'99 to '01 Exhaust Manifold Interchangeability

I'm new to posting on this board, but a frequent searcher- tons of information on here-

My 2001 has a cracked 0331 head. I have found someone local with a 0630 head from a '99. My question is, will my '01 exhaust manifold and intake manifold work with the '99 head or do I need to get the manifolds from the '99 as well? I know that more than a few of you have done this swap, just want to see what manifolds you all ended up using. Thanks for the help!

The intake should/will interchange. The exhaust manifold if its the cast iron ones I don't think will cover the earlier exhaust port area. I put a '95 head on an '03 block. I did have the '03 to compare to and still have the cast iron exhaust manifolds. They just barely covered the exhaust ports. I don't think there was enough to get a good seal for the exhaust gasket. I have headers on mine, so it isn't an issure for me.
Tom

I just completed the same head swap. The exhaust ports on the 0630 head are cut lower. The cast manifold off the 0331 may work for a little while but will fail when the gasget eventually burns through. I installed one of the $75 el-cheapo manifolds off e-bay (yep, made in China) for the 0630 and it bolted up just fine with no issues. My whole head swap was less costly than I had hoped: Clearwater Cyl Hd reman head, with core exchange- $270 with freight, New manifold (included a gasket too)- $75, head gasket plus other misc. gaskets (Felpro through Advanced Auto Parts) $45, new plugs, two oil changes, new coolant- $35, new downpipe through Auto-Zone -$45, weld new pipe to existing- $10, case of beer- $13. Modifications: build four brackets out of flat stock steel to mount the plug/coil rail off the rocker cover bolts and extend the 02 sensor wires off the new downpipe. Approx time to complete was around 20 hours. Total est cost: around $500 bucks including the beer.

Thanks for the replies, sounds like it should be pretty straightforward. If I were to get the manifold from the guy with the '99 head, would I be able to use that instead of buying the header on ebay?

No problem. You will still have to change the downpipe though. I cut my existing downpipe off ahead of the cat and crossbrace and welded in the new pipe after cutting it to fit. I used a splicing sleeve from Auto-Zone for the connection. Be aware that the OEM one-piece manifolds have a tendency to crack. That is why I bought a new one with the expansion chambers on each end. Is upposed to address the cracking prob. You will also have to extend the 02 sensor wires about 8" since the sensor faces forward on the new downpipe. Solder the connections and then loop the sensor wires around the front away from the pipe. I wrapped my wires in some reflective heat tape for protection and tie-strapped them to hold the loop position.

BTW, don't forget to plug the head temp sensor hole at the back rt. side of the head or your will have coolant coming out, like i did. Heart skipped a beat and new swear words invented until I found the source of the coolant puddle. Is a metric but don't recall the size.

My 0331 head cracked too, and I also did the 0630 head swap. Like Horble1, I ran into trouble with the factory exhaust on my '01 too. My factory exhaust has the two cast headers with 2 pre-cats and 4 O2 sensors. If this is the exhaust that you have then the exhaust will definately not align with exhaust ports in the 0630 head.
I chose not to replace the stock exhaust cause this XJ isn't for wheeling and I prefered to leave the pre-cats and all 4 O2 sensors in place for emmisions and resale and all that. I just wanted to get it done as cheaply as possible without risking emissions or inspection issues. The thought of installing another 0331 head was too much for me though.
I ended up making an adapter plate that mates the '99 head to the '01 exhaust. I used a '99 gasket between the head and the plate and also an '01 gasket between the plate and the exhaust/intake. I actually measured everything up and got a local sheet metal shop to punch out the plate for me. I even made a print for it. I cut the exhuast ports by hand with a die grinder myself though. I wanted to chamfer the plate near the step to get rid of that sharp corner. The intake lined up almost exactly the same.
I could have another plate made up for you if your willing to pay for it.
Other than that, the only other things I did were make sure the coolant hole was plugged and make some little brackets for the ignition rail, just like the other guys posted.

Good Luck