Mrblaine, you mentioned heat control for the swap. You talking hood vents kinda stuff? Radiator stuff? Whatchutakinbout Willis? 😀
Has anyone used Newcomer Racing to build a 4.0 stroker?
- Thread starter FireJeep
- Start date
The reason we are doing a stroker on this one is to avoid the cost of the V8 swap. That and to try and sneak it past the smog stations. I'm being promised over 300hp and closer to 325 with a high level of reliability. We'll know shortly if that is true.
What's so hard for me, when it comes to engine swaps especially with V8s is that you can just buy a plethora of vehicles with the V8 already in them. Or you can go with something newer and a V6 with more than enough power and torque to put a smile on your face.
I bought my vehicle for a diesel swap and then really liked some attributes of the 4.0L, but not enough.
It is going in a build with the basic goal of just getting it back to stock feeling performance. Yet one more nail I put in the 4.0 coffin.
What transmission is going behind the stroker? I'm asking because I've had a new Golen stroker motor sitting in a crate in the garage for a while now. I've been hesitant to install it out of concern that it will not be kind to the 42RLE transmission. However, I thought I read somewhere that the Savvy/Currie KOH LJ originally ran a stroker and 42RLE, but later went to a V8.
The Savvy rig ran a 350hp stroker that had to be gone through after every race. At the time, there were no upgrade parts readily available so the 42RLE was just gone through with sound rebuilding practices by a great shop. It never had a single issue in all of the races it was put through even with that much HP in front of it.
Now there are better parts for the 42 so if you do find a weakness, it can be remedied other than the stupid OD ratio.
The Savvy rig went to a V8 when they were encouraged to move up in class due to no one being able to beat them in the stock class. No one beat them in stock mod either.
This is very helpful. The trick here is finding a good shop to rebuild the core transmission I also have. Thank you!
downthepines
TJ Enthusiast
I like the idea of a stroker because of the packaging and how it will bolt right up to the existing wiring, transmission, etc. I've seen a few V8 swaps in person and while they are impressive, they required a lot of fabrication and the owners that I knew seemed to always be tinkering with them to get them to run right. Maybe I'm lazy and it's because my daily driver is a car, but making the TJ go faster is not on the top of my priorities and a V8 swap seems like a real PITA to do the correct way.
Golen makes a 400+ horsepower supercharged stroker for those that really want some twist without a V8:
Ever buy premium at an old two pump gas station on a twisty mountain two lane while on a wheeling trip?
Can't say that I have. Even if its a $1 more, thats barely $20 on our TJ/LJs a handful of times per year? If thats not doable, which Im not here to judge, carry a few extra gallons? There isn't one thing about our Jeeps that doesn't fit the "pay to play" statement.
It's funny how alot of people who have never built a stroker jeep tell you that they will only run well on premium fuel. If the engine is built correctly ( zero deck with the correct camshaft),a stroked 4.0 can run great on 87 octane. Mine was 9.5 to 1 compression and it was fine. If you do the old 4.0 pistons on 258 rods, it will ping on 87. The pistons end up in the hole about .045 inch, and another .040 gasket makes for shitty quench. Nobody builds them that way anymore. There are more a few good options for pistons now to fix this without spending a fortune.
Another thing about strokers people run their mouth about is they need to be tuned to run properly. Not true. If you are looking for that last 3 percent, yup, a tune will help. I have ran a couple with 24 lb injectors and a 62 mm throttle body and they run fine. It's the old school way to ' trick' the engine into thinking it's still a 4.0 and not a 4.6 or 4.7.
Also,as blaine said, a 42 re will hold up fine to a 300 hp stroker. A fresh rebuild with a couple upgrades does wonders for them. People want to build a hot engine and put a wore out 200000 mile trans behind it and are surprised it doesnt make it. Dumbasses.
People need to go back to doing shit and learn instead of cocking off about stuff they have never done . Might be time to get off the internet and go build something.
Another thing about strokers people run their mouth about is they need to be tuned to run properly. Not true. If you are looking for that last 3 percent, yup, a tune will help. I have ran a couple with 24 lb injectors and a 62 mm throttle body and they run fine. It's the old school way to ' trick' the engine into thinking it's still a 4.0 and not a 4.6 or 4.7.
Also,as blaine said, a 42 re will hold up fine to a 300 hp stroker. A fresh rebuild with a couple upgrades does wonders for them. People want to build a hot engine and put a wore out 200000 mile trans behind it and are surprised it doesnt make it. Dumbasses.
People need to go back to doing shit and learn instead of cocking off about stuff they have never done . Might be time to get off the internet and go build something.
I don't have a smart phone but I know there's gotta be an app for that.
Ive put the important thing you said in bold. To make sure Im clear with my stance, I agree with what you're saying, but there are far less people who pay attention to things like quench and just want to buy a stroker and slap it in. If building around 87 octane is their goal, as you said, it can be done. Where my issue is, people saying that it HAS to run premium and thats why they don't want a stroker. Which as you pointed out, is not the case. However, if the stroker they buy requires it, the cost difference is negligible and in my opinion, if Im going as far to build a stroker, which I very well may, running premium fuel wont be what stops me.
Availability of gasoline that’s not 87. In flyover country, we have periods of time where the only available gasoline at any price is 87. Not sure if that happens elsewhere.