Question on engine swap

Crashmurray · May 13, 2011

Can a v8 307 small block fit into a 85 jeep Cherokee if so can you post a good site to look at I have one in the back yard that I can put in wanted to know if it could be done I have the v6 2.8l in mine and I need something else in my jeep was going to do a 350 but was told no so any help would be great

blondejoncherokee · May 13, 2011

you posted in the wrong area , this is for modified tech.

im sure you could swap it in though , youd need the tranny and t case maybe if you couldnt get it to bolt to your tranny....
youd maybe need to cut up the frame and body, youd need to fab engine and tranny mounts. then maybe modify DS lenghts...
anythign is possible, how much work do you want to do?

Bryan C. · May 13, 2011

Anything is possible given enough time and money.

Lots of people have put V8s into XJ's. It takes some work to make sure it is smog legal and reliable obviously.

There have been a few engine swaps around here, I'm sure there are more but these were the first 2 I found.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1033464&highlight=swap

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=945920&highlight=swap

You are already set-up for a GM V6, I seem to recall the 3.4L Camaro engines swap in nicely.

You may want to try Pirate 4x4 as well as poking around the tech forums on here for more information.

old_man · May 13, 2011

The only difference between the 85 and the later models is the fact that the 85 has a single hood latch in the middle that interferes with most radiators. I swapped in a 4.7L Jeep stroker and had to swap the hood, front radiator support and the sheetmetal that holds the headlights.

jbsjunk · May 13, 2011

Here's mine. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1000211

tbburg · May 14, 2011

I was going to point you at jbsjunk's thread, but he beat me to it. It's a very doable project.

On a related note, if a 307 will fit, so will a 350, or any SBC for that matter. Your limit is going to be cooling. XJs have a very wide, very, very short radiator. If you go much over stock power/torque figures, you may have to look at a custom/dropped front crossmember to fit a bigger rad.

John D · May 14, 2011

Crashmurray said:
Can a v8 307 small block fit into a 85 jeep Cherokee if so can you post a good site to look at I have one in the back yard that I can put in wanted to know if it could be done I have the v6 2.8l in mine and I need something else in my jeep was going to do a 350 but was told no so any help would be great

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/tj_swap.htm

Tons of good stuff here, as well as the threads here and on Pirate. A V8 in an XJ is very doable and has been done many times. I would not waste my time with the 307 though; I personally like the later Gen III stuff. The only thing with the Gen III is you will need to deal with hood clearance. There are good options, but it is an extra step.

overkill84 · May 23, 2011

it is possible i put a sb chevy in a 84 jx but it is a LOT of work i had to make a new cross member. making the engine run under 260 is vary hard and i still cant find a fix for it. but if you want power put it in it is lots of fun if you can keep the engine cool.

Question on engine swap

Crashmurray

NAXJA Forum User

blondejoncherokee

NAXJA Member

Bryan C.

NAXJA Forum User

old_man

NAXJA Forum User

jbsjunk

NAXJA Forum User

tbburg

NAXJA Forum User

John D

NAXJA Member # 788

overkill84

NAXJA Forum User

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