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Post by casias on Jan 18, 2016 8:11:37 GMT -5
Moving on this week, I had to notch the frame for the AC compressor. In the last picture, I had outlined the cut. So I cut it, and boxed it in with 1/4 inch steel. I don't know how other people use their plasma cutter, but I am not good with free-hand. So I use a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder and die grinder with carbide bit to score the steel, then follow the groove with the cutter. I still leaves a jagged edge that has to be cleaned up, but it sure is quick. Also, despite being sent two input shafts by Novak for the 242 transfer case, neither is right. Turns out, in this 2000 Durango transfer case, Dodge used the thicker 24 mm input bearing (which is good), but used the newer cut gears. Looks like I am going to have to get a new planetary with older gears. I am going to step up to a 6 gear planetary for this. Something else I have to order and wait for. Also, I had to make an access panel in the windshield wiper cowl so I could reach the back bolts on the supercharger lid. So I made a cover for it. Here is a really nice article about the 231 and 242 transfer cases. www.jeepforum.com/forum/f13/transfer-case-swap-info-np249-np231-np242-685644/Mark for ac compressor  Engine out, hole cut.  Fits nice. The lines will lie right on the frame. Nice and tidy.   I reinforced the inside of the frame where the front crossmember attaches. I didn't clean up the jagged edges from the plasma cutter because it is hidden anyway. Fully welded, this should be pretty strong.  Top plate.  And closed in. I left the gap in the back for a reason.  Groove for plasma cutter.   Novak input shafts. The older 24 mm bearing needs the lower shoulder, but the planetary I have needs the newer gear cut.  Windshield cowl access hole and cover.   |
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Post by casias on Jan 24, 2016 19:19:27 GMT -5
This week I took care of some little things. I am still waiting for the outer input shaft bearing that matches my hybrid planetary gear for the 242. I bought a 6 gear planetary, but I need a 16 mm bearing. NAPA had it for $104, and a 1 hour round-trip drive. Quadratec had it for $35 shipped. So, I can wait. Time to move on to the little things. I built one of my signature battery boxes out of 2 home depot heavy-duty shelf brackets, and some sheetmetal from an old AC unit. A piece of bed frame welded into the space under the right rear wheel, and a Group 34 battery will fit right in. Also, I flushed the brake lines. I have shown this before, but I will show it again. I have an old master cylinder cap, fitted with an air compressor quick-connect fitting. I blow all of the old fluid out of each line, using about 20 psi from the compressor. Then I fill the reservoir right to the lip. Keeping the pressure applied, I can bleed all four calipers, and usually it is right at the fill line on the reservoir. Top it off, and done. Forget those Mighty-vac, Motive, or Eastwood things. This is cheap and works well. And finally, time for some engine cleanup. After putting in the rotating assembly, I powder-coated the valley cover, front cover and valve covers. The block was painted with VHT silver, and the motor mounts and adapters were painted with Rustoleum gloss black. Old cut gear (thin shoulder) New cut gear (Thick shoulder)  6 gear planetary.  One-man brake bleeder (No engine or pumping brakes required)  Battery box, before painting  Donor cover from AC unit  Upper rail for battery box, under right rear wheel  Installed and painted  Powder coating the valley cover. This is the primer.  Before  After. Black and Silver to match the Durango.     |
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Post by casias on Jan 28, 2016 7:38:11 GMT -5
The transfer case has been a real time-killer. I started with a Borg-Warner out of a Cadillac Escalade, but it wouldn't fit between the torsion bars. So I moved on to a NP242 out of a 2000 Durango R/T. When I ordered the Novak conversion kit, I had the choice of "early cut" or "late cut" gear for the input shaft. Since this took place around 1994, I figured I was safe with the "late cut gear". But Dodge did things differently. There is a full write-up about the inside of these transfer cases on Novak's website. Anyway..... The Dodge uses a "late cut" gear, but an early, 24 mm wide input shaft bearing. This meant the input shaft they sent me wouldn't allow the case to close. No one makes a "late cut" gear with a low shoulder. So I cruised the internet forums looking for an answer. At one point, I considered replacing the front half of the case with a later case that had a narrow, 16 mm bearing. I also considered buying an "early cut" planetary, but I had already spent $70 on a 6 gear planetary that had "late cut" gears. Then I ran across someone's thread. "Putting the thin bearing in place of the thick one. The case doesn't care". So I bought a 16mm bearing from Quadratec, and pushed it right in. No clearance issues, no problem. Input shafts. Late cut (back, thick shoulder), early cut (front, thin shoulder) 6 gear planetary Thin 16mm bearing  Getting ready to put the shift forks back in. The 242 has this stupid roll pin at the bottom, with a little access hole to get to it. Following the advice online, I used a pry bar to pull the forks out. Getting them back in is not the reverse order, unfortunately. I couldn't "pry" the shift fork back in. So I used a matching size drill bit and hammer to drive the roll pin out now.   There is no reason to try to find a new roll pin. They come in rebuild kits, but are otherwise not worth looking for, in my opinion. Clean it up on the bench grinder, give it a tapered end, and drive it back in. I used a drill bit that would fit through it to line it up in the holes, and a small screwdriver to reach beside it and get it started. Then a big drill bit to drive it all the way in.  Shift fork lined up  Shaft in position in the shift fork, hole lined up (as seen though the access hole).  Tool set to install roll pin  After assembling the case completely, I pull it apart and insert small wood blocks on 3 sides, and squeeze in the RTV, with input shaft stuck through the hole in my table.   |
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Post by casias on Jan 30, 2016 18:17:00 GMT -5
Things are moving right along now. Parts are mostly all here. Longblock is togeather and in the truck, and the transmission and transfer case are painted and ready to go in tomorrow. Anytime anyone asks me about doing an LS swap, one of the first recommendations I have is to get a plastic mock-up block. Here, I am making a couple of last-minute tweaks to the motor mounts and adapter plates, just to make sure everything will drop right in. It is nice to take it in and out, and set it on a cat litter bucket to work on it.   Final appearance of motor mount and adapter plate. Painted.  Pulling locating dowels (acutally, roll pins) out of cylinder heads. I use this upholstery tool that I have had for many years. Grabs them, and pulls them right out.  Locating pin with LS9 head gasket. Last look at LSA piston.  Motor in. Keeping with the silver and black theme.  Transmission painted. This will go in tomorrow, just need to buy some trans fluid. Check out the gleam from that Novak adapter. Too bad no one will see it.  And painted transfer case. Also going in tomorrow.  |
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Post by casias on Jan 31, 2016 16:18:29 GMT -5
Transmission is in. Dropped back in without any issue at all. Starting with my kitchen cart/transmission cart, I have my son lower the Durango down while I sit on the floor. Not too bad. I don't want a transmission jack in my garage taking up space. This is a multi-tasker. I did have to modify the corner with a sawzall to clear the front differential housing. I was able to reach all of the bell housing bolts with a long extension from the back. Nice that I didn't have to crawl on top of the motor for the top one. Once they are tightened, I jack the trans up and put in the crossmember and spacer. All the holes lined up again! Trans ready to go on my cart  Quick mod to make it work.  Crossmember before painting. I flipped the original crossmember over, and welded a steel plate on it. Then I tapped for 3/8 x 16 bolts.  Looking up. The pan is black fleck with silver bolts. Too bad no one will see it.  Not sure why the lighting looks weird in these. I need to check my phone settings.   |
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Post by ddo2014 on Feb 2, 2016 18:14:55 GMT -5
Where can i buy these engine mounts for the 2wd 97-04 daks?
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Post by casias on Feb 2, 2016 18:26:01 GMT -5
Where can i buy these engine mounts for the 2wd 97-04 daks? Hi. And Welcome. I sell them on this site for $99 plus shipping ($104.80 shipped USPS flat rate in the US). If you PM me your email, I will send you a paypal invoice to pay. It usually takes me about 1-2 days to get them made and shipped out. If you are doing 5.9, you are good. If you are doing 3.9/4.7 you will need 5.9 motor mounts that can be found at rockauto, oreilly, or a junk yard. Here is a link to the thread from way back about the motor mounts, with pictures. lsdak1.freeforums.net/thread/13/ls-adapter-plates-ready-sale |
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Post by casias on Feb 7, 2016 14:16:33 GMT -5
Business trips have kept me from doing much this week, and nothing will change next week. I did get a little time to powder coat and paint the accessories today.  |
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Post by casias on Feb 15, 2016 18:57:40 GMT -5
I came back from my trip late, but did get a few things done. I used a threaded rod and cut it down to make a crank pulley installer. Fished the battery cable from the rear battery box to the front through the frame, with the help of my son, installed the transfer case (had to make a wrench to get to the top bolt), and pinned the crank (x2). Long threaded rod cut down to use as installer. I have these for sale now, if anyone wants one.  Warm the crank pulley  Add a nut and washer, and a little grease  Pulley is on, time to fish the wire through the frame   Transfer case is in  Stop and make a tool to reach the top bolt on the transfer case. Wonder is Sears will warranty this.  Crank pin tool. Thanks chenrymotorsports.com  Two.  Getting there.    |
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Post by casias on Feb 21, 2016 13:07:30 GMT -5
So it's time to start buttoning up this project. Wiring harness and all supporting stuff (ECU, throttle body, pedal, and transmission controller) is being put together by Bill at BP Automotive. He is planning on setting this up as a ZL1/CTS-V, rather than an ls3 with boost. Not sure what that means, but it sure sounds good. Driveshafts were also ordered. Since the transfer case moved back 1.5 inches, the rear shaft will be shortened and rebuilt. The front shaft will be re-tubed and rebuilt. So this week, I routed the heater plumbing through the windshield wiper cowl, and pressure tested this system. It seemed like a good idea to pressure test this now, since using soft copper sometimes causes joint failure due to out-of-round ends. The last thing I want when I am trying to focus on the engine at start-up is having a stupid leak somewhere. A few minutes on this saves trouble down the road. It tested fine at 20 psi. And...the big news......Headers. I went with shortie Silverado headers. I know I am giving up a little power, but I knew they would drop right in. At this point, I am not ready to waste another week or two and a bunch of money guessing at long-tube headers and having them bump into something. Maybe later. And they did drop right in. Maybe 5 minutes per side. I am ok with that. So, after cutting a hole in the windshield wiper cowl (or whatever you call this area) so I could have access to the rear bolts on the supercharger cover, I wanted to drill holes for the 1/2 inch copper. The step bit was too short, so I welded an old drill bit on it to lengthen it.   Then I ended up pulling the wiper assembly anyway. and ran the soft copper through the cowl, bending it to fit.  I use these fittings by Watts on the end of the tubing, and 5/8 or 3/4 heater hose fits right over. The hose clamp fits nicely and doesn't slip.    Pressure testing at 20 psi for about an hour, while I put the windshield wiper cowl cover back on.  Tank and soapy water in a spray bottle.  Capped one end, pressurized the other.  Checked out, so I put the hoses on to complete this. I need to find more attractive hose clamps. There is the passenger side header.  And the driver side header.  |
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Post by casias on Mar 5, 2016 19:13:53 GMT -5
Time for an update. The driveshafts are done, and installed. No trouble at all. I can't get a picture, because I took the Durango off of the lift to fix the LSDAK driveshaft. I did take time to replace the isolator on the lsa supercharger. This has been discussed on many different threads. The GM engineers put a spring-loaded isolator to decrease damage to the input shaft on the supercharger during rapid RPM changes. However, it rattles, and eats into the input shaft. So I replaced it using a solid isolator from ebay. Problem #1,getting the snout off. There are two pry points on the snout, but it is held on by a large amount of grey RTV. After prying with 3 different pry bars, we managed to break it lose. Short pry bar used for home-wrecking. Didn't work.  Longer pry bar used for motorcyle tires. Didn't work.  And finally, 2 ft pry bar from motorcyle tire changer.  Out with the old, in with the new. For sale. Stock LSA isolator with 0 miles. You pay shipping (HA!).  Clean up that gasket maker. The factory uses grey RTV.  I clean it off with xylene. Best thing I have found for this.   And seat the snout back on with Ultra Grey.  Done.  |
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Post by casias on Apr 14, 2016 17:56:17 GMT -5
TTT. For anyone following my Durango build. The drivetrain is completely done. I pushed it out of the shop to do some other work while I wait for wiring. Order was placed on February 1. I am not sure if I need to look somewhere else, or continue to wait. Meantime, I have the 2-piece driveshaft in the LSDAK, and I am working on a couple of other mods I will call LSDAK 3.0. And I started pulling apart a 2005 GTO with a wrecked front end.   Cut away the bent part, and it drives great. Now I just need some patch panels.  |
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Post by Jim on May 16, 2016 18:14:48 GMT -5
I am totally enamored with your project. I just picked up a 2000 Dakota with a bad 4.7L and was thinking "What engine should I swap into it?" And I came across this build. Great work so far. Is it any closer?
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Post by casias on May 16, 2016 18:23:18 GMT -5
Thank You. Yes. I just finished the GTO in the picture, and will be putting the Durango back in the shop this weekend. The wiring harness finally arrived, so now I am just down to all the little things. I will continue to post pictures, because I know a lot of people are following this thread. Stay tuned. A few pictures of the GTO. I put in half a front clip, and half the fenderwell. Came out super straight.    |
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Post by casias on Jun 1, 2016 19:25:09 GMT -5
OK, back to the Durango. It was finally time to move the Durango back in to the shop. A pile of parts were waiting, so today was a pretty productive day. I had to remove the supercharger to replace the isolator, so it went back on, along with the cover, fuel injectors, fuel rail, and working on relocating the coil packs. I like the way the engine looks with just the valve covers. I am thinking about relocating the coil packs down on the firewall or inner fenders. Not sure yet. Coil packs on. For some reason I couldn't rotate the picture.  Cover, fuel rail and injectors on.     |
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