Just an idea that came up while lookin at some 5.9L Grand Cherokees. Would it be possible (with a large amount of labor of course) to swap a 5.9L V8 out of the Grand Cherokee (or one of the trucks they put it in) into a 2 door Cherokee Sport?
The tricky part (as always) would be doing it without completely killing the bank account. But it seems like it could be done without spending an unreasonable amount of money. the used 5.9L's crate engines aren't too expensive, a used tranny (preferably just the engine tranny combo from a manual 1500 but thats unlikely, so any combo from a single car would still be preferred to simplify computer issues) and other than that the 243 T-Cases are known to be able to handle that much power, not to mention are an easy fit to the Grand Cherokee trannys and it'd be fairly easy to find a new axle to toss in back (I wouldn't trust the stock rear end with the power from a modified 5.9 (cause theres no way it'd stay stock after all that work)). Biggest issue would be actually mounting that engine into the bay, where from what I know its not necessarily longer than the I6 though it is a good deal wider. And at the same time the radiator for the 5.9 is probably a good deal bigger as well. Not sure if its taller than the 4.0 but I'd assume it is.
But anyways, thoughts?
The tricky part (as always) would be doing it without completely killing the bank account. But it seems like it could be done without spending an unreasonable amount of money. the used 5.9L's crate engines aren't too expensive, a used tranny (preferably just the engine tranny combo from a manual 1500 but thats unlikely, so any combo from a single car would still be preferred to simplify computer issues) and other than that the 243 T-Cases are known to be able to handle that much power, not to mention are an easy fit to the Grand Cherokee trannys and it'd be fairly easy to find a new axle to toss in back (I wouldn't trust the stock rear end with the power from a modified 5.9 (cause theres no way it'd stay stock after all that work)). Biggest issue would be actually mounting that engine into the bay, where from what I know its not necessarily longer than the I6 though it is a good deal wider. And at the same time the radiator for the 5.9 is probably a good deal bigger as well. Not sure if its taller than the 4.0 but I'd assume it is.
But anyways, thoughts?