Greetings all. I tend to be pretty bad at these things, so please forgive me in advance. My goal is to do write ups as I make additions to my Jeep. That being said, I'll try and give a detailed list of the modifications that have already been done on the Yeti.
Here is an early picture with some of the basic upgrades:
The Yeti has 4" suspension lift and 2" body lift. I will lift it more when those components are worn out. It is currently riding on 30's and Moab rims. I'd like to bring that up to 33's. It has rock sliders (I think they might be ARB?? don't remember) and an ARB front bumper that I'll show a picture of in a minute. It was painted with bedliner by the previous owner. My conclusion regarding the quality is that he was drunk and didn't have enough paint. I will be returning the Jeep to its original white (hence the name Yeti) and will likely use Monstaliner.
Here you can see the front bumper and my light bar, because light bar before lockers amirite?
The Jeep also sports a solid front portion to the roll cage, because Jeep leaving us with removable bars and a fold down windshield just didn't sit well with my roll over meter.
This is with the rampage top and new tires:
Next, the part you were all waiting for, the engine:
My Jeep came with the 2.5 elsewise known as the four angry squirrels. It looks like it fits the engine bay rather well, that is until you remove the massive fan shroud intended to lend you that sense of proportion. Once it is removed, you realize that the engine is little bigger than a typical Briggs and Stratton. My engine was having some issues with some of the internal bearings and was sounding like a diesel engine.
I considered several different swaps. Honestly my favorite swap idea initially was the Dodge 360 because it is one of my all time favorite engines. However, LA long block swaps aren't very unique and didn't get me the low end torque I wanted. I really like the idea of diesel, especially the gas mileage and longevity of diesel engines, but I was not as familiar with them as am with gas engines. The 4BT sounded like a great swap, but required a complete change of the drive line. I wanted a swap that allowed me to get away with changing as little of the driveline as possible. That is when I learned of the om617 swap. The engine red lines at 4800 so its range is similar to the Jeep 2.5's and 4.0's. It was intended for on road use, unlike 4Bt's, and it has a great history of longevity. The icing on the cake was that mercedesdiesel4x4.com has adapters to adapt them to Jeep trannys, which meant changing none of the driveline, well.... for now. Also, diesel = low end torque.
I managed to get the year engine I wanted 1985, hear it run, and have it pulled for me for $750 at a local salvage yard. The engine only had 160k on it. (These handle well over 300k) My dad and I rebuilt what we could, and checked all of the seals. We then gave it a proper cleaning and paint job, and installed the engine. You might have noticed from the previous photo that we had to cut the bumper off to get the engine in, lol thank God for welders. I also have a switch for the glow plugs, a switch for the fan, and a vacuum kill switch. I highly doubt anyone could steal my Jeep.
The donor car:
The install was recovery/celebration for beating brain cancer, and coming through brain surgery successfully. My skull audibly popped at one point in the work and gave us a bit of a scare. It was an eventful year:
I have done several other up grades. I installed a blue tooth radio.... a $20 blue tooth radio. You know since my Jeep has no locks. I have installed led headlights and tail lights. My led reverse light recently quit working so I have to figure that out. I have stainless braided brake lines. I also mounted a high lift jack and a Jerry can, because Jeep gas gauges never work.... ever. Every Jeep I've had has had a broken gas gauge.
Also, and probably most importantly I have a Storm Trooper shift knob. Shortly after my brain surgery, on my first drive since the surgery, and while I could still barely turn my neck, my original shift knob came off my in my hand while I was driving down the dirt road we lived on. I couldn't look down, and I couldn't get it back on. So I threw it, and grabbed the lever holding on for dear life! lol.
Finally, here is picture of the Soot Yeti as it sits. I'm currently waiting for a hard top since my health no longer allows me to be in the sun so much, and winter gets cold.
I hope y'all enjoyed my post. I'll keep this updated as I add things to it, and start a trailer build. Since, I'm figuring out my health it will take a while. Looking forward to getting a badge for Christmas from my wife. Then I'll be legit lol. Until then, no number for now. Also, there is no way that I could have done the engine swap without the help of my hero, that is my dad. We look nothing alike.
Here is an early picture with some of the basic upgrades:
The Yeti has 4" suspension lift and 2" body lift. I will lift it more when those components are worn out. It is currently riding on 30's and Moab rims. I'd like to bring that up to 33's. It has rock sliders (I think they might be ARB?? don't remember) and an ARB front bumper that I'll show a picture of in a minute. It was painted with bedliner by the previous owner. My conclusion regarding the quality is that he was drunk and didn't have enough paint. I will be returning the Jeep to its original white (hence the name Yeti) and will likely use Monstaliner.
Here you can see the front bumper and my light bar, because light bar before lockers amirite?
The Jeep also sports a solid front portion to the roll cage, because Jeep leaving us with removable bars and a fold down windshield just didn't sit well with my roll over meter.
This is with the rampage top and new tires:
Next, the part you were all waiting for, the engine:
My Jeep came with the 2.5 elsewise known as the four angry squirrels. It looks like it fits the engine bay rather well, that is until you remove the massive fan shroud intended to lend you that sense of proportion. Once it is removed, you realize that the engine is little bigger than a typical Briggs and Stratton. My engine was having some issues with some of the internal bearings and was sounding like a diesel engine.
I considered several different swaps. Honestly my favorite swap idea initially was the Dodge 360 because it is one of my all time favorite engines. However, LA long block swaps aren't very unique and didn't get me the low end torque I wanted. I really like the idea of diesel, especially the gas mileage and longevity of diesel engines, but I was not as familiar with them as am with gas engines. The 4BT sounded like a great swap, but required a complete change of the drive line. I wanted a swap that allowed me to get away with changing as little of the driveline as possible. That is when I learned of the om617 swap. The engine red lines at 4800 so its range is similar to the Jeep 2.5's and 4.0's. It was intended for on road use, unlike 4Bt's, and it has a great history of longevity. The icing on the cake was that mercedesdiesel4x4.com has adapters to adapt them to Jeep trannys, which meant changing none of the driveline, well.... for now. Also, diesel = low end torque.
I managed to get the year engine I wanted 1985, hear it run, and have it pulled for me for $750 at a local salvage yard. The engine only had 160k on it. (These handle well over 300k) My dad and I rebuilt what we could, and checked all of the seals. We then gave it a proper cleaning and paint job, and installed the engine. You might have noticed from the previous photo that we had to cut the bumper off to get the engine in, lol thank God for welders. I also have a switch for the glow plugs, a switch for the fan, and a vacuum kill switch. I highly doubt anyone could steal my Jeep.
The donor car:
The install was recovery/celebration for beating brain cancer, and coming through brain surgery successfully. My skull audibly popped at one point in the work and gave us a bit of a scare. It was an eventful year:
I have done several other up grades. I installed a blue tooth radio.... a $20 blue tooth radio. You know since my Jeep has no locks. I have installed led headlights and tail lights. My led reverse light recently quit working so I have to figure that out. I have stainless braided brake lines. I also mounted a high lift jack and a Jerry can, because Jeep gas gauges never work.... ever. Every Jeep I've had has had a broken gas gauge.
Also, and probably most importantly I have a Storm Trooper shift knob. Shortly after my brain surgery, on my first drive since the surgery, and while I could still barely turn my neck, my original shift knob came off my in my hand while I was driving down the dirt road we lived on. I couldn't look down, and I couldn't get it back on. So I threw it, and grabbed the lever holding on for dear life! lol.
Finally, here is picture of the Soot Yeti as it sits. I'm currently waiting for a hard top since my health no longer allows me to be in the sun so much, and winter gets cold.
I hope y'all enjoyed my post. I'll keep this updated as I add things to it, and start a trailer build. Since, I'm figuring out my health it will take a while. Looking forward to getting a badge for Christmas from my wife. Then I'll be legit lol. Until then, no number for now. Also, there is no way that I could have done the engine swap without the help of my hero, that is my dad. We look nothing alike.
