6.0 Limited Build

Five-N9ne

Five-N9ne

New member
Might as well put a thread here to keep everything together.

Basics:
1998 5.9 LX Grand Cherokee, Platinum Silver Metallic
196xxx on shell
46RE trans
LP30/44A axles with 3.73 and Posi
249

Bought the ZJ I’ve been looking for since high school in September for 1300, trans hesitated like it had a bad governor pressure solenoid (as most electric Mopar transmissions are wont to do) and had a bad plenum plate and what seemed like ringland damage to the motor. $1300 for the cleanest New England unibody I’ve ever seen, clean Carfax and a mint interior with all the Niner goodies still in place... the Holy Grail of ZJ’s, an unmolested 5.9.

Day it came home:
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I’d been looking for a shell to move my drivetrain, Clayton arms and fiberglass goodies to from my 96 5.2. I’d been building a .040-over 5.9 for that one, and this was a perfect home for it.

Motor pics:
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Specs on the motor are:
.040-over bore to 367cid or 6.0L
Mopar Performance double roller timing set
MP rotating assembly
Keith Black .040 pistons
Mahle bearings
MP lifters
MP HV oil pump
MP valve covers/breathers
Edelbrock hardened pushrods
Ford 1.7:1 roller rockers
MP valve springs
Hughes plenum plate
FlowKooler water pump
Ford Racing 30# injectors
PSC power steering pump
MP R/T heads .010 decked
Valve cover stud conversion
ARP head studs and crank studs
Hughes crank girdle
MP ECM
Fastman 2bbl throttle body

I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things. The trans is getting Kevlar bands, new OEM solenoids, a Fairbanks shift kit and a deep dish pan.

The motor is in the process of getting pulled out of the Niner right now, trans/t-case still attached, so I can do the trans work on the bench and swap to a 242 transfer case as well to get rid of the stupid AWD-only case Chrysler stuck behind all the V8 Grand Cherokees.

Non-drivetrain stuff that’s going on:
Painless Trail Rocker
Hella 4000 on bumper
Hella 500s on roof
Lund visor
Hannemann Fiberglass front fenders
Kevin’s Offroad lower radiator support
Full Clayton subframe
Fox 2.0’s
4.10s front and rear
Addco sway bar with disconnects
Clayton triangulated 4-link rear, radius arm front
WJ big-brake/steering swap w/solid cromoly drag link/tie rod
U-joint front shaft swap
Novak cable linkage for the T-case
Iron Man 4x4 poly motor and trans mounts
OBA
Detours Knucklebone
33x12.50 Toyo MT on factory Ravines

Probably more I’m forgetting but I have such a pile of parts from the old ZJ I’ve lost track. Updates to ensue when I’ve done more than drain fluids and disconnect sensors and wires from the motor.
 
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Patiently waiting to see this all done. Been thinking of a similar build.


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longarmwj said:
Oh lord. For sure subscribing to this one!!! Love me a good ZJ build, and built niner is every Grand Cherokee guys wet dream.
Click to expand...

The minute you get a ZJ and hop on a forum and discover what a 9er is, it automatically becomes the dream rig! I was incredibly lucky to find one that was in this good of condition from the start, there's a little bit of scale starting behind the fender liners at the bottom corner of the fenderwells where Mopar stuffed them with what's effectively a pool noodle. I went to the junkyard a few weeks ago and scouted a few shells to cut patches from, my goal is to start with a 110% body before even moving on to welding the Clayton subframe on. I painted the Hannemann fenders to match the body, same with the visor. Probably going to be it for aesthetic modifications.

My buddy was nice enough to let me use his garage to do the actual drivetrain overhaul in exchange for getting the motor that's in it now with the bad rings. He wants to basically clone my motor build and stuff it in his wife's ZJ. I wasn't going to do anything with the block anyway other than scavenge the manifolds off it until I can order Doug Thorley longtubes come tax return time. It sucks but they're the only option for aftermarket manifolds. The rest of the exhaust is incredibly simple, effectively a clone of what I had on my old long-arm ZJ. It's a 2.5" bullet cat right where the banks meet on the Y-pipe with a 2.5" Spintech 6332 Pro Street behind it, with an immediate 3" dump after the muffler. There is no feasible way to run the exhaust the entire way back with the long arms currently, and it's very low on my priority list. If I'm so bored I develop the motivation I might make a bump in the floor to clear the pipe enough but it ends far enough back that there's zero exhaust inside.

This is an old video of my basically stock 5.2 (had injectors, Hughes intake and an airhat) with the same setup, just a Magnaflow cat instead of a bullet.
 
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Started to paint the Lund visor. I got this from Erik Miller when he was building his EMC rig for KOH '13, which was originally also a Platinum 5.9. Painted it tan to match my rig at the time, and now it's time to bring it back to Platinum. Base is filler primer, then auto primer, five coats of color and two of clear with sanding from 300 to 500 to 1000 to 2000 between coats. It's about ready to buff, I used 3000 grit on the last layer of clear. I used this same process on my Hannemann Fiberglass fenders to match them to the rig and they came out well. Pictures to come when I'm not lazy and decide to pull them off my phone.

And yes it's an actual Lund, not an eBay knockoff. Surprisingly worth a LOT of money to ZJ guys, same with the WindJammers.
 
Potato pictures of the visor so far. Haven’t buffed it yet because I’m lazy and the garage is cold, but a few minutes with the buffer and wax and it’ll be mint.
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Ordered a set of Doug Thorley headers, only headers made that will fit a ZJ. Expensive, but worth it.

Also on order is an exhaust cutout to go immediately before the cat. Next on the list is a set of 4.56's, wheels, and new Johnny Joints.
 
The 6.0 is finally home!
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The Doug Thorleys are tight, but I managed to fit them in without unbolting the motor mounts again. Most sensors are plugged back together, trans and 242 t-case are in, Clayton crossmember is in, Novak shifter linkage is in. Some odds and ends to finish with the drivetrain and then plumb the cooling system again, put new seals on the AC lines, reinstall everything and cross my fingers.
 
Thanks! It’s great to finally see parts IN the ZJ rather than floating about the shop haha. I’m hoping today to have the drivetrain 100%, then spend a few hours a night going through and rerouting the trans cooler lines and plumbing the cooling. The goal is running and driving by St Patrick’s Day.
 
Made this midpipe of sorts to go from the headers to the trans mount, used a section of the original y-pipe. Going to mount a second flange on the other side to bolt the cat/muffler to. The exhaust is going to dump immediately after the muffler due to clearance with the rear long arms.
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