I have a 99 Jeep cherokee that I got not too long ago. It’s just got a replaced 4.0 in it and with it being a 5 spd I’m searching around for engine swaps. I’ve had a ton of cherokees and love the 4.0 but want a project and a fun driver on the street too. It’s already got a NV-3550 adapted to the 4.0 so I was thinking about doing a 350 swap but I want to hear everyone else’s opinions and recommendations on different v8 swaps to do in terms of ease, $$$, and reliability

 

Chevy swaps have the most aftermarket support so they are the easiest. The LS V8 (Gen III) is the most popular for a lot of reasons. The old school 350 (Gen I and II) is the second most supported.

5.0 Ford engines will fit. Newer modular Ford engines starting with the 4.6 and 5.4 are physically big and very hard to fit. Mopar Magnum 5.2/5.9 engines will fit. I think the Hemi is going to be hard to squeeze into the engine bay but don't quote me on that.

For non Chevy swaps you're on your own in a lot of ways. If you can fabricate what you need, it's pretty straightforward to make the mounts you need. XJ wiring isn't hard to work with. Again, Ford and Mopar have a lot less support while the Chevy has people making harnesses and computer programming that is almost plug and play.

 

Look into VW TDI swaps. Definitely neat with good power output

 

Ive been looking at the gen 1 350 because it seems the simplest and the other real issues with it is motor mounts and manifolds. Had one in a k10 and easiest diagnostic ever: fuel spark or air. Gen 3s are the best bang for your buck but I don’t know how much is trust putting more then 350 hp into a unibody

 

Never heard of this before, any good build threads on here?

 

Build a 4.7 stroker to put in it, add a turbo if that isn't enough.

 

Maybe not on here but you can find several with a quick Google search.

 

My current project is over in the jeep builds thread. Let me know if you need turbo parts.

 

Are you doing any inside work on the motor with that? Guy around here had one and it blew within weeks pretty skeptical of turbo route

 

No internal work to the engine. Your friend run any type of engine management?

With proper tuning these engines handle boost very well. My 96 has had a m90 supercharger on it, now I have my 53mm turbo. Between the 2 setups it's been years and many miles. I'd drive it anywhere with little concern.

 

Are you running a chip or a tuner? I looked into them awhile ago and it priced out to almost 500 just for the tuner itself but that was years and years ago.

 

You can get a supercharger with tuner for around 3k. I think that would squash the desire for an LS swap for awhile a be much cheaper. My buddy just did it. I mean he blew a hole in a piston the first month but he never had it Dyno tuned and had 150k on the motor. It's a beast now with a fresh build under the supercharger lol

 

I'll preface this by saying I'm not trying to put anyone down, to each their own. If you want a V8 XJ go for it.

I have been running a piggyback AEM FIC and larger injectors for a while. It can be a fickle brick when first learning to use it. They can be found cheap these days.

There are other units like the split second.

Speeduino makes a box that can run the Jeep distributor ignition.

Megasquirt can be set up as a standalone or piggyback.

HP tuners supports the 96 to 01 years which is a huge step forward.

This is the stuff that drives people irrationality away from forced induction on the 4.0L. What was the context? Were the supporting mods inadequate? What tuning device was used? What injectors? What supercharger? What pulley? What was peak boost? What was air intake temps at peak boost/rpm? What intercooling method was used? What elevation? What octane fuel was used? What was the AFR target at peak boost? Did the AFR transition correctly at 100kpa to peak? Was he pulling enough timing? The list goes on...

You can tune an engine on the street effectively with a passenger running the datalogging and commands.

I cant speak for anyone else but I was not impressed with my m90 set up. I assume your friend is running a larger displacement supercharger? The boost was not instant under 2krpm like some had claimed. I had over driven the rotors with a 2.55" pulley. At 5k engine rpm how fast was that little guy moving? Air intake temps past 8psi spiked rapidly to 213*f at 12psi with pre rotor methanol and 11:1AFR.

With much to be desired I had a turbo build on one hand and a stroker build on the other. Stroker would require more end cost and more down time as I would need to use the existing engine. My current engine had good compression and leak down figures so I moved on with the turbocharger idea and havent looked back once.

Well not really, now I want a 4.6L turbo stroker.

 

The point of my post was not to scare anyone from forced induction. I do know before the supercharger I noticed a rear main seal leak I mentioned, and after I saw it installed the RMS leak was still present so no attention was paid to the initial block.

As I said he did not tune it correctly and I don't know the specs - I do know he really should have put it on a dyno and had someone who tuned cars regularly get it dialed it. I agree it could be done with a knowledgeable passenger, but personally I would pay for a professional to do a tune on a dyno after dropping that much cash to ensure I had a great tune. There were no supporting mods before the piston. I don't know the specs of his new engine.