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I might have a chance to purchase a 1980 Jeep Cherokee Laredo but it does not have an engine. I have been a fan of the AMC 401 V8 and am thinking of having one put in, but just in case I was curious what other engines would work for this Cherokee? I would prefer either a 401 V8 (or better) or a diesel engine.
Thanks all!
1978 Jeep Cherokee S; 5.9L/360 V8 automatic/FiTech fuel injection and Davis Unified Distributor systems.
Definitely Tim! In summary though, there's no cheap or easy repower for an FSJ past what it came with. A 401 will fit where a 360 or 304 was, but 401s aren't cheap or growing on trees. Many here have stuck GM 5.3L in there rigs, and a small handful have SUCCESSFULLY put a diesel in, but for every finished repower, there's at least half a dozen that disappear into the aether.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
Lucky for some of us, abandoned projects often sell for pennies on the dollar invested. Running and driving makes a huge difference in the value of a vehicle.
Tim Reese
Maine beekeeper's truck: '77 J10 LWB, 258/T15/D20/3.54 bone stock, low options (delete radio), PS/PDB, hubcaps.
Browless and proud: '82 J20 360/T18/NP208/3.73, Destination A/Ts, 7600 GVWR
Copper Polly: '75 CJ-6, 304/T15, PS, BFG KM2s, soft top
GTI without the badges: '95 VW Golf Sport 2000cc 2D
Dual Everything: '15 Chryco Jeep Cherokee KL Trailhawk, ECO Green
Blockchain the vote.
The only AMC engine you need to generally avoid is the 390. I forget why, I think it had something to do with they were only put in AMX's and with manual transmissions or something. Generally they are harder to find than a 401 anyways. Idon't know if the earlier engines would swap in easy but generally avoid them as well (like the Tornado).
Like mentioned above 304/360/401 will be the easiest. You can find complete 360's pretty cheap.
What transmission do you have? Do you have exhasut manifolds or anyof the engine parts?
Blackbart said that after all the troubles he had fitting out his mom's waggy's 401, the next time he was going to find a used hemi drivetrain. For those that know him for him to openly decide he say he would go with a computer controlled drivetrain over a stock carbureted manual is a game changer! I mean the guy thinks power steering and brakes is for weaklings!
I've got an 81 wagoneer and it came with a burned out 258. Recycled it and the transmission and dropped in a TBI 350 w/Vortec heads & a 4l60e trans. No idea what it drove like with the 258, but the 350 smokes tires.
The 401 is a "bolt in" swap. Though there are caveats to that. The devil is in the details. Still, they came in the 70's era FSJ and will fit in a 1980 without too much effort. One of the bigger deals is that the 401 only came with a TH400/Borg Warner Quadratrac in he 70's. The offset of the differentials in a 1980 won't be in the right place. So you have to figure out the rest of the drivetrain. You have the option of swapping in 70's axles to match the stock 401/trans/t-case or putting an 80's era transmission/t-case combo behind the 401.
The 360 is by far a more common engine and certainly no slouch. It's "good enough" for a lot of people. The 304 will work but it is a little bit of a slouch.
Easiest (i.e. one with the most aftermarket support) non AMC swap is the small block Chevy of any generation. They easily fit in the engine bay and have lots of options. If you get a newer generation and want to keep the factory fuel injection, be sure to grab as much of the wiring and computers from the donor vehicle as possible.
Smaller block Ford and Dodge are also viable candidates. Just less aftermarket support. But there are working examples of it being done.
Big block motors from pretty much any source will be a tricky fit. They start to bump into stuff inside the engine bay and are difficult (though not impossible) to fit.
As far as diesels, the bigger V8 ones from Chevy and Ford tend to be too big and have the same problems as the big block gasser engines. The Cummins 6bt can be made to fit but it's long nose-to-tail and requires a bit of customization to get them to fit. The old generation GM 6.2 diesels fit but they're not really exciting motors. The 6.5 can also fit but clearancing the fender for the turbo is required. It's a lot easier to fit a Cummins 4bt but you have to push it to get it to make big power. There are some other diesels but I haven't personally seen any of them done to completion in an FSJ.
If I have to replace the engine in my truck again, it's going to get a Chevy 5.3/4L60e/NVG241C out of an early 2000's pickup truck that I can buy whole for under $2K all day long. Either that or a 6.0/4L80E out of a 3/4 or 1 ton. Though the idea of a Gen 1 Chevy 383 stroker with a 700R4 and some aftermarket fuel injection has its appeal as well.