antbanks

Hello I am a newbie here. I am a member of an Oldsmobile forum and have found it to be Very helpful. A friend of mine has an 88 Jeep Cherokee Laredo that he just wrecked and he asked me to help him fix it so I thought I would register and get some expert info Ok the build I am talking about is an 84 jeep wagoneer 2.5l i4 and an 88 Cherokee Laredo 4.0l i6, he wrecked the 88 but can probably be straightened out. What I was thinking is to take the 4.0l i6 and put it in the 84 but I read on this forum last night that a guy had a 2.8l v6 cherokee (is that an xj??) he wanted to do that to. There was a lot of discouragement, Is the 4cyl body just as hard to put a i6 in as the v6 body? I want to make 1 out of 2...any suggestions??? Thanks everyone!!!

antbanks

I guess I will figure it out

huntingman2706217

Non of the motors can be swapped out without major unibody (frame) fabrication...

dukie564

can't be done, at least not without major modifications. The early XJs were not designed for a longblock I6

antbanks

I own an auto repair and custom shop and have done many conversions so I am very capable of putting whatever motor I want in it and from what it looks like and what I read about the v6 change over it doesn't seem all that bad but I didn't understand some of the stuff they were saying like "changing the front end" does that mean front axle will not clear oil pan or stuff in front of motor like radiator (I know 2.5 radiator will not work and will have to be stuffed under front fiberglass peace) If frame rails beside motor are the same to where they will take i6 mounts with out fabing new frame mounts then wiring, radiator, fuel tank, beating trans tunnel back for clearance should b no problem.

Can't find the 4 cyl used for this thing and really want the i6 on the 4.10 axle so maybe my question is will the i6 oil pan clear the front axle??

dukie564

more than just the "front end" changed

from Novak Conversions website:

dukie564

you would basically have to gut the entire truck (computer won't work, tranny won't bolt up, you don't even have an electric fuel pump, etc etc).

Front rad support would need to be moved, firewall massaged (inside and out), dash components modified and moved, new way to keep the hood closed, fender work

in short, a crapload of work and money, and not the kind you want to do on a unibody vehicle

Cherockee

Just some more food for thought- I've read that the 3.4L chevy motor can be swapped in easier than the I6. And those should be fairly easy to find. Probably a lot of the same things need to go along with it though, like fuel pump, electirical, trans, and probably clearence the oil pan. Another route I've heard a little about (and may be a better option if he plans to do some rock crawling) would be a desiel 4-cylinder. There was a company at a Jeep event that showed off one of their builds which involved a desiel 4 that was putting out 100+hp but with like 300 ft/lbs torque. Wouldn't want to DD it though.

dukie564

yea the 3.4L is basically an updated better version of the 2.8L V6 (both are 60* V6 engines). I dunno what you would have to do to get it to mate up to the 4cyl tranny though...

A Diesel swap is equally as complicated, and a 4bt weighs about twice what the 4.0L weighs, and about 3x what the 2.5L 4cyl weighs.

Chevokeeman

The main differences is in the front area around the radiator, put a 383" chevy in mine, but it had a stock 4 banger in it from the factory. I had to cut out some metal around the rad. and ended up changing the front crossmember in front of the radiater because of clearance and air flow issues, to the 4.0 6 cyl. crossmember, have fun, Chevokeeman.

antbanks

Does anyone know if the i6 oil pan will clear the 84 front axle??

I will have to replace the front crossmember on the 88 anyway cuz its pretty bent, was thinking about putting the 87 and up x-member in the 84 and using the matching radiator or making a custom one for a deeper radiator...I think i'm gonna do it just to do it, I just built a highly modified 82 s10 and (i hope I don't eat these words) it doesn't seem as difficult or extensive. s10 got a 98 vortec v6 and kept all fuel injection!! And let me tell you, that motor with a 5speed does not go right in an 82 auto s10!!!

dukie564

an s10 is also body on frame though....an unibody is totally different and does not react well to modifications

antbanks

How was the 383 conversion? Width wise I mean, like the trans bell housing and rear of the motor? Bet it runs good

antbanks

I don't want to have to cut and weld to much, front x-member is fine and massaging the fire wall too but thats about as far as I wanna go...if it were mine I would just strip it and put it back together how ever I wanted, none of that matters to me but I'm not sweatin and bleedin on this one so tryin to keep mods to a minimum, but now I have this need to show everyone my custom work, I may say screw it and shoe horn it in. I take it people have done this before????

huntingman2706217

Why swap in a junk motor for a junk motor... the 4 bangers are better then the 2.8 or anything built from a 2.8... and there everywhere...