help me! i broke apart my isnides!

Hey, found this site, and it seems to have a good bit of info in it. hoping ya'll can help me out.
well, my 97 XJ cracked a piston in cyl 6 when i hydro locked the motor(i actually thought i just burned up a valve, kept driving it for a month, till i noticed the oil was black and smelled like gas) took the head off, and saw a small crack in piston 6(turned out to be HUGE).
perfect! motor has 225k on it, head was just rebuilt and milled at 205k, lets slap some new pistons in it, do a mild port and gasket match to the head/intake while its off, slap a header on there, and test out the small lift and mud terrains that i just installed(oh, and a snorkel, so this fiasco doesnt happen again). hey, might even have it done in time for redneck yacht club at the end of the month!
WRONG! rod 1 and 6 look like a pretzel from the vendor at the baseball stadium....(and yeah, it ran almost perfect. nothing more than a lightly rough idle)....
well, my question is, i didnt find that out till i bought a set of OE bore forged lightweight higher comp pistons, new rings, oil pump, etc, the whole works.
annnnnd...
im having ALOT of trouble finding rods for this SOB!!! dealer wants 185 each, with a piston(that i dont want or need), and i cant seem to find any in aftermarket. Crower quoted me about $900 for a billet set, but im not sure if i want to go that route(if i do, then im goin all out and building a nitrous motor!!! ok. i lied...)

so, before i go crazy(and more improtantly before i lose instrest like my last girlfriend), what do i do? i heard a 4.2 crank and rods bolt in.... is that true? that would change my stroke, which means i may need to get a new set of pistons tho, right??


help help HELP!!!

btw-great site, did use the search, found a fewlinks for strokers, but nothing that seemed to fit my need...

I'm sure some here will help, but Look on the speed and street pages of this site for the best engine and performance mods. this OEM page is realy for tune-ups and repair and such.

gotchya. was lookin there for advice on performance build up, but figured this would be a good spot for OEM replacement rods(which is what i prefer). ill link this over there.
thanks for the advice.

I was really refering to the strocker part, YES it is basically a direct swap. I just don't know detail. I also figure 1 answer might cover the other. Lots of rebuild happen here and someone know where to get the rods. Good Luck

I think you only need 4.2 rods and crank, and use 4.0 pistons, so you might be in luck. Sounds like a perfect stroker candidate. Saw a post about new 4.2 cranks for like $400 somewhere.

the block is still in the jeep, so im not gonna do a whole all out stroker, but if i can use 4.2 crakn and rods, well hell sign me up! should go great with my headwork! time to order the header, snorkel, and tuner!

buut, gonna wait to be sure before i get too happy.
been doin a lil more googling(or now, topeka'ing i guess...) and it seems that yes, the 4.2 crank and rods bolt into my block no prob. still trying to make sure the pistons i just ordered will work...

You can do the crank and rods while its bolted in.

ninja edit-rods are out, but how can i pull the crank with the block in the thing? it doesnt lok like there is enough room?

bump for info on if 4.2 crank and rods will def work with stock 4.0 pistons? already have a nice set of forged higher comp pistons stock bore for my 97, and gettin close to the time limit on if i have to return them....

thanks in advance.
btw-best XJ site ive found so far. i moderate carforums.net, and will be posting a link to this site in my sig, so long as i can do the same here.
ryan

check on jeepstrokers.com for information on 4.2 crank, rods and what pistons.

sweet. will do.