4.0 HO Intake Manifold Conversion

I am curious if anyone has a link to a write-up to perform the upgrade from the Non-HO to the HO intake manifold. I could have sworn HESCO or Accurate Power had a write-up on this a year ago when I bought the parts for the conversion, but now I can't find it. If not, any advice on the process of this upgrade is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg

FYI
I bought a '95 intake manifold and TB from Joe Attardo (if anyone knows him), and they will both be fitted to an '89 Renix motor. Aside from grinding the intake ports, I know I will need a new gasket, but I am not sure which one to get. I might also be using the Renix fuel rail in place of the HO fuel rail because of where the fuel inlet/return lines are located. Any suggestions/recommendations on this are also welcome.

gojeep has one

Pretty sure GoJeeps was a 99 intake on a 91-98 XJ. Are you looking for the intake upgrade or the newer TB upgrade? There was a guy selling a HO TB to Renix intake conversion plate.

The difficulty is using the Renix throttle position sensor on the new throttle body. I think the same Joe Attardo that sold you the intake has an article somewhere on the web on how to do this. There is no real issue with fitment, it is with using the new throttle body with the Renix fuel injection electronics.

Fred

There is also the issue of the power steering pump mount- it was modified and is different on later model HO from the Renix era engines. On Renix engines the pump mounts to the block, on the HO it mounts to the manifold. Is this as simple as using the HO pump bracket with the HO head swap? Just get the pump bracket along with the head?

balloo93 said:

Pretty sure GoJeeps was a 99 intake on a 91-98 XJ. Are you looking for the intake upgrade or the newer TB upgrade? There was a guy selling a HO TB to Renix intake conversion plate.

Click to expand...

Yes, GoJeeps article is a 99 intake on a 91-98 XJ. My main focus is to upgrade the intake, and the TB will sort of be a bonus after-effect. I am aware of the TPS fitting issue, and I do have the link to Joe's write up on that. My concern is with using the correct gasket as a port grinding guide. I still have an e-mail from Joe. It is in reference to me asking him about his TB/Spacer upgrade vs. the intake manifold upgrade. It reads:

"Greg, the HO intake manifold does bolt to the early block. You just have to
do a little port matching on the intake side and use the one of the gaskets
(offhand .. i forget which one -- but one of the two work).

If you can do a little handiwork with a die grinder and stuff rags in the
runners ... the HO intake would be a better option for you. You will not
have to custom fab the accel cable bracket either. And if you're lucky ..
you can find a complete intake assembly for the cost of the spacer kit from
me. (gotta look tho). The intake runners/shape is pretty much the same."

The power steering pump is something I did not consider, but I will look into that right now. Keep in mind I am not upgrading the head.

Thanks everyone for the input... keep it a-comin!
Greg

I think that you would use the gasket of which ever one you are not grinding so it would be the one which has the bigger ports that you are going to match to.

You need to move the intake Down 5/16 - 3/8" on the dowel pins; then do the port matching - and it won't be perfect.
there is very little difference (1")in runner length between the 89 and HO manifolds. I think a better choice is simply drilling the manifold mounting bolt pattern in the early manifold for the 4 bolts of the HO t-body. (I did one of these on the XJ (stuff rags, drill remove and vacumn out) but never ended up using it and then installed the stroker.

I can make anyone the PERFECT convertion piece to adapt a renix TPS to HO intake.

Drop me a line- I'll save you a headache!

Steering pump can be solved a number of ways, I plasma cut the front PS bracketry off the intake and built a custom bracket that attaches to the 2 unused bolts on the side of the intake, below the TB. - works sweet.
If anyone wants a bracket I can make you one... Let me know...

Best way to do the convertion is with a HO head aswell...
otherwise its KINDA like putting a 4 barrel on a 2 barrel intake. Not quite that bad but you get the idea...

4xBob said:

There is also the issue of the power steering pump mount- it was modified and is different on later model HO from the Renix era engines. On Renix engines the pump mounts to the block, on the HO it mounts to the manifold. Is this as simple as using the HO pump bracket with the HO head swap? Just get the pump bracket along with the head?

Click to expand...

You need to use the renix PS pump and brackey if you want to keep your belt tentioner.... HO models don't have adjustment on the PS pump.

I make a nice bracket for adapting the old style pump to the newer intake.....