have not been around the forum in a while... but still have my 97 4 door XJ. still serving well as a daily driver for my wife...
I have a curious question i have wanted a 2 door XJ "forever"
though I would prefer a 97-01 I will take whatever I can get, if the body is solid.
that said, I have a line on a '94 engineless rolling chassis. It was originally a 2WD 4 cylinder stick. It has no engine currently. the owner has a 94 4.0 wiring harness, computer, longblock, and everything needed to swap to that engine plus convert it to a 4X4 and add a nice lift to it along teh way too! (unfinished abandoned project he has just been acquiring parts for to this point, body has been in the garage constantly for the past 5 years out of the salt and snow) XJs are the easiest I have seen to convert a 2WD to a 4WD... but that is not the question/purpose of this thread.

I am going to look at it tomorrow and for the asking price if the body is as nice in person as the pix I have so far, I will be buying it;
here is my question; since it was a 4 cyl model originally (not enough power for me!) I will definitely be putting something larger into it if I buy it. I am debating on either building a 4.6 stroker inline 6, or my other idea is to stuff a 318 magnum into it. thoughts? Ideas?

I guarantee one thing; no matter how many times it has been done no matter how many people tell me to this, a chevy motor is completely totally out of the question; no way no how am I interested in a Chevy anything.... otherwise I would be on a blazer forum instead of a Cherokee forum. Sorry!
this will be a daily driver when complete probably more often for the wife as well as our "good" vehicle for when we both go somewhere together... she is driving a 97 4 door XJ now
I split between a 93 Dakota ext cab with a 318 that I converted to a stick, (because I brought it home with a dead automatic in it) and my 97 TJ Wrangler that I need to do a gear swap onto; even in stock config, (except for 235 tires in place of the factory 215s) my 5th gear is useless due to its 3.07 gearing; a regear of that one to ~3.73s is on the list... (and a story for a different thread)

so anyone here ever drop a 318 into an XJ? I have one here fresh from the machine shop, a 97 or 98 magnum engine that came from a Dakota that I just need to get onto the stand and reassemble.... computer and wiring does not bother me; things like motor mounts and what radiator to use and such are bigger questions at this point.
I know I could drop an inline 6 into it and have no problem doing so... but since I have this 318 here now already, it is very enticing
that said my 318 Dakota gets a little better MPG than my 97 XJ and quite a bit better than my TJ does... though that is not the end all cure all #1 priority in this potential build/ or I'd be probably looking for a neon instead but it is a partial consideration; to get the best I can out of it when done "for what it is" if that makes any sense to anyone....

 

Do the 4.0, never worry about engine problems.

The XJ was designed for that engine by engineers that spent a lot of time designing everything in that rig to work and perform perfectly with that engine and that amount or power. Droping a new or remanufactured 4.0 is the best option imo

 

huh; there is a guy wanting to put a big block Ford in one (and lower it eeek) and talk of 350s and LS motors in an XJ galore W T F? is it because I said "318" instead? seems I could do this with alot less headache than a cookie cutter LS swap and with factory parts...

Me? put a Chevy motor into anything non GM? NEVER!
I have had a few 4.0s now and do like them. but I have had more small block mopar powered vehicles than anything else. and I rarely have "engine problems"
Like I said in the OP this is thinking out loud at the moment as I have not gotten over to look at the potential recipient body yet; but this is something I have been thinking of for a long time now...

 

How about a olds 350 ;-) I have no in put but will be looking to see the out come I think it's a good idea.

 

with a little massaging, you could get close to the same numbers as a 318 out of a 4.0...

usually if you cant find examples of a certain engine swap into an xj (like a 318) its because there is not a good enough trade-off for the work involved. people swap in the chevy ls because it makes better power than the wimpy gas guzzling 318 (i had one in a 2wd dakota, i also had two 287's, one in a dakota, one in a commander, they suck too), they are all over the place, and have WAY better aftermarket support. but if you are stuck on the name game ("oh its a chevy, i'd rather slam by ***** in a car door"), well, good luck with the magnum, i would love to see it done. i'm not a chevy guy either, but you just cant argue with the effectiveness of a gen III 5.3 in an xj.

 

Well I'm doin that swap in the spring. I got the motor mounts from a 95 Grand cherokee V8. They look like they will work without any major problems. Radiator and wiring the fuel injection may be the biggest problem. Having dual exhaust with flowmasters.... PRICELESS !!!

 

borla***borla***borla!!!!!!!

 

Flowmasters are like Chevy engines to me; thanks but no thanks....

I was thinking the same thing about GC motor mounts...

I have heard of this swap being done before but never seen one...
318s a gas guzzler? I have had many of them, and besides the TBI one in my 88 Dodge pickup that has not been my experience; at the moment I have (2) 4.0's one in a 97 XJ the other in a 97 TJ... and a 318 in a 93 Dakota and the 318 is better on gas than both 4.0s. more so the one in my TJ than the one in my XJ. I think that may be because my XJs and my Dakota are 3.55 geared where the TJ has too-small 3.07s... I know that 5th gear in that vehicle, is useless! I find myself on the verge of lugging in most driving conditions with the TJ.
my currently owned "mileage champ" is my 78 Plymouth Fury 2 door hardtop with a carbd 318/ I can get well over 20 with that one all day long over the highway.... but its away for the winter... but mileage isn't the only goal for this XJ should I get it; but I want it to be the best it can--- for what it is, and what ever engine was to go into it. I get right at 20 in my current XJ and my Dakota both, on the road. about 16 from the TJ.

the 4.0 in my '01 XJ was better in that department than either 4.0 I have now, I'm talking stock, everything here not modified; if I get this 2 door XJ body i'd like to build up what ever goes into it, whether it is a 4.0 or a 318, but nothing drastic; I am looking into doing the 258 crank swap into a 4.0, I do have (2) 318 magnum engines here in pieces with the new rebuild parts to assemble 1 of them already; including a nice mild Mopar Perf cam (that motor wasoriginally planned for my other project car)


I have seen the innards of a couple of 287's (4.7s) apart and I do not like the design of those engines. same impressions of GM 4.8 and 5.3s, and Ford 4.6s and 5.4s... If not a a 4.0, if not a 318, if I was gonna put another brand in there I'd put a Ford 302 in something before I would anything Chevy...

Growing up my parents had a couple of Olds 350s and they were decent engines but man are those heavy/bulky compared to a 318/302/and yes, even the Chev 350...

but, more than anything, I am sick and damn tired of the "stick a Chevy motor in it" mentality that has been going on for years... You want a Chevy motor find an Astro or a S 10 or a Blazer or Camaro to stick it into.... but NOT into a Jeep or a Studebaker or a Dodge or a Ford body...

as far as the wiring thing goes, between a Dakota or a GC I think this thing can be done with a 318 close to plug n play
I'd bet there's more direct interchange between a GC and a Dakota and an XJ, than many may think.

 

i love these threads.

do a 4.0, a stroker, or LSX. why? bc those three work. sure a 318 can work, so can a 327, or 350, or 289, or a 440. i've seen all of them done. my buddy's 440 rig is sweet bc its different, and he's spending the time and MONEY to do it right. he built the motor, and now its fuel injected... its not some unknown miles motor he found in a junkyard and boogered in. any other old dumb carb'd motor will run less efficiently than the 4.0, and carbs suck offroad. late 80s and early 90s small blocks just suck, you cant argue against that.... the EPA was out of their mind, and the technology didnt exist to get the most out of a fuel injected motor so you had corvettes running around with 185 horsepower V8s.

you can buy a running 5.3 with a harness for like 4-500 bucks. thats a modern motor that will get BETTER fuel mileage and almost twice the horsepower and torque of a stock 4.0, while being just as reliable. sure, you can whine about how everyone does it... but how many LSx powered XJs have you yourself touched? driven? actually seen in person?

if you're serious about swapping a motor, get real. if your e-weiner is too big to put a chevy motor in a french-designed, AMC built chrysler, the 5.7 hemi works great too.

 

the 318 I am wanting to install is a '98 Magnum motor that will be totally a fresh build not some JY motor... and I have an MP, R/T+10 cam to put in with it... sorry again I have never owned a Chevy vehicle. I have done a few motor swaps for friends as in a fresh 350 for a tired 350 but there is no way I will put a Chevy motor in anything I have. unless I wind up with a Chevy body to do it to. No way. i may still put a 4.0 into it (or a stroker based off a 4.0) and yes I mean a Jeep inline 4.0 not a ford Ranger V6...
there will be one of 2 engines in this engine bay... if not a 4.0, it will be a 318. and though I prefer carbs the 318 will retain its Magnum EFI injection probably an OBD i version though and probably a Dakota brain running it.
right now the game seems to be phone tag with the seller of the 2 door XJ "subject" that prompted this idea.
cmon guys I DON'T wanna hear another word about a Chevy anything under the hood of a jeep. they tried that once and it was horrible... the 2.8s.

you complain about "some junkyard motor" on one hand then brag about the deal you can get on an LS from a yard to stab in there.... which is it? again NO GENERIC MOTORS' ENGINES, SORRY! IT AINT HAPPENIN!

 

Many years ago, I had a Plymouth with the 318. On a long trip, 500 miles, with over size tires, I averaged 27 MPG. My Plymouth was alot
heavier than any XJ for sure. MPG deals more with weight, wind design,
gearing, and having enough power, with not too much power..
My Dodge Avenger, V6, gets 350 miles on 10 gallons, but if this V6 was in my XJ, the mileage would drop very much.
Go with the 318, make something fun to drive....

 

My jeep has a chevy motor, chevy transmission, chevy doubler transfer case, chevy rear transfer case, chevy front axle, and a chevy rear axle.


318s are turds. Of all the commonly available v8s to use for a swap, thats one of the last I would consider.But hey, not my jeep, not my problem, if you already have it and wanna use it, go for it.

 

pretty sure the 4.0 tops the 318 in numbers...

 

Stop calling it a jeep, a body doesn't make the car, the engine defines it.

 

No, the logo on the tailgate makes it a jeep.