First Post — Basic Question

[Aiden Pisterov]

Hey, y'all…

I got a 2003 Wrangler Sport that is pretty well built, but with a stock 4.0L — that I may have ruined…

I am now sixty years old and have been having some really bad health issues for years. I was in the process of starting a rebuild on my engine when I was hospitalized for a bit. I had to stop work, which was in May of 2018, so a little more than seven years ago.

Why does this matter?

Because I left the dang valve cover and oil pan off all this time!

Honestly, I thought I was gonna die, or at least never be able to go wheeling again, and the effort to put them back on after two weeks in the hospital when I was so weak was too much.

And with life crowding back in, trying to push me to catch up with all my responsibilities, I just sort of… forgot. After a certain amount of time, I thought that this would be an excellent excuse to do an LS swap, so I saw no need to get under the TJ and risk a heart attack just to button up a block I was going to ditch.

So it sat. And is it still sitting like that? I have the fenders off, but the hood is down, and towels are on top of the valve train, and they remain dry to this day.

The bottom is open to the air, and the oil dried up YEARS ago. However, I do not see any rust on the exposed parts of the cylinder walls. The crank turns without any unusual sounds, but I have not tried to turn it more than about 25º or 30º. So there may be a lot of rust between the pistons and walls. I am shocked by the lack of rust, to be honest. I am in Mississippi, where it is always humid, and the winters will see a few nights in the single-digit temps.

So, I want to pull the block this October when it cools down, now that my health and strength have improved. I want to drive my TJ baby again, so I have to fix my mess. I plan to put the 4.0L on my engine stand and strip it down for a visit to the local machine shop.

I am planning to do a 4.6L stroker job, but am worried about pitting that I cannot currently see or feel with it in the jeep. If I have to bore it 60 over and do the 4.7L job, will this make the block… "fragile"? And can pitting be so bad that my block is ruined? How viable is sleeving a 4.0L block? I know this can be common with clapped-out V8s, but it seems this block has less space between bores. Is this my imagination?

If I have to go the route of sleeves, would it be better to seek out a junkyard block?

I need to make some decisions, and I guess I need to shut up and pull the block to see what's up with it…

Any recommendations for a solid and honest machine shop in central Mississippi?

Help!

Aiden

[Aiden Pisterov]

Thought I might add that after having read some of the BS posts by some BS bullies who are trying to railroad Russ Pottenger, I know who I will likely go to for parts and advice.

Seriously, to hijack an entire forum so you can try to intimidate a businessman into giving you what you want, even going so far as to create fake secondary accounts so you can pretend to back up or confirm your own, original whining, is absolutely hilarious. Then, to start stamping your foot and calling people "liberals" is beyond priceless. I bet you have not been taking your meds. Your writing is so badly done (dropout?) that it is obvious that you are at once the "daughter", the "daddy". AND the "concerned other poster".

Yep, thanks to the comedy posted by this asylum escapee, I will definitely be patronizing Russ Pottenger at some point in the future.

Since "daddy" finally stopped posting, I am left to wonder whether he built his stroker or had a stroke. While reading his sadly confused, bovine tripe, I could envision the veins on his forehead throbbing with rust- and mold-covered gusto. Bravo, sir. You have achieved maximum ridiculousness.

Thank you, Russ Pottenger, for your answers and your level-headedness.

Mods, note that I am not picking a fight here, but keeping this all contained within my own, completely unrelated thread. The only way psycho daddy will see it is if he is cruising around LOOKING for it. In which case, he deserves 100% of my ridicule. He hates liars. I hate bigmouthed, male Karens.

I sure hope someone can read my above post and help me out. I really would like to learn from this community to do what needs to be done rather than join up only to discover that the nonsensical whining done by "daddy" is what usually goes on here.

I guess I'll find out…

[Cheromaniac]

Aiden,

Sorry to hear about your health issues but glad that you're fighting fit again.
You'll need to take your block to a machine shop so they can figure out how bad the cylinders are. You may be lucky enough to get away with only a 20 or 30 thou overbore. A 60 thou overbore would still be OK but that's about the limit.
Sleeving the cylinders isn't a problem but the cost could be. If your block really does turn out to be that bad, just find another one from a junkyard to start over.
What's your budget for a stroker build?
You mentioned that you'll be wheeling in your Wrangler so I expect your priority will be plenty of low/medium rpm torque with less concern about HP.

[Aiden Pisterov]

Hey, Cheromaniac…

I will likely try to keep things around 4K initially, but will be able to trick things out over time once the crate is rolling again. I want to try and keep the machine work to about two grand and then two for parts.

Correct me if I am wrong here, but it seems to me that a 4.5 is (basically) an AMC 258 crank and rods with pistons with the pin hole positioned to allow TJ pistons to not crash into the head. A 4.6 is a 4.5 plus overboring by like 30 thou, plus add in the cost of the larger pistons. A 4.7 is a 4.5 with overboring like 60 thou + pistons. I know there is a lot more to it than just that, but I think that this is the basic derivation of the displacement numbers. Correct?

If I am right, it would pretty much cost me the same for all three as my block will have to be bored by at least 20 thou just to clean up my worn cylinders. So my 4.5 would also include pistons.

If that is the core of the costs (machine work, crank, rods, pistons, rings, bearings, timing stuff), then essentially the three stroking routes seem to be very similar in cost at that basic level.

I will probably go nuts with things over time, again, once it is running. Right now, I just need cheap, and the displacement is not of interest. If my bores need 60 over and the block is otherwise fine, then I will be ecstatic to have a 4.7L engine in the end. However, if the block allows me to have my preferences and I want to have a stronger engine, then a 4.6L may be where I need to go.

What are your experiences with these three builds regarding HP, needed gas octane level, and longevity? I sure would like to stay at 87 octane, as this may have to become my daily at some point in the future.

Where on this site is a comparative breakdown of what goes into the three main stroker build levels (4,5, 4.6, 4.7)?

Thanks for your time.

[Cheromaniac]

There's more detail on this page of my main Jeep site:

http://www.jeep4.0performance.4mg.com/stroker.html

Keep in mind that you can change the displacement of my "recipes" and leave all else the same.

[Aiden Pisterov]