Engine Builder in NW Oregon Area

[Lotsowagoneers]

I'm a newbie here, howdy folks! I have several Wagoneers at the moment, and am looking for a good engine builder in the Portland, Oregon area for one of them. I actually live about an hour east of Portland, so if someone happens to randomly know of someone in that area, even better! I recently bought a nice '87 GW with bent pushrods, no one knows why. It's been sitting since '03. I would like a complete rebuild of the motor, and am willing to spend for a job well done. I want to rebuild the original block, as apposed to a replacement crate motor, to maintain numbers matching.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[dodgerammit]

Numbers matching on these things are pretty much null and void. if it came with a 360, and has a 360, you're as good as any other original one out there. Might check on theamcforum.com about a builder. There is a guy that is really good that is on there. Will probably have to ship, but he comes highly recommended.

[Lotsowagoneers]

I’m surprised to hear your comment that the numbers matching doesn’t matter, even though I have noticed that people don’t seem to ever mention it with these. Why is that? I could see that maybe it doesn’t matter to folks right now, but what about in another 30 years? In either case, this is likely to be a keeper for me, and it is important to me, so gonna try to keep the original. Thanks for the info though.

[ShagWagon]

S&J engine rebuilders did mine with 100k/10yr warranty. Was $1800 for a basic stock remanufacturer.

[dodgerammit]

I’m surprised to hear your comment that the numbers matching doesn’t matter, even though I have noticed that people don’t seem to ever mention it with these. Why is that? I could see that maybe it doesn’t matter to folks right now, but what about in another 30 years? In either case, this is likely to be a keeper for me, and it is important to me, so gonna try to keep the original. Thanks for the info though.

Numbers matching doesn't matter because there were no records kept in that regards. There is no # stamped on the frame, body, and engine that relate to each other as far as originality. It doesn't matter now and won't matter 30 years from now. If you like it and plan to keep it, build it the way you want.

[Lotsowagoneers]

Dodgerammit - Wow, no stamped numbers? I did not know that. Is that a Jeep thing across the board, or just wagoneers? If that's the case, then maybe I should just go with a crate motor.

ShagWagon - Since I’m now contemplating a crate motor- Was $1800 the long block? What were thier conditions for the warranty? Accredited shop install? New peripheral parts (radiator, water pump, carb, etc)? How many miles do you have on it now?

[dodgerammit]

Dodgerammit - Wow, no stamped numbers? I did not know that. Is that a Jeep thing across the board, or just wagoneers? If that's the case, then maybe I should just go with a crate motor.

ShagWagon - Since I’m now contemplating a crate motor- Was $1800 the long block? What were thier conditions for the warranty? Accredited shop install? New peripheral parts (radiator, water pump, carb, etc)? How many miles do you have on it now?

Crate will be your best bet unless you can find a good builder.

I went all out on mine and learned some things:

Roller rockers are nice but overrated. They are noisy. I'd recommend stock rocker arms.

Forged pistons are pricey, but cheap insurance during tuning. They don't come apart as easily during detonation. Having a desire for economy/towing performance, I had plenty of detonation as I adjusted timing and a/f ratio. No regrets.
If you have a trusted shop do it, just go stock. I like to tinker, so my novice self could easily eff something up as I learned.

There is no truth as far as I'm concerned in regards to the "All AMC blocks are rare 'high nickle content' that don't need bored". Mine was as worn as any vintage engine. It got bored .030 over. They have plenty of meat to work with. There's no danger in an overbore.

Edelbrock performer intake (not performer rpm) is a good intake and deserves it's high rating among the AMC Jeep guys. You can choose your flavor. Either with EGR (if emissions are a concern) or without EGR. Get one.

Since the intake is only half the performance equation, get the upgraded cam option. I think they have the rv and Edelbrock 2132. I'd say either will be better than the stock one. I cherry picked my stuff since my builder was local and went with Engle's K52H cam.

I wanted a 4bbl carb for simplicity. I've done efi before and it is great. However, I like to tinker, so the carb was chosen. I can always add Holley sniper efi in the future should I desire. It is one of the best. If you want timing control, you'll need to add their distributor.

Since I'm rocking the carb, I like the factory duraspark dizzy modded with the tfi coil, big cap, and rotor. I run a basic MSD streetfire module. Simple, reliable, and better running.

You can also do mpfi now with a special edelbrock setup that comes with the intake, fuel rails, and distributor. If you go that route, you
can skip the performer intake I mentioned above since the kit comes with the intake.

Stock manifolds with a y pipe and a flowmaster make a beautiful sound. I opted for Doug Thorley tri-Y headers and the 3" single system. I can feel a tiny bit more power in my butt dyno, but the sound is quite a bit softer than the classic American V-8 rumble the Jeep had before. And it wasn't loud by any means.
Pick your poison.

All of the mods mentioned can be found at BJ's offroad or Summit.

The TFI stuff is easily had at your local auto parts store. grimmjeeper.com has the info about the mod.

Nothing you do is gonna turn your brick into a rocket ship. Just give it a bit (and I mean just a bit) more pep around town.

If you're wanting original, that is just how it is. It'll perform like a slightly worked over 80s American pushrod V-8.

Also if keeping the carb, these things are notorious for vapor locking in the summer/warmer temps. Put in a low pressure electric pump as close as possible to (or inside) the fuel tank. Make sure it delivers only 4-6 psi and you keep the return line filter in place near the carb.

Just my experience with a recent custom build.

[Lotsowagoneers]

Dodgerammit-
Did you have all the work done at a shop, or did you so some of it yourself? How much did you end up spending, if you don’t mind sharing?

[dodgerammit]

Here is my thread: https://www.fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewto ... 11&t=17067

[ShagWagon]

Dodgerammit - Wow, no stamped numbers? I did not know that. Is that a Jeep thing across the board, or just wagoneers? If that's the case, then maybe I should just go with a crate motor.

ShagWagon - Since I’m now contemplating a crate motor- Was $1800 the long block? What were thier conditions for the warranty? Accredited shop install? New peripheral parts (radiator, water pump, carb, etc)? How many miles do you have on it now?

Yeah long block. 25hr re emburse self I stall/$50hr shop I stall. I did myself install. Put it on a pallet, sent off, came back within 12 days done. Yeah I put all new upgraded peripherals on it and fuel injected it. I’ve driven over 10k on the rebuild so far. Now it’s for sale.

If you don’t want to do the work, have a shop pull it and pallet it. Their shipping was like $100 there and back thru freight company.

[letank]

There is no # stamped on the frame, body, and engine that relate to each other as far as originality. It doesn't matter now and won't matter 30 years from now. If you like it and plan to keep it, build it the way you want.

In fact there are serial numbers stamped on the frame at 2 locations matching the last 5 digit of the vin . And for the engine it is a stamped metal tag rivetted on the passenger side valve cover with year month day.

[weeegoneeer]

I had mine done at Don's Machine Shop over in Gresham, mainly because I wanted to put it together myself. They do have experience with AMCs and were awesome to work with, though it took a while (expect it to take a while if you bring it to a machine shop.)

In the end with all of the parts & tools needed to build it myself it was an expensive education! If you had them build it with more stock parts would probably be a sane price.

If I were to do it again and not want to build myself, I'd go with S&J through BJ's - probably the only rebuild shop doing AMCs at some sort of volume, aren't outrageously priced, and have BJ's backing the sale as well.

My previous engine was built at more of a general rebuild shop (Tri-Star in Wisconsin), probably only do mostly the big three. First engine had super scuffed cylinder walls, the replacement engine from them wasn't 100% but I was over it at this point.

[dodgerammit]

There is no # stamped on the frame, body, and engine that relate to each other as far as originality. It doesn't matter now and won't matter 30 years from now. If you like it and plan to keep it, build it the way you want.

In fact there are serial numbers stamped on the frame at 2 locations matching the last 5 digit of the vin . And for the engine it is a stamped metal tag rivetted on the passenger side valve cover with year month day.

First I'v actually heard about the engine stuff. I'd imagine there was a code stamped for production, but I've yet to see it matter in value.

[Lotsowagoneers]

ShagWagon - Can you send me a PM? I don't seem to be able to send them yet.