5.3 in a tj

Yep, that should be a Gen III, drive by cable.
 
The van motor is a vortec also.

Some things about the van motors:

The harness is about 2' longer than the truck/SUV harness, making it easy to locate the ECM just about anywhere you want it due to longer wires.
The manifolds are a little different but if you put headers on there its not an issue
The oil fill tube is extended 6", so you should be able to pull it off and screw the cap back into the valve cover no problem
The oil dip stick tube and dip stick is like 16" longer than a truck/suv. So, you'll need to modify that to fit under your hood or buy a truck/suv tube and dip stick. If you modify the dip stick, be sure that your know the metal of the dip stick is very hard. I shortened mine via pulling the handle off and cutting it shorter and drilling a new hole for the pin that holds the handle on. If I were to do it again. I'd go to the U-pull it junk yard and take a tube and dip stick from a truck that has a 5.3/6.0 in it.
The MAF sensor has a different plug on it than what is on the trucks. Be sure you get the right MAF sensor if you don't have it with the engine already. If not, you can get them. If you can get the truck MAF sensor, that may work better, especially if you rework the harness. Swap the plug to a truck MAF plug and use a truck MAF sensor because the van MAF sensor is about 3/4" smaller in diameter than the throttle body and the truck MAF sensor, restricting flow and possibly robbing power.

I'm sure there are some other things about the van motor that I'm forgetting...
 
how durable is the 700r4? how long is it compared to the th350/400?
i'm debating on one of those and maybe a 241 or something similar. debating on selling the d300
 
700R4s can be built to hold some power. I built one that held up behind a 600hp big block.....after it fulfilled it's usefulness behind a 6.2 :rolleyes: Might have been a little over kill. They're basically the same as the 4L60E that came behind the 4.8/5.3 motors. I like the 241 transfer case too. I'm running one in the truck in my sig with a JB Conversions SYE and a 1410 NP205 yoke that I machined to fit. The SYE may be pricey, but it's well worth it IMHO. It's a pretty stout t-case anyway and the much larger tailshaft makes it that much beefier. I could take a few pictures if you'd care to see it. I'm sure you could find some with a quick Google search.

You can get a pigtail for the VSS for like 8 bucks and splice it to whatever speedo you decide to run. I would certainly run that combo. Simple, easy to build and get parts for, and fairly stout. Shouldn't be all that lengthy either.

FWIW, I took the 400/208 combo out of my CUCV and swapped in the aformentioned 700R4/208 combo. About a half inch difference in length and not at all noticeable. Just have to make sure to get the TV cable adjusted right so you don't burn up the 700 or you could run a TCI constant pressure valve body.

I may have missed it, but it's worth mentioning that the motor mounts will move the engine forward about 3". That'll help with any rear driveshaft problems you may or may not have.
 
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