I have a '96 Cherokee with one in it, and I'm very surprised anyone would choose that trans for a performance swap. Bought the thing with less than 120k on it, and I have to granny shift into 2nd because synchro is gone. Did have to put a clutch in it pretty soon after I got it, so maybe somebody was not very nice to it.
Definitely not what I would choose with a bigger budget, but I probably did the whole swap in mine for $600-700 and it was a bolt together deal with mostly oem dodge parts. Next trans to go in my Duster will be an 8hp70 or t56