gettin an itch

[Cheepjeep85]

like the title says i'm gettin a itch for a major modification to my jeep. let me explain i have a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l in my jeep currently, i just rebuilt it about 8 mo. ago. i also have a goodwrench 350 sittin in the corner that needs rebuilt and i'm thinkin about building a stroker motor out of it, but i have nothing but the jeep to put it in. Well i got to thinking that i am actually really happy with the 6cyl, but i'm wanting another project for the jeep and it would be real cool to fire up the jeep and hear a badass small block under the hood. if i decide to do this i would want to keep the manual tranny in the jeep and not have to do any real driveline mods other than the motor. i've been looking at novaks website and they have an adapter to bolt the T-176 to a chevrolet motor. so the question is do yall think the tranny would hold up to the 350, or maybe 383? the jeep mostly sees street use and the occasional offroad trips, no serious rock crawling, and the biggest tires its ever gonna see is 35's (big maybe). all opinions and options are welcome. its just an idea as of right now

 

[Old Dog]

The only problem with a nice sounding V8 is it's hard not to put your foot into it. That can be kinda hard on the 20. I would at least weld the tubes if you havent allready.
As for the T-176 I have no idea. I'm a auto guy.

 

[Petescj]

The T-176 came behind the AMC 304 V-8s in Cjs and the 360s in J trucks. The 304s rated around AMC 150 hp. The 360s 2 bbl was around 240 hp. The 360 4 bbl was about 285 hp. I really wouldn't be putting anymore than that to it so that rules out your 383 stroker. That stroker is gonna put up hp numbers of at least 350 and the torque around 450. Thats too big for the T-176 in my opinion.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

thats good to know, i could be plenty happy with a overall stock 350 with a mild cam, but a 383 would be just cool. i could probably sell the pretty much new AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l to finance the adapters so that would be a plus. but i also like the idea of keeping the jeep motor in the jeep. i don't know yet i see that motor sittin there every time i walk in my dads garage and think about it sittin under the hood of my jeep and i like it.

 

[CoreyYoungCj577]

If my uncle(retired mechanic of 40 years) were reading this is first and last comment would be drop a 350 in it put chevy running gear under it and a automatic. I personally have thought about doing this myself later on in the years not the automatic though if i were you and you wanted to go with the 350 i would trying finding a NP435(ford tranny) i think it is and find an adapter for that or find the chevy 4 speed muncie i wanna say it was not 100% on that they use to run behind the 350's with the really low first gear, because obvisouly if they put that 4 speed behind a 350 i think it could handle a 383 pushing out 350 hp. thats just my 2 cents.

 

[TDHofstetter]

I'd be pretty spooky about using the T-176 with either one... unless you know for sure that 350 is a low-compression engine with a soft camshaft and you're religious about keeping no more than a 2-barrel on top of it. Stock 350s may develop as much as 350 HP, which is a LOT more than the 160 HP generated by the 360 in 1980, which is when those transmissions got used in Jeeps.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

yeah thats a possiblility but i dont want to mess with anything else just the motor. the T-18 is a ford tranny but jeep also used it some years. the np435 is a ford tranny to. the sm420 and sm465 were the chevy trannies you are thinkin of with a real low 1st gear. my neighbor has 3 of em he priced em to my little brother yesterday for $30 each all of em are good. he has a 79 chevy we think the tranny might be goin out i hope not i'll be doin all the work on it and i really don't want to wrestle with the damn thing

 

[CoreyYoungCj577]

Thanks for clarifying the transmissions up for me but why not try using a chevy engine and Transmission ? i mean you'll get a low crawler gear plus the power of a stroker or just throw a wild cam in it and call it good! I think a stroker would be cool but a 350 can do everything you want and more. Now correct me if im wrong but a 383 is a 350 with a 400 crank is it not?

 

[Cheepjeep85]

yep in a nutshell, i'd just rather leave everything else alone right now having to adapt other things and having driveshafts made can turn what can be a "simple" engine swap into something more difficult and more expensive than i would like

 

[Petescj]

True. I gave earlier Hp figures with the 4 bbl optioned 360. Hp #s went down every year almost after.

Stock 350s may develop as much as 350 HP, which is a LOT more than the 160 HP generated by the 360 in 1980, which is when those transmissions got used in Jeeps.

Basically you have to look at it like this: The Cj never came with a high Hp V-8. Putting a stroker in there is going to produce axle snapping, Transmission blowing torque for your Jeep cause your driveline is based on 200 hp or less. I love a T-176 behind any AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l or AMC 304 . I think they would even be ok behind a stock 360 but I cant say that from experience.

Ive been contemplating the Chevy swap for the Scrambler myself. At the very least I had decided on a 350 and a 350 Transmission . Even then I feel Im shorting myself or asking for trouble by not going at least Dana 44s. When you start adding it all up with the radiator ,t-case adapter ,new driveshafts ,exhaust , motor mounts and wiring it gets pricey quick.

Any reason not to sell the chevy and your AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l for a mild 360 and maybe a T-18 ?

yep in a nutshell, i'd just rather leave everything else alone right now having to adapt other things and having driveshafts made can turn what can be a "simple" engine swap into something more difficult and more expensive than i would like

 

[TDHofstetter]

One more thing comes into play here with the high-HP squirrelwheel... that's frame torquing. Not a one of the CJs ever came with a really robust frame under it, they're really pretty lightweight frames... particularly after 1981, which was the last year they sold even the venerable AMC 304 in a CJ7 . After that point, everything was built for no more horses than lived inside the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l .

Especially if you rock-crawl or pull, a high-HP motor can really screw up the foundation of your Jeep. You may get twists, you may get cracking, you may get spring windup & driveshaft damage. Ya see it a lot on CL - guys who've overreached their Jeep's capacity & are selling off what remains behind when things went wrong.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

well the 350 still needs rebuilding. i wouldn't sell it i like to have a spare "project" laying around. i don't have any experience with the 360 thats not to say i couldn't learn about it but i'm real familiar with sb chevy and i happen to have one. i don't really want to get into a complete drive line swap cause like you said that gets expensive, just the motor swap would be easy and not to expensive.

i'm not really worried about my axles cause like i said it probably won't ever see any bigger tire than the 33s thats on it. i already have one piece axles in the m20 and i won't be doing any real hardcore offroading. i do have a 15' runabout that i pull around but trailer and boat only weigh about 1700lbs.

so what it basically boils down to is i can most likely get away with a mostly stock 350 with a mild cam and carburetor; or i could build the motor completely stock and fuel inject it, which might be better anyway. i could probably put a mild cam in with the fuel inj. but it would have to be compatible

True. I gave earlier Hp figures with the 4 bbl optioned 360. Hp #s went down every year almost after.

Basically you have to look at it like this: The Cj never came with a high Hp V-8. Putting a stroker in there is going to produce axle snapping, Transmission blowing torque for your Jeep cause your driveline is based on 200 hp or less. I love a T-176 behind any AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l or AMC 304 . I think they would even be ok behind a stock 360 but I cant say that from experience.

Ive been contemplating the Chevy swap for the Scrambler myself. At the very least I had decided on a 350 and a 350 Transmission . Even then I feel Im shorting myself or asking for trouble by not going at least Dana 44s. When you start adding it all up with the radiator ,t-case adapter ,new driveshafts ,exhaust , motor mounts and wiring it gets pricey quick.

Any reason not to sell the chevy and your AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l for a mild 360 and maybe a T-18 ?

 

[Petescj]

or i could build the motor completely stock and fuel inject it, which might be better anyway. i could probably put a mild cam in with the fuel inj. but it would have to be compatible

^^^^^^^
This!

 

[Old Dog]

Ive been contemplating the Chevy swap for the Scrambler myself. At the very least I had decided on a 350 and a 350 Transmission . Even then I feel Im shorting myself or asking for trouble by not going at least Dana 44s. When you start adding it all up with the radiator ,t-case adapter ,new driveshafts ,exhaust , motor mounts and wiring it gets pricey quick.

Your right it does all add up real quick, take what you figure it's going to cost and than double it. Add lots of aspren for the headakes.
But we have a few chevy powered jeeps in my club and we all love'm.
You just have to remember you can break something anythime you want.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

You just have to remember you can break something anythime you want.

oh i'm sure you can, i'd just have to try not to go balls out all of the time which would be tough

 

[Cheepjeep85]

i guess it does make more sense seeing as how i don't wanna do anything but swap the motor. i guess it'll be a mostly stock build. i was kinda inspired by the 700hp ferrari smokin CJ7 on youtube. thats not even close to realistic given the circumstances.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

i just thought of something, i know where i can get a complete tuneport injected 350 out of a 92 z28 for $500. i'd have to freshen it up, but i might even be able to trade for it. now i am sure this engine swap is going to happen, maybe a few months away but its going to happen. time to start planning

 

[Old Dog]

i just thought of something, i know where i can get a complete tuneport injected 350 out of a 92 z28 for $500. i'd have to freshen it up, but i might even be able to trade for it. now i am sure this engine swap is going to happen, maybe a few months away but its going to happen. time to start planning

Get the harness too. It would be hard to pass this up if you want a hot rod jeep.
If you want a trail jeep keep the I6.