Hello, brand new to the forums guys. Been just viewing other peoples builds to help with mine. So i need some advice/suggestions/criticism. I'm doing a full swap on my XJ. I threw a rod thru the bottom of my engine, succesfully cracking my block in the process. Yes its bad. Worse ive ever seen. So i was originally going to just do another 4.0 L6 swap, but then it just so happened a 93 Cherokee fell from the heavens. (Craigslist) 500 bucks for his whole car, he drove it into a ditch and ****ed the whole front axle. His first car...poor sap. Anywho I said **** yah ill take your big *** V8 and drop it in my car. Upon further investigation i found i cant use my tranny that is still running tip top shape. It has 320,xxx On it. AW-4 are ****ing bullet proof man. So im going to have to do a tranny swap also. So now i need to put his 46RH in my XJ also. Ive hear these are a very popular swap, and i know i will need new motor mounts for the bigger engine. Is there anything else im overlooking here? This is also my first swap ill be doing so im really excited here. Thanks for taking a look at this guys i really appreciate it, and will post pictures upon request of my build.

 

These are pictures of the current 4.0 with the cracked block and rod that exploded.

 

Well first off, welcome to the forum! It is a great resource and I learned basically everything I know about jeeps on this site.

Question though, the jeep that you bought is it a Jeep Grand Cherokee zj or is it a xj that is already swapped? And what motor is it that you're working with? 5.2 or 5.9. Cheers and good luck with the swap!

 

The Jeep i just bought is the 93 XJ. The jeep im taking the engine out of is a 93 ZJ and im working with a 5.2L Swap is going great. Almost ready to take my block out. Ill post more pictures of the build later. Im loving the idea of being able to document this build more and more!

 

Ok so here is were im at in the build, about ready to pull the 4.0...which is looking longer than the 5.2 im attempting to drop in, the metal bar in the front is welded on one side...so im trying not to have to remove it. Im doing this more as a log for me, but please if you have any advice let me know. Thanks.

 

So since I never did this properly, this is Ariel, yes like the little mermaid.
I traded my 98 Jetta for this big rig, got it from a girl who but it the day before and couldn't afford new tires. So of course never owning a jeep before i said SURE! Its lifted and looks fun as can be. I have no clue what the lift is, or wtf the guy even put into this jeep. Im assuming its like a 8" lift. and idk he replaced the shocks, coil overs, and removed the sway bar right before i got it, because all of that was in the trunk. I got to take it out mudding, and to the beach. The beach was the last trip as i ran it through the ocean pumping water over the head, lift deep in the ocean and flooded the engine. I managed to get water in Cylinder 1, the cylinder couldnt push the water out, therfore it bent the piston rod. My car stalled on the beach, while water poured out of it. Ten mins later i got it turn over, Hard knocking...then it got better..it wanted to die right away at first. I live an hour and half away from the beach i was playing on...I had to drive it home. This car drove 120 miles at prob 70..since the speedo is broken it said 55..but i know it was faster, it drove all the way home, finally blowing up two blocks from my house when i took it to my dads to look at it. We topped it off with fluids, listend to it...everything was sounding back to normal. Then i left his house and bam! The pics i posted already explain the rest. The best part is with it blown up like that, i drove it prob a mile down the road to my place, pistons screaming, middle of the day flying through traffic....WITH THAT HUGE HOLE IN THE BLOCK! This engine is ****ing beast!!!! Wish i could have found another one. Anywho this is were im at.

 

This is my donor vehicle, 93 zj, its a grand cherokee. Anywho it has 160,000 and service records since it was taken off the lot. It has serious body damage, other wise i would have just swapped my axles and suspension. The front axle is flat split in half. The gentleman i bought it off of ran it into a ditch and hit a tree about a mile from his house. So im just taking this massive engine and his tranny and scrapping the car after. I mean i got this car for 450 bucks! ****ing steal! The 5.2 needs a new oil pan, as you can see it the pictures, it got punctured. I have a shop doing all the wiring, so we will just be using the ecu from the zj in the xj. Everything is coming together!!!

 

I PULLED IT! Oh man does it feel good. So I went ahead and pulled the whole thing, Engine blockw w/ Fuel injectors still attached, bellhousing, transmission, and the transfer case. Yes it was super long, it was still a better option then dealing with those two torx E-12 bolts on the bellhousing. Whole pull took me about three hours. Had 1 buddy helping me, kinda just there to supervise. The only real problem we ran into, i forgot to take the 4WD linkage out, so i bent that and pretty much ripped it out. And then of course my lift was to tall, so we maxed out the cherry picker. We had to use the front metal bar there as leverage to lower down the head. Slide it a bit more out. You get the idea. All in all. Pretty easy. I have a shop doing the swap for the v8. Only cause it needs the motor mounts. I also might be making that 318 carburated. Not sure yet, gotta look into kits. It would just be an easy way of avoiding to pay somebody 800 bucks to do the wiring for the fuel injectors and other things.