XJ Power

[DiamantMeister]

Alright, I may sound like a complete idiot to some of ya'll, which is understandable... I know...

To get ya'll up to speed-

I have 1999 XJ w/ the 4.0 and I'm moving up to Paris, TX for college... And they have a Bracket Track up here... I'm addicted to racing but cannot afford the insurance on a 'Stang or Camaro.. But I do have the money to mod my XJ... Sound stupid? One would think so... But, I'm in a world of my own...

Soooo.. I was just going to ask ya'll for some advice on getting my Jeep to boogey down the track... lol...

I had the following in mind:

Posi-Trac Rear-End- Don't really have enough power yet to need that, but it will help with the following mods...

In the new Issue of JP, they have a turbocharger kit... "44% increase in power" I figure before I bought one of those, I'd need to beef up the topend with some new sleeves / pistons and what not to handle the compression.

or should I go with the Golon 4.6l Stroker Kit? The stroker kit bumps me up in GT town... (HP-wise)

Which would ya'll think be better? Stroker or Turbo?

 

[CherokeeGuy42]

I was looking at beefin up my ride too, but unfortunately I don't have the money yet. If I were you I'd go with the stroker first. That way your engine will be able to handle more power with the new stronger parts. And if that's not enough power for you, then you could always add a turbo kit or supercharger kit to it to get a big boost of power. I was looking at doing the stroker and supercharger and was hoping to see about 300-350hp. But if you do that you will have to get more stuff then just that. You might want to check out the Jeep Performance Forum to see what all was said about this already. I started one with the same idea as what your wanting to do. I still want to be able to fourwheel without tearing out a transfercase or anything. Goodluck man.

 

[CherokeeGuy42]

sorry i was wrong about that forum being in the performance place. Here it is.
http://jeepz.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=328118

 

[dingus]

RE: 78 cj glass body

i'd build a stroker, leave the turbo projects for the hondas and the like, you have plenty of displacement to work power out of her, get some high compression pistons, all sorts of bolt ons, a good head job, stroke her out, etc... and you'll be well over 250HP at the wheels.

 

[Junkpile]

You can get crazy with the sixes and make one hell of a mean little engine, but it's not cheap. I'd go with a stroker if the budget allows, and then maybe add a little shot of nitrous for the extra oomph at the track. Power isn't the only factor though. Just going through a Jeep and removing any unneeded weight can make one considerably quicker. Make sure the gearing is right. Jeep seems to use really tight torque converters to aid offroad crawling, but that isn't really the right setup for the track.
The XJ is a good candidate for building a fast Jeep, but they have some drawbacks. The whole vehicle flexes alot, which is going to cost you when it comes to consistency and planting the tires on launch. Some type of chassis stiffening is a must. The suspension isn't exactly setup for the dragstrip either. What I'm saying is that you can put a million horsepower under the hood, but if the vehicle isn't setup to put all that power to the ground......it's useless.