[tgs]

Will add pictures as they become available...

So, last year when I left Portland, Oregon for work in Indianapolis, I left two 02+ 3.5 engines in my garage. One has 69k and the other 41k.

A couple of weeks ago I listened to a message left by a friend in Portland and he said that another friend had a line on an 04 Trep with a bad 2.7 and 64k. Very good condition inside and out.

The addiction is so bad that I actually came up with a plan to fly from Indy to Portland, swap the engine and drive back, only missing two days in my cubicle (at the office).

The car was verified to be in good condition inside and out and has just under 64k. It was towed to my house (in Portland) yesterday.

I’ve already purchased a bunch of stuff from Rock Auto and shipped it to Portland. I spent the weekend in the wrecking yard picking up other swap parts like throttle cables and so on. I still need to order some stuff from mopar-wholesale.com.

It will have: fresh oil and filter, plugs, air filter, camshaft and crankshaft sensors, TB/WP kit(including tensioner and idler pulley), ac belt and idler, alternator belt and idler, inner tie rod bushings (easy to do with the engine out), upper rad hose, lower rad hose, thermostat, heater hoses, pcv valve, power steering fluid, tranny fluid, differential fluid, tranny lines, remove, inspect and clean the output speed sensor.

From the wrecking yard: Throttle and cruise cables, motor mounts, power steering reservoir, hold down bracket and hoses, AC hoses, 03 3.5L intake including sensor and 03 3.5L PCM.

I’m pretty sure I have everything else in Portland but I’m having the tenants take pictures of the engine just to be sure.

Side note: AND I was totally stoked to find and install steering wheel stereo controls for my 03 SXT! I’ve been waiting since March to find a set.

I just purchased a one-way ticket for Wednesday, December 5th.

The plan is to arrive Wednesday morning and leave Friday night or Saturday morning and be back in my cubicle Monday morning.

I realize the entire plan is totally nuts but I keep telling myself that putting that 3.5 back to work is a good way to clean out the garage and a much better use of my time than sitting here in this cubicle. (Although, I have to admit, cubicle time does pay the never ending flow of bills )

I will update with photos once the project is back in Indy.
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[YesImLDS]

Sounds awesome but if it is a 2.7 don't forget with the 3.5pcm that the speedometer will be off because of the difference between 3.89 and 3.66 gears! Nothing you can do though unless you get a special pcm.

[cdmccul]

Only if he swaps the PCM, or doesn't swap trans...

Can't wait to read!

[tgs]

Quickest way for me to complete the swap is to pull the 2.7L engine, cats and trans as a package.
Then turn around and drop in the 3.5 engine, cats and trans, with everything bolted on, as a package.

Then it's just a matter of connecting all of the electrical connections, shifter cable, radiator and its connections, PS hoses and torgueing down all the nuts and bolts. And of course the blinker fluid, don't let me forget that!

As for that PCM, I forgot to check it that car was skimmed or not...my bad.
I'll know if I can't use it when I start the car up and it only runs for two seconds.
If that's the case, I'll return it when I get back and run on the 2.7 PCM.
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[cdmccul]

I'd just run the 2.7 PCM anyway and be done with it.

[tgs]

I understand.............but.........I gotta try it since I already bought it -- lol

[cdmccul]

OOOHHHHHHH... I missed that part.

[YesImLDS]

Hey if you are putting in everything all together you could sell me those 3.89 gears

[Crash Override]

I would think the PCM would be skimmed if it's out of an 03

[tgs]

My 03 SXT is not skimmed.
In fact, I was just thinking about that a little while ago.
I can test it out in my 03 before I head out.

I'll probably do that tomorrow.

[bh1992]

nice find. In my opinion, getting out and something easily beats the office job. but like you said it doesn't pay as well. Have fun saving another trep. Definitely a worthy cause.

[tgs]

Wellllllll, If I can fit the tranny in the trunk, I will bring it back with me.
That's only if it fits without a lot of trouble and within my time limit.
Having the spare tranny would be nice but there are so many around that it's pretty low on the list of priorities.

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Note about the PCM...

Tested the PCM on my SXT this morning.
The car I stole it from must've been skimmed because it only ran for two seconds.

There is one more car that I need to look at when I return this PCM.

[cdmccul]

The trans do fit in the trunk in the first gen, quite nicely. I'd expect the same from the second gen trucks.

[tgs]

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Got to the house in Portland around 1pm last Wednasday.
Removed the 2.7, installed the 3.5 and left Saturday night around 10pm PST.
Arrived in Indy around 11pm PST Monday night.

I was really pissed when I realized I didn't bring my camera and, as we all know,
"This thread is worthless without PICS!".

I really, sincerely apologize for not having pics of the build-in-progress.

I will add pictures of the 04 Light Almond SE as it looks now, covered in Rocky Mountain
snowy mud and salt shit!

Damn, am I tired!
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[mnitetrain]

Sounds like good work.