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good friends with bad luck

98_XJ_Classic

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Garden City, MI
Ok so my buddy just FUBRed his 89 blazer, he had put a small block 350 in it about 4 years ago its got about 45,000 miles on it. My questoin is should I drop it in my everyday rig 98 xj classic (which is also my trail rig as well) which has the aw4 231 in it, or should I build up my old 94 sport 2 door xj (which cant run)?
 
Build up the old one. Clearly.
You want something running back & forth to the parts house, if nothing else.
 
put it in the 94. Technically, you're not even allowed to do that (motor swap has to be from the same or newer year) but the 94 didn't have OBD II, so you should be able to pass emissions. That'll vary state to state, but if I was in your position here (where you can't remove an OBDII system and still pass inspection/emission) I would build the older Jeep.
 
put it in the 94. Technically, you're not even allowed to do that (motor swap has to be from the same or newer year) but the 94 didn't have OBD II, so you should be able to pass emissions. That'll vary state to state, but if I was in your position here (where you can't remove an OBDII system and still pass inspection/emission) I would build the older Jeep.

We got no emissions here in Michigan! :passgas:
 
you lucky bum... then have at it! I'd love to have a 97+ XJ with a nice V8. Our emissions in DE are checked by the state when we go to renew our registration during the safety inspection. For OBDII, they just plug into the computer, but for older, they'll do a tailpipe sniffer test. At least it's free, in PA you have to pay a private shop for the inspection, which results in a lot of bogus failures (you need to replace the muffler bearings before we can pass it).
 
I'd put it in the '94. Doing something like that to your daily driver greatly reduces its driveability and reliability (unless you spend the money and do a damn good conversion). Besides, if you build up the '94, that can be the trail rig and the other one can be mainly your daily driver. If need be, put a hitch on it and tow the '94 to go wheelin'. :cheers:
 
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