CJ7 Drivetrain chance questions

[volsjp]

CJ7 Drivetrain swap questions

So I purchased an 83 CJ7 and motor blew. I purchased a 1995 Grand cherokee i am planning on swapping into the CJ7 . I was looking at putting the motor and Transmission both in and making the CJ fuel injected and automatic but have searched and searched for 2 days and cant find a ton of info on putting a 42re Transmission into a CJ. Also wondering if the 42re Transmission will bolt up to my Dana 300 which if i'm not thinking correctly would keep me with a passenger side drop instead of the grand cherokee driver side drop?

Am i way off or just gluten for punishment here?

Thanks,
J.P.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

:ww:

I can't answer your question. But these folks might be able to.
Novak Conversions Home

You may want to have pictures ready to send to them, and post up here.
LG

 

[PistolDave]

Which engine, 4.0 or 5.2?

 

[volsjp]

4.0. Also how hard to convert the 2wd AW4 in the cherokee to 4wd? I know there is an adapter for the Dana 300 to bolt up to t he AW4. Also after measuring the 42re. After adding a tcase there is just not gonna be anymore room for a rear driveshaft.

 

[PistolDave]

The 4.0 swap into CJ's is common and well documented. If you are going to use that AW4, you need a PCM (powertrain control module) that was originally used with a 4.0/AW4 combo, unless there is some kind of aftermarket Transmission controller available. I know there are stand alone Transmission controllers for the GM 4L60e, 4L80e, etc. but I have no idea about mopar transmissions. As a general rule I try to stay as far away from mopar stuff as possible. The GM stuff is so available, cheap, and easy to work with that's the only brand of powertrain parts that I would consider swapping into my ride. You know what they say about opinions though haha.


Also, converting a "2wd" auto to "4wd" for GM transmissions is usually just a matter of swapping out the Transmission output shaft and output housing. As Lumpy suggested, take a look at the Novak site or give them a call for answers specific to the AW4. My CJ7 has a GM GM Turbo 400 /Dana 300 behind a SBC 5.7l and the rear driveshaft is short but not ridiculously so. Not sure how much difference there is between the length of the AW4 and the GM Turbo 400 , but the '400 is a fairly large Transmission , so my gut feel is that AW4 can probably be made to work ok.

 

[volsjp]

well going to be a little more trouble than it's worth to convert the 2wd one to 4wd so luckily I found a screamer of a deal on a couple 4wd aw4's within an hour of home so I'm going to pick them both up tomorrow lol.

 

[caveman]

The Dana 300 to the AW4 is a bolt on. You might have to buy a clocking ring or redrill the AW4 to get it to sit where you want it. It depends on what the AW4 came out of. It's a little longer than any Transmission that came in any CJ7 so drive shafts will need to be made. There's all kinds of info on the web about shifting options on the AW4. Good luck.