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New Engine or not?

forcecop

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Jacksonville
Hey guys, I've been lurking for a while now, decided to start posting in the last couple of days. I'd like some advice for an XJ I recently bought.

I have an '86 XJ that I got for $600. I've been doing my research and now know that the '86 isn't the best option to start building with, but there is no rust and the interior is like new. I've had to replace the radiator right off the bat ($120 new). There was a wobble to the engine and replacing the non-balanced flywheel with a balanced one fixed ($100 rebuilt) that. I also installed the posi-lock to engage 4x4, ($170). Total investment (little over $1,000). The engine can be heard on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_NL2Xk4NY

The engine hesitates, and has stalled on me once while I was accelerating. My fellow club members and father believe that my engine has thrown a rod. My research on the GM 2.8 V6 pretty much tells me to yank my engine and not worry about this one. I’ve been doing a lot of research and basically have five options as I see it.

1)[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Sell the Jeep. I don’t have much invested; I don’t want to push this engine on someone else. Everything on it looks great, so I want to keep it.

2)[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Swap out the 2.8 for a used 4.3 S-10 or a 3.4 from a 93-95 Camaro or Firebird. I’ve already looked in junkyards for engines and the engines are expensive for what you might get (high mileage, may need to be rebuilt) and there would have to be custom work with the engine mounts. I would also have to replace my entire drive train with the 4.3 (the 3.4 will bolt right in).

3)[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Swap it out with the LS1 V8. I would also have to change out the drive train, but I’m not sure if my Dad’s skills are up for it (shade tree mechanic). He worked on carb’s and he wants nothing to do with fuel injection. I know nothing about engines, so I’m at his mercy. I also think this would cost more than I am willing to invest right now.

4)[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Swap it out with the GM 3.4 crate engine. This will bolt right in, and there shouldn’t be any other issues. I am leaning this way; I think the $1,800 spent on the engine now will save me much more down the road. (Not having to rebuild an older engine).

5)[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Fix the crappy engine I have now. I did get two additional 2.8’s with the Jeep. One has a broken crankshaft, and the other is broken down to the block. I probably could rebuild one engine with the three I have. I’m not thrilled with this option, because I will never be happy with the power.

I’ve done a lot of research, both here and one the novak site, now I would like to hear any advice that anyone may have. If someone had installed that crate engine, were you happy with the power it gave? Was the V8 swap worth the headache?

Thanks for any input
Darren
P.S. if you watched my XJ sick engine video, look for the XJ in flight one, you won’t regret it. (Not mine, it was at the Back Yard Bash, two weeks ago.)
 
Have you done a compression check?
Drop the oil pan and see what you find.
I'd be inclined to find a wrecked or rusted out donor jeep with a good I6 and do a swap, on the other hand if you allready have all the parts you need to build a good engine then why not?
 
Redirect your research to www.60degreev6.org (.com? I'm not sure) - since it's a forum dedicated to the 60-degree V6 that you have. There were a few incarnations - and I'll agree with you, the 2.8L sucks. The 3.1 is rather better (I had a 2.8 in a late 1980's Cavalier, and a 3.1 in a 1992 Corsica. Night and bloody Day...)

As I understand it, getting an engine from an F-body (Camaro, Firebird) or an S-series should be a direct swap, so you can just grab the engine and electronics and go to it (you may not need the electronics, but why skimp?) Also, check around for a full-service dismantler - oddly enough, they're a bit more willing to work with you. We had one around here that specialised in Jeep and Toyota trucks (odd match?) and I could buy "buildable" bits from them as cores to save a few bucks. I wouldn't install a boneyard pulled engine or transmission directly anyhow - go through it yourself, and refresh everything. There's a very good chance it wants work - and to assume that it doesn't is something I find to be foolish.

Note that a portion of FWD platforms also had "Goodwrench Service Replacement" engines installed - these are distinguished by the presence of an unused starter motor mounting pad on the back of the engine block, as installed. GSR blocks were designed to be used in FWD/RWD/AWD/4WD applications, and therefore have facility for mounting the start motor on either side of the block. The FWD-only blocks have the starter mounting pad on the wrong side of the block for RWD/4WD/AWD use.

Advance Adapters (www.advanceadapters.com) makes a bolt-in (and, I think, a weld-in) cradle for mounting the SBChevvy in the XJ/MJ platform - might be worth looking into. I seem to recall it being <$200, but I'm not sure, and it's been a while.

Should you go with the SBC route, there are various aftermarket fuel injection systems - try Howell Fuel Injection, Edelbrock, Accel, MSD, or any of a number of other suppliers. If you really want to get into it and figure out how everything works, there is a DIY system called "MegaSquirt" developed by Bruce Bowling and Al Grippo that you can build from raw parts, or a kit, or get pre-assembled - Google should turn up more on that for you.

There are a number of ways you can go on this - and you're really only limited by how much work you're willing to do yourself. That's really the deciding factor with pretty much anything tho - how much of it are you willing to do?

And, there is also the option of getting an AMC 2.46L four-cylinder (1984-up XJ, 1986-1992MJ, TJ, YJ, and most Dodge Dakotas - ChryCo actually hung on to that engine for a while...) and converting to that. However, it would require changing your engine control/management setup - but so does the SBC swap.

Last - and probably most difficult - would be finding a 4.0 and installing that. The problem you run into there is that the front clip was lengthened and modified slightly for the 1987 model year to accommodate the rather long inline six engine, and some sheetmetal modification would be required. I don't recall how much work wants doing, but I think it's been discussed here before. The AMC I4, GM V6-60, and SBC swaps are all probably going to be rather easier for you.
 
ninner said:
Have you done a compression check?
Drop the oil pan and see what you find.
I'd be inclined to find a wrecked or rusted out donor jeep with a good I6 and do a swap, on the other hand if you allready have all the parts you need to build a good engine then why not?

I'd rather not keep the weak 2.8 that I currently have. Everything that I've read says that putting the I6 in my XJ wouldn't be a good idea. As the gentleman after you stated, they made some changes (moved the firewall) to get the I6 to fit. But to answer the question, I have not done the compression check. I'm looking for any excuse to dump the 2.8 :D
 
5-90 said:
Redirect your research to www.60degreev6.org (.com? I'm not sure) - since it's a forum dedicated to the 60-degree V6 that you have. There were a few incarnations - and I'll agree with you, the 2.8L sucks. The 3.1 is rather better (I had a 2.8 in a late 1980's Cavalier, and a 3.1 in a 1992 Corsica. Night and bloody Day...)

Thanks for your input. I was not aware of this website and will likely spend the next few hours looking it over. Then tomorrow, I'll go see my dad and make him look it over. :D

I considered the I6 for about a second. Once I saw that the firewall would have to be worked on, to make the engine fit, I decided against it.

I'll look around for the disassembler.

Darren
 
By far, the easiest would be the 3.1/3.4 swap. All the peripherals form the 2.8 will fit....all you need in addition would be to neutral balance the flexplate/flywheel.
 
MudDawg said:
By far, the easiest would be the 3.1/3.4 swap. All the peripherals form the 2.8 will fit....all you need in addition would be to neutral balance the flexplate/flywheel.

I'm actuallly a step ahead here. The last owner installed a neutral balance flywheel because the old one stripped some gears. I replaced it with the proper flywheel, but I kept the old one for this event.

My main concern is that after paying $1800 for a crate engine, I get an increase in power that I can feel.
 
If you get the GM 3.4 crate motor, it definately makes more power....if you toss the stock "carb" and go with a Weber 38DGES it will make quite a bit more power....the best deal on the carb kit I have seen recently is to get one from Quadratec...theirs are branded as "EMPI", but there is no difference. The only other thing is if you get a carb kit....the air filter that comes with it is not fit for offroad if you encounter any water...and in my opinion is nearly useless in general because it is a oiled gause type...you can buy an adapter to use a standard 4 1/8 neck air filter housing.
 
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