[Puinsai]

I'm looking into options and blueprints for a 4.2l rebuild with a 4.0l head. I currently have a 4.2 with the 4.0 head converssion, mc2100, and a DUI ignition. I did the head conversion about 6 months ago and am happy with the results of the power increase, but, I did it on a tired engine with 160,000 miles on it using my stock 4.2l intake and stock 4.0l exhaust manifold. I dont think I'm truly getting all I can out of the setup that I have. So I was thinking about rebuilding the 4.2 and putting on the clifford performance intake/exhaust combo and and a high performance cam, bumping up the compression ratio and displacement with oversized pistons while still keeping it carburated. I know the EFI/Carb argument but I believe in the K.I.S.S. approach (Keep It Simple Stupid). Also I also just installed a new painless wiring harrness and am not running any CPU and I dont want to. So I'm wondering if anybody has the blueprints for a performance engine build using a 4.2l block and a 4.0l head, ie. type of cam, piston size, pushrod lengths, bore specs, etc...

My other option was to just try to build a stroker and keep it carburated for simplicity but the more I read up on it it sounds really expensive and time consuming. This is my only car and I cant afford to have it sitting in the driveway for a prolong period of time.

I'm looking at trying to get at least 200 ponies out of my 4.2 without having to do a major alteration/engine swap. So if I can do that with a performance engine rebuild using my 4.2l block and my freshly rebuilt 4.0l head with better flowing intake/exhaust and a performance cam with a little more displacement than that sounds like a cheaper and less time consuming project. I'm hoping that this is realistically attainable. Any advice or expieriance regarding this subject would be greatly appreciated.

[schwebel]

I vote go stroker. You have the rods and crank in your 4.2 bottom end. Just find a 4.0 bottom end. Take it to a machine shop, have it all checked out. You can go poor man's stroker and use 4.0 stock pistons. Cam it and call it a day. I'm sure it'll take a little time to get the fueling right if you wish to stay carb'ed but I'm sure it'll run like a raped ape once you do.

[Puinsai]

Thanks schebel, I just dont think i want to go that route, i just put in a new clutch and am not sure i want to get into another swap project....maybe way later down the road. I was checking out clifford performance website and they have a pretty nice rebuild kit and with there intake/exhaust set up I think i can the HP/torque gains that I'm looking for. Is anybody running that setup, and if so are you satistied?