Engine swap comparison
- Thread starter KingCarGuyZ
- Start date
And from what I've seen cracked heads at higher miles.
The Magnum heads seem to crack but as long as they aren't BAD it is the norm to just keep running them. I've got a pair of stock heads that aren't cracked. The head that cracked on my 5.2 was toast and it was supposedly a low mileage engine... But this is also why I wouldn't just swap a engine into my rig. Learned my lesson on that 5.2.. Spend the extra money now or later but you'll have to fix stuff either way and it's easier when it's not in the Jeep.
The EQ heads I have are the old original style which are the more desired ones.
Maybe I can get MINE reliable first? I don't need anymore projects thanks... If I really wanted to do a V-8 swap into another TJ I should of just kept the donor rig...
There are plenty of cheap dash options out there and they may all suck but they are cheap. You also have a dash to use if you found the donor vehicle for under $1000.
Throw $200 more at it if needed
Longhorn84
TJ Enthusiast
My LS swap was $10k but I also did the 4l60e swap so that added extra cost, as well as the SYE for the tcase so hard to quote just engine, I also kept A/C and all the evap stuff and stock gauges which required more adapters/wiring. I bet you could do it for between 5-7k and that's getting all the nice parts from Novak. $2,500 would require you get a donor vehicle that you could part out. I also sold my 4.0 but if your engine is dead you can't plan on that.
Good to hear , the ones I know of leaked compression through cracks between the valves .
Thanks... This is more in the price range I figure a swap would cost.
Hard NO on the first... Maybe on the second... But again you're going to have to be able to do a LOT of the fab work yourself and I still think $2500 would be hard to meet.
And as I've said already even a Magnum swap isn't really possible for under $2K like it used to be since finding a low mileage rig to use for the swap is mostly unheard of. The BIG plus to the Magnum swap was that it was a more or less DIY deal if you could build your own wiring harness.
Are there folks that have done a LS or Hemi wiring harness themselves? Yep there are but they aren't as easy as the Magnum.
And if you want all the other things like A/C and stuff to work that just adds to the cost.
I had the worst case senerio where I was blowing exhaust gasses into the cooling sytem. But it wouldn't show up on a compression test or leakdown test since the crack didn't open until it was warmed up. I've shared pictures of the crack more than once on here already.
You have a harness from the donor, toss the Chrysler garbage as much as possible.
Depends where you want to plant the goalposts. A running and driving swap or a fully functional factory presentation maybe somewhere in between.
Taking your time and finding stuff on eBay and marketplace is also gonna save you money.
But again if it’s a hard $2500 limit or even close to it find a take out running 4.0
Definitely sticking AX-15 and 231 for now - probably eventually Atlas and super 35, just try not tor break a shaft with more power for the time being, wouldnt ever really go auto - I like the stick to much.
yeah that's sounding like an appealing eventually swap - especially with he easy wiring.
Seems like my best option is to slap some pistons and lifters in it and keep running - anyone have recommend pistons? I hear OE's are garbage.
This would be a good option , except for our government rules slapping it down .
We don't have any of these rules you speak of in this free state
We don't have any of these rules you speak of in this free state
We have too many D's that don't like wind , but love rules !
We don't have any of these rules you speak of in this free state
It's not Local Emission Rules that you have to worry about... It's Federal Emission Rules... And YEP won't matter if you plan on keeping the Jeep and then be buried in it but if you sell TJ's like you do then not meeting Federal Emission Rules could be an issue.
Super 35 IMO isn't strong enough if you're going V-8 power. You need a Dana 44 minimum.
If you want to keep your AX15 then you need to keep the engine stock or close to stock. And you need a 92-97 Dakota V-6 bellhousing which is getting harder to find. Or got with a NV3500 over the AX15/NV3550 instead since it came behind the 5.2 in a Ram1500 & Dakota pickup.
The syncros on my NV3550 just died and got replaced with an AX-15 like less than 10,000 miles ago lol
I would love to go 44 eventually - but not any time soon. I don't imagine I would go over a stock 5.9 ever, but then again bolt on power is a dangerous option.
Similar threads
