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V8 Swap Running Gear

J

joejeep92

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Beloit, KS
Just rebuilt my motor for my 350 SBC and getting all other details nailed down. Stock motor. Nothing major done to it other than a standard rebuild. My question is my other components. Keeping AX-15/231 but currently running 30/27 spline 8.25 with 3.07's. Wanting to keep it close to stock height...kind of a sleeper build to make the local Chevy nuts mad. Do you think the 30 combined with a 29 spline 8.25 will stand up to the bigger motor keeping in mind a rear lunchbox and front ox locker?
 
I dunno what numbers your SBC will be putting down but I think if you keep it on stockish tires it should be OK, provided it is a street jeep. In rocks & suck... I have no idea how that would turn out. Video?
 
joejeep92 said:
Just rebuilt my motor for my 350 SBC and getting all other details nailed down. Stock motor. Nothing major done to it other than a standard rebuild. My question is my other components. Keeping AX-15/231 but currently running 30/27 spline 8.25 with 3.07's. Wanting to keep it close to stock height...kind of a sleeper build to make the local Chevy nuts mad. Do you think the 30 combined with a 29 spline 8.25 will stand up to the bigger motor keeping in mind a rear lunchbox and front ox locker?
Click to expand...

For a stock rebuild sbc...
Vortec: 250-280hp
Pre-Vortec: ~225hp

headers help with power and economy (may be an issue in a XJ... I'd suggest a set of Sandersons if you don't want to custom fab some pipes), stock 'log' style manifolds are not ideal.

I think you'll be pushing the AX-15 near, perhaps at- its limit. I'd personally look into a manual gearbox out of a 1990s GM pickup for a sturdier unit (and ease of swapping compared to having to track down bellhousings), or of course GM has a wide array of slushboxes out there.
 
make the local Chevy nuts mad; what about all the Jeep fans ? that would be the LAST non stock swap I'd consider; I'd do 318 Dodge or 302 Ford before Chevy anything.....
I like SBC swaps; as long as the "C" means Chrysler!
 
volaredon said:
make the local Chevy nuts mad; what about all the Jeep fans ? that would be the LAST non stock swap I'd consider; I'd do 318 Dodge or 302 Ford before Chevy anything.....
I like SBC swaps; as long as the "C" means Chrysler!
Click to expand...
so you don't like horsepower and reliability? :D
i'm a ford fan and i hate GM right now, but a small block chevy is hard to beat.
 
If you get an NV-3500 out of a Chevy pickup, it'll bolt into the XJ using the 00/01 standard trans hardware. The -3500 and the -3550 used in the last XJs and later TJs are the same transmission. The 3500 just has a fixed bell housing. Came in 2 versions - SBC bolt pattern, and Chrysler LA/Magnum pattern. Should stand up to a SBC in an XJ easy.
 
Axles should be fine. If they fail, make them better.
 
I have access to LOTS of Chevy motor parts. Big ford fan myself but I consider the Chevy swap the best for my purposes. I did consider another manual gearbox and possibly t-case as well...it is a stock rebuild as I don't see myself needing more. Motors in my mind are best set up when they are stock. I can either stroke a 4.0 making it do something it was never really designed to do or go with a stock 350 just doing what it does.
 
if the 350 in my chevy van ever dies, i'll probably build a semi mild vortec 5.7 for it. maybe 350hp ish. but i agree, the more stock the engine is, the better.
 
joejeep92 said:
I have access to LOTS of Chevy motor parts. Big ford fan myself but I consider the Chevy swap the best for my purposes. I did consider another manual gearbox and possibly t-case as well...it is a stock rebuild as I don't see myself needing more. Motors in my mind are best set up when they are stock. I can either stroke a 4.0 making it do something it was never really designed to do or go with a stock 350 just doing what it does.
Click to expand...


The 4.0 (242) was originally a 4.2 (258), and was offered in other displacements (supposedly Mexico got a larger displacement engine based off the 258) in earlier years. But you do have a point, the less stress an engine is under, the longer it'll last, like an old tractor engine.
 
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