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Hey man, loving the videos. Consider me a subscriber. Straight to the point, nice quality video, and very informative. I never knew the axle shafts just slid right out like that, learning new things every day. I'm jealous at how easy your hub bolts came out, I had to torch mine to get them out and they ended up snapping inside the old hub anyways. Good thing they were being replaced. Also, great job on the disc brake conversion. I just did a drum brake overhaul and brake lines on the rear axle, what a PITA. Next time I have to do them, it's disc brake time.
Hey man, loving the videos. Consider me a subscriber. Straight to the point, nice quality video, and very informative. I never knew the axle shafts just slid right out like that, learning new things every day. I'm jealous at how easy your hub bolts came out, I had to torch mine to get them out and they ended up snapping inside the old hub anyways. Good thing they were being replaced. Also, great job on the disc brake conversion. I just did a drum brake overhaul and brake lines on the rear axle, what a PITA. Next time I have to do them, it's disc brake time.
Hey thanks, I'm glad you like 'em! Trust me, everything looks easier on video. I edited out the part where I wrestled with the breaker bar... Edited out for time, of course.
My brake overhaul is mostly done. Disc conversion on the rear, new pads and rotors up front. They just need to be bled. BUT before I do that, I also have a WJ brake booster to install.
I'm also waiting on my e-brake cables to arrive. Those come in handy in a stick shift.
I finally found time to post an update... I've been traveling a lot recently and haven't had much wrench time on the Jeep. I also have a lot of footage that I need to edit for videos..
So I finished my brake overhaul and got the new parking brakes installed. I need to adjust the parking brakes again as they aren't tight enough. I also installed a WJ brake booster:
I'm very happy with the new braking system.
I also got around to installing some DPG Off Road Swaybar Disco Cables that my wife gave me for my birthday. They work great!
After getting the brakes bled and the oil changed, we immediately took off across the state on yet another road trip! We went off-roading in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
This past weekend (Sun 10/29) I joined the Black Hills 4 Wheelers group on their annual Halloween run. We played with our toys in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, which borders the South Dakota Badlands.
Here's some pics...
A shot of the group I went wheeling with.
Us XJs gotta stick together!
You might recognize this TJ... My father-in-law joined us! He finally put some M/Ts on his Jeep.
Okay, I'm really proud of these shots. The pictures don't do it justice, but this was a very steep incline with lots of loose sand, dirt, and rocks. Another XJ with a similar tire/lift setup as mine couldn't make it up and had to be pulled out.
It was my first time wheeling with a bigger group and I had a blast! It was also cool seeing all the different rigs. Overall, I was really happy with how the Jeep performed.
Earlier in this thread, I had mentioned that I want some more power. Driving my Dodge truck with the 5.7l has spoiled me lol. Wanting more power out of my Jeep leaves me the options of either bore/stroke the 2.5l or do an engine swap.
A few days ago I came across this ad on Craigslist:
I inquired about the engine and found out that isn't a typo; this guy was really selling a Jeep inline six for $25.
So I jumped on it...
In the ad, the PO said he thought it was a 258 4.2L. I looked up the casting numbers online and from what I can tell it's actually a 242 4.0L. I don't know a ton about the history of this engine... The PO said that the thought it was originally in a Wrangler before he bought it. The PO bought it to install in his wife's Cherokee (this also leads me to believe it's a 4.0L, but whatever). He said it idled fine when he installed it in the Cherokee, but that it had no power and was "gutless". For $25 I took a chance on it.
My plan here is to see if this engine can be rebuilt if the block checks out. Now I know that a 4.0L swap into a 2.5L Jeep is supposed more trouble than it's worth, but I may try and do it anyway. I talked to my wife about stuffing a Chevy 350 into the XJ but she thought we should keep the Jeep a "Jeep". I agree with her. So I may be attempting the ill-advised swap lol.
IF this engine can be rebuilt, naturally I'm considering a stroker. I'm not looking for anything crazy, just some decent power.
This is what I'm thinking about:
4.2L Milder mini-stroker
AMC 232 3.500" stroke crank
Jeep 4.0L 6.125" rods
Silvolite UEM-2229 +0.060" bore pistons
Increase piston dish volume to 24cc
8.8:1 CR
CompCams 68-115-4 192/200 degree camshaft
DIY ported HO 1.91"/1.50" 57cc cylinder head
Mopar/Victor 0.043" head gasket
0.040" quench height
Ford 24lb/hr injectors for '87-'95 engines, Bosch 0280155703 injectors for '96-'04 engines, '98 Chevy LS1 25.2lb/hr injectors for '05-'06 engines
241hp @ 5000rpm, 293lbft @ 3500rpm
ANYWAY before I get too ahead of myself, I need to see what the inside of this engine looks like.
So I got it on the stand:
Took the valve cover off:
Removed the rockers:
To keep everything organized, I used a trick from the PBR Boys on YouTube:
Then I took the head off:
I checked the bore to see if it had ever been rebuilt before:
It has the stock 3.875" bore. From what I can tell, the cylinders look okay.
If everything checks out okay at the machine shop, that's a great deal!
Yeah! I dropped the block off at a local machine shop today so we'll find out soon!
In other news, the bushings in the Jeep's control arms are shot. I'm debating between replacing the bushings, buying aftermarket control arms, or going with WJ control arms. I'm currently leaning towards the WJ control arms but we'll see...
I personally would do a 4 cylinder stroker. Its more unique and keeps to the name of the build. Outlaw Star has done a 4 cylinder stroker in his comanche. I'm sure you could get some pretty good power from a 4 cylinder and it would be lighter and it would be easy to stuff the engine back in since it is a 4 cylinder jeep.
I personally would do a 4 cylinder stroker. Its more unique and keeps to the name of the build. Outlaw Star has done a 4 cylinder stroker in his comanche. I'm sure you could get some pretty good power from a 4 cylinder and it would be lighter and it would be easy to stuff the engine back in since it is a 4 cylinder jeep.
I've seen Outlaw Star's build and I love what he's done with his MJ. Stroking the 4 cylinder had been my plan for the longest time; I love the idea of it. The thing is I love to take long road trips in my Jeep and I also would like to put some heavy bumpers along with a winch on it eventually, and that brought me to the conclusion that a 6 cylinder might meet my needs better. I love my Jeep and I don't want to sell it, mainly because I've become attached to it lol and also because most XJs in my area are rust buckets. And this 4.0L block practically fell into my lap.
We'll see what happens. I've never built an engine before so this will give me a chance to learn how to do that without my Jeep being down in the meantime. And for all I know the machine shop will call me and say that the 4.0L block is cracked lol.
I enjoyed reading through you build and seeing the pictures of you putting the Jeep to good use. I completely understand you wanting to swap motors and get some extra power, but I have to say that it was refreshing and inspiring to see you use the "4 banger" and still get to all the places and trails that every one else does. I'm always shopping for another XJ and I'm so quick to write off the ones that don't have the 4.0. But you've got me thinking that I don't necessarily have to have the extra power to enjoy it. Keep it up!
I enjoyed reading through you build and seeing the pictures of you putting the Jeep to good use. I completely understand you wanting to swap motors and get some extra power, but I have to say that it was refreshing and inspiring to see you use the "4 banger" and still get to all the places and trails that every one else does. I'm always shopping for another XJ and I'm so quick to write off the ones that don't have the 4.0. But you've got me thinking that I don't necessarily have to have the extra power to enjoy it. Keep it up!
Hey, thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it.
You've got me rethinking my plans lol. At one point in my build, I had wanted to see just how far I could push the 4 cylinder, just for the hell of it. Recently I've strayed from that idea because it seemed too difficult. Swapping an engine, even with all the troubleshooting that entails, honestly seemed easier. But now after reading the posts encouraging me to stick with the 4 banger, I'm thinking back to my previous idea of experimenting with the 2.5L to see how much it can take.
What I would really like is 200 horsepower. As we all know, in the world of cars 200 hp is nothing. Jeeps aren't known for speed though so squeezing even that much out of these inline engines takes some serious work. Outlaw Star said here that his MJ gets 187HP/215TQ at the wheels. I really think somewhere around that number would satisfy my needs.
What says the forum? Is 200 hp out of a Jeep 4 cylinder possible? Or is it a pipe-dream?
Also, I got a call from the machine shop today. They magnafluxed the 4.0L block and found no cracks. So now I have to decide what I want to do with that block lol. I haven't ordered any parts for it yet, I was waiting to hear if it was cracked or not.
I went ahead and ordered some oversized pistons for the 6 cylinder block:
I ended up ordering them through RockAuto after I took this screenshot as they had them a couple bucks cheaper. I also ordered some camshaft bearings.
I've never built an engine before so I think I'm just going to build this block up and see how it goes.
Also, I was driving the XJ today and had a "baby" death wobble. I'm 97.5% sure that it's because of the bushings in the control arms... I still haven't decided what direction I want to go there. I'm considering being a cheapskate and just replacing the bushings in the stock control arms... We'll see.
Last edited by 4BangerDanger; 11-12-2017 at 12:52 AM.
Hey, thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it.
You've got me rethinking my plans lol. At one point in my build, I had wanted to see just how far I could push the 4 cylinder, just for the hell of it. Recently I've strayed from that idea because it seemed too difficult. Swapping an engine, even with all the troubleshooting that entails, honestly seemed easier. But now after reading the posts encouraging me to stick with the 4 banger, I'm thinking back to my previous idea of experimenting with the 2.5L to see how much it can take.
Like I said man I understand either way, but I definitely have more respect for your Jeep the way it sits. I've got a gear-head buddy at work that tries to convince me weekly to LS swap the Cherokee. For one, the thought of a GM motor in a Chrysler product just makes me cringe from a purist stand point. But two, I just don't need the extra power. The Jeep does everything that I need it to do and is fine the way it is.
09-20-2017, 11:14 PM
