ok so ive been ripping my hair out deciding what to do here, so i'll just get some opinions from you guys. BTW its going in a 97 tj presently with 4.0 and ax 15.

1. Golen 4.6 stroker
price tag: 3300+450 freight+550 break in/dyno= 4300 + some accesories
such as 00 intake, header, all new water pump,ign.. blahblah...
total's about 5000.00. AND i do all the labor myself.

2. 5.9L Dodge V8 from 00-02 durango with the auto tranny(both junkyard but allegedly great condition . i gotta :jeep: 750 miles to drop off the rig(200 gas money), bus it home :zzz: (50.00), wait one
month, bus it back :zzz: (50.00), pay 6600.00 :eek: , then :jeep: it back (200 gas
money). thats about 7100.00 with travel and product.
COMPLETE 5.9/auto tranny ALL emissions, wiring, pcm, blah blah...
Drivehome.

... i think i already know my answer!

stroker...

stroker...x2

what is wrong with the 4.0???


neither one of those seem like a good choice to me. Where are you located? I could bend you over like that dodge motor for about $4000.00. :flipoff2:

Seriously, what are you hoping to accomplish? 350 hp?

The stroker is cool, no doubt, but what is the purpose?

Sorry to play the devils advocate here, but I went through the spending money spree when I built my jeep, in hindsight, I would do things very differently.

What are HP numbers for the Golen? Most I6 strokers I have seen show HP numbers between 260-280. Mine 4.0L is a 94' HO w/ 185's HP and I wish it had a little bit more at times. Plus, you just gotta love the low end torque that the strokes put out...

I went with the Golen stroker and never looked back. Numbers for my engine are as follows, HP: 265 @ 5000 RPM, 300ft/lbs of torque at 4000 RPM. It has a ton of low end and pulls hard through the whole entire RPM band.

Matt

what am i going for?

i want it to be able to be a DD if needed. currently im driving a car while its in the garage sleeping. i want it to LAST another 10 yrs as my 4.0 has. the 4.0 that i have now is still going, but its wearing out. it has horrible piston slap and valvetrain noise and basically its just tired. i NEVER buy into replacement and i favor displacement

if i did the Golen which puts out 268hp@4900 and 324lb tq @ 3900 (JP MAGAZINE) it would be easier true. i have a header already bought for it, plan on doing the 00+ intake, cobra 26lb injectors, flowkool water pump, already have a 3 row radiator and taurus 3spd fan. i'll have ALL new accessories like ign and such.

The 5.9/auto conversion sounds sweet but it is steep. just wanted some idea's. i swear one day its the 5.9 and then the next day its the 4.6... frustrating.

You might be able to save on the cobra injector, but I think late model injectors are in the 49psi range, but I could be wrong. If I remember correctly, the cobra injectors work for early model 4.0's but with late model 95-96+ they went to a 49psi injector.

Is building the stroker yourself not an option? You can build a nice 4.6 with 260 hp and 300 - 325 ft/lbs for less than $3000. You can build a slightly milder version (235 hp and 275 - 300 ft/lbs) for $2000 or less.

That price on the Dodge V8 sounds a bit steep to me. I've seen guys get 5.9/auto setups out of wrecked trucks for half that, or less. Hell, one dude got an almost new Hemi/Auto out of a newer Ram for like $3K, complete. That was a bit of an anomaly, but still.....

You could buy a crate 360 for like 3000.. I'm not sure where the hell you're going to get those horrible prices. I got a 5.2L V8 (nearly identical in price in the junkyards) for 1200 bucks, and I think I paid too much. You could get a 5.9 and 46RE tranny for like 2 grand. Then you don't have to worry about blowing up whatever tranny is behind your 4 liter.

You can get a TBI 350 and auto with all the tronics for $1800-2800 depending on the milage. Then adapters and such and be way under the $5K.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=5.9L+motor&category0=

the 5500.00 is for a 5.9 with a nv3500. thats complete install plus all the emissions, exh, harness, EVERYTHING. its from www.dakotaparts.com. all he does for a living is do 5.2 and 5.9 conversions so the guy is wise with these motors. im pretty sure that i'll just do the Golen stroker. i already bought a cherry picker, an engine stand, and a banks header. i got 2300 cash saved and am saving about 1k a month (im living off sandwiches and candle light pretty much. thats how dedicated i am to getting this stupid engine). i can purchase the motor with about a 50% down but i want to do it at about 3000.00 cash down. thats 300 balance plus 450.00 shipping and i elected to have them break the motor in and have it dyno'd. cost is 550.00. that includes all the valve,oil,timing,and therm covers installed as well. then i'll just put it on my stand til i get all the new accessories for it. hopefully i'll pinch about 290hp.. electric fan, 2000 intake, banks header, k&n slip on, 24lb injectors, screaming demon coil, live wires, and 3" exhaust with flowmaster muffler. i'll run it til my ax 15 goes, then i'll probably try for a nv4500(troublesome) or just go the easy route and throw a nv3550 in it. the money saved by doing the Golen stroker will afford me the other project of doing a flipped dana 300.

and i know how much i could get a 5.9 for. ive searched car-parts.com and saw a 5.9 locally for 1200.00. its from a 2000 durango and only has 30k miles. its 14 miles from my house. the thing is, is that i'd also have to fish for ALL the emissions, pcm, harness, exhaust, cooling, accesories,..... and find a tranny to... pita. id still have to buy mm's also. i have read ALL of the internets 5.2 and 5.9 swaps and it seems straight forward. the harness splicing is the nightmare for me. looks scary!

Not sure how relative it is, but a year ago, I bought a whole grand cherokee out of a salvage yard with a 5.9 for $3,000. I sold the seats, the interior, t-case, axles and any good body parts and got out with only about $1,000 investment. The 5.9 has 65,000 on it.