'87 Cherokee Chief

I looked over an '87 XJ today. 4.0l, auto tranny, dana 44. I'm currently stroking an '87 4.0 to a 4.7 to drop in and thought this would be a good candidate. What transfer case and transmission were stock this model year for the 4.0l? It does have 335,000+ miles on it but the transmission was rebuilt about 50k ago. What does it take to retrofit the tachometer? There was some rust under the back seat but it was cut out and welded in new. Would this be a good candidate for the stroker? Any pitfalls to look for at this age? I have skills but not experience. My '85 2.5L is my first XJ and we've only done the basics so this one will be full bore. Oh and if I buy this one the extra dana 44 3.54 in the garage will be for sale.

AW-4 was the tranny behind the 4.0. As for T/C I'd say 231 or 242. As for it being a good canidate that is up to you and what its worth vs what you can get ti for! JMHO!

As Ghost said, AW-4 tranny. 231 transfer case was stock, 242 was optional. Flip down the driver's side sun visor -- Command-Trac was the 231, Selec-Trac was the 242.

With a Dana 44 in it, sure it's a good candidate for a stroker transplant. Go for it.

Tach is plug and play on that. Just find a cluster that has the right speedo cable and make sure it came out of a 6 cyl.

speedo cable

FYI,
The "right speedo cable" is referring to the cable end that plugs into the back of the speedometer...there are two different styles out there. One style has a plastic "squeezy thing" molded into the cable end as an attachment, and the other style is just a plain flared end that slips over the connector and is held by a spring clip. AFAIK, there's no way to tell what a vehicle has without pulling the cluster and eyeballing it.
HTH,
Jeff

Sounds like a nice rig - where a lot of us are going.

So, cut to the chase already - how much for the D44? Specs?

Pictures?

Re: speedo cable

Jeff in VA said:

FYI,
The "right speedo cable" is referring to the cable end that plugs into the back of the speedometer...there are two different styles out there. One style has a plastic "squeezy thing" molded into the cable end as an attachment, and the other style is just a plain flared end that slips over the connector and is held by a spring clip. AFAIK, there's no way to tell what a vehicle has without pulling the cluster and eyeballing it.
HTH,
Jeff

Click to expand...

Ya there is Jeff. If it has phillip head screws on the face, it'll have the plastic connector on the back. If it has slot head screws, it'll have the metal connector.

Thanks guys

Thanks for the input. I couldn't remember whether or not this year had the peugot tranny or not. I think I'm going to pick it up, sell my '85 and axle, and drop the stroker in it. I'm going to have to start practicing running beads again so I don't do booger welds! I've done mostly tig welding on aircraft the past decade or so.

Just FYI Hoss but .......

The 5 speed manual for that year is the PUKE-Goat! LOL! Good luck.