Hey all, great site here! Love the info and all the sharing that goes along with it. Hope to find some chums around me here or close to Flint, MI so I can learn as much as I can from them. And offer as much as possible to them (two talented and more importantly, willing, helpful hands)! So greetings, and on with the story.
So, I currently have a 79 CJ5, AMC 360, t-176, twin stick dana 300, Wide track AMC 20 rear with one piece axles, detroit, 4.56's, wide track D30 front, open, 4.56's, 4" spring lift, 2-3" body lift, rollcage, 33" boggers. That pretty much sums up my little jeep.
I also just recently got my Big jeep up and running, however not prettied up. 85 CJ7 frame, 94 YJ tub, AMC 360, T-150, D20, Front D60, 4.56, 35 spline drive flanges, custom crossover steering, 2" BDS yj SOA, rear 4 link, 14 bolt, 4.56, welded, disc brakes, tj coils, cage, H2's with new 39.50 Iroks. I'm sure theres more, but you get the idea. This big guy was my first real rodeo, and needless to say, I'm hooked. I bought the jeep mid project almost 5 years ago and had it out for the first time last thanksgiving. Learned a ton, and spent even more.
So the plan when I purchased the YJ7 was to use it and be happy. Well, that plan took long enough to have a monkey wrench (third child) thrown into it before it was completed. Needless to say, hard to fit a wife and three kids, all under 6 years old into a cj7 that has a 15 gallon fuel cell tucked into the rear cabin area. So my plan changed and I decided I was going to halt work after I got it up and running and wait until this summer passed and then I was going to cut it all in half and add 16" to the wheelbase and the tub/frame. And I thought that would buy my happyness. But I have always wanted a scrambler!
And I found one, made a stupid low offer on it, and made a trip to go pick it up. Well on arrival, the scrambler was wasted, through and through (pun intended)! The tub is nearly unrepairable, and I don't wish to repair it. The frame even more so! The repairs that had been made years ago were even failing it was so bad. I could put my fist inside the frame in multiple areas. So, it needed a tub and a new frame. So I got it for an even lower price. Good thing about this deal was that I got a useable vin plate and a clear title. Along with a NEW fiberglass tub, even though I am not a very big fan of fiberglass, as well as a freshly rebuilt 5.3L GM motor with the scrap metal I purchased. I am still waiting to pick these last two precious items up from him and hoping he gets his ducks in a row soon so I can move forward with this project.
So I am in the planning stages here and need some help. I have sourced a frame. It is actually a YJ-L frame. In really nice shape. A small amount of surface rust, but has a gearbox, intermediate shaft, and is already set up for YJ springs, so I won't need to convert a CJ frame to YJ springs as I had planned. And it is only 75 minutes from me.
My plans for this scrambler are sunny day cruising to the ice cream store, and throwing sand on the other side of the state at Silver Lake Sand Dunes. I want to make this a nice "re"-build and do a good job on everything while doing it all myself.
So, where I need help is making the choice between the drivetrain I have in my CJ5 or going with the modern 5.3 rebuild.
My original plan was to pull the questionable 304/9xx/300 and swap the 360/t176/300 from my CJ5 as well as the already proven axles/tires I have under it into the CJ8. Replace what I stole with other parts I have here and ship the CJ5 on down the road. However once I found the YJ-L frame, I wasn't going to steal the 4" springs anymore and that lead me to start questioning other things as well.
If I go the 5.3 route, I am still considering going th400, because I have one here, or 4L60. Either would work good for ice cream runs and the sand dunes, but I would like the option to hit 70-75 on the free way with out turning 3,000 rpm's too. So any input on this choice would be awesome.
But more importantly the 5.3 will cost me at least an additional 3-5k and I am wondering if we go to sell it later in life, would I be able to recoup that additional investment?
So, after all that rambling in the rambling section, do you guru's think a 5.3/4l60/300 cj8 would be worth an additional 5+k on the back end in resale over a 360/t-176/300?
Thanks for your thought and ask any questions you have. And to help the comparison, the 5.3 is suppose to be a stock rebuild and the 360 has @ 3500 miles on it now and PO said it was suppose to be around 375 hp. Just FYI. Thanks, again.
So, I currently have a 79 CJ5, AMC 360, t-176, twin stick dana 300, Wide track AMC 20 rear with one piece axles, detroit, 4.56's, wide track D30 front, open, 4.56's, 4" spring lift, 2-3" body lift, rollcage, 33" boggers. That pretty much sums up my little jeep.
I also just recently got my Big jeep up and running, however not prettied up. 85 CJ7 frame, 94 YJ tub, AMC 360, T-150, D20, Front D60, 4.56, 35 spline drive flanges, custom crossover steering, 2" BDS yj SOA, rear 4 link, 14 bolt, 4.56, welded, disc brakes, tj coils, cage, H2's with new 39.50 Iroks. I'm sure theres more, but you get the idea. This big guy was my first real rodeo, and needless to say, I'm hooked. I bought the jeep mid project almost 5 years ago and had it out for the first time last thanksgiving. Learned a ton, and spent even more.
So the plan when I purchased the YJ7 was to use it and be happy. Well, that plan took long enough to have a monkey wrench (third child) thrown into it before it was completed. Needless to say, hard to fit a wife and three kids, all under 6 years old into a cj7 that has a 15 gallon fuel cell tucked into the rear cabin area. So my plan changed and I decided I was going to halt work after I got it up and running and wait until this summer passed and then I was going to cut it all in half and add 16" to the wheelbase and the tub/frame. And I thought that would buy my happyness. But I have always wanted a scrambler!
And I found one, made a stupid low offer on it, and made a trip to go pick it up. Well on arrival, the scrambler was wasted, through and through (pun intended)! The tub is nearly unrepairable, and I don't wish to repair it. The frame even more so! The repairs that had been made years ago were even failing it was so bad. I could put my fist inside the frame in multiple areas. So, it needed a tub and a new frame. So I got it for an even lower price. Good thing about this deal was that I got a useable vin plate and a clear title. Along with a NEW fiberglass tub, even though I am not a very big fan of fiberglass, as well as a freshly rebuilt 5.3L GM motor with the scrap metal I purchased. I am still waiting to pick these last two precious items up from him and hoping he gets his ducks in a row soon so I can move forward with this project.
So I am in the planning stages here and need some help. I have sourced a frame. It is actually a YJ-L frame. In really nice shape. A small amount of surface rust, but has a gearbox, intermediate shaft, and is already set up for YJ springs, so I won't need to convert a CJ frame to YJ springs as I had planned. And it is only 75 minutes from me.
My plans for this scrambler are sunny day cruising to the ice cream store, and throwing sand on the other side of the state at Silver Lake Sand Dunes. I want to make this a nice "re"-build and do a good job on everything while doing it all myself.
So, where I need help is making the choice between the drivetrain I have in my CJ5 or going with the modern 5.3 rebuild.
My original plan was to pull the questionable 304/9xx/300 and swap the 360/t176/300 from my CJ5 as well as the already proven axles/tires I have under it into the CJ8. Replace what I stole with other parts I have here and ship the CJ5 on down the road. However once I found the YJ-L frame, I wasn't going to steal the 4" springs anymore and that lead me to start questioning other things as well.
If I go the 5.3 route, I am still considering going th400, because I have one here, or 4L60. Either would work good for ice cream runs and the sand dunes, but I would like the option to hit 70-75 on the free way with out turning 3,000 rpm's too. So any input on this choice would be awesome.
But more importantly the 5.3 will cost me at least an additional 3-5k and I am wondering if we go to sell it later in life, would I be able to recoup that additional investment?
So, after all that rambling in the rambling section, do you guru's think a 5.3/4l60/300 cj8 would be worth an additional 5+k on the back end in resale over a 360/t-176/300?
Thanks for your thought and ask any questions you have. And to help the comparison, the 5.3 is suppose to be a stock rebuild and the 360 has @ 3500 miles on it now and PO said it was suppose to be around 375 hp. Just FYI. Thanks, again.
