have a chance to buy a 97 tj with mild body damage for $3k. it is a great deal with only 57k miles. problem is it's only a 4cyl. initial plans for build :

front ford d60 detroit/arb?? (not sure),5.38's, 35 spline shafts, 3 link/track bar
rear D60 Detroit, disk, BTF truss, 5.38s, 35 spline shafts, triangulated 4link
100" WB
14" c/o w/ RR
40" iroks,beadlocks

my question is would the 4cyl get the job done for 2-3 years until SBC. doing an engine swap is just not in the budget after everything else listed above.

it can be done... won't be ideal but would work.

Talk to a guy on here named WideJ. He ran 40" MT's with his 4cyl. It was mated to a 420 which has the low low first gear. I ended up buying his setup so i can keep my 4cyl for a couple years.

those are toqurey motors but i really would think 40s are a bit much but a northstar motor will bolt up to your tranny i do belive

It's all about the gears. I'd say your fine for off road use, the street might be a bitch.

You leaving the 231 stock?

i run a 4cyl/5spd with 39.5 iroks on double bead locks....it has a hp60/14b with 4.88s and welded diffs. it sucks on the highway, i seldom use 4th gear so it screeeeeeems in 3rd. but on the trail, it does fine. i run a stak 3 spd and use the low for most of the trail and use mid for the slick hill climbs. it works good enough for me to postpone putting in my 454/400 combo and put the money in a nicer cage and some other accessories.

as far as doing it again, i bought this jeep for 3k, spent 1000 bucks putting axles under it and doing a stretch. and spent 3k on the stak. so for 7k i have a wheeler that is more capable than the driver is!

thats what i run but i have a 5.0 atlas

I'd buy it. You'll already have the axles should you choose to go to a bigger motor. For 3K and 57K that is a smokin deal. Blue Book is higer than that on a 93. At least two years ago when I was in the market.

check jumbojeep in hardcore

this will be a DD so i'm a little concerned with road driving. it would only be about 15-30 miles a day.

I ran a 4 cyl. with 33-35 inch tires as my DD for a couple of years. It sucked.

$3,000 for a 4 cly. 97 TJ doesn't sound like that great of a deal. Low miles don't matter if you are going to be swapping everything out in a year or two anyways.

4.0L's are good motors, find a Jeep with one of those instead. You may even hold off on the engine swap.

Heres a 4cyl that gets it.. The Tcase needs to be geared to make the 4cyl work

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32761916

Could always throw a T-3/T-04 hybrid on that 4 cyl and get good power gains!

i currently have a 99 tj 4.0,5 spd, 105k miles, 33"s, 6in rock crawler susp, winch, bolt in roll cage. I like the 4.0, don't really care for the 5spd. Plan on selling for money on the next REAL build!!

Doubler doubler doubler!!!!:D

And get the lowest gears you can for the street.

I would do a aftermarket pass drop or a 4:1 dana 300 with a chevy front 60 so you could go to 6:17's or even 7:17's

My buddy did it wit a 44 front and 9" rear. He was running really low gears not sure which but he ran it around tellico and places with 38.5 SXs. Did OK I reckon never went with him I just know it worked for him.

TJDale runs a 4 cylinder and he does just fine with his 60/70 combo and 7.17 gears.

http://image.fourwheeler.com/f/miscellaneous/and-today-we-wheeled-the-gulches-orv-park/9746692+cr1+re0+ar1/blk-tj.jpg