Arctic Offroad Forums

akram Wrote:Biggest issue with the XJ is the room. There have been many v-8 swaps and none of them are straightforward. There is barely enough room for the 4.0l. I've considered it many times but it isn't worth the work to make it right.

but with a ford v-8 its shorter and lighter than the iron block of the 4.0 .. the distributor is up front so u wont have firewall issues .

the 4.0 is 6 cyl 's long where a 5.0 is only 4 cyl long if you were to use v-belt over the serpintine water pump you would loose another 3 inches .. remote oil filter ,bronco oil pan and oil pump ..use a 289 maverick manifolds and you wont have an issue with exhaust clearing .
jeep motor fixed ..

ill even help you ! i heard a rumor ill have room in my shop even ....

mel,you should think about this...fix-it sold me!!

I still like my motor, it has no distributor.

id rather pay to replace a cap n rotor for the hei over coils any day lol !

I don't have HEI over coils either

The issue becomes the width not the length. I've thought about it several times, believe me. But I'm going with what I have for now. A stroker build is in the works which will net me more power than a 350, 351 and others. and I don't have to modify anything to make it fit.

thats why u run the maverick 289 manifolds its a block hugger that dumps straigh t back with a slight twist down ..it even works great for the folks swinging in a 351w in a ford ranger wich is wher ei got the idea from for me ..

i bought a whole bronco for 800 bucks sold off the tranny and tcase and back topper and tail gate and i was a few hundred ahead of the deal ..

i did the clifford heads and offenhauser intake with weber carb on my last jeep build but it costs me alot more than the v-8 swap .

akram Wrote:The issue becomes the width not the length... to make it fit.

Always the XJ boys....

Got started on the swap. Got my motor out. Found a bit more damage.
The cam tried to come out the front cover.
A timing gear is off and wont let the motor turn well.
The cam is snapped at #1 cylinder.


#1 piston was twisted.








NOw I'm at a stand still for a bit. MY torque wrench only goes down to 50 and I need one that goes to 22 and mine isn't very accurate. Also I have a truck blocking my trailer that is out of gas so I can't get the old jeep loaded up either. What fun. Thanks Shane for coming by even if you did have to leave to go work. And thanks Chris for coming by all day to help out and cook some burgers. I'll continue on this as soon as I get a torque wrench that works for me. Tomorrow is my last day for working on it. If it isn't done then the memorial day run is out for me, tired iron isn't going to make it.

Wow, that's a lot of carnage.

That's even uglier than either of my 6.2's that blew.

Got the motor in, mostly. Need to put the rest of the trans bolts in, then get the motor mounts lined up and bolted down. Then just need to hook everything up. I'llbe working some more tonight then again on tuesday and wed night to finish it. The transission has the leak again. Witing on a buddy to get back with me about a helicoil to see if that will work.

Sorry dude, got hit with honey dos on Sunday.

No problem man. Kelly came over and helped me get the rear main in, oil pan gasket swapped, and the motor in with at least two bolts holding it to the trans. Hopefully tomorrow and wed I'll get a few hours to finish it.

It's alive. A few things to recheck like trans fluid, oil, and coolant again. Need to put the hood on it and clean it out and it'll be ready. took it for a spin down the road and on the dirt piles. it'll take about 20 start and drives for the computer to be "re-learned".

ONly two plugs I found different between mine (91) and it (92) were the coolant sensor for the gauge and the oil sending unit. I only had the change the oil sending unit plug though since I used my old head.

Test run complete. It did fine (except for one thing) all the way up until we decided to try to go down a spot we shouldn't have. As soon as we decided to back out of it the jeep started pouring smoke out the exhaust and motor. Seemed to possibly a head gasket going. But then it seemed to smell like fuel and it quit blowing smoke. Then it would only do it when I got on it hard or rev'd the motor up. Here are the issues. It is idling around 1000-1200 rpm. When I let off the throttle the rpm's drop extremely slowly. then there is the smoke issue. Seems to be running ok otherwise. Wondering if there is an exhaust leak I can't hear or see before the o2 sensor and it's causing it to over fuel. Now when I impede the hose going from the airbox to the valve cover it drops rpm's to around 600-700 (normal) and sounds like it is still running fine.

Your thought?