Jeep Strokers

This will be going in my daily driver 2000 XJ. It will be based around the KB 944 pistons in .030 over with the 21.73cc dish. I am going for reliability. I am shooting to use regular octane gas. I thought about going the Eagle/Ross route, but that was just too expensive. The machine work will be done by Baldwin Performance in Radford, Va. I will be picking up a used 4.0L block tomorrow hopefully. The crank will be purchased from Autozone without the bearings (they do let you know how much was taken off so you can purchase the appropriate bearing.. correct?). I am leaning toward using the compcam 68-231-4 with their nitriding process. I will also be using a MLS .051” head gasket as the .043” may be hard to find in the future and as of now I can only get them from CarQuest.

The rods I am thinking of either going with the refurbished ones from falcon or with a set of used rods. And pros or cons of either?

For the head I will be using the 0630 casting that I ported and polished a while ago. It has the Mopar Performance valve springs, retainers and keepers installed at 100#, 30* back cut valves, and a 3 angle valve job. Harland Sharp adjustable roller rockers. Intake is a matched 2000 with a 63mm throttle body. 26# Ford injectors. Doug Thorley header.
I am undecided on the lifters to use, probably either a set of CompCam’s (I think you can get them with an oiling hole in the bottom) or Crower Cam savers.


Part - Description - Part number - Supplier
Main bearings - Clevite 77 TM - Ms1947P - Falcon
Cam bearings - Clevite 77 - SH1980S - Falcon
Rod bearings - Clevite - CB960P x6 - Falcon
Oil pump - Melling - mel-M81A - Falcon
Freeze plugs - Pioneer - PE-256-BR - Falcon
Rod bolts - ARP - 112-6001 - Falcon
Pistons - KB - KB 944 - ?
Crank spacer - Hesco
Timing set - JP performance - JP5629
Crank - 12 counter weight - 3214723 - Autozone
Rods - 4.0L - BP773 - Falcon
Cam - Comp Cam - 68-231-4 - Comp cam
Lifters - ???


According to our calculator with a .01 deck clearance I will have a 9.27 SCR, a 6.96 DCR and a .061 quench. I have been thinking about going with a 0 deck clearance which would give me a 9.45 SCR, 7.09 DCR and a .051 quench. I can’t understand where Keith Black got their 9.1:1 compression ratio from though.



My cam choice and lifter choice are the only two variables that I am not terribly sure on. Any suggestions and comments are welcomed.

only thing i would like to see is that quench tighter. cut the deck .010 and bring it in to the .051 area.

steve

cam choice is criticle. what are the opening and closing specs for the cams you are looking at?

that will better determine what fuel will be needed.

steve

Cam specs:

Valve lift:
intake: .462
Exhaust: .485

Duration .050:
Intake: 206
Exhaust: 214

Duration seat to seat:
Intake: 250
Exhaust: 258

Timing .050:
IVO: -4.0
IVC: 30.0
EVO: 42.0
EVC: -8.0

Timing seat to seat:
IVO: 18.0
IVC: 52.0
EVO: 64.0
EVC: 14.0

Lobe Centerline: 111.0
Intake centerline: 107

ill crunch the numbers


steve

Choked it down and purchased the KB944 in .030 today.

Tried to order a crank from Autozone.. a week later I call them and find out that they don't work with that supplier any more.. ordered one from Advanced auto. They received it today. Took a look at it and I already didn't like what I saw. .030/.040 on the outside of the box. 3235477 inside the box. Decided I didn't really want it. Went with a .010/.010 4 counterweight from my machine shop instead. Really wanted the 12 counterweight, but oh well. At least its a nice 4 weight. Cheaper than autozone or advanced too.

.040 mains are hard to come by as well. Had to order mine from Israel. My 4wt is doing just fine. No absurdly rough idle or anything.

I remember your ordeal trying to find the correct bearings. One reason I walked away from that crank.

Glad someone is learning from my experience. I didnt really want to deal with sending my back as I had to get mine shipped and I couldnt just go pick up a new one.

Thanx for being the guinea pig. I was just happy Advanced Auto refunded me. They also said that the company usually sends out the best cranks first. I would hate to see their worse.

What required to install the ARP rod bolts in the 4.0L rod? Just press them in? I've heard that the big end needs to be resized, but not sure about that.

yes, big end needs to be resized

Just checked with Summit on the KB944 ship date... it was 11/20 when I purchased the pistons on the 5th... it is now 12/01.... wtf is this crap? If they aren't here by the time all the other parts are ready they will be canceled regardless of their ship date and I will get a set of Wisecos. One shouldn't have to wait this long sort a set of off the shelf pistons, which is what these pistons basically are.

SilverXJ wrote:Just checked with Summit on the KB944 ship date... it was 11/20 when I purchased the pistons on the 5th... it is now 12/01.... wtf is this crap? If they aren't here by the time all the other parts are ready they will be canceled regardless of their ship date and I will get a set of Wisecos. One shouldn't have to wait this long sort a set of off the shelf pistons, which is what these pistons basically are.

Check with your machine sop. They might be able to get the KB 944's cheaper and faster than summit. I talked to a machine shop, they said $430.00 for a set.

And i'm sure nobody understood what i meant when i said i had the ETA calculator on summit.... If you check back every day, you'll most likely notice that the time always gets bumped up by a day. Items that are not in stock, or on backorder, will show 3 weeks ship date. The day that summit gets the product, the ship date will change to the current day or the following day, and ship them out then. But other then that, expect the constantly updating 3 week away ship date until they actually have them

SUMMIT shipping ETA = tits on a bull!