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2000 Build - 4.6 Stroker, Long Arms, 44/8.8 Combo

XJawgi

NAXJA Forum User
Location
cleveland ohio
I decided to start my build thread of my 2000 XJ that i recently picked up. I am basically playing "musical jeeps."

I started off with a 1989 XJ. Threw a Rubicon Express 4.5" lift, along with 2" spacer and shackles, and 33's BFG all terrains and wheeled it for about a year.
jeep1.jpg


168,000 hard miles, the engine started knocking. So i decided to build a stroker (I had the thread buildup on here somewhere, but it must have got deleted.)

Heres the details on the first stroker - Renix injection - 1989 block and head - Casting #3214723 258 crank with 258 rods. .030 Sealed Power cast aluminium 677P pistons, and a crane 753905 cam. Also went with a pace setter header (piece of shit - egr tube didnt line up and the down pipe would keep slipping off untill i had it welded) a magnaflow high flow cat and muffler.

Some quick pics:
Short block
party038.jpg

Rods and pistons
party033.jpg

Cam
party036.jpg

Stupid egr tube before we bent a new one
jeepbuild010.jpg


So that worked out well for a while. Ran the jeep hard for another year and a half. Got a 16.2 time slip on it with a 2.2 60 ft time (with the 33's and stock gears) and wheeled it pretty hard. Then the jeep started F*ing with me. Basically all wiring and electrical problems from the previous hack. It also started to rott out from the lovely cleveland weather. And once i fixed the wiring issue, i broke both the dana 30 and 35 (suprised it lasted that long) and i cracked the cardon joint on the front drive shaft, and spun the rear drive shaft on the hwy (couldnt find the shaft when i got out) So needless to say i needed a replacement.

On the trailer after breaking the front axle
0825072142.jpg


Fixing the rott - well not really - covering holes...
1011071303.jpg


So in the mix, i came across a really good deal on a 2000 XJ with a blown engine and a buckled front fender. Picked it up october of 2007.

0822071826.jpg


The guy completely locked the engine up. Sent the # 1 rod through the side of the block
102107_15161.jpg

See the hole? - o yea - the kicker, the jeep only has 91,000 miles on it. Nothing but thick sludge in the oil pan.
0405081720.jpg


So the plan was to drop my stroker into the silver jeep and start fresh with a really clean Jeep. I ran into a problem though. My 89 would have no engine. And i probably couldnt sell it the way it was.

Luckily, my old man had a 87 commanche with 106k on the engine. So: Out came the stroker :
jeeppull002.jpg

and out came the commanche engine
jeeppull004.jpg


Swapped the commanche engine into the 89. Also swapped the dana 30 with another and the 35 with a 8.25".

My plan was to then sell the black jeep and that would pay for the lift and other misc. parts for the 2000. Well instead of getting between $1500-$2000 for it, i stumbled upon ANOTHER gold 2000 xj country with a blown engine. I traded my buddy straight up for my 89 for his 2000 because he didnt have the cash to rebuild the engine. I also just so happen to have a brand new 4.0 short block for the gold jeep as well.

So the plan changed to selling the black jeep - to rebuilding the gold jeep and selling that and potentially making more money - more on this later.

BACK TO THE 00 SILVER BUILD...
 
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and meanwhile there's a really nice Comanche without an engine.

makes me sad.
 
So I tore the stroker down to a short block.

(i kept the old head on there to paint it..)
0419081908.jpg


I went with a casting # 7120 head and had it rebuilt..

fresh from the machine shop
1003071651.jpg


Then assembled the engine back together with the 7120 head, with the 00 intake - and a APN header (figured anything would be better than the pace setter) -note the gold jeep in background...only pic i have of it.
0531082039.jpg


I used the 00 power steering pump brackets, with the older renix style AC brackets. I did this to relocate the alternator to the top (i fried a few in the water.) I ended up using a 75" belt for the new pulley set up. I also used the 00 distributerless ignition setup, made some coil brackets to adapt to the new head.

I forgot to mention that i was running 24# ford motorsport injectors with the renix setup. The 00 has a different style injector, so i figured i would try the 00 injector - they are 22#ers. My renix always seemed to run rich (never made an adjustable MAP sensor.)

So after almost 9 months of preparing everything and playing musical jeeps, i finally got the silver 00 on the road yesterday. I went with a 96-99 downpipe, another magnaflow high flow cat and a 2.5" maganflow race series muffler. Ill have more pictures probably tomorrow or this saturday of the completed project.

The stroker this time around is SOOO much more responsive. It has way more top end power than it ever did - due to the different head, intake, and injection.

So thats the stroker part.

What about the long arms and HP44/8.8?

Well i need to swap engines (stupid musical jeeps) on the 00 gold jeep and sell it to fund the rest of my build. So far i have a 78-79 HP 44 bare housing that i picked up for free. I will retube it and shorten it to waggy length. I also got a really good deal on a 8.8.

Heres the 8.8
0316081609.jpg


As far as long arms, i think im going with full traction or a TNT kit. Havent decided. Planned tire size will probably be 35's.

So probably from here on out, the rest of build is going to take a while. I will update as i get stuff done. I would really like to have it complete by the first snow fall so im not freezing my nuts off working on it.

So things to do:

- Drop engine into gold jeep
- Paint fender for silver jeep
- Sell gold jeep
- Build axles (gears, lockers, alloys)
- Piece together lift
 
Got a little update. I never posted pics of the exhaust because i just now got my tailpipe bent. Again, I'm running an APN header for a 91-99, a 96-99 downpipe, to a 2.5" magnflow high flow cat into a 2.5" round race series maganflow muffler, then i had a good friend bend a 2.5" tailpipe. Here are some pics (sorry they are cell phone pics):

Tailpipe freshly bent
0723081831.jpg


From converter back
0723081908a.jpg


over the axle
0723081907.jpg


from behind
0723081908.jpg


from the side
0723081903.jpg


It sounds pretty good, i may try to upload a video perhaps. we basically deleted the factory clamps and used some really awesome clamps he uses on bigger trucks. Once everything was in place, he was able to hang on it without any movement - and he was 260 lbs.

Also - i added some tunes yesterday, and i painted the dash to match the exterior. I only did that because i never had anything nice enough to paint. lt'll end up muddy and f'ed up like my black one down the road, but it will look nice for the time being.

0723081952.jpg


Details on the stereo: JVC KD-AHD39. Has built in HD which is pretty sweet. I'm in cleveland and im pretty sure we have close to 20 HD radio stations. I got it from crutchfield for $159 shipped which came with a mounting bracket and wiring harness. I was totally impressed with them by the way - came with detailed instructions, arrived in 2 business days and the install shit. Now i need some speakers - any opinions here would be appreciated.

Enough on that - back to the build - im gonna start cleaning up the 44 and 8.8 this weekend. Also i might have a buyer for the gold jeep as is - so if thats the case, ill have my lift and axles done sooner than expected.

I will be making some unibody stiffeners and a front bumper within the next couple weeks (provided my buddy can come through w/ material.) When i go to do the frame stiffeners, i will then rust proof and undercoat everything.

Thats that untill this weekend probably.
 
Oh yea, forgot - actually put the first road trip on the her this past weekend. I probably had 400 on her after dropping the engine in. No problems yet. So some buddy's were going down to wellsville to pick up his one cherokee he stores down there, and another was going to ride his quad. So i said f'it and drove the stock cherokee down there. Didnt do anything other than camp, drink and have a good time though. But here are some pics...(yea and being down there made me just want to finish the f'er even more than ever)

IMG_2091.jpg


You can see the f'ed up fender and bumper i still gotta fix..
IMG_2097.jpg
 
I found some virgin pictures of my black jeep. Fresh 4.5" RE lift without the shackles or spacers - on 31's. This was about 4.5 years ago.

ogjeep1.jpg


ogjeep2.jpg


Heres how it sits now...
0731081937a.jpg


Power window wont roll up - and im sick of fixing it..
0731081937.jpg

Dirty ass interior...carpet and back is worse...
0731081936.jpg

And here is what i traded it for..needs an engine
0731081938.jpg
 
Also loaded up 2 short videos from last years jeep fest in new castle PA. This years jeepfest is on 8.23, but im not gonna have anything to play with.



First 15 seconds is all you really need to see...i shoulda eased into it...
 
Its been a long time since Ive posted anything - So heres an update..

I sold that gold Jeep a few months, along with a brand new short block. I planned on using that money towards my lift and tires. Well Christmas, bills (mortgages suck), school and the house came first.

So Finally after 6 or 7 months, I decided to do some Stimulating : )

So far, I've bought a TNT Y-link, belly pan and their frame stiffeners. I picked up some 6.5" coils springs, Rusty's 6.5" leafs, and ordered an adjustable track bar. Also my awesome family / girlfriend went in on some Cragar V-Star wheels for me for Christmas. Everything should be in by middle, to end of next week. I still plan on ordering a slip yoke, shocks, some 35" BFG KM2's, and other misc parts.

I also ditched the old axle plans. I mentioned I had a Dana hp44 with the cast mounts and I had a Ford 8.8. I planned on rebuilding those and retubing the hp44. Well those plans have been replaced with this:

HP44 & Dana 60 out of a 77 F250
afterchristmas042.jpg


So now I have my work cut out for me.

I plan on having my stiffeners welded up, and the lift installed by the middle of March...which is my spring break for school. I also took a few days off work to do some wrenching.

Because I have Stimulated most of my money away, I plan on wheeling the shit out of the Jeep untill I have enough money saved to build my axles. I'm not to optimistic about the 30 and 8.25 holding up to the 35's, but hey - thats what spare parts are for - right?

Plans for axles as of right now - Gonna stay full width - TNT truss and brackets - lockers front and rear, Yukons front and rear and then a rear disk conversion.

So stay tuned..
 
Nice looking long term project.
I'm thinking about picking up one of those 4.0L blocks with decent miles on it for a stroker for my XJ when I retire it.
 
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