Hello everyone,
The 4.0L in my '98 appears to have seen better days. The other day while I was on the freeway the drive on the oil pump broke and I lost oil pressure. I was pissed so I drove the POS to the off ramp and to the nearest gas station. When I finally shut it down it was making quite a bit of noise. At this point it's time to consider which motor is going to replace the original.
My main question is, has anyone either done or considered doing a 5.2L (318 Magnum) swap into the Cherokee. It seems like such a natural fit as they came in the Grands. Putting a Chryco motor in my Jeep would really help out in the emissions department as I still need to do that here in WI. They no longer do tail pipe testing and only plug into the OBD2 port. So running a Chryco computer from some '98 would keep me from having to jump through hoops. Also, keeping the 241OR t-case that I paid a kings ransom for is high on my list and running a Jeep trans would make keeping it a reality.
Is a 5.2L swap as attractive as it appears to me? I really don't want to get into a discussion about the $$ to HP reward of such a swap because increasing the HP of any V8 is a much simpler proposition than on any I6. V8's from any of the big 3 enjoy immense aftermarket support where the 4.0L enjoys some but not to the extent of the V8's and not at the low prices. I'm more concerned about if there is a real reason no one does these swaps, i.e. the motors won't fit, the trans is too big, or some other situation I'm not seeing.
If I could do any swap I wanted I'd run a 5.0L Ford V8 in there. They are small, light, and nearly as cheap to build as a SBC. The make tremendous power for their physical size and are extremely reliable. Not to mention that I have several 5.0L's laying around, one of which is freshly rebuilt. I also have a good AOD I could use. The AOD is nice because it has O.D. yet doesn't require a computer. The problem is, no one make an adapter to mate a Jeep T-case to the AOD. Also, emissions would be a problem as it is not a Chryco product. The FI I have for the 5.0L is from a '90 further complicating the emissions situation.
I know lots of guys have done the LS swaps but I'm not too interested in that because of the price of admission. If I had or could get a complete LS for cheap I'd consider it but there are far more costs involved with the LS swaps.
My last resort would be a Golen 4.6L stroker. I'd like to go to a V8 if possible so I'd like to steer clear of the stroker but it would be the simplest option.
Thanks for any input,
B-loose
The 4.0L in my '98 appears to have seen better days. The other day while I was on the freeway the drive on the oil pump broke and I lost oil pressure. I was pissed so I drove the POS to the off ramp and to the nearest gas station. When I finally shut it down it was making quite a bit of noise. At this point it's time to consider which motor is going to replace the original.
My main question is, has anyone either done or considered doing a 5.2L (318 Magnum) swap into the Cherokee. It seems like such a natural fit as they came in the Grands. Putting a Chryco motor in my Jeep would really help out in the emissions department as I still need to do that here in WI. They no longer do tail pipe testing and only plug into the OBD2 port. So running a Chryco computer from some '98 would keep me from having to jump through hoops. Also, keeping the 241OR t-case that I paid a kings ransom for is high on my list and running a Jeep trans would make keeping it a reality.
Is a 5.2L swap as attractive as it appears to me? I really don't want to get into a discussion about the $$ to HP reward of such a swap because increasing the HP of any V8 is a much simpler proposition than on any I6. V8's from any of the big 3 enjoy immense aftermarket support where the 4.0L enjoys some but not to the extent of the V8's and not at the low prices. I'm more concerned about if there is a real reason no one does these swaps, i.e. the motors won't fit, the trans is too big, or some other situation I'm not seeing.
If I could do any swap I wanted I'd run a 5.0L Ford V8 in there. They are small, light, and nearly as cheap to build as a SBC. The make tremendous power for their physical size and are extremely reliable. Not to mention that I have several 5.0L's laying around, one of which is freshly rebuilt. I also have a good AOD I could use. The AOD is nice because it has O.D. yet doesn't require a computer. The problem is, no one make an adapter to mate a Jeep T-case to the AOD. Also, emissions would be a problem as it is not a Chryco product. The FI I have for the 5.0L is from a '90 further complicating the emissions situation.
I know lots of guys have done the LS swaps but I'm not too interested in that because of the price of admission. If I had or could get a complete LS for cheap I'd consider it but there are far more costs involved with the LS swaps.
My last resort would be a Golen 4.6L stroker. I'd like to go to a V8 if possible so I'd like to steer clear of the stroker but it would be the simplest option.
Thanks for any input,
B-loose