97 needs a motor, Stroker crate advice needed

Hey guys wasn't sure if this belonged in the performance section or here but the performance section seemed rather quiet so I am posting here.

My 97 XJ started knocking last thursday and a shop confirmed my worst fear, it needs an engine. I can't complain seeing I got 18 years and 265,000 of faithful hard service out of it, I was just hoping the old iron would make it to 300,000 before I had to make this decision.

I don't have the means or the time to do this myself or build my own motor so I either have to have one built or drop in a crate stroker.
- I have heard plenty of horror stories about Titan so that is out. Golen seems like a solid engine but its pricey.

- Hesco is obviously king but I don't have an unlimited budget and I would prefer to not have to sell my unborn child.

- I know ATK supplies Mopar their 4.7L stroker and the price is right so that is a viable option for their base strokers but the power numbers are a little disappointing.

- BluePrint engines price is good and the power numbers are better but I haven't seen much on reviews of their stroker.

- I have no info on any reputable shops in north Georgia that could affordably build me a decent stroker at the moment but could consider this as well.

Basically I just need a little guidance and advice on stroker crate engines because I need to make a good decision that will be reliable and something that will get my Jeep back on the road very soon since it is my daily driver and I can't have it down for weeks or months. Thanks all in advance.

Oh and I want to add I have a bunch of basic power adders already on the Jeep to help the stroker breath. I have the 99+ intake manifold, K&N high flow air intake, Magniflow high flow cat, flow mast 50 series muffler, and Banks header. I also have the Neon fuel injectors which I heard could be enough for a stroker if anyone can comment on that I would appreciate that.

Call russ pottenger, ask if he'll ship you one of his.

^this

Ben824 said:

- I know ATK supplies Mopar their 4.7L stroker and the price is right so that is a viable option for their base strokers but the power numbers are a little disappointing.

Click to expand...

You could go for the 270hp/320lbft ATK 4.7L Baja Stroker instead:

http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/hpe-hp87/overview/

Needs bigger injectors, high-flow cold air intake, larger TB, header, and minimum 2.5" exhaust to deliver the full 270hp.

Dr. Dyno said:

You could go for the 270hp/320lbft ATK 4.7L Baja Stroker instead:

http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/hpe-hp87/overview/

Needs bigger injectors, high-flow cold air intake, larger TB, header, and minimum 2.5" exhaust to deliver the full 270hp.

Click to expand...

While that engine would be awesome! The price of the engine alone would be where I'm trying to be installed. But that thing would be a beast of a motor! My other concern would be reliability, what is the life span of something being pushed to those limits.

xcm said:

Call russ pottenger, ask if he'll ship you one of his.

Click to expand...

Do you have a phone number for him?

Ben824 said:

Do you have a phone number for him?

Click to expand...

cal said:

Russ @ Bishop-Buehl all the way.

We run one of his motors, just about 400 horsepower and we've spun it up above 6500 RPM's *many* times.. it acts like it just wants to keep spinning faster, too.

Russ Pottenger
Bishop-Buehl Racing Engines
531 N. Lyall Avenue
West Covina, California 91790
Work (626) 967-1000
Fax (626) 967-7836
Cell (626) 673-2203
Email [email protected]

Click to expand...

Any idea what a mild street stroker from him may cost? Still going to call him but I'm on the east coast so there is a time difference.

I hate to throw out prices that he might be committed to, but IIRC the base motors start around $2500, and then it goes up as you customize it to your application.

I can tell you that he's less expensive than the 'big box brand' strokers, and builds a better product. They are all custom made to order and tailored to how you intend to use it.

That won't help you with someone to install it, though.

That's still not a bad starting price. I'm not trying to go wild with it, just want some better power and still be a reliable motor that will last me. My Jeep currently has 33s with 3.55 gears but will get new gears in the next year or two (probably 2 now with this coming up) and will see some occasional towing for work on a light trailer. So I'm not looking to do some 300-400 hp monster motor just something like 235-250 hp and 275-300 torque and possibly run on mid grade if that's even possible.

given what you stated, you're money would probably be better spent to buy a junkyard stock motor and some 4.56 gears, but i will never discourage someone the fun of a stroker.

Agreed but I figure if I'm going to do a motor I want new, junkyard motors for my 97 are all going to be high mileage anyways. But for just a little more than a reman I can do a stroker so it just makes sense at that point. I try to stick to the motto if it needs to be replaced then might as well upgrade. Long term a stroker with gears will be a fun combo! If the motor wasn't going bad then I would be doing gears which is what I had planned to do this year but instead now I am doing a motor. Plus I always said when my motor goes out, it will be time for a stroker motor. I just thought I would be closer to 300,000 miles by then.

Ben824 said:

While that engine would be awesome! The price of the engine alone would be where I'm trying to be installed. But that thing would be a beast of a motor! My other concern would be reliability, what is the life span of something being pushed to those limits.

Click to expand...

If the engine is broken in correctly to avoid early cam failure, it should last beyond 100k miles.

I talked with Russ Pottenger it certainly sounds like he makes an amazing engine that he said can produce 275 HP and 325 torque on regular pump gas but his engine would cost me $3750. But he said he could build me a cylinder head and send me his rotating assembly for $1400! Along with notes on how he builds the engine so I could have someone local machine my block and assemble the engine! So I am going to talk with Mike the owner of a local shop here that I used before, tomorrow and see what that would cost me. I would love to rebuild mine and give my 4.0 a second chance at life since it was so good to me for so long.

Thats the important side of it. Russ is a top end specialist (he builds drag race motors and works part time on an alcohol funnycar team handling the cars valve train). I'm sure that cylinder head won't be quite the same as mine, but I can throw you some teaser shots of what his work looks like.

We have his top end port and polish, head and manifold both, port matched to the biggest available gasket (and then we ended up opening the gasket up some too).

Depending what cam you discussed, he builds his head using bigger LS motor valves and beehive valve springs, to allow more cam lift and faster valve return while keeping the seat pressures relatively low.

We run ours with a very custom cam, and high energy lifters - they aren't quite solid, but only have a few thousandths of hydraulic movement, and then run adjustable roller rockers. None of that stuff really matters until you get into very high RPM driving though, which doesnt sound like what you're looking for.

So hard not to fill your valve cover with those beautiful anodized rockers though...

I read as far as "so hard not to fill your valve cover..." and was like "man, Matt went off of his rocker again.."

Im not gonna lie, the harland sharp rockers were a must when i had russ build my 4.7, ill pull my valve cover at the drop of a hat now!

I have never heard of this Russ dude's strokers. Is this a new thing?