4.3L V6 in the Cherokee

steeletrib

steeletrib

Beach Bum
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Location
Apex/Garner, NC
I have a 98 Cherokee with 8" lift and a 4.0L. I want to do a motor/trans/t-case swap and convert to a 4.3vortec from a '00 s10.

I don't know entirely too much about how mounts and electrical are going to work on the build but any input would help!
 
Why would you want to do that swap is my question?!?! the 4.0 is superior in almost every way that I can really think of. That is probably why there isn't a whole lot of info out there on this swap......

If you are going to spend all the time, $$$$$ and energy to do a swap, I wouldnt consider anythign smaller than a 5.3..... but if you are going 5.3, why not go 6.0??

I would stroke what you got and roll with it.
 
A 4.3 swap is pointless and a waste of time. Any ls based motor would be a great swap. Regular small blocks are nice but they are an extremely tight fit. On the cost effective side i'd recommend building the 4.0. mainly for a few reasons. It already fits, no rigging to be done with wiring, and you can make plenty of power to satisfy your needs.
 
x3 on why you would want to, but if you must, check out advance adapters, they do have motor mount setups for a regular small block chevy that could be adapted to an xj. the electrical will need the whole harness and computer from the donor, it can be trimmed down to get rid of unneeded stuff, but it'll take some research to make it happen. you may want to get the tape measure out and check & see how long the 4l60e will be in the chassis(they're pretty long)
my vote is still for keeping the inline 6-better bottom end torque & if you need more power, stroker conversions aren't all that hard
 
a stroked 4.0 will out perform a 318 all day long...
 
i would not stroke the 4.0 its way too much money for little performance, just have the head rebuilt with some porting and shave a little, and put in a cam and you get the same numbers with saving thousands. and the 4.3 would be a good swap but i am sure nobody does it just because you are swapping a 6 cyl for 6. and if you do you should get an '88-91 4.3 they were way better and more durable than the later models. i had one for about 15 years that i had built with around 340 lbs torque and 220 hp and still got 25mpg on highway. but i would just keep the 4.0 and put in a cam.
 
I'd scrap the whole cherokee and build the s-10 you're taking the motor out of. Buy a solid axle swap kit and put a pair of wagoneer dana 44's under the s-10 and you'll have a better rig all around for the same or less money!
 
bigmike said:
i would not stroke the 4.0 its way too much money for little performance, just have the head rebuilt with some porting and shave a little, and put in a cam and you get the same numbers with saving thousands. and the 4.3 would be a good swap but i am sure nobody does it just because you are swapping a 6 cyl for 6. and if you do you should get an '88-91 4.3 they were way better and more durable than the later models. i had one for about 15 years that i had built with around 340 lbs torque and 220 hp and still got 25mpg on highway. but i would just keep the 4.0 and put in a cam.
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What all did you do to the 4.3 to get that power and torque?
 
4" pistons, shaved block and heads, ported and polished heads and intake, headers accel ignition and k n air filter synthetic oil removed emissions stuff.
 
bigmike said:
i would not stroke the 4.0 its way too much money for little performance, just have the head rebuilt with some porting and shave a little, and put in a cam and you get the same numbers with saving thousands.
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I had a 270 hp 330+ tq 4.6 stroker built for less than 2gs. It had more bottom end than my stock 6.0 lq4 in the same rig. I assure you that would be cheaper and easier than swapping a 4.3 and building it.
 
tw89yj said:
I had a 270 hp 330+ tq 4.6 stroker built for less than 2gs. It had more bottom end than my stock 6.0 lq4 in the same rig. I assure you that would be cheaper and easier than swapping a 4.3 and building it.
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how did you build yours, i considered stroking mine since i am about to rebuild it with a clifford intake and headder and researched the parts and numbers and price and could not really justify it and what gas to you run
 
I used stock 4.2 crank and rods, .030 over pistons, 91-95 mildly ported head, 24 lb injectors, and crane cam. I don't remember all the specifics, but it was the strongest inline 6 I've ever been around. Had under $1500 in it. I ran it on premium, just to be safe. Probably would have been fine on regular.
 
tw89yj said:
I used stock 4.2 crank and rods, .030 over pistons, 91-95 mildly ported head, 24 lb injectors, and crane cam. I don't remember all the specifics, but it was the strongest inline 6 I've ever been around. Had under $1500 in it. I ran it on premium, just to be safe. Probably would have been fine on regular.
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what kind of gas mileage did you get, and what size tire. i would like to keep mine reasonable, so i could actually afford to drive it some. and do you know what kind of torque numbers you had
 
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