Project Silverback

Elroy231

Active Member
Bought this YJ last weekend. I originally planned to take the axels for my TJ as it has a dana 60 in the rear and a dana 44 up front. Perfect for El Polo Lion. They still are.
My brother and I talked it over and decided we are going to keep the YJ and build it. He has a 03 gmc 2500 with the 8.1 mated to an allison trans. This is going to be the power plant in Silverback. Planning to build something like Matt did with his Albino Gorilla. We figured it needs a play mate.
I dont imagine we will see this in the field very soon. My brother is in the middle of his lift and stretch on his jeep, then mine goes under the knife for its next round of improvements.
Anyway heres the 87 YJ we call Silverback. 20200621_100419.jpg 20200616_144757.jpg

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Elroy231

Active Member
Thinking some luck wont hurt. Wouldnt have looked for a yj to build but it's been started so why not improve on what's there? It's an undertaking for sure.
Yeah this 8 litre is a torquey beast. I get excited thinking about what it will crawl up and over.

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jdofmemi

Active Member
That's going to be interesting.

My 2 cents worth is the 8.1 is a heavy pig for what should be a lightweight build.

Please don't take this as discouragement or criticism, it's just my thoughts.

My second thought is the 8.1 stock is a slug, but it's got a lot of potential. Add a good cam and programmer and it comes to life. Good you have the Allison, mine had a 4L80, and an appetite for eating them up.

My third thought is, will the big block actually fit in the YJ, and still have enough of the YJ left to tell it's a Jeep?


That said, make it work, put some big rubber on it, and have a blast with it👍
 

Elroy231

Active Member
That's going to be interesting.

My 2 cents worth is the 8.1 is a heavy pig for what should be a lightweight build.

Please don't take this as discouragement or criticism, it's just my thoughts.

My second thought is the 8.1 stock is a slug, but it's got a lot of potential. Add a good cam and programmer and it comes to life. Good you have the Allison, mine had a 4L80, and an appetite for eating them up.

My third thought is, will the big block actually fit in the YJ, and still have enough of the YJ left to tell it's a Jeep?


That said, make it work, put some big rubber on it, and have a blast with it[emoji106]
Appreciate your input. I dont even consider it criticism. I have and expect I will continue to learn from others on here.
We did figure the motor would need some work before it went in. It is a big heavy thing and you may well be correct this could be more of a buggy than a jeep build. Hoping to keep enough jeep structure to still say it's a jeep at then end.



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