Misc. Just Wanted to Post THANK YOU to Forum
huntnCJfool
Jeeper
- Posts
- 110
- Thanks
- 3
- Location
- Meeker
- Vehicle(s)
- '79 CJ5, 258 I6, Weber 38 DGMS, T18 & Dana 20, AMC 20 Rear, Dana 30 Front, Rolling on 31x10.5x15's
I have just recently finished a project of replacing my original 1979 AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l with a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l in better shape from an 83 CJ7 and I wanted to post a thank-you and syopsis with what pics I have. This forum along with others I have searched have been invaluable during this project and many other small ones along the way. My confidence and abilities have grown with each issue I have had to troubleshoot and solve. This jeep started as a deer lease jeep in Texas we have had for about 10 years. It has come a long way (with a lot of $ and cussing) since I bought it from my Dad 2 years ago, but it has been a lot of fun to work on!
I was having bad blowby issues, to the point I had oil coming out of the dipstick and needed to rig a catch can. I was not burning oil and kept pressure, and compression was only off one cylinder by a couple of percent. But it bugged me. I also had bad ring gear wear so the engine needed to at least come off the bellhousing and new clutch etc. before next hunting season.
I found a guy in Texas selling a running driveline from radiator to Transmission (T-4 ) for a steal that I could pick up over the holidays visting family (he was doing a 350 conversion). I also picked up a Holley Sniper with in tank pump during black friday sales to add.
Project list entailed: Separate motor from Transmission , get on stand, replace: rear main seal, oil pan gasket, timing chain and gears/little plastic tensioner piece, front crank seal, timing gasket, pull my motor, swap water pump/fan to keep my stock setup from 79', keep connected manifolds from 79' with new gaskets, flywheel resurface and new clutch, valve cover gasket, Holley Sniper install w/in tank pump & new fuel injection line. No return line required! I have only been able to start it and idle until my throttle linkage comes in this week, but the motor sounds great. The ticking in the video is either the injector or the exhaust leak you can see at the flange. I won't be running it again til I try to adjust the flange to fix the leak sometime this week.
I have posted what photo's I have, since I did not take a whole bunch and am not very good at documenting "the process" when I am trying to get stuff done. I only had one broken bolt, on a fender. The biggest challenge to finally get it fired is somehow the rotor was on #6 at TDC even though I never turned the crank or cam independently and checeked and rechecked the timing chain. Everything else went pretty well with minimal fitting issues and all done with hand tools and rentals.
So far I have been able to recoup much of my initial investment thanks to others in the jeep community who needed stuff that I did not. I also have a P/S pump to install one of these days! Other projects are more pressing, however
What I bought in Odessa TX, dragged home Jan 10th during a W Texas snow storm to Fort Collins CO
Sepatated and in the garage!
Old motor ready to come out!
OH NO, a dead Jeep and 2 engines. This is definitely the point I felt most pressured to succeed!
New motor in with manifolds mounted!
I added a grill screen while everything was apart. A strong screen that did cover my slots has been on my list since 2 years ago when a TWIG poked my OEM rad.
Holley installed! I have one manifold and one ported vac line, and no need to screw with Jets going up and down like I did on the Weber. This thing was super EZ.
View attachment 20210227_153322.mp4
In her natural habitat in November before I ripped her apart. I think she will be even better for years to come!!!!
I was having bad blowby issues, to the point I had oil coming out of the dipstick and needed to rig a catch can. I was not burning oil and kept pressure, and compression was only off one cylinder by a couple of percent. But it bugged me. I also had bad ring gear wear so the engine needed to at least come off the bellhousing and new clutch etc. before next hunting season.
I found a guy in Texas selling a running driveline from radiator to Transmission (T-4 ) for a steal that I could pick up over the holidays visting family (he was doing a 350 conversion). I also picked up a Holley Sniper with in tank pump during black friday sales to add.
Project list entailed: Separate motor from Transmission , get on stand, replace: rear main seal, oil pan gasket, timing chain and gears/little plastic tensioner piece, front crank seal, timing gasket, pull my motor, swap water pump/fan to keep my stock setup from 79', keep connected manifolds from 79' with new gaskets, flywheel resurface and new clutch, valve cover gasket, Holley Sniper install w/in tank pump & new fuel injection line. No return line required! I have only been able to start it and idle until my throttle linkage comes in this week, but the motor sounds great. The ticking in the video is either the injector or the exhaust leak you can see at the flange. I won't be running it again til I try to adjust the flange to fix the leak sometime this week.
I have posted what photo's I have, since I did not take a whole bunch and am not very good at documenting "the process" when I am trying to get stuff done. I only had one broken bolt, on a fender. The biggest challenge to finally get it fired is somehow the rotor was on #6 at TDC even though I never turned the crank or cam independently and checeked and rechecked the timing chain. Everything else went pretty well with minimal fitting issues and all done with hand tools and rentals.
So far I have been able to recoup much of my initial investment thanks to others in the jeep community who needed stuff that I did not. I also have a P/S pump to install one of these days! Other projects are more pressing, however

What I bought in Odessa TX, dragged home Jan 10th during a W Texas snow storm to Fort Collins CO

Sepatated and in the garage!

Old motor ready to come out!

OH NO, a dead Jeep and 2 engines. This is definitely the point I felt most pressured to succeed!

New motor in with manifolds mounted!

I added a grill screen while everything was apart. A strong screen that did cover my slots has been on my list since 2 years ago when a TWIG poked my OEM rad.

Holley installed! I have one manifold and one ported vac line, and no need to screw with Jets going up and down like I did on the Weber. This thing was super EZ.

View attachment 20210227_153322.mp4
In her natural habitat in November before I ripped her apart. I think she will be even better for years to come!!!!

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