Full Size Jeep Network

Just sitting here in my shop having a few adult beverages and wanted to state that yes I understand people have the free will to choose how they build their rigs, this isn't a personal shot being fired off at anyone nor is it my choice to decide what is fitting for someone's individual needs, but when you have a perfectly good rebuildable driveline why not keep it stock or upgrade it to something "Jeep" would have approved of? Like when I see people with 20s ford's drop an LS or SBC I want to puke. And I'm no ford guy at all, but why not run a a 302 or 351 or even a coyote engine? Keep it ford man. Same goes for jeeps to me. Idk, it aggravates me seeing guys drop all these off brand weird engine swaps. I swapped 232 to a 4.0L, I kept it an I6 and in Jeep lineage. When I did mine I was young and green, but now I know better and appreciate my rig more than I did 29 years ago or even 10 years ago. Like guys that want to yank a 327 vigilante for a SBC. Really? Yeah you may get a little more power but that is a cool old engine. Sure, parts aren't as readily available but that's what makes it cool as well. Idk, i'm looking at my rig as we speak and wishing I restored it to stock. I dont regret my decision, but I'm at least happy I didn't listen to some hack I worked with that told me to drop in a 350 a decade ago. It aggravates me when people can't just appreciate what they have. That's all. Hope I don't get banned for this one. I feel like so many of these are being basterdized, again, I'm no one to talk because I'm well beyond OEM, but if I could do it over I'd be rocking a rebuilt 232 in a stock spruce tip green 67 on the daily. Maybe I have too much time to think tonight. To each their own I guess. I hate seeing OE engines scrapped that are in good working order or rebuildable though. Some poor b***ard in Toledo drove to work every day to assemble that thing and guys just junk it. They weren't built by robots like everything nowadays. Some guy busted his ass, hated his job probably, and went home aggravated nightly just to realize years later his hard work and labor would wind up at a scrap yard. Eh, its what it is, my two cents tonight, whatever, judge me.
-end rant.

Sometimes I just look at people's builds and think deep down, "man just leave that thing alone, it's cool as it is" but I keep my mouth shut because really, who am I? Idk. I really just think I regret alot I've done as I get older on my own truck but I'm financially too far in to ever go back without a major monetary loss and maybe this rant will help someone preserve what they have after reading it instead of building another generic b**tard wagon. I bet Brooks Steven's is turning over in his grave reading some of the things I read online That's all.

I have made a deliberate decision to keep my engine an AMC. Not for nostalgia but to keep it simple. But I swapped out the transfer case and axles for beefier stuff that wasn't offered from Jeep.

I know the feeling when I seen an old for with a SBC. But keep in mind the SBC is just that, small. It's a compact unit. A 351C is much wider. A Coyote is even worse. So a lot of the reason people choose the SBC is it fits without chopping up the body and frame.

I love a nice LS swap in our jeeps but for the miles I do it just doesn't make sense to do one. But I might change my mind one day.

will e wrote: ↑Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:13 pm I have made a deliberate decision to keep my engine an AMC. Not for nostalgia but to keep it simple. But I swapped out the transfer case and axles for beefier stuff that wasn't offered from Jeep.

I know the feeling when I seen an old for with a SBC. But keep in mind the SBC is just that, small. It's a compact unit. A 351C is much wider. A Coyote is even worse. So a lot of the reason people choose the SBC is it fits without chopping up the body and frame.

I love a nice LS swap in our jeeps but for the miles I do it just doesn't make sense to do one. But I might change my mind one day.

But a Ford Windsor is nearly the exact same size as a SBC. There is no reason to put a SBC into an old Ford.

I don’t really mind people that do LS swaps on FSJs though. I love seeing AMC powered Jeeps. But parts are getting harder to come by. And eventually it will become harder to just do a basic rebuild of an AMC V8

Stuka wrote: ↑Sat Dec 11, 2021 10:27 pm I don’t really mind people that do LS swaps on FSJs though. I love seeing AMC powered Jeeps. But parts are getting harder to come by. And eventually it will become harder to just do a basic rebuild of an AMC V8

This right here.

I had my AMC 360 rebuilt with every intent on having a sweet vintage motor purring under the hood. I have a thread where i was carefully researching build combinations. I knew exactly what I wanted.

Then, the engine builder with 40 years of experience effed it up by not checking for power at the wire he used for the electric choke. I only realized it had been running rich when it was dying on my one day in a neighboring town. This was 1000 miles into the new engine's operation.

The damage was done and so was I.

I had to wait for certain parts for this build for up to 6 months and now we're in a supply chain issue. At the very least, the motor had to be tore down and reringed and honed.

I wanted to drive my f***ing Jeep that I hadn't been able to drive for a F***ing year without it smoking up intersections every time I took off from a green light.


So, I LS swapped it.

I also had issues with the first LS that went into it.

FWIW, I used advance adapters unit that allowed me to keep the rest of the driveline for simplicity and lower cost.

Guess what I'm doing?

I'm driving and enjoying my Jeep like i've been wanting to this whole time.

I think oil pan placement and availability of parts also plays into folks use of the 350 Chevy over the Windsor.

I agree, first think I look at when I see an old Ford Hot Rod is 'where is the distributor' and 'does it have Siamese exhaust ports. I certainly appreciate a Ford into a Ford swap much more than your average SBC stuffed in.

I am in agreement here. All of the builds I have had a say in I have kept this mentality in my planning. I consider my Cummins-J20 what the J truck would have become( power train wise) if Chrysler had no phased them out. I have a wrecker buddy watching for a Hemi for the same type of swap into the wife's Waggy.
Both of my Willys will get 4.0 and 5 speeds. I just got a '90 jeep 2.5l, 5spd, axles and wire harness to replace the bastardized Buick v6, th400.

jaber wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:55 am I am in agreement here. All of the builds I have had a say in I have kept this mentality in my planning. I consider my Cummins-J20 what the J truck would have become( power train wise) if Chrysler had no phased them out. I have a wrecker buddy watching for a Hemi for the same type of swap into the wife's Waggy.
Both of my Willys will get 4.0 and 5 speeds. I just got a '90 jeep 2.5l, 5spd, axles and wire harness to replace the bastardized Buick v6, th400.

Now that's exactly what I'm saying! Powertrain staying within its lineage. I'd like to see more of this type of swap than off brand ones.

Phils67 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:02 am

jaber wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:55 am I am in agreement here. All of the builds I have had a say in I have kept this mentality in my planning. I consider my Cummins-J20 what the J truck would have become( power train wise) if Chrysler had no phased them out. I have a wrecker buddy watching for a Hemi for the same type of swap into the wife's Waggy.
Both of my Willys will get 4.0 and 5 speeds. I just got a '90 jeep 2.5l, 5spd, axles and wire harness to replace the bastardized Buick v6, th400.

Now that's exactly what I'm saying! Powertrain staying within its lineage. I'd like to see more of this type of swap than off brand ones.

Just put a Buick 350 in it. keep it authentic to history.

You're not along. I selected my FSJ because it was pre-Chrysler AMC. I am super happy to have a smooth running 258. I hope to buy a core and re-build one day so that i have a spare.

ArchitectJS wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 2:15 pm You're not along. I selected my FSJ because it was pre-Chrysler AMC. I am super happy to have a smooth running 258. I hope to buy a core and re-build one day so that i have a spare.

That 258 will run forever as long as it's maintained. Jeep I6 engines are bulletproof

I didn't read giant paragraph in the first post but looked at the responses so I think I have the gist of it.

I don't see the point of rebuilding an archaic design for the sake of authenticity when a modern, more powerful, more efficient, cleaner alternative is available.

Unless it's a restored collector piece.

That's why I put an archaic underpowered Diesel in mine. In my defense I will say that when I started this project in the early 90's there weren't a lot of other Diesels to choose from.

JMO - do what makes you happy and you can afford in time, effort and money. For more than 99% of owners, cars are a money-losing proposal, so all these arguments about the advantages of modern engines seem ... unconvincing. Plus old cars are a lot less safe than newer cars, so why would you invest your time/money/effort in one if there's not some other emotional reward?

Now that's exactly what I'm saying! Powertrain staying within its lineage. I'd like to see more of this type of swap than off brand ones.
[/quote]

Just put a Buick 350 in it. keep it authentic to history.
[/quote]

A Buick 455 ST1--Yeah Baby!!

The multiple buick 350 comments I register as sarcasm, but it's OG to the vehicle. So run with it in my opinion. I'm just saying, I'd rather see heritage and lineage over this whole "drop in whatever fits in" mentality. He'll if that's the case drop a Detroit 6v72, itll fit I'm sure. It's yalls rig. Do what you want. I'm just saying though

I prefer the preservation of heritage and lineage is all I'm saying. Wanna do a JK 3.6 swap, that to me is more honorable than some of the BEEP I see people swap. To each their own though I guess. Idk

You want a 5.3 go buy a chevy then, if you want a 302 go buy a bull nose Ford, etc

I missed the sarcasm of the 350 buick engine. But now that I think about it, AMC wasn't known for using their own stuff. When you get down to it the AMC engines and perhaps the original Qudratrac are just possibly the only two examples?

Im not a Purist but I do appreciate those that are. Id love to see a Atlas 4200 in a FSJ! Also, would a Gen 3 Hemi be aloud being that its from the parent company? In my dreams I envision a Short bed J10, set up for drag racing with Big tire Slicks in the back, a real tire skinny 33 in front with a boosted Hemi and Patina paint..

I understand keeping it in the family, and that's what I originally wanted to do with mine. However, I think it's just becoming impractical to keep the AMC 360 going. My block is in need of a rebuild but I don't want it to be down while I rebuild it. I just could not find a good block in my area to build up. However, pretty much every corner of the USA is littered with GM V8s at reasonable prices so I picked up an LQ4/4L80 combo.

Honestly, the TBI and AW4 swap gave me all the "modern" touches I wanted in a drivetrain. It's just when I started weighing the practicality of rebuilding an AMC block (parts availability, local machine shop knowledge) against swapping to a well know platform.... the swap won out.