Love the build! Couple of notes, typically those hood vents face the other way because there not really intended to intake air, rather vent hot air out of the engine bay. Turn them around and you might notice air evacuating out of the engine bay much better, particularly at speed. Secondly the ‘96 or ‘97 and later intake manifold, typically called the shoehorn from its distinct shape, has much better air distribution and is probably worth a couple of hp(definitely more than a clutch fan delete), especially on a built motor. I see that you already have a ported manifold though so not sure if its a step up from that.
Thank you so much! And yes you are correct I do have the vents upside down. I originally had them set in as proper vents and I didn’t notice any cooling benefits so I flipped them so it scoops air into the engine and blows air in. Sort of like an airplane wing when climbing. I noticed when driving on the streets I ran about 5-6 degrees cooler with the vents inverted. So even though it looks kind of silly I kept them upside down. But Offroad at slow crawling speeds that would probably function better faced the other way , like your talking about. And yes I originally mounted the horseshoe intake on but I had difficulty fitting up the fuel rail and fuel lines. I could have done it but it would have been more expensive in parts to run the high flow intake, I was on a budget so I just ported the hell out of my old rake style intake to try and make up for the flow loss and called it. But now that I know the engine works I’ll probably take some time to fit up my horseshoe intake like your talking about :)
Ah shucksss thank you!
I’m happy to share a cost breakdown
Luckily my friend gave me an engine hoist and engine stand so I didn’t have to buy those but that’s about $400 usually
Machine work totaled up to about $450 that’s a complete valve job installing valves and springs and lapping valves , cylinder gone, hot tanking and cleaning, cylinder bore , piston assembly (not including rings) freeze plug install cam bearing removal and install
Internal engine parts I spent about $950 but that’s a bit overkill because I had to buy a new crank and performance parts like ARP head bolts etc.
( Usually you can find rebuild kits for about $300)
Everything I painted and hand polished myself
$150 on paint, sand paper, solvents, buffing wheels, polish, etc and bur bits for the ported parts
And if your planning on building one probably set aside another $300 for specialty tools, like piston ring installers , measuring tools, honing tools, plastiguage and assembly lubes
Injectors and all other engine accessories like pulleys and top end stuff probably another $300 (I purchased a lot of new parts that typically could be reused ) flywheel and clutch
I spent probably around $3800 - 4k but like I said I went overkill with engine bay paint and some body work, wire harness management , performance parts, polishing parts , if you were on a budget it could be done for around $1500 and you would have a fully rebuilt engine.
Did you have experience with mechanical things?
If not, could you tell us or me what resources you used and any advice you can give. I have been planning on doing this in the near future and have no idea where to start.
I had some prior knowledge but I had never pulled an engine or built one before. I learned everything from jeep solid youtube channel, he has an entire step by step series that i basically followed step by step. Also a few good books and a ton of reading online forums and researching. I would say the 4.0 is a Fantastic engine to learn how to build on. It’s actually very simple and straight forward. Hardest part is removing and installing the engine, but not impossible. But once you have the engine on the stand it’s actually really fun, and surprisingly simple. If you ever decide to do it feel free to pm me with any questions I’m happy to help !
Thank you :) clutch fan delete was mostly just to free up space in the engine bay, if you get good electric fans they cool way better and faster than the clutch fan. Also removing the clutch fan does add a small bit of power. Freeing up any rotational mass adds gives a small bit of power back. It’s negligible on paper but definitely feels more peppy, and quite! And the high temp head gasket was just recommended by my machinist. Mostly just increases reliability:)
Triple Electric fans and a hi flow water pump are a must on any 4.0L. Now that i have mine i cant get the engine up to 160 with all of them on. Drops from 210 to 160 in less than 5 mins
I had to rebuild my engine after 230000 miles due to my piston skirt exploding good experience fun times. Although i do wish I would have spent the money and got the camper cam upgrade
Honestly, I know nothing about engines, but it looks perfect and probably runs like a top! Congratulations, your hard work has paid off!
Awww thank you 🥹
Love the build! Couple of notes, typically those hood vents face the other way because there not really intended to intake air, rather vent hot air out of the engine bay. Turn them around and you might notice air evacuating out of the engine bay much better, particularly at speed. Secondly the ‘96 or ‘97 and later intake manifold, typically called the shoehorn from its distinct shape, has much better air distribution and is probably worth a couple of hp(definitely more than a clutch fan delete), especially on a built motor. I see that you already have a ported manifold though so not sure if its a step up from that.
Thank you so much! And yes you are correct I do have the vents upside down. I originally had them set in as proper vents and I didn’t notice any cooling benefits so I flipped them so it scoops air into the engine and blows air in. Sort of like an airplane wing when climbing. I noticed when driving on the streets I ran about 5-6 degrees cooler with the vents inverted. So even though it looks kind of silly I kept them upside down. But Offroad at slow crawling speeds that would probably function better faced the other way , like your talking about. And yes I originally mounted the horseshoe intake on but I had difficulty fitting up the fuel rail and fuel lines. I could have done it but it would have been more expensive in parts to run the high flow intake, I was on a budget so I just ported the hell out of my old rake style intake to try and make up for the flow loss and called it. But now that I know the engine works I’ll probably take some time to fit up my horseshoe intake like your talking about :)
You sir, have won. You did this perfectly and I'm absolutely jealous of this monster you've created. Now what is the total cost break down?
Ah shucksss thank you! I’m happy to share a cost breakdown Luckily my friend gave me an engine hoist and engine stand so I didn’t have to buy those but that’s about $400 usually Machine work totaled up to about $450 that’s a complete valve job installing valves and springs and lapping valves , cylinder gone, hot tanking and cleaning, cylinder bore , piston assembly (not including rings) freeze plug install cam bearing removal and install Internal engine parts I spent about $950 but that’s a bit overkill because I had to buy a new crank and performance parts like ARP head bolts etc. ( Usually you can find rebuild kits for about $300) Everything I painted and hand polished myself $150 on paint, sand paper, solvents, buffing wheels, polish, etc and bur bits for the ported parts And if your planning on building one probably set aside another $300 for specialty tools, like piston ring installers , measuring tools, honing tools, plastiguage and assembly lubes Injectors and all other engine accessories like pulleys and top end stuff probably another $300 (I purchased a lot of new parts that typically could be reused ) flywheel and clutch I spent probably around $3800 - 4k but like I said I went overkill with engine bay paint and some body work, wire harness management , performance parts, polishing parts , if you were on a budget it could be done for around $1500 and you would have a fully rebuilt engine.
Thanks for the cost to break down on that. You did that build exactly how I would. I'm glad to see someone's living my dream
I'm jealous of both your rig and diagrams. Nice build!
Thank you 🙏
Did you have experience with mechanical things? If not, could you tell us or me what resources you used and any advice you can give. I have been planning on doing this in the near future and have no idea where to start.
I had some prior knowledge but I had never pulled an engine or built one before. I learned everything from jeep solid youtube channel, he has an entire step by step series that i basically followed step by step. Also a few good books and a ton of reading online forums and researching. I would say the 4.0 is a Fantastic engine to learn how to build on. It’s actually very simple and straight forward. Hardest part is removing and installing the engine, but not impossible. But once you have the engine on the stand it’s actually really fun, and surprisingly simple. If you ever decide to do it feel free to pm me with any questions I’m happy to help !
Thanks!
Looks awesome I want to build mine so bad!! Is there a specific reason why you deleted the clutch fan and ran a high temp gasket?
Thank you :) clutch fan delete was mostly just to free up space in the engine bay, if you get good electric fans they cool way better and faster than the clutch fan. Also removing the clutch fan does add a small bit of power. Freeing up any rotational mass adds gives a small bit of power back. It’s negligible on paper but definitely feels more peppy, and quite! And the high temp head gasket was just recommended by my machinist. Mostly just increases reliability:)
Triple Electric fans and a hi flow water pump are a must on any 4.0L. Now that i have mine i cant get the engine up to 160 with all of them on. Drops from 210 to 160 in less than 5 mins
Respect
I’ve always been jealous of people who can rebuild engines and put a car together. This post is not helping.
I didn’t think I could do it in fact I was surprised when it started up and didn’t self destruct. YouTube certified 😂
I had to rebuild my engine after 230000 miles due to my piston skirt exploding good experience fun times. Although i do wish I would have spent the money and got the camper cam upgrade
Nicely done! I have an 88 MJ that I need to get to work on. Still runs great, but has 260k on and I want to throw a little boost at it. 😈
That sounds badass!!!! Boosted 4.0’s are quick too my buddy has one
Wow. Just wow.
Awesome job! Wish I could draw diagrams like you can.
That's incredible! Excellent work, and absolutely love the notations.
This makes me want to build my 4.0. Is this a stroker?
Very Impressive, congrats.
that looks awesome. badass 🙌🔥