Help me piece together a 0331 head repair

It's a long story but a friend of mine ended up with an 00 XJ with the typical 0331 cracked head. He wants to fix it and between him and my brother and a few other XJ guys, we have an accumulation of parts that I think we can make something out of but I wanted to run it past all you first to see if this will work the way I hope.

His 0331 head is totally shot. The oil came out like tar so I'm thinking there was also damage done in the block too, not just the head.

We have a complete/running engine from an 01 XJ that was pulled during a part out from an accident. The easy fix would be to swap that engine right in. However, we don't want to risk another cracked head and it's definitely not the TUPY head on that one so we feel like it's just a matter of time before it goes too

So we also have a 97 head. And a 96 exhaust manifold in good shape.

I'm thinking we put the 97 head and the 96 exhaust manifold on the 01 block.

I know we will need to make brackets on the 97 head to mount the spark plug rail onto, that's straightforward but what exhaust modifications are required? The 96 is totally different than his 00... the 96 is the old style welded manifold and his 00 has the cast 2 piece with 2 cats and 2 O2 sensors. How do people with the 00 style exhaust run the 98-older manifolds when they do this head repair?

Emissions is not a concern here

Thanks

Adapter plate: https://jeepexhaustadapter.com/0630-head/

Then a gasket sandwich is the easiest fix

gotta keep the 2 cats for the PCM -- the 2000 with pre cats has 4 O2 sensors -- PCM needs data from all of them to run properly


It's really an easy swap with the plate, just cost a little money

That's perfect!

Never seen that before... it solves all the issues I was thinking about. Thanks for the link. Will definitely be going that route.

The adapter plate lists for $120 with standard shipping. Considering that you are pulling a head that should probably be sent to the machine shop for planing and a valve job... its probably pretty close to the cost of a TUPY or Clearwater Head.

You can get a tupy for cheap enough not to have to deal w all that bs on eBay. That's what I did but that's just me. Good luck w it either way.

So you guys would just buy a Tupy Head -- Trusting whoever the seller is and just put it in without having it checked and rebuilt

Because thats the only way a Tupy even comes close to the cost of the adapter plate

Now if your doing this because you don't like the gasket sandwich thats another story, but it's certainly not cheaper to do a Tupy right

I personally have no issue with the gasket plate gasket sandwich -- Never found a post where anyone had issues with it either -- I'll be sure to let you know if it ever fails, but don't hold your breath

First thing, is this a street legal car and does it have periodic smog inspections.
If you switch to an earlier exhaust manifold, and lose the twin mini-cats, you will also lose two of the four oxygen sensors.
The computer will have a constant CEL and may run poorly. I know of no cure other than using an earlier computer but that is out of my league and would also be illegal here in the states.
It's also against forum rules to advocate the removal emission devices.

I have a 2001 with over 200,000 miles on it and my brother's 2000 has a 130,000. Neither have had a cracking problem.
The point is you only hear about failures. The internet is great for spreading news about failures but not so much about the lack of failure.
Not every 0331 is destined to crack.
There has never been a accurate published study of how common the cracking issue is with the 0331 heads.

If it were me, I would do an oil analysis on the replacement and see if there is any signs of coolant, plus pulling the valve cover and closely examining the top of the head, between number 3 and 4 cylinders, for signs of cracking.
When my 2001's valves were done, it was magnafluxed, coming out clean.
The machinist was familiar with the cracking issue and his experiences made him think the problem was caused by casing with misaligned molds.
Some heads were OK, others were junk, a quality control problem.
If everything looks good, I would run it as is, unless there are other reasons to swap heads.

If you go ahead and swap to an earlier head, with the 2001's exhaust, instead of using the $120 adaptor, consider using headers.
Most will cover the the 2001's exhaust manifold's ports and will not require an adaptor. Know the Banks header works.
It would also be good time to upgrade to a late model intake manifold.

From a previous thread the banks "torque tube" header made for the cali emissions exhaust is compatible with either the 0331 head or the 7120 -- with the banks gasket -- This should fit the pre cat down tube and allow use of the 4 O2 sensors

I'm pretty sure it's priced well over $400

Heavyopp said:

So you guys would just buy a Tupy Head -- Trusting whoever the seller is and just put it in without having it checked and rebuilt

Because thats the only way a Tupy even comes close to the cost of the adapter plate

Now if your doing this because you don't like the gasket sandwich thats another story, but it's certainly not cheaper to do a Tupy right

I personally have no issue with the gasket plate gasket sandwich -- Never found a post where anyone had issues with it either -- I'll be sure to let you know if it ever fails, but don't hold your breath

Click to expand...

I was thinking of rebuilt TUPY heads which cost around $500 on eBay. Factor in the adapter plate and a trip through the machine shop with that used head, and getting the right head isn't that much more plus you get the benefits of having a head job, new valve seals, flattened head surface, ...

lazyxj said:

First thing, is this a street legal car and does it have periodic smog inspections.
If you switch to an earlier exhaust manifold, and lose the twin mini-cats, you will also lose two of the four oxygen sensors.
The computer will have a constant CEL and may run poorly. I know of no cure other than using an earlier computer but that is out of my league and would also be illegal here in the states.
It's also against forum rules to advocate the removal emission devices.

Click to expand...

He's swapping the motor into a 2000 XJ, so this isn't necessarily a problem. 2000 XJ's with federal emissions (non-CARB) have a single cat and two O2 sensors. However, I do realize the OP is in Canada, and not sure what the emissions configuration was for them in 2000.