TJ Frame Swap

Removed the track bar and cleaned the axle with Marine Clean and a 4.5" angle grinder. Put down two coats of rust reformer as a primer. 



I did end up using the angle grinder to cut the track bar bolt out. 

Just placed an order with Quadratec for pre-bent stainless brake lines, new coil spring isolators (front and rear), axle seals and rear track bar bushings (poly).

I had a bit of a confusing situation with a local JY trying to buy the ZJ disc brake parts. They sold me 90% of the parts off the wrong ZJ. I wasn't allowed to pull the parts myself so I picked the cleanest axle and requested those parts. The next day I received a crusty pile of scrap from them for $85.00. I cleaned up what I could and used it but the calipers were beyond repair and the backing plates have a few small holes in them. Went back the following day to sort things out. The JY swapped the calipers for me but refused to tear apart another axle to swap the backing plates. I told them I would be more than willing to do it myself but yada yada no dice. I may have sourced a full replacement set for $100 that's an hr away with no rust and all the hardware. I'll keep the thread updated with details.

The brackets for the calipers cleaned up nicely. Very happy with those at least haha.

Well.. good and wtf.
The jy should give you some cash back or give you new b plates.
When i did mine I pulled the parts myself and got them from two vehicles.
I used the calipers for cores and got rebuilt set from auto zone.

Purchased new rotors, pads, e brake shoes and hardware kit.
Got new e brake cables for a 05 Rubicon.
Basically got calipers for cores and kept backing plates and brackets.

You will need new longer wheel studs because the rotor is thicker than the original brake drum.
you need to get them for a 97 or so Grand Cherokee with rear disc

I'm caving in and buying a full ZJ rear axle. I'll rip most of the parts off and use what I can. Picking it up for $175 including the backing plates. I figure I can use the spare shafts at least.

Would you suggest spraying the frame with rubberized undercoating (over the already applied POR 15 and Flex-Cote) or should I just spray it with satin black paint. I'm only doing it to cover up the etching primer that was sprayed by the a**hole who broke in last year.

no under coat!
Follow Instructions for the por15.
Use por 15 and then coat it with por15 chassis black.
That is the correct way to do it so the por15 will be uv protected.
That rubberized stuff should only be used on the under side the body.

Just use satin black.

If the zj axles have the longer wheel studs use them so you don't have to replace the ones that you have.

Yeah I was planning on just shifting the axle shafts over.

The frame is already painted with POR 15 and Flex Cote however someone sprayed the front quarter with self etching primer when they broke in last year. Just the top has the green etching primer on it. I could just find some matching gloss spray paint and touch it up.

Any gloss or semi gloss just to cover it up would be fine.
You won't see it after it is assembled dirty and weathered.

Between yesterday and today I rebuilt the majority of the rear axle with parts from the ZJ rear. New axle seals went in along with the spider gears from the ZJ. Ebrake hardware is being transferred to the backing plates.

My GF helped me move the frame out of the car port so that I can move the engine and tranny in there once they're pulled. I still don't understand why she agrees to help me with the jeep haha.

Today I ran around to pick up some of VHT's epoxy paint. I picked up two cans that are the regular black and purple cans of satin black and then 4 cans of their "high heat" roll bar and chassis satin black epoxy paint. Both list the same temp limits and have the same description. .50 difference for the title I guess?

However there is always a speed bump with any day of work. I was wiping down the frame after it sat for a year and noticed a little surface rust in some corners. I washed everything down and wiped it with a rag. The left frame rail near the rear LCA bracket started to peel from a tiny little pinhole. I kept sanding it down and ended up peeling a 16" strip down the from rail on the top, side and bottom. Busted out what was left of the POR15 and sanded the crap out of the edges of the peel. Put down two coats today. At this point F it. If it peels I'll just wheel it down and use some other undercoating. I followed their directions to the dot.

So hopefully that will cure in time for Tuesday when I can put down two coats of the VHT paint.

Here's a few pics of the frame all cleaned up.





The order came in from Quadratec so the brake lines are sitting in my room and the axle seals are installed. Worked on the rear trackbar yesterday. Those bushings are a PITA! I burned out the rubber but the bushing sleeve won't budge. I've been working at it with a chisel and hammer.



Then I decided to just rebuild the heep the Flintstones way with rectangular wheels to boot. The suspension is a little rough but man that lift looks mean!

You can put a hack saw blade through the hole in the track bar bushing and then assemble the saw and saw a slice in the outer bushing sleeve, it works well.

I thought about using a jigsaw on it but a hacksaw is a great idea! All it needs is two cuts at opposite sides and I can rip it out. Thanks for the tip Mark! You've been extremely helpful with this project.

Glad I could help I hope it works for you.

My frame paint (por15 with chassis black top coat) also does the peeling thing here and there in spots.
It was very humid the day that I painted it, instructions said that is a NO NO! but it's too late now.
Unfortunately that tends to make it peel in some of the spots that get damaged.

I hope this second coat over the peeled area holds up.

Disc conversion is done. Rear axle is semi bolted up  

Rear track bar bushings and sleeves are out. The new Rubicon Express two part sleeves fit right in. I'm a little confused about the design though. One side sticks out about an 1/8" while the other sits flush. I realize that the sleeve on the original bushing also had the same gap however this bushing is just the poly pieces and does not require the sleeve.

Once again big thanks to Mark for his advice on the saw! I put a single cut on the outer edges of the bushing sleeves and pounded the sides in from there. Eventually it just tore down the cut and I could hammer it out.

The drivetrain is out! It was a horrible idea to do this solo. The rear axle was already off so it took a long ass time to get the frame out from under the engine/tranny in the dirt. It wasn't pretty but it worked.

I haven't forgotten you man. My PMs on JeepForum were full 'cause I forgot to renew my membership. That's all set now.

I haven't looked for the TC skid yet but I'm almost entirely sure I still have it. I'll look tonight.

I'd really appreciate it man. Almost ready to bolt up the transmission and transfer case.

The last of the big removal pieces is done!



Tie rod boots are toast.





Aaaaand it's gone. It's all gone. If anyone needs a frame shoot me a PM! Rear end needs patching. Time to put it all back together.

Auto zone sells poly tierod boots.

Perfect. I'll pick a few of those up next week. LUK clutch kit is in the mail. I'm still kind of nervous about putting an engine back in that has 180k but if there are any upper end problems it's still pretty easy to get the head off. There's a guy selling a 95 4.0 out of a YJ with 105k on it for $400 but that's a gamble in itself.

Put the engine back in and get your money' worth out of it. Mileage should not be an issue if it runs ok then use it.

Just to be safe I took a peek under the valve cover to see what the top end looked like. No sludge buildup which is a great sign! Looks like a Felpro gasket is in there already.



There's a little surface rust on the brackets but it's just from sitting for over a year without being run. I'll clean it up once I get the motor running and some oil flowing.

Pour some fresh oil over all of the rockers and down the push rod holes so the lifters get oil because of the fact that it has been sitting.. Try not to get debris in there , maybe vac it out before you do anything.
Drain oil and install a MOTORCRAFT FL1 OIL FILTER,( bigger better filter than stock!) make sure to fill oil filter with oil ( approx 3/4 of a quart) before installing it.
Put another 5 qts in engine. 10W30, use inexpensive oil for the first oil change and change after a few hundred miles.

So I have searched quite thoroughly for my skid plate and can't for the life of me find it.

I'm going to give it one more shot tomorrow, as I don't remember personally getting rid of it, but you may need to search elsewhere.

Sorry my friend!

Ryan M wrote:So I have searched quite thoroughly for my skid plate and can't for the life of me find it.

I'm going to give it one more shot tomorrow, as I don't remember personally getting rid of it, but you may need to search elsewhere.

Sorry my friend!

Nuts. I'll start poking around on craigslist for one.


I'm going to replace the flywheel this week along with all of the freeze plugs while the engine and tranny are separated. Think I'll just reuse the flywheel bolts because they haven't been removed before.