3.8 or 4.0 Mopar V6 swap ?

[4wdParakeet]

Oil burners in an XJ = arty:
V8's in an XJ =party1:

Strokers = party1:

Anything other than that = meh

In my experiance I don't think of the Mopar 4.0 or 3.8 as a wow type motor no matter how much work and money you threw at it. If I saw it in person I would compliment the work if done nicely but in the back of my mind I would be asking "Why go through all that work for that" If I'm going to go through a major motor swap and have to redo wiring, I'm going all out and getting the V8 stuffed in there or spending the money on a Turbo'ed 4.7L stroker. Those are WOW inducing motors.


And all the talk about weigh savings of a small modern v6 vs the I6 is thrown out the window when you add as much steel as most offroaders do. A couple hundred lb's aren't going to gain you a lot of performace. But for less work (Stroked 4.6) you get quite a bit more torque and horses at lower RPM's than the M3.8L V6.

With the right gearing you can make anything run well but the ends don't justify the means in my eyes.



Parakeet

 

[keep0njeepin0n]

It is the cool factor that goes with it.

WHAT COOL FACTOR?!?!?! That's the whole point I'm trying to make. What is so cool about a less than 100hp gain??

I don't think I'd ever hear myself saying...."awwww sweet man, you swapped a minivan/pacifica motor in there!"


He may be looking at it for the same reason you swapped a 6.5 turbo diesel into your waggy, but man, you're comparing apples to orgasms.....a 3.8/4.0 V6 is nowhere near as cool as a 6.5 diesel swap that works well.

 

[MoparManiac]

"added value" (retail term)

:roflmao: Did someone just find a phrase of the day?

If you have a donor car available for cheap, then go for it.

To me, the hardest part would be the electronics involved but the more available on the donor car the better off you'll be.

 

[cal]

I'm curious where you think you'll get 25% more gas mileage. .. put one of those 3.8 or 4.0 v6's into a shoebox shaped car and see what you get out of it.

The JK is a good example. My Dad's JK 3.8l gets 11 mpg. My XJ on 37's with a stroker gets 16.

 

[jeeperjohn]

Is the V-6 you refer to the one they call a "shortstar"? It seems that engine is often used in sand rails because of it's high output and economy. Also, lots of aftermarket support.

 

[gradon]

now if you woulda said you were going for the chevy 3.8l from an f-body and yanking the heads and charger off an ssei or buick w/ the L67. . . .

 

[DieselSJ]

i want to see the waggy dieselSJ...

Will post up some pics for you.

now if you woulda said you were going for the chevy 3.8l from an f-body and yanking the heads and charger off an ssei or buick w/ the L67. . . .

That just made me feel all tingly "down there".

 

[REVROK]

Will post up some pics for you...

Ahhhh.... something good WILL come from this thread!

Look if you want cool factor, pickup a 2500 complete from China less engine and tranny (around $11k) and axles and put your 3.8 or 4.0 in THAT with a set of custom 44's with ARB's. Mild lift on 33's, custom bumpers and VOILA! Sexy.

 

[Talyn]

Is the V-6 you refer to the one they call a "shortstar"? It seems that engine is often used in sand rails because of it's high output and economy. Also, lots of aftermarket support.

No, that would be the GM V6 version of the Northstar. The one they are talking about it the anemic turd that replaced the 4.0L in Jeeps.

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

If you are going to go through all that effort why not use a 2.8 CRD out of a Liberty?

 

[cal]

If you are going to go through all that effort why not use a 2.8 CRD out of a Liberty?

It would not be legal. The CRD jeeps were banned from sale new in california, which would rule it out for a legal conversion. CARB has been quoted with these requirements for an engine swap (including diesel) in california.

just spoke to CARB and what sounded like a very knowledgeable gentleman. He basically said there are three basic rules that make up their policy toward engine changes in CA, and if you fail any one of these, the referee will fail your conversion (sometimes they'll fail it anyway because they don't want to have to deal with the vagaries):

1.) Donor engine must come out of the same year or newer vehicle.

2.) Donor vehicle must be in the same weight class as the receiving vehicle (this rules out the Isuzu 4BD1 as those were all put in medium duty trucks with higher weight classes). The CARB guy said that a lot of times the referee will ask for the donor vehicle's VIN or registration, to prove that you didn't get it out of a delivery truck, or a boat! However, he did say that (in California at least) you CAN put brand X engine into brand Y vehicle, as long as you meet these three criteria.

3.) The donor vehicle and engine must have been certified as a California-legal vehicle when sold new. This pretty much rules out everything else except maybe some of the Mercedes diesels in the passenger cars, some Volkswagons, and the domestic diesels, none of which I personally would consider (well, maybe the Merc if they were still bringing in the diesels in 1994, the year of my 80 Series that would be the conversion candidate - but they weren't ).

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

It would not be legal. The CRD jeeps were banned from sale new in california, which would rule it out for a legal conversion. CARB has been quoted with these requirements for an engine swap (including diesel) in california.

Didn't see the Cali part, I'm glad I don't live in the Socialist Republic of Kaliphornya

 

[cal]

Didn't see the Cali part, I'm glad I don't live in the Socialist Republic of Kaliphornya

I dunno. I'm happy to trade diesel passenger cars for 340 days a year of 75 degree sunshine.

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

I dunno. I'm happy to trade diesel passenger cars for 340 days a year of 75 degree sunshine.

I enjoy my rain and snow.

 

[DieselSJ]

It would not be legal. The CRD jeeps were banned from sale new in california, which would rule it out for a legal conversion. CARB has been quoted with these requirements for an engine swap (including diesel) in california.

That is interesting. My DieselWag was exempt in CA with the diesel. They don't (or didn't 4 years ago) test diesels in Cali. All I had to do was take it to a referee the first time and he confirmed that it was a diesel - he didn't check ANY of the emissions equipment - and I was exempted.

 

[cal]

That is interesting. My DieselWag was exempt in CA with the diesel. They don't (or didn't 4 years ago) test diesels in Cali. All I had to do was take it to a referee the first time and he confirmed that it was a diesel - he didn't check ANY of the emissions equipment - and I was exempted.

What diesel did you swap in? The requirement is that the engine you swapped in had to be available new in CA. Its my understanding the Liberty CRD was never offered in a new car in CA, which would make it not legal for the swap.

Last year was the first year they did emissions testing on diesel here, anything 1998 or newer. The test is a quick visual for illegal mod's (most mod's are legal, as long as you have the CARB sticker) and visual for excessive smoke/particulate. I think it took them about 90 seconds to test my 03 F250 when I purchased it last month.

 

[cal]

I enjoy my rain and snow.

I enjoy them too.. and when I get tired of them, I drive 2 hours back to civilization where it's 70 again.

 

[Darky]

I think depending on the engine's specs, it could be cool. Less weight is always a benefit. Even when you're adding 300 lbs of armor, if you can save 300 lbs of engine, you're breaking even. Heavy weight is the enemy of performance in all regards. It's less efficient (more gas spent to run the trail, or get to the trail), it puts more stress on running gear necessitating bigger axles driveshafts, u-joints, etc, and it takes more power to run.

I've often thought of putting a V6 in the XJ because the 4.0 is so damn long. My thoughts always tended towards the Chevy 4.3 though.

 

[cal]

I think depending on the engine's specs, it could be cool. Less weight is always a benefit. Even when you're adding 300 lbs of armor, if you can save 300 lbs of engine, you're breaking even. Heavy weight is the enemy of performance in all regards. It's less efficient (more gas spent to run the trail, or get to the trail), it puts more stress on running gear necessitating bigger axles driveshafts, u-joints, etc, and it takes more power to run.

I've often thought of putting a V6 in the XJ because the 4.0 is so damn long. My thoughts always tended towards the Chevy 4.3 though.

Billy Jordan (and later Hellbilly) ran an XJ with a 4.3 chevy. It doesn't appear to have any more power than the 4.0, and is a lot of work to make happen. In his case, Billy started off with an 85 v6 xj so it was a huge upgrade.

 

[Darky]

Yeah, power is about the same, torque is maybe 20 lb-ft better. For me the main benefit would've been the extra room to work on things...

Whatever happened to Hellbilly? Haven't seen him on here in a long time. I seem to vaguely recall him shutting down his shop as well.