jeepster in cj5?

ok heres a new question- just thinking out loud for now. a little old lady in the next county over has a jeepster/commando style pickup looking jeep that has been junked for probably 20 years. this truck has a 225/ automatic setup for drivetrain. the body has all but rotted off of it. would the engine/trans combo be completable in one of my cj5s? what trans would they have used in this truck? right now i dont even know if engine is free or stuck or if she will even sell it. 20 years ago it would not come out of 4wd & they stopped driving it. it was the truck that "all the kids learned to drive in " - i can show yall jeeps, trucks, mod a's, muscle cars & most any kinda vehicle you can think of just rotting down to dirt, but owners wont sell. one guy even built a shed around his 46 ford coupe without any doors on it! it rotted down on the car & city hauled it to junk yard after he died. sorry for the rant but this kinda stuff fries my brain. thanks! later dudes!
andy
?

 

I don't have such a rig, so I may be blowing this out of my ear, but I believe the 225 will convert over (save your old flywheel). The transfer case in a Commando was a straight through model instead of the 'dog leg' one in the CJ5. As the transfer case is different, and there was never a auto transmission in the CJ-5 of that era, the coupling of that transmission to the CJ-5 transfer case may be painful. Just my opinion.

John

 

The Jeepster should have a D-20 transfer case, which would have the same "Texas" shaped mounting flange as the D-18. But, like Mr. Worman said, the D-20 has a centered output and won't work with your offset rear axle.

As for the auto trans, it will probably be to long to work in a short wheel base vehicle, such as your CJ-5.

 

pics?

 

225, TH400, D20. D27 front, possibly a D30 centered rear or (if you are lucky) a centered D44 tapered or flanged rear. The TH400 makes this combo very long (too long IMO) for a CJ-5 wheelbase.

Get it and part it out.

 

ok - turbo 400- that makes sense- will let this idea go the way of the dodo- thanks!
andy