Multiple MJs

[88pioneer]

I am posting this to ask for opinions. I have an 88 pioneer 4.0 4wd 5 speed with 80000 miles on the motor. I just found a 89 4.0 2wd 5 speed right near me with a blown head, but the nice part is no rust at all, and for nj this is rare. He only wants $250 for it. I was gonna use it for parts but i couldnt tear apart a rust free MJ. So due to the fact my 88 is severely rusted i was thinking of pulling my engine, tranny, transfer case, and front axle from it, and swapping them into the 89. I was looking for some opinions if this is a good idea, and how much it ended up costing to do. Thanks a lot

 

the 89

 

my88

[jpdocdave]

its just a bad head? worst case if the head is cracked you can get rebuilt 4.0 head for like 250 bux. for less than 500 in parts it would be screamin again.

[88pioneer]

i considered that, but the motor has 192xxx miles on it, and the guy said he thinks its the head, but i don't think he knows. An i have the resources to pull the motors, an everything is direct bolt in since it has the same motor an trans. the only thing that would take a little work is the 4x4 swap

[jpdocdave]

i wouldn't hesitate on buying the truck thats for sure. but i do think its worth diagnosing what is actually wrong. no need to scrap the whole motor over a head gasket, or even a head.

[88pioneer]

yea when i get it i'll have to take a look an see what i can find, i just knew i couldnt let a rust free one go for $250

[64 Cheyenne]

I'd go for the motor swap/conversion in a heartbeat. To me, swapping in a 80k mi engine in place of one that has 190k and a possible blown headgasket, doesn't even seem like a question to me. If you have the resources and the time, looks like you could end up with a decent truck.

You can always save the headgasket one for a spare/builder.

[terrawombat]

So did ya get it? I think I saw this same MJ on Craigslist earlier today.

[dasbulliwagen]

If you do a direct swap of all the parts there should be little to no cost involved, other than replacing a few parts here and there just to be safe. But I don't see why you couldnt just swap everything over and then replace anything thats needed later on. The wire harnesses should be the same too, just make sure the axle gearing is the same if you don't plan on doing the rear axle swap, if its not, just swap the rear axle too!

[BJA814]

Don't fear the 4x4 swap...its pretty easy, and you won't regret it.

[88pioneer]

Well I've decided to go ahead with the motor swap. I will yank the motor and everything first, and then when i go to do my lift i will do the axle swap, as i think this would be much easier.

[freakjeep93]

udate?