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bigwalton Postal teardown/rebuild - what would you do?

bigwalton said:
Are you able to look up what it would be now wherever you got yours? I'm genuinely curious now that you said this...

Both of you hit on what I'm debating here and what I have to compare the 98% drop-in Golen stroker to. Welding (which I can't do myself for anything properly structural) plus the decision on used vs. remanned and the cost of each versus the effort involved.

If it weren't for my experience with the FAST EZ-EFI and knowing I'd be able to eliminate the sometimes-stroker-unfriendly Jeep ECU with the turnkey Golen, I'd be on a Hemi all day. (LS still just irks the hell out of me too much).

Ron, thinning the harness isn't the least bit scary for me. I LOVED doing that to the 4.0 and the lessons learned there would be perfect for dealing with this one myself now. LS or Hemi.
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Eric- I got my 6.0 from AER back when I was a parts manager at Ford. I bought it through the dealership, but then gave the driver a check so I didn’t pay mark up.

It looks like current prices for a reman from an AER distributor run between $3400 and $3700. Not including core. Ouch.

If I were purchasing an LS for a project today I’d look for a low mile used complete. You should check with mysunnshine here to see what he can do for you. I know he ad a source a few years back.

If I hadn’t sold my Jeepster project I was planning on going with one of the newer V6 4.3 DI engines. They are available used fairly cheap, with super low miles. They make 285 HP and 305 FTLBS TQ. Not bad for a V6.

 
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Randyzzz said:
Eric- I got my 6.0 from AER back when I was a parts manager at Ford. I bought it through the dealership, but then gave the driver a check so I didn’t pay mark up.

It looks like current prices for a reman from an AER distributor run between $3400 and $3700. Not including core. Ouch.

If I were purchasing an LS for a project today I’d look for a low mile used complete. You should check with Mysunshine here to see what he can do for you. I know he ad a source a few years back.

If I hadn’t sold my Jeepster project I was planning on going with one of the newer V6 4.3 DI engines. They are available used fairly cheap, with super low miles. They make 285 HP and 305 FTLBS TQ. Not bad for a V6.

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Well, I just looked for fun. Seems the prices from a year ago are ancient history. I was finding them on EBay for under $3k with under $30k miles. Now a 100k engine is $4k.

Dang inflation.
 
I have a friend in TX building a stroked turbo LJ. His experience with stroker cranks has been terrible. It took 4 cranks from 2 sources to get one that was usable. The first developed rod knock in 300 miles. It was .003 bent when inspected during teardown. Seller sent a replacement, it was nearly the same. Bought one from another source - .012 out of true. Eventually the original seller sent one that was perfect.

The only reason he went this route is his county in TX has emissions laws that prevent engine swaps. A stock 4.0 with 6-8 lbs of boost will make right at stock 5.3 power.
 
sdsupilot said:
I have a friend in TX building a stroked turbo LJ. His experience with stroker cranks has been terrible. It took 4 cranks from 2 sources to get one that was usable. The first developed rod knock in 300 miles. It was .003 bent when inspected during teardown. Seller sent a replacement, it was nearly the same. Bought one from another source - .012 out of true. Eventually the original seller sent one that was perfect.

The only reason he went this route is his county in TX has emissions laws that prevent engine swaps. A stock 4.0 with 6-8 lbs of boost will make right at stock 5.3 power.
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This is precisely the kind of thing that makes me not want to try to DIY a stroker. Golen has been in business doing this for years and would have this sort of thing nailed down with their supplier. It's also why I love the idea of a dyno-broken-in engine run with the actual ECU/ignition that it's coming with and a 3-year, unlimited mile warranty.
Doesn't change the fact that I'd have to take the Postal off the road and pull it out if something goes wrong, but that's true with literally any engine I put in there.
 
Exactly. He even had an engine shop build the engine. New engines honestly have many of the same question marks as used... they just come with better warranties!
 
sdsupilot said:
The only reason he went this route is his county in TX has emissions laws that prevent engine swaps. A stock 4.0 with 6-8 lbs of boost will make right at stock 5.3 power.
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Ok, gotta ask, what county in TX bans engine swaps? That is a new one on me. I have money placed on Travis County, can’t think of another that would do it. Especially since our inspection / emissions testing is so lax where I am.

Personally, if a 4.0 produces adequate power for your driving style, I would not deal with an engine swap nor a stroker. My only desire in a stroker is low end torque, not top end HP.
 
FWIW….

I have two and only two experiences with Strokers.

One was a Golden in a TJ that came to my shop with issue after issue. Trying to work with them on the issues was a nightmare since we didn’t install so they kept saying the first shop screwed up and were little help. Had to send the customer back to the first shop and to my knowledge they never got it right. Obviously there are parts to the story I don’t know.

The second was a Titan Stroker we installed in a YJ. Things went in fine but to be honest the performance didn’t impress me for what it cost.

Just my input with hands on experience twice. Nothing more nothing less.
 
ag4ever said:
Ok, gotta ask, what county in TX bans engine swaps? That is a new one on me. I have money placed on Travis County, can’t think of another that would do it. Especially since our inspection / emissions testing is so lax where I am.

Personally, if a 4.0 produces adequate power for your driving style, I would not deal with an engine swap nor a stroker. My only desire in a stroker is low end torque, not top end HP.
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Texas Vehicle Inspection Program

Texas Vehicle Inspection Program, a central repository for information on vehicle inspection, emissions testings, and inspection stations and inspectors.
www.dps.texas.gov

Its a rolling 24 year clock. Older stuff is exempt. He is working on newer TJs, so has to be tested. Honestly I was quite surprised at how strict they are. An OBDII test matching computer/engine and VIN.
 
Emissions testing does not preclude an engine swap. Even an LS computer VIN can be changed to match a different vehicle with the right programming software.

I am in one of those counties and the testing is very rudimentary, nothing like Cali type testing.
 
LOL. Not bought yet. Found it local though.

Thought we needed to get back on track.

This is a ‘21 engine and auto trans with the ECU, harness, gas pedal and air box out of a Charger that had a tree fall on it. I see where Hotwire has a complete standalone setup to run the engine and trans with the stock ECU and there are interesting CJ-like shifter options 🤔
 
Should be low milage and damage free unless tree fell on hood or massive tree. That would be a 6.4 with 485 hp? That might be the fastest postal vehicle out there if you pull the trigger??
 
barrys said:
Should be low milage and damage free unless tree fell on hood or massive tree. That would be a 6.4 with 485 hp? That might be the fastest postal vehicle out there if you pull the trigger??
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He claims 7500 miles but the tree fell on the cabin apparently and he couldn’t get proof. It wasn’t his car, he got this out of it to use and decided against it. That’s the only thing worrying this far, but engine code and accessory stickers prove it’s a ‘21 so it can’t have that many miles anyway.
 
In PA, with a VIN, an inspection mechanic used to be able to check the database for mileage when the vehicle was last inspected. Not sure the case in your area.
 
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