Once the Jeep was dissasembled, the first thing to tackle was the engine. As title reads, it's a Chevy Vortec V6 262 4.3L. I mentioned in another post that previous owner did not like the stock Jeep engine. So, he did an engine swap to this Chevy one along with an Auto transmission and New Process Gear NP231 transfer case. Now it's time to take it apart and see what needs to be done...
As soon as we got the Jeep to my dad's backyard, we began a complete overhaul. With only 300USD in my pocket, my hopes were better than my grasp for reality. BUT, I'm an Engineer and my dad has A LOT of scrap metal and car parts at his house because, as I said in another post: we do everything by ourselves. So, he has a collection of spare parts from old cars of him and even parts from a 2001 KIA Carnival he owned and burnt down in an accident. I had to make the best of my money and buy only what I could not fabricate or build. But let's face it: at this point, I don't really know what's happening. All I know is that I must take a set of tools and unscrew every single bolt I find and take out the engine.
Finally having my ''new'' Jeep in my possession, it was time to put hands on the work.
My dad was on board for the project. Thank the Force. Because I may be an Engineer, but I'm not savvy in car mechanics. He had a construction business so he owns a lot of tools. Every tool I could possibly need to rebuild my Jeep. Since I was a kid, there has been something peculiar that, at this point in time, I've come to realize my dad has it also: we don't like anyone repairing our stuff. If we cannot repair it, it's because it cannot be repaired. Pretty rude/bold thing to say, but that's what we feel. And we cannot give anything to anyone to repair because we know for sure that person will not solve the problem and make it even worse. So, we transported the Jeep to his place, parked it in the backyard and started assessing it in depth. Obviously we did a general assessment before buying it. It was in good general condition. But one thing was not in my original plans or dreams: it's been engine swapped.
Long have I dreamt about a vehicle Off Road capable. I was 11 years of age when my dad explained to me the difference between our 2WD Ford Bronco and a 4WD Toyota Land Cruiser. I saw this Land Cruiser and it was beautiful. It was partially covered in dry mud, with big tyres and a long flexible whip antenna. I asked my dad why was it covered in mud and what was that antenna doing there if it already had its stock radio antenna. He told me that vehicle was used to race in a former national competition called Fun Race 4x4.
