Parts from a 1971 Wagoneer into 1981 CJ-8?

[tvonkutz]

First let me start by saying that I am a newbie. This will be my first rebuild/restore project. My little brother is a Corvette mechanic and has been alot of help with fixing up my 1984 Silverado pickup. He's great with GM but doesn't know that much about Jeeps. So that's why I have turned to y'all.

I am about to begin a restoration/rebuild project on my 1981 CJ-8. It will be a frame-off with a fiberglass tub replacement. I'd like some advice about engine, transmission, and axle swaps. My brother has a 1973 Wagoneer that he said that I could have for parts. It's got an AMC 304 (the Scrambler currently has a four cylinder) that I think I will rebuild and swap out. How much work is the swap?

What transmission and axles came in a 1973 Wagoneer? I believe that it has Quadri-trac. Is it possible/worth swapping them into the Scrambler.

What other parts are worth using in the rebuild? Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Panther]

Welcome to the board!

I am both a scrambler and full size jeep nut so know a little bit of what you are trying to do...

The 304 in FSJs is unique and if you check nect to the motor mounts and see "360" stamped, I wouldn't be surprised. The auto is probably the Th400 which is a good trans. The tcase is either the quadra-trac or Dana 20. The QT is a full time tcase, meaning 4wd is always on and there should be no hubs on the front axle. There are conversion kits to convert the QT to part time but factory they are a full time tcase. The dana 20 is a part time tcase like the dana 300. Both can be had with low range, the QT had low as an option. Both also have an off set (passenger side) rear Dana 44 axle. The front in 73' is probably the dana 27 which is even weaker than the CJ dana 30. If you do swap the QT in do not run it w/o the hubs locked, you'll toast the cones in the QT that operate the front and rear differentiation

Anwyay, it sounds like a cool swap. I think it's easier to stick with as much drivetrain as possible to avoid the expense of pricey adapters, etc. If you want to swap just the 304 and not auto, you will need a stonger tranny because the T5, T4 and SR4 wil probably have reliability issues behind the 304. So it would be a good idea to look into a T18 or NP435 swap in addition to the V8.