New Engine for 2001 60th Anniversary Edition

Hi all, I have been on the site for a few years and bought a really nice jeep about 2.5 years ago, then 3 months later I got hit by a semi that ran a red light and completely split my XJ in half. I was hospitalized for close to 15 months. I have now fully recovered and recently picked up a bone stock 2001 beige 60th anniversary edition for a crazy good price. Since I have so much buy money left over from the purchase(almost 4k), I want to go ahead and replace the engine so I will have plenty of fun to be had in the future. I was wondering if anyone here could give me advice on what route to take as far as what to replace it with. Should I just go with a direct OEM replacement or something a bit beefier.

As far as future plans for my jeep go, I plan on painting it Matte Army Green up top and Spray on armor on the bottom. I am going to add a 5.5" RE long arm lift and run either 33's or 35's. I am going to go with new bumpers as well and could really use some help in that dept. I like the commercially available ones but not their price. Are there any small companies that make bumpers and body armor? I would also like advice on axles and gears and such. I GREATLY appreciate any and all advice that you can offer.

If I had 4K to burn on an engine then I would definitely make my life a lot less of a headache and just buy a 4.6L or 4.7L stroker crate engine. Now there are alot of companies that offer one now that this has become such a popular engine upgrade. From the small amount of research I have done it seems the most reputable name that has a stroker crate engine is ATK. But that is not to say the others are not good quality options either. The one thing I did see time and time again is bad reviews of the Titan engine company.

The beauty of a stroker motor, besides the obvious gains in power, is it actually helps with driveability and economy, if driven properly of course. With power comes the urge to use it so some don't see the economy gains right away since they are too busy having fun with it haha. The stroker motor uses an old Jeep 258 4.2L I6 crank, which is the old design of the 4.0L. The 4.0L has larger pistons than the old 4.2L so if you just threw the 4.2L crank in with the 4.0L pistons and rods, you would actually have a 4.5L roughly. Then guys go the extra length to bore out the cylinders to .030" to get 4.6L and .060" for the 4.7L. I am no guru on this so I could be a little off on some of this but this is what I have been able to gather from my reading around. The other beauty of the stroker is that the torque curve it moved lower in the RPM range. The 4.0L makes its peak torque up around 2500ish RPM if I am not mistaken. The 4.2L made its torque much lower in the RPM range I believe around 1800. So with the stroker motor the torque is right where you need in a more useable location so you don't have to really spin the motor up to get some power out of it. Since torque is what is really used to get the Jeep moving from a dead stop, it will feel like it really takes off more. The stroker motor option really is the best way to go. If you don't think you want all that and that you just want to stick with a 4.0L then if your motor is fine and nothing is wrong with it, then leave it alone and spend that $4,000 on a lift and tires and maybe some bumpers or re-gearing for the new tire size to maintain good power and economy.

Here is a link to a good education site for building a stroker http://www.jeep4.0performance.4mg.com/photo3.html

Also there is a forum called http://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/

But with your budget, if it was me, I would just buy a crate engine and have someone drop it in for me or even take on the task myself. Building one yourself only makes sense if you can do alot of the work yourself and you have even a clue to what you are doing, or if you have a killer hookup at a local shop and they can build you one for very cheap.

Good luck!

Lake919 said:

and recently picked up a bone stock 2001 beige 60th anniversary edition for a crazy good price.

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If the Jeep is beige, you don't have an anniversary edition. They only offered them in silver and black. Perhaps you got one where someone just bought the badges and stuck them on it.

Also, out of curiousity, why do you need to replace the engine?

Thanks for the input both of you. Lol, I just looked over all the paperwork that it came with and it is indeed silver and not beige. I am color blind so it was difficult to tell. I was not seriously concerned with the color considering the vehicle was in such good shape. The only reason I am considering replacing the engine, is because I ran a compression check and it was in the low range and just figured I would go beefier since I had the cash. As far as other things go, I had that as separate cash for lift and the like. I have 5500 for add ons. I plan on having my Jeep for many years so dropping money into it is not going to hurt my feelings.

WOW!!!! So after I looked around this evening, I found that ATK offers a 205HP/280TQ 4.7L stroker, I really like that this motor comes with a 24 month/Unlimited Mile warranty. I also saw that they offer a 275HP/320TQ 4.7L Baja Stroker with a 12 month/Unlimited Mile warranty. So now all I have to do is make up my mind which one I go with. PLEASE offer any advice you can. I found a buyer for my 4.0 already to. he is willing to give me a grand for the motor. So should I pull the trigger?

Lake919 said:

WOW!!!! So after I looked around this evening, I found that ATK offers a 205HP/280TQ 4.7L stroker, I really like that this motor comes with a 24 month/Unlimited Mile warranty. I also saw that they offer a 275HP/320TQ 4.7L Baja Stroker with a 12 month/Unlimited Mile warranty. So now all I have to do is make up my mind which one I go with. PLEASE offer any advice you can. I found a buyer for my 4.0 already to. he is willing to give me a grand for the motor. So should I pull the trigger?

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IMO, a really bad deal here as the STOCK output of an HO engine is 199hp... Sure it isn't 305? Back in 01 when I did my 4.7 stroker. it dyno'd 300hp at sea level with the stock Throttle Body. Did much better when the 65mm was fitted...

Keep in mind that you will be changing the Throttle Body out for one with a proper diameter for the 4.7L displacement. A 62mm is considered to be a minimum size.

Due Diligence is the word here. Do the homework and get it right. A stroker, properly prepared, will run every bit as long as a stock engine.

250 is probably what he meant.

And if someone is offering you a grand for your motor id jump on that. I only payed 300 for mine with only 30k on it.

Yeah I should have looked closer, it omly fits grands and wranglers, it is a stage 1 4.7L stroker, and makes 205 HP, that does sound really low right?

Very low. For the kind of money your spending.

I would give ATK a call and grill them with questions about the base stroker and why its output is so low. Hell even if you did just a 4.5L poor man's stroker it would be putting out atleast 225-230 HP. A 4.7L should put out atleast 255-260 depending on how well it is put together and what parts are used but a well built one would make much more. If you are being offered $1000 then I would jump on that ASAP!!! Get your new motor ordered fast so you can have it in and take that old one out and get it sold! Call ATK and ask them if the Baja stroker is good in a daily driver.

ATK's strokers, for your 2001, use the dreaded 0331 head.
No way of knowing if they are the later model TUPY heads or the more crack prone early head.
Something to ask about if you call them. A two year warranty is encouraging.