So I was contemplating buying one already built from Russ Pottenger (sp?), he is a "guru" of jeep strokers...... It may be less expensive for me in the long run as opposed to buying a donor motor, tearing it apart, acquiring the parts and building it myself..... I really want it to run on 87 octane, have more power, and get better milage.... right now I get about 13 mpg.......
Regearing your axles to the appropriate 4.88 ratio is an easy trouble-free fix for that power issue. Personally I'd stick with a stock 4.0 engine if you don't enjoy having to work through issues. I've just heard/read of too many issues after stroking the 4.0.
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I am a builder, but if he has a good reputation, and a warranty, then go for it. I was on the leading edge of these motors 15 years ago now I am behind the times. I got side tracked on the jeeps thing by a 68 charger that I put a 572 hemi in...which is insanely expensive and getting a Doctorate. Now everything is on hold trying to get my finances back in order. If you need any help on the stroker give me a shout on a PM. Tim
4.88 seems too low, how do you think it would do driving across country with those gears?
You can search gear ratio's on here and get a multitude of answers..I have 34's and 4.11 with an 32 RH auto..so 1:1 final gear ratio. Jerry likes 4.88-5.38 gear ratios for what he drives with larger tires, we all have our experiences and preferences, you will have to figure out what is best for you. Tim
I ended up rolling the dice on an ATK block. I read a lot of contradicting posts about ATK engine reliability, good and bad, but their two year warranty and my budget helped me to finally make a decision. I passed on the titan engine only because I couldn't find much info on their website or the web, even their own tech people couldn't give me any specifics on the HP output and other questions I had.
The install went good with no major issues. It was my first engine swap ever, but I do a lot of wrenching and it was a fun experience.
So far I wouldn't do anything differently.
I honestly have not driven it much since the install. After I got it in I put a couple hundred miles on it before it spent a couple weeks in the body shop and then into storage to hibernate for the winter. Those couple hundred miles were pretty good, it's not a V8 but I'm happy with my decision. Could definitely feel the torque difference right away.
I pulled it out of storage earlier this week to get it regeared and then put it right back into storage cause I had to get back to work. I'm looking forward to seeing what she's got with the stroker/regear combo this spring!
No complaints here. I've been driving it all summer and it's been trouble free (knock on wood). I like the stroker/4.88 combo, and feel that there is plenty of power and torque to do what I want, but as I did the engine and regear at nearly the same time, I'm not sure to what level each is contributing. As a combo, I am happy.
Also, check out my build. I have a couple more upgrades coming, I've got the parts, just need the time.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/my-long-overdue-2004-sport-build.17973/
That was so long ago, but I went with a Boosted Tech supercharger. Doing it over again, the better one would be a Magnum Powers supercharger as it is vastly superior to the Boosted Tech unit.
Thanks, I read through some of the newer posts and definitely want to go with Magnum. I was hoping it was around 3500 but looks closer to 5k.
Yes, it's more expensive because it's water-to-air intercooled (so it can make much more power), and it's a custom design built by Charles himself, whereas the Boosted Tech is just a repurposed Eaton M90 supercharger.
Well it can be, but I would do the Edelbrock head, it can handle the extra heat from the extra house power and reduce ping. I love my stroker in the YJ.
Like I said, I need to research more. My concern with that head is strength due to the length of it. Iirc Russ built one with that head and couldn't get it tuned right. But things could have changed since. I'd love to be making 400hp after forced induction but I think I may have to settle for 350hp to maintain reliability... We'll see. I haven't had nearly as many conversations as I should before making any decisions.
Stroker motor build relaxing? Nope, I'm beginning to think this has been way more hassle and expense than it'll be worth, but I won't know until I've got it fully back together and running.
I built mine about 15 years ago, short rod setup, makes about 250 hp. Too much HP and I think you will have problems with the overall combination. You can search my user on the strokers website, it will give you some short reading over an "Old Style" I had the crank offset, oversize valves, home porting job, runs like a raped ape up to about 5500 rpms. Tim
Well now is the time to cut your frame and inboard your rear shocks and extend the fronts...12" aught to be enough...
I found the number one con rod was bent at some point, likely hydrolocked. That morphed into a mini stroker.
'72-'79 AMC 232 crank (3.5" stroke), 677cp pistons .020" over, 4.0 rods resized, mopar 229 cam and lifters, edelbrock head, HS rockers, SB pushrods, rollmaster double roller, mopar MLS head gasket, mopar standard pressure oil pump, MORE engine brackets and mounts.
Total displacement right at 250ci.
Quench ended up a little tall at .050".
Static comp will be around 9.5:1, dynamic should be 8.2:1 so it'll be a premium fuel motor. No idea what power output will be, but playing around on desktop dyno it might net me an extra 20hp and 50ftlbs simply because of the higher compression and air flow.
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