Finally had time to work on the Jeep a little this weekend. Got my driver side door mounted again, with new hinge pins and some shims to get the spacing right. Took a few tries loosening and pushing/pulling in various directions to get the door to line up right, but its miles better than it was when I got it. Fender is back on too.




The Silverstone Metallic paint I bought doesn't match exactly to the rest of the Jeep, it's about a shade darker. I'm thinking it's just from my original paint being 15 years old and kinda faded (lighter). Really doesn't bother me though, the red door was en eyesore, and I only paid $550 for the Jeep lol




Front end coming back together.

I would have gotten more done, but I couldn't remember where the heck the headlight harness was routed. I spent a solid 45 minutes trying to figure out different ways to route it and where it got clipped into. Then I finally realized, with the help of Youtube, that it clips into the header panel and not the bumper/front end...

 

It's looking like a Cherokee again!

 

This is an awesome build! Keep up the good work.

 

I registered just to say thanks for this thread and ask a few questions.

My son puked the engine on his '03 Grand Cherokee yesterday. It's his daily driver so I need to get it swapped out as quick as possible. This thread will be extremely helpful with all the pics. I have done lots of car projects, currently I'm doing a firebird LS swap, but I've never done anything Jeep before.

Why did you use a 96 4.0? There's several reasonably priced 03/04 4.0 near me but I was wondering if there's an advantage to the older engine.

Thanks gain for the great reference thread!

 

Thanks man! That LS swap sounds like a fun time.

Only reason I went with the 96 4.0 is because it was dirt cheap and I couldn't find any comparable 03+ engines near me. The 96 was $300 with everything on it, and the owner had a video of it running with good oil pressure, etc. So now I have a good running engine, extra clutch fan, extra PS pump, extra alternator, etc.

If you can find a good deal on a later model engine though I would go that route. Later model engines should have a little more power, but since I was swapping my 2000 intake and a header on I figured it would work out the same.

Let me know if you have other questions as you swap.

 

Hmmm. There's an older motor with ~same miles for $250 less in a junkyard almost the same distance from my house. Can I use the current head on the older motor and swap the sensor for the distributor...no fussing other than that?

I knew I'd have more questions and I appreciate the help. Maybe I should start a new thread?

 

That's pretty much the reason I went with the older one in mine, cost was just much less. Yes you can use your newer head on the older engine, no issue there. That way you can use your intake/exhaust and still have the bolt holes for the coil pack. Then just swap in your cam synchronizer for the distributor like you said, I think I described the process earlier in this thread.

Depending what the engine you get came out of, I would use the flex plate/flywheel from your engine. The one off my XJ was different than the one on the WJ, if I had used it it wouldn't have lined up with my torque converter bolt holes.

 

I wish I had the knowledge to do this to my xj

 

Well, my son got his Jeep home courtesy of a friend's equipment trailer. Engine is not destroyed. Now he's saving for a stroker project.

 

Small update, more pics coming soon though.

I finally put insurance on the Jeep and drove it about 20 miles with no issues. It does still have a ticking noise coming from the bay which I think is an exhaust leak at the head. Trying to track that one down. The check engine light also came on for the front bank downstream O2 sensor, replaced with a new one and it went away.

I also removed all the plastic trim from the outside of the doors/fenders. I had to use a combination of plastic scrapers, heat gun, rags, and Goo Gone. Was a real PITA.

Right now I'm working on replacing the front end bushings, which is also no walk in the park. I ordered Moog part # K7419, lower control arm bushings. The description says "includes both front and rear bushings" so I assumed that each part # would cover one lower control arm. But when I got it each box only had one bushing in it.... So I only got 2 bushings when I need 4. Yay

EDIT: Also sold the old knocking 2000 engine to a kid for $50. He picked it up in his wrangler, and just wanted to use it to practice taking things apart. Very cool

 

I finally got to actual drive the Jeep for real, about ~125 miles between 2 days going to/from work. It runs pretty good, especially on the highway. The ticking noise is driving me crazy though, so it's back in the garage. I would hear it most when accelerating, and then it would calm down when cruising.

So I took the intake off again, and then the header and sure enough it was leaking on the #5 cylinder. Check out the pics, you can see the discoloration where it leaked:



Intake/header removed, some of the gasket material is still stuck to the head.




Closer look at cyl #5, see how it leaked past the port?




Looking at the gasket it's pretty obvious it was leaking

So I checked the flange for flatness as best I could, looks like cylinder #5 doesn't sit flush with the rest. In addition it looks like the furthest ones, cylinders #1 and #6, don't sit flush either. I'm thinking the problem is that the flange is holding the individual runners too stiff and not letting them flex to sit better against the head. So I'm going to cut the flange supports in some places, and possible take a belt sander to the flange to get it flatter.

Here's what I mean:




Here's the header flange for reference.



Here's an example of the cuts I'm going to make on either end. Should let the furthest runner sits more flush with the head



Not sure if you can tell, but once I cut it you can actually see that the right side sits just a little higher than the left now. That's because the #6 runner wanted to flex but couldn't.

Should be able to finish this up some time this week and get an update on if the ticking went away. Apparently old Chevy guys did this on headers to get them to seal better. I'm also going to put ultra copper RTV on the exhaust ports on both sides of the gasket, just for a little extra seal. I have to pick up another Fel-Pro gasket too, this one is trashed already from being compressed.

 

I would order a new OEM Mopar gasket. It will seal better than the Felpro.

 

FYI, I use Permatex Ultra Copper per advice from a drag racing buddy, a thin coat on both sides of my manifold gaskets, I have installed (3) eBay stainless headers (2000 w/precats) on 96-99 motors with no leaks so far.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/p...2160/7160075-P

.

 

The 2001-2004 Grand Cherokees, and 2000-2004 have a different block (I believe those are the years) the mounting bosses for accessories are different, you can use the 0331 Tuppy Head from them on a earl motor, but you can not use an older block in a newer application.

 

By the time I saw this I had already bought another Fel-Pro gasket, if this one leaks I'll get a Mopar one. Is the Mopar any thicker? or just better material?

Yeah I've heard this too, I'm definitely going to put it on both sides of the gasket this time around. I think the ultra copper is rated at 700+ degrees or something which I didn't know.