A bunch of things

Here is a few more pics. I'll leave engine part 3 to when I have the block back from the shop, however the status at present is the 87 block is good!!! So the configuration is going to be 87 block and 78 crank and connecting rods... and a 4.0L High output head that I bought from Florida. The head has been modified to work with the 258 (4.2L) by the excess water jacket holes being welded shut. To compliment this head I have bought a Clifford Performance intake manifold and header. This is a modification that will supposedly give me 40-50 more horses. For lungs I am going to add a GM TBI fuel injection system from a 92 4.3L Astrovan. Also I have decided on the Ford 8.8 rear end and have even been so bold as to purchase one from a 1998 ford Explorer XLT. I have bought 4.56 Superior gears for the ford 8.8 as well as my front Dana 30 and I'm going to throw in a locker front and back while I'm at it.

Engine part 2

Ok, 87 engine is cleaned up best I can. The crank is bad, but the block is pretty good. The 78 looks great however and its crank is perfect. If the 87 is good to go, I'll put the crank and connecting rods from the 78 into it. The crank from the older 258 is heavier and supposedly better. I found a web site talking about drag racing with this engine, and the old crank was sought after while the new lighter one is not. Stripping this engine down was pretty easy, except for the one piston I had to beat on to get out. looks like the bore that had open valves rusted a little and this is the source of my seized status. Now, to Constantines Engine Machine shop!

Engine part 1

Now, not long after I bought the Jeep, I "blew" the engine. Being 17 years old, I didn't know what this really meant, however I did know that I wanted to keep the old "blown" Engine for posterity. A replacement was found and $800 later the Jeep was running again... and the old 87 Engine started its 15 year rust cycle in my garage. I blew the second engine again years later on the Queensway in Ottawa, coming home from work at Nortel. Donny was with me when the thing started making an awful noise, so we pulled over. The old 258 was clanging away when finally a connecting rod busted out through the side of the block and started pissing oil. Now the engine is still running... finnaly it died and another $800 later I have the third engine in the Jeep. This one is a very fresh 1978 258 with only 80k on it. Came out of a Paser or something, apparently the old guy that owned the car only drove it back and forth to the liqueur store and on one such trip wrapped the thing around a pole. This was still 10 years ago, so even at that point the engine was 20 years old and the AMC blue engine enamel was still mostly intact. This is the Engine I removed from the frame in December. It was a little worse for ware sitting in the jeep for 8 years... ie siezed solid, however it is the most likely candidate for rebuilding. At this point I had little hope of rebuilding my old 87 engine but I was going to clean it up anyway and give the machine shop the choice of which block to re-build.

Stripping the Frame

With the body off and out of the way, I removed the front and rear end from the frame and inspected all the bits and pieces. My front end looks fine, the Dana 30 is good to go with some better gears however the rear Dana 35c is by all accounts a piece of crap. Apparently its the weakest rear end in any modern 4x4. So, after a bit of googling, I will be replacing this with a waggy Dana 44 or a Ford 8.8.