybe at OBX. Got a nice garage to sleep in now though

[Rockn93yj]

Heard back from AOI. AEV hood is being painted and should be done wednesday. wheels and tires are mounted. Lift is on. they will be starting the conversion after a couple current projects they are working on are finished. possibly done by end of next week.

[Ripster]

Heard back from AOI. AEV hood is being painted and should be done wednesday. wheels and tires are mounted. Lift is on. they will be starting the conversion after a couple current projects they are working on are finished. possibly done by end of next week.

:thumbsup:

[Twiss]

We need Pictures....

[Rockn93yj]

They said they would post the progress so probably will be posting some next week when they start the motor swap. I"m 60 miles away so i won't be posting any until it is done.

[MDMike]

Teaser: A substantial amount of work was done on this ride last night. I don't know if you want to see pics of the Jeep at the moment, though. :eek: Lets just say, alot of stuff has to come off before the new stuff goes on!

[crazysammi87]

wish i still had my jk rubicon

[Cowboy]

Torn apart pictures FTW!!! But I suppose we can wait until Bill picks up the finished product, just in case his wife finds this thread...in which case she already knows..lol put the torn apart pictures up.

[Ripster]

I "heard" the body is off and the Hemi is in! I'll see it in person on Friday. :thumbsup:

[Appalachian Offroad]

Finally found some time to update this thread. Let me start by saying AEV has done their homework and definately put out a top notch product. The tech support they provide is great and the install directions are well thought out. It would have been a little easier had they provided a few more detailed pictures but everything went together smoothly.

Stock Engine bay
http://dev.appalachianoffroad.com/gallery/Unimog%20JK%20Hemi%20008.JPG


First step in installing the Hemi is to remove the old motor/trans and to do that the body is removed from the chassis. Jeep builds the chassis with the drivetrain seperate from the body and mates them toward the end of the production line, so the procedure is fairly simple. Once the body is removed it is easy to remove the old drivetrain. I removed the old motor mounts and welded in the new ones in the recommended location. The new motor/trans is then installed along with a Dodge Ram trans-transfercase adapter.

Body removed new drivetrain in
http://dev.appalachianoffroad.com/gallery/Unimog%20JK%20Hemi%20010.JPG
http://dev.appalachianoffroad.com/gallery/Unimog%20JK%20Hemi%20011.JPG

Once the drivetrain was in place all of the correct accessories were installed this again was made simple with no body in the way. AEV gives you a new engine harness which is installed along with all of the new plumbing (fuel/evap/ps/ac/heater/rad/vents). This took some time routing everything correctly to ensure years of reliable service. The new aluminum radiator was installed along with the trans-cooler provided. The battery must be moved with the supplied battery tray. The steering shaft is then relocated to provide coilpack clearance.

Once all of this was completed the exhaust was installed and everything was triple checked. The body was reinstalled and the tedious job of hooking the remainder of the hoses and electrical began. All of the fluids were filled and bleed which brings me to were I am now. I plan to fire it up first thing Monday morning. I will post some more pics Mon as well.

[lowdown]

How'd this morning go?

[Happy Bear]

http://dev.appalachianoffroad.com/gallery/Unimog%20JK%20Hemi%20010.JPG
WOW! Quite a project for a brand new vehicle!

[Ripster]

http://dev.appalachianoffroad.com/gallery/Unimog%20JK%20Hemi%20010.JPG
I love the red YJ in the background. AOI swapped out the 2.5 for a 5.3 Chev. Total sleeper of a daily driver. :thumbsup:

[96zj]

I like the fact that there is no just one jeep body in the air in that pic, but 2. :lol:

[MDMike]

Damn that exhaust sounds awesome!!! :thumbsup:

[Grason]

Damn that exhaust sounds awesome!!! :thumbsup:

X2, Heard it run at lunch today.......sounds great.

[Rockn93yj]

Awesome, can't wait to hear it.

[Grason]

Awesome, can't wait to hear it.



yeah, it def. sounds like it ill fry a tire...:flipoff2:

[Happy Bear]

So now we need somewhere Mike can post a burnout video that Rockn93YJ can't find :)

[Rockn93yj]

smokem! but with the old tires.

[Appalachian Offroad]

164


Well Jeep is pretty much finished and the owner will be getting a phone call this morning.:thumbsup:

The Jeep turned out great and the engine looks factory. I am sure you could take it to the dealer and convince them you bought this new from a different dealer. The power from the engine is unbelievable and very easily controlled. I would imagine a 2 door JK to handle differently with the same drivetrain. The exhaust is a little louder than I would like for everyday driving, but when you get on it everyone knows something is different about the Jeep. :D However there are 2 things I wasnt fond of on the swap. First being the drive-by-wire. I dont believe you get the instant throttle response like you would in a cable controlled throttle body. Second being the way the transmission shifts all of the time. It feels to me as if it has to many gears. I found myself manually shifting the auto most of the time to get the full thrill of the engine. These are minor complaints and could see myself driving this Jeep daily with a big grin everytime it starts up.

Finally I want to thank the owner for giving AOI the opportunity to do an install of this magnitude. I also appreciate his patience throughout the process, there were a few delays in recieving some necessary parts that held the project up. I am sure once he pulled the trigger on this project he wanted it finished yesterday.


Mike

[96zj]

Talk about a tight fit! Looks awesome though. I kind of wish I could swing by to see/hear it in person.

[Happy Bear]

Talk about a tight fit! Looks awesome though. I kind of wish I could swing by to see/hear it in person.
X2 I wanna check this thing out!

What transmission is it using? Maybe you can get a shift kit/controller to make it drive better?

[locked_n_loaded]

Sweeeeeeeeeet!!!! I can't wait to see the "reveal" and the look on her face!!

[connordanny]

Pics look Awesome!
Can't wait to see that thing.

You'll be able to get to the grocery store and back in no time flat now!:cheers:

[locked_n_loaded]

Got a call from a very happy lady this morning!!! Very cool, great work guys! She said it is truly her dream car!! I can't wait to see Bill's video!

[Happy Bear]

Got a call from a very happy lady this morning!!! Very cool, great work guys! She said it is truly her dream car!! I can't wait to see Bill's video!

I hope they took their old tires back, we NEED video of the tires being roasted :thumbsup:

[Rockn93yj]

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/Frontview.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/Hemisideview.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/driverfrontview.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/frontpasscorner.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/hoodview.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/passview.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/rearview.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/rockn93yj/2008%20JK%20Unlimited/sidehood-1.jpg

[Rockn93yj]

Great job AOI! work was top notch and she is quite pleased with the way it turned out. It was well worth the wait. one last question though, how soon can we wash and wax the newly painted hood?

[3rd-go-around]

looks great....pics of the engine bay

[Typhoon]

Looks great,
I would normally wait at least 30 days before doing anything with new paint.

[96zj]

Hand wash it whenever, but dont wax it for 30 days like Typhoon said.

[Rockn93yj]

will do.

[Rockn93yj]

Drove it to and from ocean city this weekend and made full use of the Hemi(like a punk teenager at times). Really like the power and acceleration. Gets loud when I stomp on it to pass another vehicle. Only think that bugs me about the system is the pedal delay. I'm guessing because it is not a cable actuated throttle? Wife absolutely loves the jeep. Had the top off and windows down at Ocean City and said she really loves the sound and feel of the jeep. Thanks again AOI for making this happen.

[Veeb0rg]

yeah, the drive by wire system is goofy like that, I believe aftermarket tuners can remove the delay, but don't hold me to that.

[CJTHING]

Not sure what year set up you have but my 05 Dodge 1500 Hemi really responed well to a superchips programer. It's drive by wire also.

[Jack]

I had drive by wire in my 350-Z and it was incredibly responsive; how could Dodge hose it up?

[dan58]

I had drive by wire in my 350-Z and it was incredibly responsive; how could Dodge hose it up?

Trick question? :D

[Ripster]

Trick question? :D

I laughed. :lol:

[jpowers]

Trick question? :D

:)

IIRC There was a bit of a delay stock on the 07 JK I had as well.

I sent the M725s Hemi CPU off to get reprogrammed somewhere (needed to get rid of the sentry key code) . No delay at all on that truck. Guessing its something programmed in there on purpose, so the tuners can probably take care of it as well.

Jason

[Rockn93yj]

thanks, good to know.