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1982 CJ8

2

24volt

Legacy Registered User
City
Palmer
State
ak
So this is my second attemp to rebuild a CJ8. My first one was an Alaska Postal about 14 years ago. It was a cold gas eating pig with no oil pressure. I sold it right after I PCSed to Mountain Home Idaho to a rural route mailman.

This one has a little better body and a half cab but just an engine. Just an engine condition unknown! So I'm starting with a blank canvas. I have a set of axles from a previous project with 4:10 gears, air lockers and the wider springs.

I want to keep a 6 cylinder (with fuel injection) and would like a automatic (it was a manual) and Dana 300.

Any ideas on the best donor vehicles for a drive train swap?

I have a source for a 300 but he is on the high side but they seem hard to find for some reason, probably because I'm looking for one.

If you know of anyone in Alaska with parts point them in my direction.
 
24volt said:
So this is my second attemp to rebuild a CJ8. My first one was an Alaska Postal about 14 years ago. It was a cold gas eating pig with no oil pressure. I sold it right after I PCSed to Mountain Home Idaho to a rural route mailman.

This one has a little better body and a half cab but just an engine. Just an engine condition unknown! So I'm starting with a blank canvas. I have a set of axles from a previous project with 4:10 gears, air lockers and the wider springs.

I want to keep a 6 cylinder (with fuel injection) and would like a automatic (it was a manual) and Dana 300.

Any ideas on the best donor vehicles for a drive train swap?

I have a source for a 300 but he is on the high side but they seem hard to find for some reason, probably because I'm looking for one.

If you know of anyone in Alaska with parts point them in my direction.
Click to expand...

Best donor for what you're looking for is any new Jeep XJ/TJ with the 4.0 six cylinder.
 
I had two I was selling a couple years ago. Had them on craigslist for nearly a year. All of a sudden, there're three people trolling some of the FB pages for Dana 300s. My suggestion is to keep checking craigslist, but also get on the Alaska CJs Facebook page, and the Last Frontier Jeep Swap/Buy/Sell page.

As for donor engine or EFI, I've got a buddy with a MOPAR MPI kit that he's selling. It came with a 7 that he got for parts. He'd probably sell you the whole engine, or just the MPI kit. Otherwise, Polarfire is spot on: get a 4.0L from a YJ/TJ/XJ. But this leads right into the transmission discussion, as the autos would be the AW4 (which is a great transmission. But there's really nothing all that bad about the OEM TF999 (I also had one of those for sale for over a year) that was the OEM transmission, and the same transmission that was in your postal). (My friend may have a transmission for you too; I think it's an automatic in his parts 7.) Keeping that trans would allow a bolt-together operation without needing any adapters, if you keep your 258. If you got with a 4.0L and the AW4 transmission, you'll need an adapter for the Dana 300.
 
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I did an XJ 4.0/AW4 into my postal and kept the AW4 specifically for the overdrive, which is definitely worth it IMHO because I drive mine on the highway long distance. If you're not looking for high-speed driving capability, there is definitely nothing wrong with a good 999.

I have a thread on here about my swap.
 
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