Oh Sweet, sweet engine..

I'm starting with a pretty good baseline.. 1998 XJ Classic HO inline 6, 4x4 HPD30 front, Chrys 8.25 rear 132,000 miles, in over all really good condition, no dings dents, rust, etc. I'm gonna start buying for the build up here in the next two weeks and got to thinking.. eventually when the engine dies down the road sometime I was planning on getting one of the sweet golen engines (pricey but look like great stuff) but I'm a believer with these in line six's and wanna get some good life and good power out of it UNTIL it does croak.. So here's my question..

BESIDES regular maintence and taking care of the engine, and without putting TOO much money into the engine, what could I do to get the MOST power out of it for the rest of it's life? The only thing I know I want to do engine wise is bore out the throttle body and put on an ARB air snorkel, probably exhaust.. would that be really all I could do without slapping a supercharger on it?

And to give you a better Idea of its use.. it will be mostly a DD while still seeing an occasional trail, will keep the front and rear axle, get alloy shafts, arb lockers, 4:56 gears and run 33" tires.

And with upgrades, and keeping it regularly serviced.. what kind of life could I expect out of it, and how much additional HP with any suggested mods?

Help? :dunno:

Here's a plan.....leave the engine stock....lavish it with oil changes and tune up stuff.....take the money you don't spend to "hop up" the stocker and save it in a "super stroker" fund...you can tie up some pretty heavy coin on mods that quite frankly aren't worth the expense...Oh .... and come the day for the new motor.... IF you can't build the motor....look at Hesco as well as Golen... just remember quality is expensive.

MudDawg said:

Here's a plan.....leave the engine stock....lavish it with oil changes and tune up stuff.....take the money you don't spend to "hop up" the stocker and save it in a "super stroker" fund...you can tie up some pretty heavy coin on mods that quite frankly aren't worth the expense...Oh .... and come the day for the new motor.... IF you can't build the motor....look at Hesco as well as Golen... just remember quality is expensive.

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Thats what I figured.. I didn't wanna spend alot of money on the stocker if I was going to turn around and buy a newer, better motor anyway that wouldn't need mods to begin with.. Definately going to go check out the Hesco stuff tho as golen was the only thing I knew about.. I know its good stuff getting a motor like that.. its just the high price tag makes me a little weak in the knees.. and I'm sitting down.. :wow:

The old sage said...."speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?".

good advice above that I cannot refute, I would like to add the reminder to you that your engine is merely an air pump, so the simplest mods would be better intake and exhaust...which, could conceivably be re-used on the new engine when that time comes...personally, I plan to rebuild another bone stock motor, I figure it was good for 200K miles, another should at least get near that with a proper build up...

avnsteve said:

good advice above that I cannot refute, I would like to add the reminder to you that your engine is merely an air pump, so the simplest mods would be better intake and exhaust...which, could conceivably be re-used on the new engine when that time comes...personally, I plan to rebuild another bone stock motor, I figure it was good for 200K miles, another should at least get near that with a proper build up...

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To put my needs as simply as I can.. I just want more power. I DO however agree that the 4.0 is enough power, but the HP greed monster is getting to me. I want more than enough to pummel me around on the street and the trail, but at the same time I don't want to swap in something crazy overkill that would just end up grenading my gears and tearing everything up.

On the plus side, most engine mods can be easily swapped from one engine to another.

More air in, more air out. Low-restriction intake (maybe a FIPK if you don't go near water crossings), cat-back exhaust with a low-restriction muffler, maybe an aftermarket header... Should be good for a few ponies. Switch from a mechanical fan to an electrical fan, get rid of the roof rack/clean up the aerodynamics, and you'll be happier with the performance gains.

IronSmiles said:

To put my needs as simply as I can.. I just want more power. I DO however agree that the 4.0 is enough power, but the HP greed monster is getting to me. I want more than enough to pummel me around on the street and the trail, but at the same time I don't want to swap in something crazy overkill that would just end up grenading my gears and tearing everything up.

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My build-up is pretty much like yours. Lift, axle upgrades, bolt-on engine stuff, gears and 33" tires. I've decided to build my own stroker, while running my existing engine (many more miles than yours, but still running strong) in the mean time. You can assemble your own stroker for perhaps half of what a crate motor would cost (here's a stroker kit to check out: http://www.rpmmachine.com/amc-stroker-kit-4l.shtml). Get Jon's (5-90) I-6 power manual if you're at all interested in this.

Golen looks like a great motor--don't forget truck freight from the East coast in your price. You might also check out Titan, their stroker is about a grand less than Golen's http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TITA...014QQitemZ330110056610QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Oh and be sure to check out the Jeepspeed.com forums. There are usually a few race engines for sale (some I've seen are worth a lot more than the asking price).

Just another log on the fire!

mecompco said:

My build-up is pretty much like yours. Lift, axle upgrades, bolt-on engine stuff, gears and 33" tires. I've decided to build my own stroker, while running my existing engine (many more miles than yours, but still running strong) in the mean time. You can assemble your own stroker for perhaps half of what a crate motor would cost (here's a stroker kit to check out: http://www.rpmmachine.com/amc-stroker-kit-4l.shtml). Get Jon's (5-90) I-6 power manual if you're at all interested in this.

Golen looks like a great motor--don't forget truck freight from the East coast in your price. You might also check out Titan, their stroker is about a grand less than Golen's http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TITAN-4-0-99-04-JEEP-STROKER-ENGINE-MOTOR-4-6-4-7_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33615QQihZ014QQitemZ330110056610QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

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Titan stuff looks good.. And believe me, If I had the time, or the knowledge I'd love to build my own, but unfortunately I am pretty new to the mechanics game, and due to my job, I'm gonna have to have most of the work done to it at a shop (I know, I know, I'm a horrible person for not being able to do it myself)

And the more logs on the fire the better! I need all the tips/advice you guys can throw at me! I Just wanna build the best built rig I can, that will last me a LONG time..

But heres another thing I'm wondering.. does anybody know how much one of those engines weighs compared to the stock one? I'm planning on running the TNT 5.5 lift kit with 33"s but theres also gonna be other stuff like the TNT bumper, winch, lights, etc.. I'm just hoping all that weight wont affect the lift too bad where I would need the 7.5 later on instead?..

Anybody on this?..

IronSmiles said:

Anybody on this?..

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They are exactly the same block, just with slightly larger bores (and correspondingly larger dia. pistons), slightly longer rods and a different crank. The weight should not differ by more than a few pounds one way or another--certainly not enough to affect your suspension.

Yup, weight is the same....unless you get a Hesco stroker with an aluminum head....then it's 30 pounds lighter.

Why upgrade the engine? Are you having power problems now?

I'm running 35's on a 20 year old non HO, and have enough power to do 75 towing my trailer.

Power breaks parts. Leave it stock until it wont get the job done.

cal said:

Why upgrade the engine? Are you having power problems now?

I'm running 35's on a 20 year old non HO, and have enough power to do 75 towing my trailer.

Power breaks parts. Leave it stock until it wont get the job done.

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Well just doing throttle body, exhaust, and a snorkel wouldnt adversly affect the engine or engine life.. would it?

Go ahead and get the free flow intake, throttle body, header, and exhaust. All of that can be resued on the next motor. I would be carefull of buying a golen stroker as several have blown up, one was in JP magazine if I remember right. Also if you do get a crate motor, be sure it does not come with a Crane cam, as they suck and WILL blow up. Another thing I would recomend with the new motor especially if its got a bigger cam in it is a set of roller rockers. I noticed a HUGE difference with my new stroker and roller rockers compared to the old stroker. The valvetrain was a whole lot quieter and also it rev's a lot smoother with the RR's.

AARON

IronSmiles said:

Well just doing throttle body, exhaust, and a snorkel wouldnt adversly affect the engine or engine life.. would it?

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I did a throttle body and exhaust, and found no gain. Others I've talked to feel the same way. The throttle body gave me a slight hesitation out of idle, so I removed it. I have a borla header with 2.5" exhaust all the way out, flowmaster and a high flow cat. What do I get for it? My girlfriend thinks its too loud and the carpet in the back seat smolders when I go up big hills. I get no extra power..

I got the borla free from someone who removed it to go back to stock exhaust. I had to replace my exhaust after ripping it up on some rocks in 2005, so I paid an extra $40 for mandrel bent 2.5" with all high flow stuff. I wouldn't do it again.

A snorkel isn't a performance mod. If your in a wet area, go ahead and do one - but make sure you waterproof everything else too. Raise your axle/trans/tcase vents to the roof line, seal your distributor, relay and fuse boxes, etc, etc. Doing it for looks if your into that is all you, but I wouldnt consider it necessary unless your wheeling in the southeast. You find me a spot in San Diego that requires a snorkel and I'll sell you some fuel additives.. guaranteed 50 hp and to pass smog

cal said:

I did a throttle body and exhaust, and found no gain. Others I've talked to feel the same way. The throttle body gave me a slight hesitation out of idle, so I removed it. I have a borla header with 2.5" exhaust all the way out, flowmaster and a high flow cat. What do I get for it? My girlfriend thinks its too loud and the carpet in the back seat smolders when I go up big hills. I get no extra power..

I got the borla free from someone who removed it to go back to stock exhaust. I had to replace my exhaust after ripping it up on some rocks in 2005, so I paid an extra $40 for mandrel bent 2.5" with all high flow stuff. I wouldn't do it again.

A snorkel isn't a performance mod. If your in a wet area, go ahead and do one - but make sure you waterproof everything else too. Raise your axle/trans/tcase vents to the roof line, seal your distributor, relay and fuse boxes, etc, etc. Doing it for looks if your into that is all you, but I wouldnt consider it necessary unless your wheeling in the southeast. You find me a spot in San Diego that requires a snorkel and I'll sell you some fuel additives.. guaranteed 50 hp and to pass smog

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* Watches all upgrading dreams get chopped to tiny little peices * Lol. Well you're right, there are VERY few wet areas in sandiego, but I plan on going alot of places besides san diego with the jeep.. BUT if a snorkel isn't really going to give me any gains as opposed to another cold air intake then screw it, lol.

And I've seen your other posts and know that YOU know what you're talking about so the throttle body is really a waste of time? And from what I'm getting from your post any aftermarket exhaust is too? What about the headers, do you regret those or did they help?

After reviewing the vehicle inspection report from my buddy that owns a shop I decided I DO wanna keep this engine for awhile as it is in really good condition and he told me If I keep taking care of it I could get at LEAST another 120000 out of it.. So I just want to do what I can to it for more power to push the extra weight of all the protection I wanna put on it without risking blowing anything up =(

You're not going to put enough weight on to worry about it. The 4.0/aw4 is a workhorse combo, just run it and change your oil. With regular oil changes and keeping up on the "misc" stuff (oil leaks, etc), you can expect to get 300k-400k out of the driveline.

Some people say they found gains out of exhaust. I don't think that I did. I found gains in hollowing out my cat, but when I put a new high flow cat back on it went back to stockish. (i crushed the cat offroad, hollowed it to get home..).

I've seen others do Jet chips, cold air intakes, spacers and bored throttle bodies, headers and big exhaust with mufflers and hi-flow cats and other such performance mods. I've still spent the day winching them off of the trail. Spend the money where it's going to help.

*sticks tongue out at josh*

cal said:

I've seen others do Jet chips, cold air intakes, spacers and bored throttle bodies, headers and big exhaust with mufflers and hi-flow cats and other such performance mods. I've still spent the day winching them off of the trail. Spend the money where it's going to help.

*sticks tongue out at josh*

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:roflmao: oh come on now. thats not fair...it was a fuel pump! I got all that stuff before I decided to start lifting and locking. those performance mods were the only things I thought I was going to do at first. then i got bitten by the bug.

If I would do the things again, I would armor -> lift -> tires -> winch -> then do perf mods