Jeep Strokers

Finally, after a long search, I have found an engine from a 1991 Jeep Wrangler. It has 100.000 miles.
I had to go to Rome last sunday, from Pisa (my city), to pick up the engine, with a truck of a friend of mine.
It costs me 850 dollars, and the travel costs me 250 dollars. It is very expensive, but here this engine is a very rare part to find. This is the only one that I've found in Italy from two months ago.
I'm very happy, so now I can start buying components to mount on the block.
I think it costs me a very very expensive amount, because of the shipping cost from USA to Italy, and because of all items I need, but in some months it will be born, maybe, sometimes with your help and your cons!

Greg,

I'm Dino and I exchanged e-mails with you recently about your planned stroker build. I'm glad you've finally found an engine to use as a core so you can start tearing it down and cleaning the parts that you're going to reuse.
There's a guy in Turkey who sells 258 cranks in ebay so if you buy one from him instead of buying from the USA, you'll save a lot of money on shipping.

Hi Dino! Of course I remember you and our mail (I wait for the trip to Modena to drive a Ferrari!).
Yes, I've found him on ebay.
But I think I buy a stroker kit from a guy in USA that sell a complete kit with forged pistons and rods, with a camshaft, hydraulic lifters, timing items and all gasket. So I can pay one big shipping. I need forged items because I want to make a turbo engine, so I think ferged is better.
I'll buy +0.060 pistons so I can pick the block to the machine shop to gring cylinders.
But, the first thing I have to do is to mount the engine on his holder (beta tools) and fully clean it, because there is one Kg of oil and mud.
I'll post pics and new results operation by operation.
See you soon!

gregorio87 wrote:But I think I buy a stroker kit from a guy in USA that sell a complete kit with forged pistons and rods, with a camshaft, hydraulic lifters, timing items and all gasket. So I can pay one big shipping. I need forged items because I want to make a turbo engine, so I think forged is better.

That sounds like a sensible plan. Forged pistons are definitely better for a turbo engine and buying all the parts from the same place does save a lot of $$$ in shipping and handling charges.

Paint the valve cover red on your stroker so it can be a Testa Rossa.

Congratulations on finding your parts BTW.

I think I'll paint the valvecover red, and then with a milling machine I'll port some strings of paint on the little thicknesses that cross up on the cover, and then spray a trasparent skin on all. But is only an idea... Paint is far far away in time.

Well, this is the first question I have to ask for this stroker.
Maybe It's a stupid question, but is the first time I open this kind of engine.
Yesterday I have drop out the cylinder head, I have seen there are 14 bolts that hook up the head to the block.
7 of there are normal bolts, other seven are pieces of threaded rod (here in Italy we call these prisoners) with nuts.
When I have removed these, all rod with nut come out from the block, and I have seen that nuts are very hooked up with threaded rods, they seem to be one piece. I've cleaned all bolts with synthetic cleaner to remove rust and grease.
The question is: I need to buy new head bolts or I can re-screw into the block these with the nuts already hooked up?
I remember when I was 15 and I tune up the mopeds, the bolts of the cylinder remained in the block, and I unscrewed only nuts.

The 7 conventional head bolts go under the valve cover and are hidden, while the 7 studded bolts are exposed on the driver's side of the head. It's likely that the cylinder head of that engine has never been removed before so you could clean all 14 bolts and reuse them.

I don't understand the choice of amc engineers to mount 7 head bolt into the valve cover and the other seven out of, but without buy new bolts I can saving $30-40 of shipping. Because here we can't find any inch bolts, there are only mm bolts, and in my turning machine I have only the gear ratios to make millimeter thread, soI can't make this kind of bolts.

Personally I would replace the head bolts unless you are sure the head has never been off before and they are still in good condition. As for why they are located where they are... if they moved the outer row inside the valve cover they would be either in the water jacket or in a bore. Many engines have head bolts under the valve cover and outside it.

cruiser54 wrote:Paint the valve cover red on your stroker so it can be a Testa Rossa.

Dino, we're ready to go to Modena! Ahahah LOL

Valve cover painted.

that looks awesome

gregorio87 wrote:

cruiser54 wrote:Paint the valve cover red on your stroker so it can be a Testa Rossa.

Dino, we're ready to go to Modena! Ahahah LOL

Valve cover painted.

Cover valvole finita.jpeg

Bravo!

I'm inspired to do the same on my stroker. LOL. Thanks for posting that up.

cruiser54 wrote:I'm inspired to do the same on my stroker. LOL. Thanks for posting that up.

Thanks
In principle I wrote that I would porting material from slots with milling machine, but to simplify my life, once I've painted the cover with high temperature red, I've ported the paint in excess (from the top of slots) with a cutter for roughing and a fine sandpaper for finishing. Then I've sprayed with high temperature trasparent protective.