Different Engine & Tranny Swap

xjcjfreek · Jun 9, 2008

Started the swap the other day. Its a 1986 cherokee, 2.8L, 904 auto transmission, np228, dana 30 front, dana 35 rear. I am swaping in a 1970 Chevy 250 inline 6 and turbo 350 auto tranny.

My jeep as stock.

Motor, tranny and tranfer case pulled.

Got the stock tranny and TC cleaned up

As well as the engine compartment

Here is my donor engine and tranny. Yes I relize the tranny is a 2 wheel drive but bear with me.

And thats as far as I have got so far. I will post more as the swap continues.
By the way, I am using an adapter from Novak to mate the turbo 350 and the np228.

beakie · Jun 9, 2008

just cause I have no idea... what are the benefits?
other than being an original idea.

poorboy_616 · Jun 9, 2008

Chevy straight six AKA "Stove bolt" six. Good engine, can make decent power with aftermarket parts.

Nice idea for a swap!

tbburg · Jun 9, 2008

You might want to consider a transfer case swap while everything is apart. A np-231 or -242 will fit in the hole where the-228 was, and they use a similar adapter.(actually, I think it's the same adapter with a different trans output shaft)

xjcjfreek · Jun 9, 2008

I was going to swap out the 2.8L in favor of a 3.4L but I couldn't find one in my area. I already had the inline 6 and turbo 350 in a written off nova. It has about 96,000 miles on it so it is a low miler. I have another car that has over 400,000 miles on the straight 6, it still runs like a top and has never been opened. As for benifits beakie, you must not have drove a vehicle with a 2.8L, gutless is a high praise. Besides that, my block was cracked and it was leaking lots of oil. Also I only got about 16-18 MPG and I expect to get somewhere around 20-22 MPG out of the straight 6 as that is what I got when it was in the nova. As for swaping the TC, I like the np228 with its all wheel drive feature. It also has a factory SYE if you look closely at the photo and my driveshafts are already there and work just fine. So I can't justify swaping it out as well.

RCP Phx · Jun 9, 2008

poorboy_616 said:
Chevy straight six AKA "Stove bolt" six. Good engine, can make decent power with aftermarket parts.

Nice idea for a swap!

Compared to what?Major waste of time/money vs doing a 4.0!

5-90 · Jun 9, 2008

RCP Phx said:
Compared to what?Major waste of time/money vs doing a 4.0!

Not so. I do believe there is a greater aftermarket for the Chevvy six vice the AMC six - and he's all set up to go with a 292 Chevvy six later, if the opportunity presents itself.

I'd like to see a copy of your notebook, once you get the swap done!

_MURDERED OUT_ · Jun 9, 2008

seems pretty cool, other than no efi. but i run the same transmission- a 2wd th350 with advance adapter output shaft installed and adapter housing to a rubicon roc-track case.

xjcjfreek · Jun 10, 2008

RCP Phx said:
Compared to what?Major waste of time/money vs doing a 4.0!

I personally don't know much about the 4.0L AMC engines, but from what I have read on this forum, there is a lot of problems with bullsh_t sensors and electronics.

uke:
I also don't know the first thing about EFI.

The chevy engine may be carberated, but it connects with a max of 6-8 wires and there are no sensors to make the engine run poorly. If it is running poorly then there is only a small number of things to check.

And 5-90, I will post everything I do to the jeep in this thread (regarding this swap).

5-90 · Jun 10, 2008

xjcjfreek said:
I personally don't know much about the 4.0L AMC engines, but from what I have read on this forum, there is a lot of problems with bullsh_t sensors and electronics.uke:
I also don't know the first thing about EFI.

The chevy engine may be carberated, but it connects with a max of 6-8 wires and there are no sensors to make the engine run poorly. If it is running poorly then there is only a small number of things to check.

Like you, I came up under carburettors, points, and condensers - and I'll still go back wherever possible.

However, when the possibility for off-camber operation exists, FI setups are more forgiving of that sort of thing. Also, simple FI setups are about as easy to diagnose as a carburettor setup, and if you keep the sensors renewed (most of them have a life of about 200K-300Kmiles - except HEGO at 80-100K, and the CKP at 120-150K...) you won't have any trouble there.

I do tend to prefer the RENIX setup, but mainly because it makes me do mine own thinking (which I prefer.) I don't like OBD-I - but that was a gift from the California Air Resources Board. OBD-II makes rather more sense, because it was an industrywide standard from the off (set by SAE.) I'll take OBD-II over OBD-I, but I do prefer pre-OBD setups.

Nice thing about RENIX? Most of the sensors are fairly standard GM parts, which keeps the prices down. The HEGO isn't, and the CKP isn't - and the TPS is somewhere in between. Everything else? Pretty standard GM.

Now, if I can just talk CA into letting me replace the damned EGR with a water/MeOH fogger, I'd be happy...

xjcjfreek · Jun 12, 2008

Well I ordered the turbo 350 to np228 adapter yesterday, so it should be here fairly soon. In the meantime I will get the engine ready. Got to repaint it and put all new gaskets on. The adapter cost me $575.50 US total, and that is shipped to canada. $38.30 for shipping. Will post more pics as progress continues.

xjcjfreek · Jun 27, 2008

While I have been waiting for the adapter to ship from Novak, I have been busy. I cleaned the engine using castrol super clean and a small wire brush. Then I painted the engine chevy orange and low gloss black, using hi heat engine paint from dupli-color. Also replaced all the gaskets. Found a HEI distributor in a parts car in the backyard (big backyard) to replace the stock points one.

Considering my jeep is a creamy white and brown and it will have a orange engine, I am dubbing it Project Creamsicle. :laugh3:

5-90 · Jun 27, 2008

Hmmmmm... Purty...

Nice job painting the engine, although the bare & dirty dizzy & fuel pump are a bit of a mismatch.

I'll be keeping an eye on this - it is an interesting project to watch. And you're right - any Stovebolt Six with around 100K on it is a "low-miler." Then again, I've got a 1988 4.0L with 300K on it, and it's still strong as well (it's just downchecked for a new transmission - finally getting rid of the damned Peugeot once and for all! - and a renewal of engine management. 20 years is a bit much to ask of any sensor in the engine bay, on anything...)

KMK172008 · Jun 27, 2008

no LS1 from a wrecked camaro?

xjcjfreek · Jul 28, 2008

Still waiting on the adapter from Novak. Aparently when I ordered they had all the parts in stock, but when they got my moneyorder some of the parts were out of stock. With that said, it was shipped out last thursday, so it should be here this week if all goes well. Then I just need to get my ass in gear and get the jeep running.

xjcjfreek · Aug 8, 2008

I got the adapter from Novak today. Yay:woohoo:
The adapter and tranny output shaft look well made and very stout.
Will post pics in the morning.

xjcjfreek · Aug 13, 2008

I forgot to take a pic of the adapter and output shaft before i got them installed, but I have after pics:clap:. Anyway, took the turbo 350 to the tranny shop to get the output shaft installed, they tore it apart and it turned out that it was in dire need of a rebuild

:bawl:. So I got it rebuilt and got the output shaft and adapter installed. Moving on. Got home, bolted the engine, tranny and tranfer case together. Slid the whole thing into place and bolted up the driveshafts. Please Note: I am using the original driveshafts. They have not been shortened or lengthened.

More pics and details to come in the following days.

xjcjfreek · Aug 15, 2008

OK I lied. I do have to get my driveshafts cut to fit. I just didn't have the room in front of the engine for the rad. Anyway, altered the crossmember to move the mount back, cut and re-made the hi-lo selector linkage and fabbed up a new tranny linkage to fit.

New hi-lo linkage. I had to overlap the joint to create the proper angle.

New tranny shift linkage. I used a piece of a long bolt in place of the factory end to account for adjustment. Welded a nut to another bolt for the piece that goes to the tranny end.

Please dont critique my welds. They dont look pretty but they won't break.

And now the engine is alot tighter to the firewall.

wolfpackjeeper · Aug 15, 2008

are you going to run a special radiator, or can you flip the water neck 180deg. I dont remember if the L6 used a symmetrical water outlet like most of the V8's did. nice looking swap so far though.

xjcjfreek · Oct 17, 2008

Passenger side motor mount.

Drivers side motor mount.

Power steering pump bracket.

Power steering pump off a 70 Chevy truck. The ends of the pressure hose are different, but the pressure hose fitting in the pumps swap over.

Alternator mount bracket. (I had to extend the ears of the bracket 4 inches for extra clearance)

Misc. extras installed.

Different Engine & Tranny Swap

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