Jeep Strokers

I am starting this thread to show my 4.5 lower buck build of my 2001 Jeep Cherokee 4.0. It ran like a champ since the day my parents bought it off the lot and wasnt until this past june did the engine give me any problems. Blew my head gasket on the way to a job interview, got it towed to a local garage. In the end I made a mistake of buying a used head instead of a rebuilt and had the dealership install the used head and new gasket to try and fix the problem.

After I got it back it still didn’t run like normal and ended up finding out that I had a dead cylinder on #2(probably due to bad head) and with my oil pressure suddenly dropping I saw that it was going to need a rebuilt because the lower block had issues. I am pretty sure that coolant and water got into the crank case and ate my main bearings and my oil pump. I ended up buying a car and parking the jeep and now am almost done planning my build.

I am use rradford9 build as sort of my guild. I plan on doing things a little different but am trying to follow the same basic parts list.I call this a lower buck build because while I want to keep it on the cheaper side I will spend extra money to get what I want. http://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/viewt ... ?f=8&t=645

I am looking for only a 4.5 but I want to try and run regular at sea level. Yes I know I won’t get maximum performance with how I plan to do it but I don’t need the most and will be happy with whatever extra I get along with the knowledge I gain from doing this build.

Changes/highlights :
Keith Black 2229 std bore pistons : http://www.summitracing.com/search/?key ... -std&dds=1
Dish those to 30ccs
Deck the block to 0.00
Gasket thickness of .039
Stock Cam
SCR of 8.84
DRC of 7.31
4cwt 258 crank, only place ive really found it was at autozone with rod and main bearings http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalo ... otalPages=[I@da3dd1&currentPage=1&vehicleNValue=&navValue=15100229&parentId=cat30061&fromString=&fromWhere=null&filterByKeyWord=&categoryNValue=&categoryDisplayName=Internal+Engine&_requestid=1142080

Any help and or suggestions you guys could give me would be great.

I sent my good head off to be rebuilt at a local machine shop but there is issues with that. I was told they would take it apart and figure out what was going to be needed to be done with it, give me an estimate and then Id give them the ok to go ahead. Never called, I even stopped by and they still told me the same and that theyd get to it soon. I get a call this week telling me its done, I ask how much and they say 531!!!!!!! I never would have given the go ahead for that much seeing how I can get a brand new head for 500. Mind you this is a 0331 casting that is prone to cracking, and I will not be spending that much on a rebuild.


How much is acceptable for a rebuilt 4.0 head? My max was going to be 200-300 to have it rebuilt.

I think if it were me I would talk to as high-up a person as I could and explain what happened. If they claim they called then get call records, they are not hard to dig up. Then if you really want the head tell them what you were prepared to pay, if they don't accept the price then tell them to pay you for your head. Better Business Bureau would be a nice thing to drop in the conversation. I think its just the same as if a mechanic fixed something on your car without your knowledge and then charged you for it.

~joe

Just got back from the machine shop. Went and talked to the owner, it went great! I explained that it was out of my budget and that I never got a call regarding the estimate. He took complete responsibility and asked what my budget was. We settled on 300 for the head. He did do an excellant job, im amazed at how good it looks and after looking at what he did to it I got a great deal!

Next step is to hunt down the crank, and then pistons.

Because of concerns brought up by the machine shop, I am going to have to overbored it. I plan on going with a .030 overbore to bring it to a 4.6. I also will be going with a Comp cam to help it breath properly.

I plan on going with Comp Cams model number 68-200-4, with an intake duration of 252, lobe separation angle of 110 and a advance/retardation of 4.
I still will be going with the VR performance gasket that I believe will be mic’ed at .039. Going to get some KB 2229-030 pistons dished out to 30ccs, and deck the block all the way to .000. I am using the 4.2 rods and crank.

Stats now:
DRC: 7.85
SRC: 8.96
Quench: .039

My questions now, is because I am decking the block and using something other then stock push rods, will I need to get the ground down or have custom ones made? I am still learning and trying to figure it out, does my plan make sense?

Buy a pushrod length checking tool. They only cost $20.00. You can buy custom pushrods from Trend. They keep them in stock... 5/16 pushrods from 6-13 inches in .025 increments. A set of 12 will cost you around $70.00 shipped ($5.00 and change a piece). I used them in my stroker. (.080 thick, one piece, chrome moly).
http://www.trendperform.com/misc/TrendP ... og2008.pdf

This sounds similar to how my build went... I dont need that...but Ill get it anyway. Ill stick with the stock cam...might as well go aftermarket since Im here...."Its supposed to be a performance build, right?"