Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

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gonridnu
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Stroker Displacement: 4.6L
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Vehicle Model: XJ 2 door

Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

This thread is an extension of "Gonridn's stroker build". I have seen several people ask what is required to install a stroker in a Renix jeep so I wanted to start a new thread as an information source rather than have the info buried in the engine build thread. As a matter of practicality I am going to address individual engine systems (ie. cooling, intake, exhaust) as well as describing the various engine bay mods by area (ie. passenger, driver, front). This is no way designed as a definitive resource but instead is how I approached it for my specific needs while dealing with my OCD:) So here goes......

Let's start with the basics.

Engine Bock:

The engine I chose for my donor is a 96 NVH block for its reported superior casting. To utilize the block with Renix sending units it required that I drill and tap a hole for a sending unit on the driver's side of the block into the water jacket. There is a boss on the 96 block that is directly above the motor mount that is utilized in the RENIX jeep but is not for the later versions. While there is a similar hole farther back on the engine, placement of the sending unit would interfere with my header so I chose to drill and tap the stock location. I believe I also had to tap the hole where the RENIX knock sensor is located on the block but it's been a year now and I can't say for sure that it wasn't tapped already. Anyway, that is my recollection and you'll wanna check it before you put the engine in your vehicle. Aside from those two issues the block is a direct drop in the earlier Jeeps.

Cylinder head:

I chose to use a raised port cylinder head as found on the 91 H.O. and later engines. Being an engine guy I couldn't pass up on the improved design of the raised runner head to support the additional cubic inches. There was no different cost in reworking the different heads and my thinking is if you are going to go through the time and effort you might as well maximize your dollar potential. The only RENIX specific modification I had to make to the cylinder head was to drill and tap the hole at the back of the head for a temp sending unit that is located in the thermostat housing on later rides. I could have just as easily extended the wires to reach the thermo housing but I have this OCD thing about not butchering wiring harnesses and coupled with the possibility of the temperature possibly being slightly different at the different points in the head it was my choice to put the stock sending unit in the head. This hole is drilled at an angle and improper placement will result in interference with your valve cover so it is best to have a machine shop do it. I set up the RENIX head on the head machine and found the angle of the hole and then put the new head on the machine so as to get the same angle. You can see pics of the hole in my engine build thread.
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gonridnu
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Stroker Displacement: 4.6L
Vehicle Year: 1989
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Vehicle Model: XJ 2 door

Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

Intake:

While there is much debate online regarding whether they make power or not I chose to use a '99 and later intake manifold for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, I wanted to use a later big bore style throttle body. Side benefit? You can easily adjust belt tension. The RENIX style belt tensioner is a cluster %#@& at best and needed to go far away from me. The 99 and later version, which I believe is similar to 98's so so vastly superior I had to do it. Secondly, the manifold has a much smaller footprint inside the engine bay allowing for easier access while wrenching. Finally, it is an equal length runner manifold and I would be very surprised if it didn't make a little more power somewhere in the RPM range due to this aspect.

To use this manifold I had to choose a fuel rail from a later version Jeep because the RENIX design does not bolt on the later manifolds. I chose the '91-'93 style fuel rail with the intake and return lines both at the front of the motor and a fuel rail mounted adjustable fuel pressure regulator. To utilize that fuel rail I had to get the fuel lines off of a '91 that run from the back of the vehicle to the front. As a side note I inverted a bracket from one of the many manifolds I had, drilled and tapped a hole on the back of the manifold above an existing one, and once done had a bracket that mounted to the manifold and held the fuel lines perfectly in place between chassis and fuel rail. The lines actually mimic the shape of the back of the manifold so as to appear stock in every form....scary isn't it?

Exhaust:

I am reusing a RENIX era Borla header that I have had on the vehicle for a couple decades. There was a slight clearance issue between a header tube and the '99 intake manifold. Using a carbide burr and then some hard rolls I removed a minimal amount of material from the bottom of the manifold runner. The interference problem was worse when placing the manifold in position and actually gets better once it is bolted up but ya got to get it there before you can bolt it on. I wanna say I ended up with almost a 1/4" of clearance once it is installed. There are lots of vacuum ports on the '99 manifold however I did have to pull the tube from the farthest port back to drill and tap it for the MAP sensor because the wiring harness would not reach the next closest hole that was already the right size for the sender.

Some of you are thinking the RENIX era Jeeps utilized an EGR tube from the header to the intake and the 99' intake manifold has no provision for EGR so before you get all wadded up about the environment let me explain my personal philosophy about EGR.....EGR systems work just fine when they are new but are amongst the most offending systems on an engine after many miles of use. I've been a mechanic for most of my life and can't even begin to count the number of EGR valves, coolers, and mechanisms that I have seen failed. So while they may do the job the factory needs them to do in order to bring down emissions on new vehicles, their long term service proficiency is dubious and likely increases emissions as the system begins to work at less than 100%. My engines are well tuned, well built, and well maintained and I will put them up against a mid 70's or mid 80's smog system laden power plant anytime. In addition, we live in a non-smog check area so I'm not concerned about inspections and knowing some of the guys that do inspections personally, I'm not even sure they could spot the difference through the maze of vacuum lines and wiring. That's my justification......

As mentioned previously I used a bored later style throttle body as well as all the cabling and brackets from a later engine. I replaced the throttle cable with that of a '91- because it is longer as required by the later style intake and brackets. You MUST use your RENIX style Throttle Position Sensor and to facilitate this HESCO has an adapter that mates the late style throttle body with the RENIX TPS. It's spendy but part of the deal. I read somewhere the accelerator pedal was different and bagged one from Pick N Pull although on install I saw no difference in them....hmmmmm . I used a '91 and later trans as they have a bigger (stronger) output shaft so I did not have to change the trans cable as it was already attached. If you use the early tranny you will need to use a later cable.
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gonridnu
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

Pulley System:

Many of the choices I made took me down a path pre-determined by the choice. The choice to use a '99- later manifold was one of these and resulted in having to make some decisions regarding pulley arrangement. Using that manifold and tensioner the serpentine belt routing changes. While it is all very straightforward you must do something about your A/C bracket. The stock RENIX (and others well into the 90's) has an idler pulley that, while it could possibly be utilized, is not required by the new routing and becomes just one more thing to go wrong. Simply removing it leaves a boss on the A/C bracket that should be machined off or risk the belt hitting it OR you can go to the later style A/C pump and bracket from which this idler is missing from the factory. I am unclear on what year my A/C bracket came from but if I had to guess it would have been 96 - 98 'cause those were the Jeeps I was picking from at Pick N Pull that had the pink paint on them as a result of Cash for Clunkers.

I left my RENIX alternator and bracket in place for the time being. It was a fairly new hi amp unit that I had confidence in and required no wiring modifications. This mandated a slightly longer belt than the '99 configuration normally uses but still much shorter than the original RENIX so no harm no foul. For those that are wondering I did grab all the stuff for the later alternator, including an alternator.

Using the '99- later style P/S bracket requires you drill out the 3 threaded mounting holes in your power steering pump for through bolts used on the later mounting arrangement. In my case I have an AGR pump which has a casting that blocks one of those bolts so I drilled two all the way through and left the one threaded attaching it to the front side of the bracket only. This arrangement seems very stout and I am not very concerned about the one bolt that does not go all the way to the manifold. If it presents a problem I'll just o back to the stock pump. To access these bolts you're going to need the '99 and later power steering pulley with three holes in the front of it. I gave my Napa guy the Dorman part# 300-310 and he crossed it over. Napa had it in stock and it was a whopping $14.95. It is a Nylon composite pulley but don't let that scare you Bambi there are lots of 'em in service on a variety of vehicles.

Aside from the '99- Power steering bracket and tensioner and the aforementioned change of A/C brackets I utilized a HESCO billet impeller water pump, and a rebuilt Dampner with a HESCO crank bolt spacer as well as stock pulleys everywhere else. My belt length came out to exactly 100"

Air Conditioning:

You might be wondering what A/C has to do with any of this, but it seems like a good time to talk about it. As a result of ending up with the later A/C pump, which was actually my intention (who still has cans of R-12 anyway?) it was my decision to convert the entire system to R134a.

Since I was changing out the A/C pump I got the lines off a '96 which significantly cleaned up the engine bay and with just a minor amount of bending cleared the heater hoses near the firewall. These hoses are best used by changing the dryer at the same time and to change the dryer you need to change the lines from the condenser to the dryer so why not just grab a condenser from Pick N Pull while your at it?

I'm no expert on A/C but I know one. My understanding is that the major incompatibility issues that arise from R12 to R134a conversion have to do with the incompatibility of system lubricants and o-rings. For under $150 I ended up with an R134a compressor, bracket, condenser, dryer, and lines that cleaned up my engine bay significantly. Gone are the bulky pre 94 lines draped over the fenderwell as the new ones all sit nicely between the frame rail and the engine....much cleaner and with the money I saved on a single professional R12 service I bought a set of gages and will be doing my own A/C services on all of our vehicles!
Last edited by gonridnu on May 26th, 2011, 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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gonridnu
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Stroker Displacement: 4.6L
Vehicle Year: 1989
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Vehicle Model: XJ 2 door

Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

Ignition System:

Not a lot of changes here but some worth mentioning. I used my stock distributor with a new drive gear I had HESCO throw in the box with my other parts. At some point I had grabbed a couple of '96ish wire looms so I got Belden 700444 plug wires at Napa. The coil wire from this kit does not fit as the RENIX coil is on the fenderwell. Purchased a slightly longer coil wire separately and the wiring is clean as a whistle, much improved over the haphazzard routing of the RENIX. I went with the colder plug that comes in the RENIX Jeeps rather than the hotter plug from the later models. With the propensity for strokers to detonate I figured this was the safe call and will adjust the heat range of the plug as time goes by.

Cooling System:

Aside from the HESCO water pump (I can't say enough about their great service and products) I had previously installed a 3 core copper brass radiator. I'd love to go to a bad boy aluminum unit but it's not in the budget right now. I used a later model thermostat housing and replaced the un-needed sending unit with a petcock in hopes it can be used to bleed the air out of the cylinder head rather than having to pull the sending unit in the back of the head. I will double check it by pulling the sending unit but hopefully the last time if the petcock works. The hoses are all stock NAPA parts and I did use a water pump pipe off a later vehicle that comes off the pump and points back at the firewall just cause I liked it better:)

Oiling System:

Only one mod here. I found a 90 degree filter adapter that apparently came on some 95 and 96 Grand Cherokees. It points the filter towards the back of the engine in an open spot. It fit better with the late model A/C hoses and will not spill oil all over the motor or suspension when doing oil changes. Nothing Major but seems like a nice improvement.

As a side note I used Joe Gibbs assembly lube and will be using Joe Gibbs break in oil BR30 with no additives.....No, I'm not affiliated and yes I know oil opinions are like rectums but I have never had a flat tappet cam go flat using it. This includes my recent 540" B1 Mopar with over 425 lbs of spring pressure on a flat tappet cam. It is NOT a "street legal" oil and while it is spendy it has all the additives old oil used to have. It will be followed by Joe Gibbs Hot Rod Oil probably in a 15W 40for summer time at least.

Well that's pretty much it and I will post some pics in the next few days. We're gonna light it off this weekend and I hope I haven't jinxed myself by posting this but confidence is high as the result of many many years of engine building.......
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by SilverXJ »

That oil filter adapter came on a lot of XJs too. And Joe Gibbs is good stuff.
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gonridnu
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

Here is the sensor that goes in the water jacket. In my application the back plug would not have worked due to it's proximity to the header....
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gonridnu
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

Sending unit installed in back of head....
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gonridnu
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

Checking fit of the 99- intake....
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gonridnu
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

Manifold complete except injectors. Note the sensor all the way towards the rear of the manifold was a pressed in pipe that had to be drilled and tapped for the sensor because the wiring on mine would not reach the port closer to the TB. Throttle body by Jeff Leigh.
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gonridnu
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

It's the little things in life....like an upside down bracket off some year you can't remember that holds your fuel lines from a 91 on your 99 manifold......
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gonridnu
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

And a factory air box with no warm air diverter.....
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gonridnu
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

And the wire loom off a '96....
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

99- pulley arrangement.....
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

99- power steering bracket, pulley, and tensioner....
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Re: Gonridn's Stroker in a Renix

Post by gonridnu »

Later model A/C bracket that does not have an idler.....
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