'87 4.0L -> '89 4.0L Swap ?

[SuperWade2]

Well... as I've posted in another thread, I've picked up an 87 MJ for a possible 4.0L swap into my 89 MJ (still not 100% sure if I'm going to swap or rebuild the '87 MJ into a running possible 4x4 ride if I can find the parts, without paying an arm and a leg for a Tranny/TCase/Front Axle).

 

Anyhow a couple quick ?'s to consider while I'm deciding what I'm going to do. My '89 has AC, the '87 doner does not. If I do a swap, can I just leave or reinstall all the AC stuff back in the '89 when the new engine goes in?

 

The '87 is 2WD with the "dead" BA/10 and my 89 is 4WD with AX15. I assume that i'll be able to bolt my '89 AX-15 right up the 4.0L from the '87 without changing anything else, correct?

 

Are there other differences in the 87 4.0 and 89 4.0 that I'm going to have to deal with or think about?

 

The other option that I might consider (even though if I'm leery about a straight swap, I know I don't have the knowhow to pull this of) is to pull this 4.0L from the '87 and setup a Stroker setup to drop into my '89.

[Eagle]

'87 and '89 are both Renix years, so you're looking at a straight swap. No adapters needed. The AX-15 will bolt right up to either engine with no problems.

 

The wiring harness under the hood does the same thing, but unless your '89 is a very early production vehicle (made in late 1988), it will NOT have the C101 connector high on the firewall, in front of the driver. The '87 will have the C101 connector. But if you're just swapping engines, there would be no reason for you to change the wiring -- just label everything when you disconnect it, and then put everything back where it came from.

 

The serpentine belt routing for the a/c versus non-a/c I think stays the same. IIRC there's an idler pulley on the non-a/c engine that sits where the compressor would sit.