2Fast2Furious?

I saw a curious sight on the road down by the beach the other day. A 2001 race-ready lowered Acura Integra with nitro was racing a bone stock 2000 or 2001 Cherokee Sport ( no it was not mine ). The Sport had it by a car length all the way. I am not advocated street racing and please don't try this with your own Cherokee, but this was indeed a testament to the power of the 4.0 and gave me a laugh.

tb

Back in the day with my then new Cherokee Country I took a new Civic SI VTEC...With my (empty) car seat in the back...man the laughs he got when we got back on base... :grinno:

When our local drag strip opens up this spring, Im planning on taking the xj out to the staging lanes, pulling the warn bumper and winch, the rack, spare, hilift, axe, shovel, etc. and the back seat, subwoofer box/amp and bolting on the stock 29"s to see what it'll run with the 4.56's and the engine upgrades. Realistically, I think I've added a good 25 horse with the bolt-ons, and probably 30 or more ft/lbs. Im no dyno tech by any means, but I think thats a good estimate. What would you guys say? Short tube cold air intake with K&N 5 hp?
Jet stage 2 chip w/ 91 octane 5 hp?
Bored 62mm throttle body, with 1" spacer 5 hp?
MSD ign., coil, wires, distributor 5 hp?
Banks header, turndown after Flowmaster 5 hp?
=25 hp?

I say I'd rather go home a winner and race the twenty-somethings and their "Rice-Rockets". My 2000 XJ's all stock and I need it to go to work the next day. You stick with racing the Mustangs in that hot rod!

I say I'd rather go home a winner and race the twenty-somethings and their "Rice-Rockets". My 2000 XJ's all stock and I need it to go to work the next day. You stick with racing the Mustangs in that hot rod!


See?


The Cherokee is a 4.0 Liter! While most Ricers only have 1.8 to 3.0 Liters. (I love it when I tell a Honda owner my Pepsi 2 liter has more bore area then all of his chambers combined!)

Nitrous isnt going to help if they have stock exhaust and exhaust manifolds.

Most of these sahde tree mechanics dont realize that if you are going to have it coming in - you have to have it go back out - able to breath. Fart can mufflers arent free flowing enough - you have to have some back pressure to creat that noise and its enough to surpress the hp creation of the engine!

When our local drag strip opens up this spring, Im planning on taking the xj out to the staging lanes, pulling the warn bumper and winch, the rack, spare, hilift, axe, shovel, etc. and the back seat, subwoofer box/amp and bolting on the stock 29"s to see what it'll run with the 4.56's and the engine upgrades. Realistically, I think I've added a good 25 horse with the bolt-ons, and probably 30 or more ft/lbs. Im no dyno tech by any means, but I think thats a good estimate. What would you guys say? Short tube cold air intake with K&N 5 hp?
Jet stage 2 chip w/ 91 octane 5 hp?
Bored 62mm throttle body, with 1" spacer 5 hp?
MSD ign., coil, wires, distributor 5 hp?
Banks header, turndown after Flowmaster 5 hp?
=25 hp?


Dont waste your money on the chip or the throttle body spacer.

Everything else will be good to produce around 15 hp. But thats not rear wheel horses though.

Also - try to get rid of alot of useless weight.

The 4.0 is such a good engine, but I wonder if anyone has tried to swap it with a 318 or 360 V8? If it could be done right, it would be the coolest thing on the street. I just don't know if the body would handle the extra weight and torque. They used to put 350 chevy engines in the Toyota Landcruisers, but I know that's a whole nother story. Just brainstorming for when mine gets old enough to play around with.
tb

i love those 4.0L engines man can they move guy at wor owns one with a few mods ignition , comp, flow master and k&n posably other stuff and man can it move

The 4.0 is such a good engine, but I wonder if anyone has tried to swap it with a 318 or 360 V8? If it could be done right, it would be the coolest thing on the street. I just don't know if the body would handle the extra weight and torque. They used to put 350 chevy engines in the Toyota Landcruisers, but I know that's a whole nother story. Just brainstorming for when mine gets old enough to play around with.
tb


You could probably do it although I have my reservations whether or not the AW4 tranny can stand up to that kind of torque. Also the XJ does not have a frame as do the LandCruisers so to mod up the mounts and stuff would definately be a headache!

Ah yes, the unibody construction. I think it could be done, but after a lot of trial and error and money. It would not really be worth it I guess. It might make a good Monster Garage episode though.

Hell if a S-10's frame can handle a 350, why not a Cherokee?

Hell if a S-10's frame can handle a 350, why not a Cherokee?


BECAUSE A CHEROKEE DOESNT HAVE A FRAME! UNIBODY CONSTRUCTION!

Thats why I laugh any time someone asks me if I am going to use a body lift on my XJ!

You would need to beef up the whole engine compartment. I dont think a 350 would fit. 327 might - barely.

Actually there's not much weight difference between the small block Chevy and the 4.0L Jeep. The 4.0 is a pretty heavy engine to start with. I did a 350 swap in a 1968 AMC Javelin that was unibody. However I changed the whole drive train at the same time. Total weight difference was only 25-50 lbs more. HOWEVER, the XJ engine compartment is tougher because it is shorter in length and deeper - considering header clearance on both sides, transmission linkages, drive shaft, speedometer, alternator mounting mods, fuel system changes, etc ...IMO, it's not worth all the work for what you will get out of it. ... Much better off with the mods Artic, Cobra and Po recommend.

[QUOTE=Po Pilot]BECAUSE A CHEROKEE DOESNT HAVE A FRAME! UNIBODY CONSTRUCTION!

I will compromise. The first Mustangs in the sixties were of a unibodied construction. A 289 or a 302 fit in those. So instead of the 318 or the 360, I will use a rebuilt 289 high performance with solid lifters and headers with dual exhaust I can fit it in there.....someday, when I get the money and the guts. I don't think it's been done and I don't think it is because of the unibody limitation. What am I thinking! I live in California it'll never pass smog. Maybe that's a good excuse to move.
tb

[QUOTE=Po Pilot]BECAUSE A CHEROKEE DOESNT HAVE A FRAME! UNIBODY CONSTRUCTION!

I will compromise. The first Mustangs in the sixties were of a unibodied construction. A 289 or a 302 fit in those. So instead of the 318 or the 360, I will use a rebuilt 289 high performance with solid lifters and headers with dual exhaust I can fit it in there.....someday, when I get the money and the guts. I don't think it's been done and I don't think it is because of the unibody limitation. What am I thinking! I live in California it'll never pass smog. Maybe that's a good excuse to move.
tb


You couldnt pay me enough to live there! They definately wouldnt like my CJ!

No emission controls what so ever!

[QUOTE=Po Pilot]You couldnt pay me enough to live there!

What year is your CJ? There are plenty of classics with smog device exemptions around here. I live down by the beach in SO-CAL.
There are a lot of those California girls and you'd do really well with that CJ. California beach girls and Jeeps, now that's something they can't make better in Japan!!!

Back to the XJ though, I think the vintage 289 would not be much faster than 4.0, at least not enough to warrant the headache of adapting one to fit the XJ's unibody. It would just be for the uniqueness of it all. Out here people do all kinds of things to cars, but I have not seen a V8 swap with XJ.....yet. Plus you would need to be sure the C4 stays with the 289. The AW4 would not adapt well I'm sure.

Later
tb

Dont waste your money on the chip or the throttle body spacer.

Everything else will be good to produce around 15 hp. But thats not rear wheel horses though.

Also - try to get rid of alot of useless weight.
You misunderstood me. I was saying that I already installed all those that I mentioned. :icon16:
I'd have to say that I disagree as far as the chip. Made noticeable improvement. As did the header, which most say cant be felt. :rolleyes:

You misunderstood me. I was saying that I already installed all those that I mentioned. :icon16:
I'd have to say that I disagree as far as the chip. Made noticeable improvement. As did the header, which most say cant be felt. :rolleyes:


Didnt see the 97 part!

Generation II computer onboard yours.

The 4.0L is capable of producing just as much HP and more torque than most small block V8's. Think about it... An I6 has 7 main caps but a V8 only has 5. The only thing missing is CID. I've been doing alot of research on 258 I6 stroker kits. 258 crank and rods gives you a 4.2l with 10:1 compression. Then bore it .030 over and you'll have 4.5L with HP and torque curves comparable to stock 5.0, 5.2, and 5.7.
http://www.jeep4.0performance.4mg.com/stroker.html

The only thing missing is CID.

I have never really got on my 2000 XJ, but back when I had my old '94 XJ with the 4.0L I6 and the AW4 trans, my 71 year-old dad was driving it and I was riding shotgun. Without warning he pounced on it and the ass-end dipped and I thought we might do a wheelie. The torque was like nothing I experienced even when my brother rented a Mustang 5.0 one weekend and we went cruising around. I am positive the 4.0 can be modified to compete with the Mustang 5.0 and certainly the newer Mustang 4.6. The only thing to watch out for is the stock rear-end. I am wondering if once the engine modification is complete, you should consider a beefier rear-end like a Dana 44 or a Ford 9 inch? I've hear the carriage bearings go out on the Cherokee's rear axel and have seen a lot of both Grand Cherokees and real Cherokees on the lift at the shop with the banjo pan off.
tb