linuxrick

Picked up a 2000 XJ sport for my daily driver. Has the dreaded 0331 head and very low oil pressure, but otherwise in immaculate condition.

Plan is to build it mildly and very dependable, it will hopefully never see much mud and only low-med rated trails.

When time/money allow it will have:

Motor rebuilt
HD radiator
Front Tow Hooks
Receiver hitch or bumper for rear recovery
3" Rusty's lift-coils and AAL
31x10.5(or 9.5 if I can find some) BFG AT's
Front lunch box locker
HD diff cover(from previous XJ)
JKS disconnects for front sway bar
Trans/tcase skid
Rocker guards
...
...

Let the fun begin....

mikesplumbing

It looks like a really nice XJ! Let the fun begin hey?

Mike

Jmalone9

wow that is crazy, that is exactly how my xj looked when it was stock. looks a WHOLE lot different after the add-ons (and take-offs). Nice stroll down memory lane. Good luck with the build-up!




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01' XJ 3" RC Lift 30" BFG A/T's JCR Rear Bumper
RockRatz Roof Tire Carrier KC Lights 2 - 10" Subs
Rusty's Tow Hooks Cragar Black Soft 8's Hi-Lift

19558077

looks nice. i will have to check my head for the 331, i have low(8psi) at idle oil pressure. mine had the same wheel simulators on it. with mine being black, i took off the simulators and found after cleaning the stock grey wheel looks better, imo it would look good on the red too.

linuxrick

Yeah...fun I know, what am I crazy?!

Hey Jmalone9, how do you like the rear JCR? Got any good pictures of it?

I want to see whats under those covers, if its the gray ones I am thinking of, yeah I like the look better too. I had a red one before and it had the stock steelies that looked good. This XJ had low oil pressure only after about driving for 30-45 mins and only when I came to idle. Checking with mechanical gauge put it at around 5psi(13 is within spec).

linuxrick

Picked this up yesterday from the rebuilders.

linuxrick

Note A:
The place I got my remanufactured motor screwed up.
A 2000-01 XJ head on a wrangler or grand cherokee block will NOT fit!!
The head bolts up fine, but the motor mount brackets wont.

Make sure and check block casting numbers, here is a good chart.
http://remanufactured.com/AMC_Jeep_Engines.htm

Back to get a new motor tomorrow morning hopefully!

linuxrick

Picked up the new motor today. This is the correct block casting for a 2000-2001 XJ. Also notice the NVH stamping. I read somewhere it stands for Noise, Vibration and Harshness and the block is a bit sturdier and has a metal brace/skirt on the bottom to control vibration, previous models don't use this.

miglia-spyder

I started with a very similar jeep!

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/20...tockify-14926/

dirtmod0

looks nice

linuxrick

Dropped motor in, got it mostly hooked up then found a crack on the intake manifold.

pictures coming soon..

northline76

How much did it cost for the rebuild?

linuxrick

I had a local motor shop do it, cost $1800, supporting the Michigan economy . Didn't want to tackle a first motor rebuild on my daily driver/only vehicle.

northline76

Thanks, I need to rebuild mine. I already got the head rebuilt and need to get the lower block done and plan on seeing pricing from the two local shops. I do have to say that your areas labor price must be high, around here 1800 would get me a stroker built by a highly skilled machine shop that does competition engines.

linuxrick

Yeah it would have been cheaper if I didn't need a new head, and I didn't know enough about strokers to really go that route. You know additional parts needed, injectors, fuel pump, rods, etc. I just wanted something very reliable for this. They did replace everything with new parts, and did all the machine work on it, bored it over .030. I thought about going with one of the online places since they were a little less, saw some for around 1599 for a reman. but this place was a few miles from my house, and figured if i ever needed warranty work done it would be a lot easier.

I wouldn't mind trying to build my own though, maybe find a used motor somewhere that needs rebuild and build up a stroker after learning whats involved.