Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Hello Guest, we are proud to now have our Wiki online that is completely compiled and written by our members. Feel free to browse our Jeep-CJ Wiki or click on any orange keyword when looking at posts in the forum.
I am going to rebuild my CJ and would like to put a V8 in it. I would like the simplest fuel injection system possible. Could someone recommend a particular make/year donor vehicle that would be a good choice. I was thinking an early 90-'s Chev 1/2 ton 4 X4 with a 350 and automatic Transmission and adapting it to my Dana 300 . I will be fabricating a new frame, and engine mounts etc...I want some thing anyone could get in and turn the key and go winter (Canada) or summer and not have to fiddle with a choke.
I currently have a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l with torqueflight 904 Transmission . I plan on buying a donor vehicle and trying to leave as much wiring , computer etc... intact as possible and just strip away all body panels before I remove the engine. Is the 904 worth keeping and adapting the the engine or would it be better to get the donor Transmission and adapt to the Transfer Case . It will be a daily driver with occasional off roading, no extreme stuff. I have moser 1 piece axles in AMC20 rear end and stock Dana 30 up front. I basically want to know what years to consider for a donor, I assume late model vehicles would be too complicated in terms of wiring. What do you do with all the sensors which activate dash lights etc... since the gauges will be different? Is there any sense cponsidering ford or dodge? Thanks for any help.
Look into a LS swap. good power, reliability and gas milage. For the wiring there are several companies that will have them send in your engines wiring harness and computer and they will re-flash the comp and weed out all the un-needed wiring to make it a stand alone system or you can just buy a stand alone harness from those companies. As far as automatic transmissions you need to keep an eye on their over all lengths so you dont end up with a short rear drive shaft.
The Dana 20 with one piece shafts is a pretty stout axle.. still has some flaws with the tubes but if your not going to hard core beat on it then it will hold up fine. For the front you can polish the turd or go to a Dana 44 . It would help if we knew how much lift and what size tires you are running.
The 904 would need to go.
Just another thought but have you looked at the propane? With tank and Kit you looking around $1000.. no fancy adapters to get parts to play nice and since its a gas already it doesn't need to be warmed up. You can find DOT auto tanks to mount in the back. Unless your looking to upgrade from the 6cyl in the end.
Also a AMC-360 with a 727 and Dana 300 will bolt together no adapters needed, hook up the propane and it would be almost as good as FI with out the mess of all the wiring.
83 CJ7 350 tbi, TH350, D300 twin sticked & clocked, narrowed Chief D44 Eaton Elocker & Moser shafts, Explorer 8.8 Detroit locker, 410's, RE 4.5" spring lift 1" body lift, 35" Claws, cage tied to frame, Corbeau baja seats, HD tie rod and draglink, u-bolts flipped, custom skid plate and sliders, Warn 9.5ti winch with Amsteel synthetic line
Its already been brought up, but a propane conversion is a good option. It is by far the most simple and maintenance free system out there.
there are drawbacks, such as space being taken up by tanks, highway economy, and fueling-up options...but the benefits (at least in my mind) outway the negatives.
#1) There are absolutely no sensors or extra wires to contend with. Fuel adjustment is minimal to non existant. Propane is not affected by climate or elevation.
#2) Propane is good for your engine. Being at the extremelly low end of the carbon scale, it will not leave engine deposits and will subsequently not foul the oil. Being a vapor, it is impossible to flood your engine..eliminating gas-wash on the cylinders and other flooding issues. Re-starting is a breeze in the event of a stall. Typically propane will cause an engine to run considerably cooler.
#3) Propane is safer to use then gasoline. because of the placement of the tanks and the safety shut-off, a propane leak is non existant in all but the worst cases.
#4) Economy. I pay $2.20 a gallon for propane vs. $3.75 for gasoline.
Propane conversions arent for everyone...it requires the tanks being stored inside the vehicle which more often then not eliminates the back seat area, passenger and storage space suffers for it. It also requires the use of careful planning as you cant just fuel up at any corner gas station, and most people arent carrying spare propane to gas you up.
Anyway, just another option. i did a propane conversion on my 401 last year and I absolutely love it. The offroad benefits are amazing.
Sorry for getting off topic but Im hoping to stretch my frame and add another 36" to the rear for a "bed" area to store my tanks when i finally save the scratch for the pane.
Back to it.. The chevy TBI is another decent option as stated or any of the Howel kits.. it all comes down to what you want to pay for.
Could you tell me some company names that will re-do a factory harness. I was looking at Painless Wiring and their harness for an LS engine is over $2000.00 so I am not intersted in that, their harness for an earlier throttle body injection is around $500.00. They have 3 catagories for 80's-90's fuel injection. 1. 82-93 throttle body injection 2. 85-89 tuned port injection (MAF) 3. 90-92 tuned port injection (MAP). Of these 3 which should I look for in a donor vehicle, I would like to use everything from the donor if possible and not have to buy a new harness. I am not interested in propane, thanks for the suggestion though.
I'm pretty sure in the article they said they sent their harness that came with the motor to them and they weeded it out and sent it back. Either way they look cheaper then painless.
You can get a 4.0 from a newer Jeep and it will bolt in without too much problem. Used XJs are all over the place and they're cheap. You can pick one up and take the entire powertrain and wiring harness intact.
With a 4.0 swap, you can pretty much bolt it in with no need for fabrication. It uses the same motor mounts and Transmission bellhousing. It will connect to the factory radiator and use the same shroud for the fan.
Modifying a wiring harness isn't as hard as you think it might be. You just have to spend a lot of time and pay attention to the detail but it's not rocket science. It's only intimidating until you do it once.
It would be easy to bolt the 4.0 to the 904 and it will hold up fine. The only thing you would have to worry about is the crank position sensor. A machine shop can set up your Transmission bellhousing to hold the sensor.
For the 4.0, the speed sensor in the Transfer Case tailhousing is there to control the automatic Transmission . If you get a 4.0 out of a manual Transmission Jeep, you won't have to worry about that to run it with the 904. If you get an automatic equipped 4.0, you have to reprogram the computer but that's pretty easy.
As far as gauges, you could still run the stock speedometer and fuel gauge and volt meter with no modifications. A tach will connect to the coil wire easily. The oil pressure sender may need to share the port with the computer's sender but that's not much more than bolting on a brass T fitting. There may or may not be a convenient place to drop in the temp sender but that's easy to get figured out one way or another.
The only easier upgrade would be a Howell style throttle body fuel injection system that's set up to go right on your AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l .
A V8 conversion is not terribly challenging. There's more aftermarket support for the Chevy V8 though Ford and Dodge conversions aren't too difficult. One other option is to put a throttle body system on an AMC V8. A AMC 304 with a Howell throttle body would be a pretty easy bolt in. You can get V8 motor mounts and bolt the 904 right to the engine with no adapters. It will hold up just fine.
Im with some of the above. I wouldn't pay someone to snip some wires from a harness for you.
Since you're doing the conversion I'd just get the donor stuff with a pcm and all the equipment, get it bolted in and running, and then play around with the harness if you really want to.
