I found a complete rebuild kit on rockauto for $400, whats the price most 4.0s go for? Would a H.O be compatible with my 98 brackets and such or should I pick those up as well? I'm not just going to buy an engine and rebuild if it doesn't need it by the way lol

 

There are rebuild kits and then there are rebuild kits. One must be very careful when comparing them, not all are equal. Your rebuilt engine will depend completely on the quality of the parts, and there you can find a very wide range. They run from cheaply made Chinese parts to very high quality ones. The engine is only as good as the parts that go into it, the machine work, and the person who assembles it.

I'm not a person of great experience on the Jeep forum but have been fooling with racing and race motors for the last 45 yrs........not true they made me stop racing 6 yrs ago but still have most of my junk so 39 yrs. racing 6 yrs of piddling around.

When I rebuild/have rebuilt my 4.0 about stock it will be much better than the day it rolled off the line parts, machine work, prep, head work, all the little things. The engine will be assembled by the same shop that did my race motor's for the last 19 yrs.