I've got Pater's old YJ and am looking to increase the power by swapping in a V8. Those of you that have done it, what would you recommend. I want to be fuel injected and I want a reliable motor, that has decent power. I don't need 500+ HP, but I would like it to be healthy. Some thoughts that have come to mind are 5.0L Ford, 5.3L Chevy, 6.0L Chevy truck and LS motors. Plans are for an auto tranny and an Atlas transfer case. Pros, cons, experiences? Budget is an issue, so I'm not looking to spend a ton of money, but I know that it's going to cost me some. Let me know what you guys think.
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I'm using a 5.0L.... aftermarket support is pretty good but getting some age on the overall platform, so I would suspect that the 5.3/6.0/LS motors will be all the rage very soon... 4.6 modular??
Booo hiss on the auto tranny, but I might just be the last one driving a stick in the world... the way things are going, I have limired choices now, but I will not have any choice soon...
Atlas/STaK sounds like the most expensive part... but you get what you pay for... IMO
My last truck was 5.3 and 4L60e... I'm rough on things... Reaction sun shell went bye-bye at 116k... just for perspective. I was about 24 hours from pulling the driveline for my jeep (like Tom said... they're reliable) and parting the truck if it didn't sell, of course it sold then...
just my $.02brad
5.0L | 435 | 203 | 300 | 4.10 | 39.5
Buildup BACK underway...
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There is too much support for the 5.3-6.0 motors to ignore them. I would also go with a TH350 or 400 if you don't need OD.
Personally, I would think seriously about a 4.0 based stroker. I've seen your jeep go a lot of places like it is, but a bit more oomph wouldn't hurt.1988 Suzuki Samurai on propane
FJ 40 axles (4.10)
5.14 tcase
36" TSL SX
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New generation 425 hp hemi! Depending on the wheeling you do you may want to make sure it will keep oil pressure at many different angles. A 5.9 dodge motor is hearty and I know where one is cheap and complete. The less sensors and ease of troubleshooting is key for trail motors. Titan sells a 4.7 I-6 for under $2500 with a warranty. Will the 6 cyl. in your jeep ever give up?sigpic
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Keep the I-6 and stroke it. The V-8 isnt a bad thing but the 6 cyl is in it works and its wset up to be there. The V-8 swap takes some set up to get it all right. Sometimes I wish I had kept the 4.2. Never gave me any trouble.91 fj 80 on 37 Nitto Muds with a 10k winch. Cage and sliders coming soon.
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Originally posted by 94Dodge Truggy View PostWill the 6 cyl. in your jeep ever give up?
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Originally posted by 94Dodge Truggy View PostStick a blue bottle on it and use sparingly.
Let me know when you use it beforehand though so I can get my catchers mit out for the shrapnel.
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An old TBI 350 Chevy is dirt simple to install and cheap. Add a few mods to it and pretty easy to decent HP out of them. A guy here at work pulled a Vortec 350 long-block out of the junkyard, slapped on a Vortec to TBI manifold, hooked up a couple of wires and off he went. No fuel system mods, no computer mods, etc... I'm sure it wasn't "tuned" to run optimally but it ran well and was strong.
It was a strong engine (250 HP), at least by real world standards......and substantially stronger than a stock 4.0L. Speaking of "real world", I think most people way over-estimate what their engine actually produces, or what you need (or can actually use) on the trail.
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Originally posted by blazerbrad View PostAn old TBI 350 Chevy is dirt simple to install and cheap. Add a few mods to it and pretty easy to decent HP out of them. A guy here at work pulled a Vortec 350 long-block out of the junkyard, slapped on a Vortec to TBI manifold, hooked up a couple of wires and off he went. No fuel system mods, no computer mods, etc... I'm sure it wasn't "tuned" to run optimally but it ran well and was strong.
It was a strong engine (250 HP), at least by real world standards......and substantially stronger than a stock 4.0L. Speaking of "real world", I think most people way over-estimate what their engine actually produces, or what you need (or can actually use) on the trail.S10 with a few air shocks..
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Originally posted by humpy View Posti would go vortec 4.3 b4 i messed with a tbi 350...very close in hp and the 4.3 weighs less and is smaller and easier to install in tight places... just my .02 i hate tbi 350 engines and i am a gm person since i was a kid...the tbi 350 was the sorriest excuse for a v8 gm ever put out...
Personally I wouldn't bother going from a 4.0L to a 4.3.....a lot of time and effort to swap it in for really no gain. The HP is pretty close between the Vortec 4.3 and stock TBI 350, but the 350 still had around 50 ft-lbs. more torque. But the key work there is stock and the power potential of the 350 is pretty much endless and relatively low cost. The 350 TBI engines didn't have super high power numbers if compared to current day engines, but at the time they were strong and much stronger than the previous generation carb'd 350 (TBI bumped up the HP around 40-50 as compared to the previous generation), and the TBI itself is not really the limiting factor but rather the heads, cam, compression ratio, etc... in rest of the engine.
I'm definitely not saying a TBI 350 is the be-all, end-all engine swap for a Jeep, but it is cheap and easy and can put out respectable power. Service diagnostic and repair is also pretty easy as compared to modern engines.
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