XJ V8 Swap

I Want to swap a chevy small block V8 into my 1997 Jeep Cherokee Classic. I need some info on what this entails and some places to get the parts. I plan on getting a motor from a junkyard and rebuilding it. Do I need to the tranny and transfer case as well? Thanks so much. I LOVE MY XJ!!!!:helpme:

if you find an s10 witha 4.3 auto itl bolt up to the v8 (700r4 np231) the trans is not as strong as the fullsize but should handle a moderate right foot
and a fullsize 700r4 will bolt in later using the same tailhousing to mate with the t case

How about throwing in a 4.3 Vortec V-6? I know its not as cool sounding as saying you've got a V-8 under the hood but the Vortecs have some pretty good power and its a fairly common swap I know a lot of rock buggy guys do it. The simplest swap for a V-8 would be to throw in a carbed v-8 from the 80's very little wiring at all with that. You should be able to get adapters for either engine to mate up with a jeep tranny. I can't remember what side the transfer case comes out. (for some reason I want to say the chevy's front drive shafts are on the opposite side from Jeeps. Posing problems if you wanted to do the tranny swap as well.)

The V-6 swap would be easier Size wise but you'll have more wiring for a injected engine over a carbed one. If you were able to I'd suggest trying to find a wrecked s-10 or blazer and taking the engine from it. Size questions would be a lot easier to deal with.

If You REALLY want a v-8 why not taking one from a durango or dakota?

bthompson2902 said:

I Want to swap a chevy small block V8 into my 1997 Jeep Cherokee Classic. I need some info on what this entails and some places to get the parts. I plan on getting a motor from a junkyard and rebuilding it. Do I need to the tranny and transfer case as well? Thanks so much. I LOVE MY XJ!!!!:helpme:

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I am wondering the very same thing. I have a 4.0 to rebuild, but I suspect I can get a recycled-usable-consumable Chevy 350 or similar for cheap. I hear tell all I would need would be a convertsion plate to mate to the AW4 and I expect something to handle the change for the torque converter. -- and welding in two new engine mounts.

Have you heard anything more than this post? I would think there would be more info available...

-rob :wave:

It's a bit of a PITA. You'll run into hood clearance issues, header clearance issues, firewall clearance issues... Unless you do it just right.


Somebody sells the motor mounts. That'd be a start.


You'll probably want to pull a tranny and transfercase at the same time to avoid headaches and the cost of adapters. IFS trucks were drivers side drop, so you'll want the tranny/tcase from one of them.


I'm personally thinking I'll go the 4.3 route eventually. Unless I move my radiator to the back instead. In which case I'll keep the 4.0.

I love my XJ too but if you want a v8 get a ZJ or WJ.

If it were me, I'd try and find a '98 5.9 liter.

If I couldn't find one then a 4.7 HO will do.


But would doing a stroker be more cost effective? I think so.

j99xj said:

But would doing a stroker be more cost effective? I think so.

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I don't. I don't know what it costs to build a stroker, but, to build a stroker with an equal amount of power as a 350... That ain't gonna happen.



Everybody gets so bent on their strokers.

We get bent on them because we know what we got for comparatively tiny amounts of money, hassle, and manhours.

It's not hard at all to get a junk yard build stroker into the same ballpark as a stock F-body 350, or Mustang 5.0 or 4.6 modular (Note 2v models not 3 or 4) With a little money into it (Cam, Injectors, Dyno tune) you'll have more HP and Torque than those cars do stock.

Now that's not to say that I don't understand why someone would put a small block V8 in a Jeep... I get that.

But WTF would anyone want to swap a 4.3 in for!? You have to be seriously lastara for Chebby's to do that, when you can just stroke the 4.0 to 4.6 and keep the drive train and AW4. Compared to replacing the entire drive train just to put a 4.3 in?

One is dumb, a huge PITA, expensive and no rational reason to do it, and the other is a no brainer, cheap, easy and gets you a more powerfull engine.
:doh:

This could help to cut down on some repetitive questions-This subject comes up quite frequently here at -If you have not done so before posting do yourself a favor by going into the enormous archives here and useing "Chevy 350 V-8 engine swaps"-
Mis-information/Dis-information ?-evildead.."if you find an s10 witha 4.3 auto itl bolt up to the v8 (700r4 np231)
SPOBI ".Is'nt there a difference in Chevy bellhouseings between the larger Chevy 350 V-8 and the smaller 4.3 V-6.. ?
Has anyone here actually done this modification or,..?
File05 "-
If You REALLY want a v-8 why not taking one from a durango or dakota?"- SPOBI
.Search the archives,..and additionally this is the Modification forum not the Advanced Engineering forum..Chevy is just more common and cost efficient
DirtyMJ "It's a bit of a PITA. You'll run into hood clearance issues, header clearance issues, firewall clearance issues..
. Unless you do it just right."
....No..No and no I own a 1985 and I HAVE personally done the swap/transplant useing the Chevy 350 LT1 carbureted engine and... to reply to the hood clearance header problems,..firewall They were small cheap and minor certainlly not a "PITA"..And this was all done on an earlier model of the XJ that had a tired ole enemic 2.8 liter engine ..for triple the horsepower-2.8 liter to 5.7 liter-I would suggest to you that if you are thinking of just going to go the small cost of putting in a 4.3 liter it is about the same cost + effort to do the 5.7 liter-I would cordially encourage any and everyone contemplateing doing such a engine swap/transplant/horsepower increase to first do a search here at the archives and online at Advanced Adapters for additional real world first hand information
j99xj "I love my XJ too but if you want a v8 get a ZJ or WJ.
If it were me, I'd try and find a '98 5.9 liter-
Again do a search in the NAXJ archives to find practical and real-world experience. -" or something similiar-HTH
bxj
Happy New Year !

i agree with BXJ. i have done this swap in my 86 and all clearance issues were minimal.easiest way to do it is to use tranny and transfer from a s-10 with 4.3. by making my own motor mounts i even managed to use stock 4.0l driveshafts. take your time and think it through before you start.

the easiest would proble be a dodge V8 as the electronics are the same, as far as the guy who sugested puttin a a 4.3, thats just stupid, all that time and money in a swap for a 20hp increase? give me a break. but if you really want to do a v8 swap you need to put in the factor of motor and trans mounts, cooling system, bigger axles, wiring ect.

ROBZ95Xj said:

the easiest would proble be a dodge V8 as the electronics are the same

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SPOBI, it's impossible for the wiring between a 6 and 8 cyl to be the same.

i think he means as far as guages and stuff go if you get components from the same year.

:shrug:

using a carbed chevy v8 the alternator and starter both plug into the factory wires. factory guages will also work with the v8...even the tac.
it has a dashpot on the back to adjust it. as far as cost the chevy motor is by far the cheaper.

Let me start by saying that I really no longer have any real brand loyality...ecpect I don't like the dodge 318.

Why not swap in a EFI 302? The 87-93 mustang harnesses are pretty much stand alone. The A9L comuter for the manual trans can be used and you wouldn't have to screw with the trans shift point bs. Sevarl different manual and auto trans can be bolted up.

Like the 350, the aftermarket is flooded with TONS of goodies for it and sinse you plan on a rebuild anyway, you can swap in heads/cam/ect to mak ethe max power/torque where you want it.

The front mount dist is a huge help with firewall clearence and ease of tuning. ect..............................

I like the Voretc engines, but they tend to commmand a highre price and if I'm swapping in a any sized engine I want the EFI over carb'd any day.

As someone else mentioned, I'm a fan of the stroker over a V8 swap. I don't have th etime/money/or skill to fab motor mounts or add plating to the engine bay to handle the added power of a well built V8, so for me the most pain free way to go would be a drop in stroker.

DirtyMJ said:

I don't. I don't know what it costs to build a stroker, but, to build a stroker with an equal amount of power as a 350... That ain't gonna happen.



Everybody gets so bent on their strokers.

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a stock carbed early 80s 350 makes only 165-180 hp or AS MUCH AS A STOCK 4.0., granted more torque in many apps but you said power so i figure you meant hp. A stroker can creep up close to 270 easy and 285 hp or so from what i read pretty easy.

a stock tpi 350? a stock tbi 350, or a stock carbed 350....... or are we not even comparing OEM engines here you just saying all the bolt on crap and hipo gear for 350, if you want you can make a ridiculouse 350 that costs $15,000 and makes like 750 hp, just want to make sure we are talking apples to apples, not apples to oranges.

I would take a stock 4.0 over a carbed 350. I would take a stroked to 4.7 I-6 over a tbi 350 just to avoid the hassle for the not so great gains.

If i had a wrecked vehicle with a tpi 350 laying around and i knew it was a strong runner and i hydrolocked or over heated my 4.0 i would go for it.

If my 4.0 was a good runner i wouldnt even bother. What are you getting into that a stock 4.0 much less a I6 stroked to 4.7 isnt enough for you?

troy6187 said:

using a carbed chevy v8 the alternator and starter both plug into the factory wires. factory guages will also work with the v8...even the tac.
it has a dashpot on the back to adjust it. as far as cost the chevy motor is by far the cheaper.

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why in the heck would you ever want to go from a feul injected I6 to a carbed V8? thats just stupid

my cherokee originaly started life as a four cylinder... 33 inch tires soon killed that.counting purchase price i have about fifteen hundred in the whole project.

This thread is cute. A bunch of people ragged on me for different reasons. Some because they thought I was recommending a 4.3 swap, some because they hate SBCs.


I did NOT suggest a 4.3 swap for this guy. The reason I want a 4.3 has partly to do with space, partly downstream drivetran, and weight and balance. The 4.0 is too long of an engine to allow you to dove-tail the front easily. Unless you throw the radiator in the back or don't run headlights. Both of which I have considered. I don't want the rad in the back because I have enough space issues as it is. And while it would be fun to run different headlights, no headlights, or w/e, I just don't feel like it. I want it recognizable as what it was. Drivetran wise, it is the same bellhousing pattern as a SBC - unlike the smaller 2.8Ls and such. This allows me to easily/cheaply run a SM465 and a NP241C, which is what I consider to be a reasonable drivetran for now unless I hate it. Lastly, I can cut the firewall a bunch and position the engine far enough back that I think I can get my CG to be more middle. That and the 4.0 is a heavy pig. Although, with an iron head V6 I'll only be saving so much.

So, moving right along...


The belief that a 4.7 or whatever the fork will cheaply build a 'lot' of power is reasonable. But, it'll only make so much. The concept of a 'lot' is rather flawed when you only seem to run I6s. Lots of power can be nice. There's no replacement for displacement... And a few dollars can really wake up a piss poor smogged to hell 350. If you don't believe me, I don't care. I really only replied because somebody thought I was telling the dood to put a 4.3 in! And that got me all laughy inside.

Personally I don't care if I have the extra power of a V8.

Besides, one way or another I'd run propane. Way easier to do that one a V6/V8 than it is proving to be on the I6.

DirtyMJ said:

I did NOT suggest a 4.3 swap for this guy. The reason I want a 4.3 has partly to do with space, partly downstream drivetran, and weight and balance. The 4.0 is too long of an engine to allow you to dove-tail the front <snipped for length>

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That's all fair enough but you have to admit those are rather esoteric reasons for a 4.3 swap, most of us are not building rock buggies with the engine's center of gravity tweaked.

The weight of the I6 is a mild disadvantage but it's also putting out a lot more power stroked than the 4.3. It's putting out comparable numbers to stock small blocks in either militant loyalty camp (AKA Chebby or Ford) Not being familiar with the 4.3's weight though I'm still doubting that it's enough to justify swaping one in with drive train over a stroker.

Most engines even V6 to V8 are within a couple hundred pounds of one another. The I6 weights in a little on the heavy side with similar displacement Aluminum V8's but that's comparing apples to oranges. Throw Hesco's Alum block and Head in their and it's on the lighter side of an Aluminum V8's

The belief that a 4.7 or whatever the fork will cheaply build a 'lot' of power is reasonable. But, it'll only make so much. The concept of a 'lot' is rather flawed when you only seem to run I6s. Lots of power can be nice. There's no replacement for displacement... And a few dollars can really wake up a piss poor smogged to hell 350. If you don't believe me, I don't care. I really only replied because somebody thought I was telling the dood to put a 4.3 in! And that got me all laughy inside.

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I thought the 'dood', meaning the OP, was the one suggesting a 4.3 swap. Maybe I'm just bored to death by Chebby swaps (How Many LS1 Corvette motors were in Top Truck Challenge the last couple years?)

There's definitely a ceiling with the stroker, you're not going to see much over 300HP naturally aspirated, but then that's pretty much true of even modern high performance multi valve/Cam small block v8's...