MCL24

starting thursday morning and pressed for time. Gotta have this thing up and running starting monday, for work. So i have a motor w/ 3500 miles on it that my dad had in his 88. he wrecked it a few weeks after putting a 3" lift on it and of course the rebuilt motor. He replaced all sensors and injectors at that time too. So, im pretty stoked but also curious if i'll even be able to pull this off. The jeep im swapping it into has a blown head gasket so i have to pull that motor as well. My question is this, the new jeep is the basic model, didnt even have a middle console, idiot lights in the dash, just bare bones. is there anything i should know or i should make sure to get off the newer motor to put into the project jeep?? My dads was an 88, mine is a 90. Could i take the dash from the 88 that actually has gauges??

trans_am7935

why dont you just change the head gasket, if that is the only thing wrong with it, it will take you half a day. dont know why you need a new motor when you could change a head gasket. a worn rod or crank i can understand, but just change the head-gasket. btw you can just swap the gauges into the other jeep and it will work fine, they are both cable driven

Andrew0257

x2 If you ran it hot go ahead and swap the heads so you know its not warped.

XJ4MEPLZ

if you change the gauge cluster out you must also change out the coolant and oil pressure senders.

Caish

IF your going to do the swap, just use all the sensors, off your old engine on the new engine and you should be good to go.
Now that I said that, if it was me, I just pull the head and check for cracks/warpage and if its good, replace the gasket if the engine was not smoking or knocking.

CAEMI

I'm with the other guys...why invite all the grief of a motor swap if your only problem is the head?

I'd fog the newer motor, yank it out of the car and put it on an engine stand. Keep it around for a couple years...just in case.

I'd go with a head gasket on the current motor. Just get a good steel straightedge (a 24" ruler will do) and check the block's deck and the head for flatness with a feeler gauge.

If you find a problem, deal with that problem. But my suspicion is that just the gasket failed. Most people assume the original gasket was installed correctly (correct torque, clean head/deck, etc.) but many are not. If it just popped a gasket, clean it up and check for flatness, then try a new one. You could be back on the road in a day with minimal aggro.

MCL24

haha, sorry guys all done now, im so glad i did the full swap, this new motor is oh so nice. that other motor was gutless and it was knocking im no mechanic but pretty sure it was toast. No more probs now though, just want to get the 3 core radiator and a dual electric fan set and ill be one happy camper.... oh yeah and did the swap in 4 days.... by myself.