Don't forget they are in the minivans also

 

What? My minivan has a Jeep engine? Damn..I'm now all warm and fuzzy with pride
Seriously the 3.8 is a pretty good engine everyone had a hate on for.
Now they got the beloved Pentastar with a hate on it.
General rule of thumb in my books is get an engine with a timing chain NOT belt-pay for the extra fuel with the money you're not paying in stupid Jap Scrap maintainance schedules-drive it like you're paying for it and change the oil and air filters without cheaping out. Don't change out anything till it's broken (plug and wire guys) and don't figure you know more than the guys with the rings that designed and tested it out long before it ever saw the marketplace.

 

I've got a 2008 with les than 13,000 miles. Did a hemi swap and need to make room. Engine is in Louisville, Ky. And is complete with everything but the AC compressor. I can ship if you are interested I would like to sell it with the trans but will split it up.

 

Yeah hemi swap is alittle pricey but if you do it locally you would come out better than having one of the top shops or builder on this forum do it. I had mines done in Lampasas TX but a local shop, I paid $1,000.00 for the 08 hemi engine and tranny, paid for the AEV hemi kit and labor. Total cost came out to be $11, 500.00, but my 3.8 had 92,243 miles on it and the hemi had 7,465 miles on it so I think I came out OK in the end with all considered.

 

I'm pretty sure the minivan engines are going to be FWD engines and I would imagine that would be a nightmare to convert to a RWD 3.8.

My suggestion to the OP is

1) if you comprehensive insurance see if they can help you pay, mine covers me even off road. Sure your premiums will go up, but its likely they will go up so much that its cheaper to just pay for it out of pocket.

or

2) try to find a used 3.8 (from a JK) cheap.

 

I recommend getting one of the take out engines from a hemi swap and turbocharging it. It will deliver more power and install in 1 day.

Hemi power for $5,000

 

Agree with the V8 swap for sure.

But, stroked or not, the 3.8 is still an under-square engine with more bore than stroke. If the parts were available to push the stroke out a little more there would be more torque and the damn thing might climb a 1% grade without a downshift. Just sayin'/wishin'