Viper motor swap project

05/11/06

Upcoming Project: SRT10 Viper motorswap into Jeep Wrangler--stay tuned for more details.--

Dan

06/28/06

Here are some shots of the jeep torn down and ready for its implant. I will post more pictures next week of the motor being fitted.

08/08/06

Things are finally progressing on the Viper Wrangler. A Fabtec Crawler coilover suspension is being fitted with the Tera CRD 60 axles. The rear suspension uses a wishbone for the rear upper arm. As always the exhaust will be a challenge with the lack of space but will get done nonetheless. We refabbed the front coilover mounts to work in conjunction with the Tera axle and also beefed up the front hoop mounts to the frame. We will be using the new Rubicon Express super extreme duty front track bar that uses half inch bolts. The Tera axles are going to be outfitted with Wilwood polished 4 piston calipers front and rear with 13" rotors on the front. This upgrade will require the use of 18" wheels.

We have recieved the transfer case back from JB conversions now. The guys at JB Conversions can build a 231 case with essentially 241 internals to make this a 1 ton case. We also had it built with the super short SYE in order to have the longest rear driveshaft possible. The Viper automatic transmission is pretty long especially after the four wheel drive tailhousing is installed. As soon as the radiator, custom brake kits , cooling fan, oil cooler and power steering cooler arrives we can start with the real fun. The only thing left to do to the frame now is fab up the Light Racing jounce shock mounts and then the frame is ready to be powder coated.

09/23/06

Well heres the latest on the Viper Wrangler. We have done a lot of powdercoating using of course Viper red. This will be a very unique vehicle. As if having a Viper engine swap in your Wrangler did not garner enough attention. We have painted the firewall pearl white in preparation for painting the exterior of the jeep. The coils on the Fabtech coilovers have been powder coated red and the blue anodizing made pearl white. The next big hurdle will be to build the custom 5 in to 1 headers. After that the exhaust system itself will be built and then everything sent to Jet Hot to be coated.

10/03/06

Now we are down to exhaust and final wiring. The headers are being built now and that will take a couple weeks. After that we will build the rest of the exhaust and have it all Jet coated. Then it will be time to make it run.

12/26/06

The Viper Wrangler is done! Took a little while to finish but what a jeep. Now this jeep takes the honors of being the fastest jeep I have built to date. The ride and drive was fabulous, no torque steer at all. This jeep pulled as hard at 100mph as it did at 60 mph. What fun. Makes me want to build another one for myself, using an unlimited chassis. keep your eyes open for this jeep down the road as the owner has some great things planned for it.