Hey guys,

So long story short, I am in the navy and had to transfer duty stations from Virginia to California. I was about two hours from my final destination and my engine overheated. (It’s a 2012 JK 3.6L) Turns out a hole blew in my thermostat housing and I lost all my coolant I pulled over and got a tow to a shop, but not before the major damage was done. The shop says I need a whole new motor and they’re gonna charge 6600 bucks. I know I could do it myself for cheaper but if I was gonna end up spending that money anyways, I wanna make it better. So I was wondering what do you guys say about doing a swap with that kind of budget. And which way should I go? And what do you recommend? Any help and advice would be appreciated. This is my only vehicle at the moment which is also another bummer. Again thank you guys in advance. And if you need more info please don’t hesitate to hit me up!

Very Respectfully,

FrickenJK

 

Just go with what you had and be done. There are shops pulling them out all day long and you'll be back to a reliable ride. If it's a trail buggy then you're at the perfect time to sell it and build a dedicated trail buggy without emissions and such, considering you're in CA.

 

Better is a LS/Hemi swap. Shops are charging around 20k for this, (just the install kits to make these swaps work are around 5k). If you are sourcing parts and doing the work yourself, cheaper of course, but you still have that 5k kit + engine/trans/etc/etc, and you run into the problem of 'only vehicle', and how long can it be sitting while you source everything for the lowest possible prices. No easy answer on the upgrade here. Do some thinking, check prices on used/reman 3.6's, and also check prices on v8 + trans upgrades as well as all the extra parts for those.

 

So my original plan was to make this jeep my weekend fun car/project and I would buy another reliable 4 cil for my commute to work and what not. So I do plan on buying another vehicle that I can have while my Jeep is being upgraded.

 

A cheap second vehicle sounds like a good way to go if you really are looking to upgrade that engine. Check out MoTech Conversions in Las Vegas. Their website will give some insight on LS/LT options, pricing (both in-house and builder kits), considerations, etc. I'd certainly consider this over one of the v6 Stroker builders like 505 Performance or whoever. Haven't seen favorable reviews on those types of engines.

 

Welcome... that price might be normal where you are at.... check around, but sometimes you don't really get a better deal with a lower price...cough cough. I imagine if you did it your self, you could do it for 1/2 or a little more than that...if you know what you are doing.