We’ve heard you, the lot of you, who automatically go into full-on rage mode each and every time the phrase “LS Swap” is published by us. “It’s unoriginal! It’s lazy! It’s f**king stupid!” …and so on. It’s the same argument you used to hear about the 350 Chevrolet small block, and it’s the same reasons as to why this argument will continue: there are millions of LS motors in the yards, they’re cheap, light, make good power and have an aftermarket tsunami of parts just waiting to turn the modern-day Mouse into a freaking A-bomb connected to a transmission. Love them or hate them, they make power and they make for a pretty straightforward swap, especially since they’ve been swapped into just about everything short of your mom. Don’t worry, that kit will be out shortly.
Now, if there was ever a car that needed a swift kick in the ass, it is the Jeep Liberty. Want my opinion on them? They are a miserable little penalty-box, a bastardization of the Jeep heritage, and the nicest thing I will say about it is that a Jeep Liberty beats walking…barely. The KJ Liberty was a cute-ute for people who liked the idea of owning a Jeep product but were intimidated by the Wrangler. And I’m pretty sure those same buyers, who thought that the Liberty would be a nice little vehicle, would be absolutely put off by seeing this one, which was stuffed with a 5.3 LS because the owner of a local mechanic shop near Macon, Georgia, was bored. It’s not a finished product…the air conditioning isn’t hooked up yet and some gauges still need to be ran…but it’s running and driving well enough to lay rubber, and that’s a damn good start.
Craigslist Find: 2002 Jeep KJ Liberty…with a heart transplant.
Aside from the 3.7L V6 being a valve seat dropping pain in the ass, my wife’s 2002 Liberty has been a fairly decent vehicle. With a 4″ lift, 31″ tires and underbody armor it’s taken us many, many places the people thought it wouldn’t go. From rock crawling to cross country it’s done it all. It currently has over 250k miles on the clock and the only thing that has us starting to consider replacing it is the rust around the third brake light.
Hmmm…. doesn’t look like that is on a dragstrip……………………….
Which cheek is your tongue in?