What to do with 86 Cherokee

New to Cherokees. Cut my teeth on CJs. I picked up a very nice 86 Cherokee that needs a valve job. This Jeep has the dreaded 2.8 V6. I did a compression test. All but 2 of the cylinders were at 150 lbs. Jeep has 174,000 miles. Looking for opinions on what to do. Either fix the 2.8 or do a motor swap. Would like to know what I need to do to put 4.0 in.

I think there should be a couple threads detailing a 4.0 swap on here. From what I understand, you would need (of course) the 4.0 and transmission, and I think you may need to do some firewall work and the header panel/fascia from the 4.0. I could be wrong though.

Swapping a 3.4 ought to be considerably easier. That's the Camaro's V6 and I believe was essentially the same block externally and would an almost direct swap.

Do the 3.4 swap! There is a 2.8 cherokee sitting dead down my street, I want to go ask the owner if he wants me to tow it away "free of charge"!

I would do the 3.4 swap if I can reuse the 2.8 intake and distributor. Like a lot of other people, I can't afford to spend a lot of money on this.

The 3.4 swap would probably cheaper than a 4.0 swap. You can't reuse anything from the 2.8 on a 4.0.

Or if the 2.8 isn't giving you any problems, leave it for now. My mom had an 86 S10 with the 2.8 and tat engine was dead reliable for us. The rest of the truck rusted to pieces practically, but the engine kept going. You may get a fluke as well...