I am currently swapping a 3.5L out of a '95 SR into my '89 Gen 1. I'm not too terribly far into the process, but I'm feeling good about how things are going, and thought it was about time to start documenting it. Overall, it's been fairly straightforward...there are some fitment issues, but I consider them minor. I haven't yet run into any "show-stoppers".


The only firewall clearance issue I've run into so far is just to the left of the brake booster (facing it). The doubler for the steering column needs to be trimmed a bit, and the firewall needs to be hammered back...though, there is nothing behind it, so it is a pretty easy task. It's pretty ugly, but I figured I'd make sure everything fit before I made it pretty...even though it will be impossible to see.


The next clearance issue is with the oil pan. It hits the front axle, and the axle-crossmember mount. For now I have just cut out the interfering sections, and will weld in patches later. This too was easy, neither location interfered with the oil pickup. At the moment this picture only shows the first cut, but I will get an updated pic posted.


Neither the Gen 1 or Gen 2 engine mounts will work, so I'm currently working on making a hybrid of the two. I've cut the Gen 2 mounts and am just using the plate that mounts to the engine, and I'm using all of the Gen 1 mounts EXCEPT the plate that mounts to the engine. I haven't finished this yet, but the test fit looks good, and I just need to weld them together.




I don't have any pictures of the exhaust yet, but I've test fit the 3.5L Y-pipe and it appears that it'll work with no, or minimal modification. It seems to line up with the stock catalytic converter location and may or may not need to be shortened.

I've only done a minimal amount of work to the wiring so far. I pulled every last bit of wire out of the 95 donor, but I'm not sure how, or if, I'll use it all. At the moment all I've done is eliminate the ABS and Airbag wiring. There's some decisions to be made regarding how I'm going to go about the wiring, but really it's what I consider "the easy part"...getting the engine to physically fit seemed to be a far bigger problem.

Awesome! I've been hoping someone would do this swap! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Really awesome!

That's going to be one cool(er) ride when you're done! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Coincidence. We are going on vacations to Puerto Rico for the whole month of June and since car rental prices are insane, ($4,000 for Jeep and $800+ for a little sardines can), I was talking to my brother about finding an SUV and he told me about this guy that sold his GEN I LWB with a 3.5 transplant for just $1,900.

I was a day too late. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Great project.<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />
Javy

Will the 3.0 pan fit the 3.5? I didn't think they changed the blocks that much. I knew the 3.5 was 19mm taller in deck height.

Are you going to use the 95 or gen1 tranny?

I saw the 95 hull for sale on CL with the shogun in the edge of the pic...

I'm not entirely sure...
I was eyeballing it, and it looks like the bolt pattern is the same. When I take the pan off all the way, I'll double check. But, the Gen 2 pan looks nice and stout, with a nice solid gasket surface. Also it looks as if the Gen 2 pan is meant to be the lower support to the engine regarding how it mounts to the transmission...basically eliminating the two Gen1 engine-to-trans brackets. I won't miss them. Plus the 2-piece oil pan makes it easy to clean the sump if one so desired.


That's probably going to be a "phase 2" of the project. To help keep my options open, I did this...



So I could save this..
.


The transmission/transfer case out of the Gen 2 is quite a bit longer than the Gen 1. I measured, but forgot, but I'll measure again.



The Gen 1 SWB rear driveshaft is so short already, that I think I'd have to fashion a slip yoke eliminator and get a telescoping driveshaft to be able to use the Gen 2 Trans.

The whole "transmission question" also contributes to the "wiring question". I want to find a good way to do the wiring so I don't have to do a bunch of chopping and grafting now, only to undo it later to return it to it's original state.

Thats quite an undertaking ...looks good so far , btw did you get the money order for the parts ??? should have arrived by now .

Why is this taking you so long? More Monster less sleep.

All Monster Energy Drink donations are welcome.