These are thumbnails click for the larger version.
before shot typical carbed YJ (88) with nightmarish non operating emissions garbage and infamous carter BBD the shittiest carb ever:
4.0 head and cheap chinese ebay header that is STAINLESS STEEL and cost 44 bucks SHIPPED at the time... the steel would cost more than that here (this header held up for a couple years and outlasted the 4.2 pictured)
Had to clearance the intake to fit the header, others have dented the header pipe to fit the intake, but my intake was no longer in need of it's coolant passages or the stock "heater" used to warm things up for the crap carb on cold starts. I put in Holley TBI injection and eliminated the heater return line plumbing to improve air density:
Initial test fit the 4.0 gasket fit well outside the edge of the intake runner ports on both the 4.0 head and the 4.2 intake, marking things and lining them up carefully proved to me that the 4.2 Carb intake has LARGER runners than the head by maybe a 32th of an inch all the way around the port. Slight loss of velocity perhaps, but nothing to worry about:
Needed to clearance this bracket, later I would weld new tabs onto another bracket and swap it in, but the intake was very secure even without it, I at one point acidentally put all my weight on the intake torquing down those damn rear valve cover bolts, it stayed put.
Here's the final product, for some reason I got goofy and gave the header a mild polishing... I have an unhealthy facination with Stainless steel... It started with a 65 fastback Mustang in 1988 and grew with an 88 YJ and 91 XJ They are all extremely rust prone and so started my facination with SS even my wedding ring had stainless steel protecting the gold band. call me nutty. anyway:
HTH:smoker: