I am back and have been doing some research about my Jeep because it appears to be horribly under powered,
Now, I am new to off road, but I am familiar with vehicles and mechanics in general, however this is proving very new to me.
Now, I am looking to upgrade the power of my Jeep, but the 2.8L from what I read, is worthless.
While reading about performing an engine swap I came across a veritable plethora of 4.0L engines. Now I have performed a few engine swaps but those were in mid nineties imports, and I dont want to jump into this without looking first.
My only concern thus far is where I can "stop the swap."
If I were to pick up a 4.0L engine from a later model Cherokee, would my current transmission be suitable, or would I need to replace the transmission as well.
If I need to replace the transmission, will my transfer need to be replaced?
My transfer case is the 207 A 1 transfer case, and I have the 5 speed manual transmission.

 

From what I have seen by reading a lot of garbage, with few facts. The 5 speed from the 94 and previous should hook up to the transfer case.

 

Believe me, the easiest thing for you to do is use the Camaro 3.4L with stock bell housing and Jeep t5 tranny. Maybe upgrade the radiator and it will all bolt up and give you more power. Changing over to a 4.0L would be a real pain

 

The 4.0 swap would be nice but you would basically need to replace almost every part of your powertrain. If you want a 4.0 you're better off finding anothe XJ with the 4.0 in it. And 4.3 XJ correct me if I'm wrong but won't any 3.4 outta a gm F-body work? Or is it something specific about the camaro motor?

 

it should bolt up with no problem. and I'm sure you know to change the wiring harness and computor. Your probably better off getting a wreck to take everything off of.

 

I think the Lunghd (sp) guy did a swap like that. People refer to his site all the time. I'll try to find the link.

 

Here ya go.
http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/...Project_XJ.htm

 

I was looking this over, and the guy saved the 2.8L intake and carb etc. That fuel injection setup adds a lot of performance. He should have used it and saved himself a lot of headache. The trick is to just take the original ECM and follow the wires from the plug to the engine and check engine light and eliminate the rest of the stuff.

 

Let me throw a few things out there:

1) If you have the 2.8L V6, you have a 1984-1986XJ. The front clip was modified (internally, apparently) for 1987 to accommodate the rather longer 242ci I6. So, you'll have plenty of work to do - it's been done, but you'll be at it for a bit.

2) The 2.8L is the retarded child of the GM V6-60 family. Frankly, it blows (I had a 1985 Cavalier with the 2.8L that changed its own oil. I lost a quart a month, so the oil got changed a bit over twice a year without my having to drain it. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get the damned leak to stop - and got tired of trying.) The best upgrade for it is three hundred feet of chain and two pounds of Sakrete ready-mix - then give it to a buddy with a boat to use for an anchor.

That being said, note that it comes from a "family" of engines - all alike externally. Both the 3.1L and 3.4L are significant improvements over the 2.8L, and both are available in RWD versions. A few points on that:

1) The 2.8L in the XJ was coupled with a modified "Baby 904" Chrysler three-speed automatic - no overdrive, and the GM Metric bellhousing pattern. It will accept any RWD, 4WD, AWD, or GSR (see below) V6-60 engine block - the dedicated FWD block has the starter motor mounting pad on the wrong side.
2) Yes, this includes the 3.1L and 3.4L - both of which came with fuel injection from the factory (which should net you a performance increase and an economy boost.)
3) In 4WD applications (S10/S15 and some Astro/Safari vans,) it came couples with (usually) the THM700R4 and the NP231C transfer case. Avoid the THM700R4 from 1987 and before - it's fit only for scrap metal. But, it was up to scratch starting in 1988 - and the overdrive gear should also help with economy. Grab the entire drivetrain. You can also source the 4L60 (later designation for the THM700R4,) but avoid the 4L60-E - it's electronically-controlled and will make for a greater pain to swap. You'll probably need to get a new driveshaft made and probably fabricate the mounting crossmember, but that should pay for itself (in relatively short order, given current fuel prices.)
4) If you're piecing together a "swap kit," don't neglect the FWD platforms as possible engine donors. The GSR ("Goodwrench Service Replacement") engine block actually had starter motor mounting pads on both sides of the block, to facilitate use in all platforms. Therefore, slide under a potential donor and look for a starter motor mounting pad on the rear of the engine block (as mounted. It will be unused) to indicate the GSR block. Yank it - the GSR blocks were, I believe, also somewhat tougher than the production blocks.

The V6-60 swap will probably be your easiest upgrade. You can drop in the AMC 2.46L/150ci I4 - get that from 1984-2001XJ, 1987-1995YJ, 1997-2005 (or so) TJ, and early Dakota (yah, Dodge used an AMC engine in their compact trucks. The four-cylinder was AMC, the V6 was the LA-derived 238ci. The V8 was the LA-block 318ci.)

Next (in terms of simplicity - still using OTS parts) easiest swap would be the SB Chevvy/V6-90 swap. The 90-degree V6 includes the 231ci/3.8L Buick V6 (odd-fire and even-fire variants,) and the 4.3L V6 used in the 1500 series truck, later S-10, and later K5. Grab the whole drivetrain - the 4.3L has the Chevvy V8 bellhousing pattern, and usually came with the THM700R4/4L60 slushbox anyhow (unless it came with the THM350 - rare, but it happened.) 4WD versions usually had the NP231C, but there were some oddities. Find this one also in S-10/S-15, later Astro/Safari, and K-1500 pickup/Suburban. Advance Adapters makes a drop-in (bolt-in or weld-in) engine mount cradle for the SBChevvy that should accept either block. If you want the SB V8, drop the S-10/S-15/Astro/Safari and include the K-2500 pickup/Suburban instead. Piecing it together? Find the SBChevvy damned near anywhere in RWD/4WD platforms (avoid the FWD for the same reason as the V6-60.)

Anything else? Look up buddies who can design and fabricate, you'll need them. Don't have any? Make some. I've seen some oddball swaps (probably the oddest one has been the BBC454ci/THM400 into an XJ...) but you can do anything you have the brains, materials, money, and time for. I'm still kicking around the idea of a 426ci Hemi into an XJ one of these days (before or after the AMC401ci - I haven't decided. An Olds straight-eight would be right out tho - not without some serious chassis modifications...)

 

Thank you guys so much, this answered a lot of my questions.
Thank you also FlyingLow, the link helped me a whole lot.
I have sourced a 1994 firebird that got rear ended by a Jeep (lol irony) so once I have that I will begin ze swap. I will try to keep it fuel injected for obvious reasons, and see hot it goes from there.
I will post updates and a full writeup on it with pictures as it progresses. Thanks again fellurs.

 

No problem. I look forward to the build thread