93 YJ Engine Swap

Moyock13

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North Carolina
Considering swapping out the 4 banger for something a little larger. I've got a 98 HO 4.0L out of a Cherokee and I've got a 350 SBC in the garage. Reading up on this stuff neither one is simple or cheap. Also considered swapping in a LS motor, but again an expensive venture.

Any successful swaps? What did you swap?

Thanks.
 
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Considering swapping out the 4 banger for something a little larger. I've got a 98 HO 4.0L out of a Cherokee and I've got a 350 SBC in the garage. Reading up on this stuff neither one is simple or cheap. Also considered swapping in a LS motor, but again an expensive venture.

Any successful swaps? What did you swap?

Thanks.
Any engine swap is going to be expensive when done properly. Out of your 3 choices I'm going LS all day long. All choices are going to require the transmission to be swapped and the transfer case adapted or changed. I assume the 350 is carbureted? If so IMHO that is a step backwards.

I would first ask yourself do you really want to start down this rabbit hole?
 
Shhhhh! We're hunting Wabbits! Hahahaha!

Yea, thought about that. To do it correctly I'm looking at about $5K. But the benefits over the SBC or even the I6 are tremendous.

Not something I'm gone to rush into, planning and part collection are the first steps.
 
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Shhhhh! We're hunting Wabbits! Hahahaha!

Yea, thought about that. To do it correctly I'm looking at about $5K. But the benefits over the SBC or even the I6 are tremendous.

Not something I'm gone to rush into, planning and part collection are the first steps.
My advice is to always enjoy the jeep as is. I lost count of the number of jeeps I have bought because someone with good intentions buys a running and driving jeep and then tears it down to nuts and bolts. Then the wife gets pregnant or an unexpected bill comes up. Guess what goes first? And the bucket of bolts is worth a fraction of what you paid.
 
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I hear you! Jeep is tagged and insured, on the road and cruising. Besides, I've get the ultimatum from my Grand Daughter to always have the Jeep available to pick her up! So, no worries. Might be a good excuse to find one of those buckets of bolts as a project.
 
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Just my opinion, either of those V8’s is going to be a handful in a YJ. And dangerous if not careful. I personally would go for the 4.0. Other than changing the engin mounts everything else is readily available.
 
I rebuilt my 2.4 but many told me to go with a 4BT Cummins. I saw the first one a year ago and aside from being loud the owner liked it.
 
Swapped from a 2.5 to a 4.0....Not for the faint of heart, Fixing to buy a turn key 327 Chevy because the 4.0 just isn't enough.....
Will post pics when we start.....
 
Considering swapping out the 4 banger for something a little larger. I've got a 98 HO 4.0L out of a Cherokee and I've got a 350 SBC in the garage. Reading up on this stuff neither one is simple or cheap. Also considered swapping in a LS motor, but again an expensive venture.

Any successful swaps? What did you swap?

Thanks.
I am deep into this process - currently have engine bay gutted - stripped from firewall forward. Cleaned and painted. Installed Rocky Road SOA with High Steer kit. Should fir 35” no problem. Rebuilt 350 from 88 Corvette TBI - Hedman shorty headers - Advance Adapters enging mount kit. Plenty of information with much of it conflicting so read multiple threads before moving forward with each step. I will be using Painless wiring kit that should be here soon. Plumbing is easy once you find good diagram. Buy the FSM for the 350 and buy the FSM for the Jeep. You need the diagrams to make thing correct. Using 700r4 that was connected to 350 with SYE adapter - not cheap to do it right but this has been a blast so far
 
I rebuilt my 2.4 but many told me to go with a 4BT Cummins. I saw the first one a year ago and aside from being loud the owner liked it.

Loud and incredibly heavy. A 4bt is in the area of 750-800 lbs. A 2.5 isn't even 350 lbs.
Considering swapping out the 4 banger for something a little larger. I've got a 98 HO 4.0L out of a Cherokee and I've got a 350 SBC in the garage. Reading up on this stuff neither one is simple or cheap. Also considered swapping in a LS motor, but again an expensive venture.

Any successful swaps? What did you swap?

Thanks.
Don't do it. Or sell it and buy one with a 4.0 in it already. I wouldn't say the benefits are "tremendous". To me the 2.5 YJ and TJ call back to the era of the simple basic Jeep. Small lightweight, decent economy, ease of maintenance. Ect. Having had V8 CJs, 4.0 XJs, 4.0 and 2.5 Wranglers I wouldn't turn down a 2.5 in any of those. The 2.5 is a great little engine. All throwing a ton of power does is remove it from what it was originally intentioned to be. The 2.5 is an impressive little engine, but people want it to do what it was never meant to do. Turn big tires mostly.

The best configuration for a 2.5 equipped Jeep is a near stock one. I can cruise to work at 70, get 18ish MPG, then go camping in remote back country spots away from other people without wondering if my powertrain is going to grenade because I'm trying to spin 40 inch tires. Throw a locker in the front and we're golden.
 
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