cj front end on yj

Lee

Lee

ECGS
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Louisburg NC
picking up a cj hood and grill tommorow night, Wondering what all is gonna have to be modified for this to bolt onto my yj. Radiator mounts? Will my yj fenders or whats left of them bolt to the cj grill? Will the hinges for the hood line up? Front grill mount to frame? Basicly wondering if this is gonna be a pretty straight forward swap or if I am gonna have to mod alot of stuff
 
There was a long lengthy and very detailed article on this on pirate. go search there, it will defiently help you, I remember just glancing through it, not sure as to the address but im sure a search will yeiled the results

Ryan
 
I had a couple of friends that put YJ's on CJ's. I was told only thing for that was re-drilling for the bottome grill bolt hole.
 
more/less direct swap. Bottom radiator mount will need to be modified. With a 1" body lift i think you could easily elongate the hole(s) and trim the frame mount to fit. Hood is direct swap, fenders will likly work (im not runnign them) the radiator itself can be made to work, (or use a CJ unit) Have fun :)
 
i found some stuff I was looking through and it said the cj grill is taller, and with out a body lift it will hit the steering box because it drops down to far, is this true? Also said the cj hood is shorter in overall length by about 4".
I do not have a body lift and really don't want one. Also would like to keep my yj radiator since it is pretty much brand new
 
taller= yes. either need to redo frame mount or rework it WITH a body lift..
I cut a notch to clear my power steering lines (looks were secondary for me...)
lenght = dono, whats yours measure now? I can measure mine tomarrow?

not sure what to tell ya on the radiator. Im runnign a GM full size car unit.. and my small block is mounted low back...
 
I guess it boils down to the same as all my other projects, dive into it and figure out how to get all to work the best as I go. Should be able to build something to hold the radiator. Even if the hood is shorter I will probably be okay, My jeep was originally a 2.5, now a 4.0 that is swapped in lower and further back than stock. Plus i am going to run a taurus fan on it here pretty soon. I will let you guys know how everything works out when i am done with it.
 
You shouldn't have any problems switching out the Cj/Yj. The tub of Yj atleast earlier years were almost identical to CJ and seeing that they had 4.2 almost the same as 4.0 it should work. Nobody mounts their engine exactly the same in engine swaps but I would bet it will work. I've looked into the switch Yj/Cj when I had my CJ8 but decided I liked the CJ better. I'm almost certain the existing yj fenders work but you will have to do some mods to the grill like mentioned before. If you are going to switch to an electric fan I would save and do it all at once instead of coming back and removing everything. I had a 302 in my jeep and had to use electric because the person who switched the engine mounted it to far forward.
 
Here's a good writeup.

This one with YJ fenders
http://www.jeepskate.info/jbody.htm

right3.jpg

Looks like there will be some holes to fill with the YJ fenders.
Or just flat fender them.
assembl1.JPG


This one with CJ fenders
http://www.jeepskate.info/larbody.htm

cj7101004b.JPG


Hodie
 
Well I picked up the hood and grill the other night, completely stripped both to bare metal and primed them. Started mocking up everything. Looks like it is going to work out well, I am going to have to trim some off the front of the fenders. I had to trim out part of the grill on the bottom to clear the steering box. Radiator looks like it is going to be the trickiest part, I am going to try to mount the radiator inside the grill instead of on the backside like a stock CJ, this will let me have more room since the CJ grill pushes the radiator alot closer to the engine. After I get everything moked up and done, the whole jeep is going to get painted with rustoleom Red, kinda like what Shinton did on BUG.


730353_43_full.jpg


You can see where i had to notch to clear the steering box
730353_45_full.jpg

730353_46_full.jpg
 
Messed with it a little more a little while ago, I was able to mount the stock raditor inside the grill. The bars that run from the cowl to the grill are gonna have to be shortened also. Everything else clears fine, I am going to have to extend the front mount on the crossmember back a little bit so i can run the bottom bolt through the grill. I trimed the ends off the fenders also. Everything worked out nicely on it and it looks like it came that way. Just need to paint all of it now and put the lights in it
 
lee, why don't u just get that thing on the road instead of doing stuf
 
:flipoff2:

JK

looks good. did you get the grill and stuff for free or what? Keep it comen :)

tyler

ps. i got my jeep just about done and ill post some pics later. Also that pitman arm worked out fine. i could have actually done it on the bottom but it will work. i might switch it out lata.
 
I bought the grill and hood from Bigjed on here, he gave me a good deal on it, I have always liked the look of the cj's beter and had been wanting to do the swap. As far as always working on it, Sticking to my guns with what I said when I started on it, I am not wheeling it untill everything is done the way I want it. Which I am sure I will get to a point where I say I am done. Wheel it, and go back to workin on it again becuase I am not happy with something, Because as we all know, no rig is ever done.
 
Well after busting my a$$ on everything this weekend I got it all painted and installed, turned out freakin awesome, Paint looks real good. Now to just do the body work on the rest of the jeep and paint the rest of it.

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730353_50_full.jpg
 
Nice job Lee.. looks like the Jeep is turning up its nose though.. :flipoff2:
 
He said the picture looks like the hood sits too high on the front, kinda sits at a slant towards the cowl Might be the pic though
 
lee are you going to put a cross brace in your front shackles? looks like they might be a little weak
 
Metto said:
lee are you going to put a cross brace in your front shackles? looks like they might be a little weak
Click to expand...

those scary death shackles were on it when I bought it, they are on the list on things to be scrapped and changed out on the jeep. the jeep is not on the road quite yet and still has a few things to be finished
 
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