Engine swap questions

I know how people feel about swapping Chevy engines in Jeeps and I sometimes feel the same way.

That being said, I have access to a 305 out of my old truck I drove in high school and college. The body finally went on it and dad pulled the engine out a week ago.

My question is,

If I wanted to go with the auto that is currently attached to the 305, would I have to move the transfer case, thus changing driveshaft lengths??? Or could I simply push the engine a little farther forward with the extended length of the TH350 and adapter. There should be room for that, shouldn't there.

Now I'm just thinking outloud since the engine isn't here and I wouldn't do this till I get a couple of vehicle issues figured out. Wife new car, me truck, so then the Jeep would just be a toy.

I also realize that the 305 is a bit of a red headed step child in the small block Chevy family, but I have read online at Hot rodding something or other that they got 372hp out of one my simply changing the heads to a Vortec set and also a bigger cam. I also have AFI fuel injection on my 258 that I have read that all that is needed to go to a V8 would be a different throttle body.

The reason I am debating this is my 258 isn't going to last forever and need to research swap possibilities for the not too distant future.

I have a 360 in the garage all torn apart, but the oil pressure problems, poor fuel economy, and the cost of parts have me leaning away from that. Also, the block is already bored 40 over. And, if I did the AMC V8 I would need new exhaust as well.

Opinions?????

High5

 

I'd go with a 4.0L or 4.6L stroker based on the 4.0L block. With the stroker, you could use the crank from your 258 and the superior cylinder head and Mopar MPI that comes with the 4.0L HO. IMO that would be the best combo possible.

As I understand it, the TH350 will fit with the engine in more-or-less the stock location. If you are seriously considering this swap, call Novak and ask them about this - you'd have to buy an adapter of some sort anyway, probably theirs. I kinda think the old saw about the engine that you have on hand not being the best or cheapest applies ... but the Chevys are popular. You'd have to do it because you want it though - you'd never get your money out of it, and expect it would make the Jeep harder to sell should you need to. I know that nobody expects they will ever sell their Jeep, but circumstances change and things happen.

Also, do you really want an automatic instead of the T-18? If you can, drive a similar vehicle off-road with an automatic and see how you like it. It requires a somewhat different two-footed style. You also ask a lot more from the brakes with an automatic, so a front disk conversion with power would make sense if you don't have that already. Four wheel disks would be even better.

 

But if I were to go with a stroker or 4.0 I would need to either have the crank position sensor either machined into the bellhousing or buy a kit to put it on the front. Not saying that is out of the question, but it is an added cost.

I'm not sold on the auto either. I was thinking simplicity of the swap, not having to mess with clutch linkage. I could always go with a hydraulic clutch and not have to worry about linkage or body flex. That was a problem when we first built it, added a brace on the drivers side to correct.


Parts for the Chevy are just so inexpensive in comparison to AMC/Jeep stuff.

A 4.0 with MPI would be nice as well. Would that need an adapter to bolt to the T18 bellhousing????

 

There's nothing wrong with a 305, they were used in just about every V8 car GM made for many years. The Chevy V8 swap is extremely common. If you uneed to do a new engine, it's a viable alternative. Be aware that it's a lot of work and takes a lot of custom parts. It would probably be cheaper, and a whole lot easier, to do the stroker.

That being said, I just put the first 100 miles or so on my 302 Ford / T-18 swap and it was worth every cent and every second.

 

A 4.0L and a 258 are essentially the same block, so everything fits. No crank sensor on the T-18 bell, so you'd either have to modify the bell to accept it (see pics on the Novak site) or use the front-mount crank sensor that's part of the Mopar MPI kit for the 258.

In terms of bolting up, it could hardly be easier. I think some of the engine mount holes in the 4.0L block are metric instead of SAE, but AFAIK that's the worst of it.

 

Well,

Maybe I'll let my Dad keep the 305 and find a lightly used 4.0 instead. From what I have read there are issues with the stroker 4.6. Like pinging under load, I think the remedy there was larger injectors?? Not sure on that one. Also, not sure I want to tear the bottom end out of both the 258 and 4.0. Also I read somewhere that the snout needs to be machined off some as well.

Thanks for the ideas.

High5

 

There's both a Yahoo discussion group and a forum http://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/index.php for the stroker engines, FYI. There's also a forum about the 4.0L into CJs, which I can't dig up at the moment ... maybe later.