Thoughts on an AMC 306 (it was free) (1 Viewer)

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Lemoore, CA (south of Fresno) / Cortes Island, B.C
OK need your opinions….

I acquired a free mid 80s Jeep Grand Wagoner with an AMC 360 V8. Engine is in good condition with an Edelbrock carb, all the accessories (I’ll convert the AC to OBA), and Advance sells and adapter/bell housing for my SM420. It would be a significant gain in power from my F engine.

The only cost would be in the Advance adapter conversion for $450, plus I would have to make motor mounts and a transfer case mount since the bell housing would no longer support the weight. I would also need a new radiator if mine doesn’t cool it.

I have upgraded my F engine as much as possible (FJ 60 ignition and all the other little tweaks that can be made to the engine) and it runs great, but going up steep grades and tacking at 2,700-3,000 RPMS is killing me.

Also, I just spent a bunch of time and money setting up the tranny and t-case. Can I mount the engine so they remain in the same place so I don’t need to modify my drivelines?

What are your thoughts on swapping an AMC 306 into my 73 (sm420, dana 18, 4.10 lock gears)?
 
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Well its kinda of a odd ball choice.But free is free.I have had several jeeps with the 360 amc motor .Although they ran good i found that i never really liked how much gas they sucked.That being said it was in a Wagoneer and they are heavy.my only other thought would be if you do this get the oil pump repair kit as this is a know problem with the 360. Good luck
 
I presume you mean an AMC 360 v8? In any case, you might be about the first guy to do this.

I'd be concerned about the distributor, engine mount, and exhaust manifold locations. If you can find no other advice, all you can do is pull your F engine and start test-fitting. If you don't want to move your transmission, you may be very limited in how the engine will line up with engine mounts. I would look at some Chevy 350 v8s for some eyeball awareness of fitment issues. Will the AMC engine clear your steering box? Shock towers? Firewall? Be close enough to the radiator?

Since this is an oddball swap, I suspect it will hurt the value of your truck (if you care). I think the later 360s (and the pickup engines) were EFI, so that might be worth looking into, either now or later.
 
Well, keeping the truck close to original is clearly not an issue. Not to rain on the parade, but I would have a hard time swapping out a drivetrain that runs "great" and that I had just put a lot of time, money, and effort into to get a setup that would require a similar outlay for only a marginal benefit. Unless it was just for the experience, of course.

I say marginal b/c I know a lot of the amc 304 V-8s declined in power as they progressed. Once into the eighties, they were barely making more power than the I-6s. Don't know if the 306 was the same way?:beer:
 
Thanks for the responses and I meant 360, not 306... Coffee didn't kick in yet. If I do decide to do this, it would be a year or two down the road. I can keep the engine in my garage as long as needed while I gather all the parts.

It is something to think about. If the motor doesn't sell while I am parting out this Grand Wagoneer, I'll keep it and see what I can do with it.

As for value, take a look at my sig line....not much that is origional anymore so it is for my pleasure, not for resale value.

Too bad it is an AMC engine and not a GM engine... but all the accessories are there and that is a major bonus and wiring would be a breeze. Maybe someone out here has done a 360 swap. Anyone?
 
I wouldn't spend that kind of money on an oddball. Save up for a 350 conversion. It's not that much more $$. The support available and resale value will more than make up the difference and you can get some $$ parting out the heep parts.
 
can you use a mark's adapter with GM 5.7 and not alter your driveline?

I think the 360 would be somewhat of an oddball engine at this point in time. Seems like a GM SBC would be the better choice for V-8 power along with the supply chain and proven solutions.
 
Ed... Is being an oddball any reason not to use something? If that were the case, you would be friendless :)

If Advanced has a full kit for it, there has to be someone using this engine.

So what is the cost of a 350 conversion (engine and all)? Largest cost for the 360 would be for the adapted bellhousing (includes pressure plate, clutch, fork, ,puss rod etc) is about 450 so maybe 600 total.
 
Half-jokingly -- see if you can find a guy who is thinking about putting a SBC he has laying around into his old Jeep and swap with him. :D

Then he can deal with the perpetually leaky rear main seal, atrocious MPG and less-than-great power for a big, heavy V8, but he can keep his rig "all Jeep."

Honestly, I think it would be an exercise in frustration, but if you do it, post it up. I'll follow...
 
The AMC 360 w/a 4 barrel is a good, strong' engine & would be the only AMC motor I would consider. AMC used them when the were in NASCAR. The 304,360,390 & 401 blks are the same externally,w/ the CI printed on them under the motor mount bracket. On board air would be a piece of cake because they used the york compressor. @ high RPM if they start popping because of valve float they will bend valves. The SBC is more forgiving. IIRC, Instead of buying a conversion kit you can get the 80-86 CJ bellhousing & a little machine work you can adapt a sm420 to bolt up to it. Look on the NOVAK website, thbey tell you what you have to do. I'm pretty sure the machine work was minimal or they sell the part. I know, I would not buy a conversion kit for a 360 @ $450. Also, the rad hoses(upper & lower), go in the opposite locations as the toyota 6cylder & SBC. Another option to use a 360 might be trying to find the stk j**p 76-79 CJ bellhousing, T-18trans/dana 20 tcase, and center the L/C rearend.

You will probably not get a whole lot of $ if you were to sell the motor. There is not much demand for them.

As an after thought, you might be able to use the quadratrac auto trans(I think its a turbo 400), & I think the rear output on the tcase is offset.
 
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So what is the cost of a 350 conversion (engine and all)? Largest cost for the 360 would be for the adapted bellhousing (includes pressure plate, clutch, fork, ,puss rod etc) is about 450 so maybe 600 total.

I figure you could do it for about double that with some searching for a good junkyard 350.

I would not consider, under any circumstances, buying a cruiser that had a conversion other than a Chevy or Toyota...well, maybe that Jag V12.
 
Your budget of 450-600 is under-sized. You will have $300+ into an exhaust system, even w/o cats. If have to move the bellhousing, add two driveshafts to the tab. I would set aside $1200-$2000 for the swap and then see what you can save along the way. I put an '83 2F into a '65 FJ45 and was amazed at the expenses I hadn't seen coming.

I wouldn't remove an F/2F to put in any V8 engine, in general, so my take is skewed.
 
Well, maybe free doesn't mean I should do it. . .

I checked out the Novak page and it seems pretty easy to modify a heep bell housing. So I could probably do that for the cost of the bellhousing and related clutch parts and I can bend my own exhaust.

It looks like I will try to get a few bucks for the complete engine and if there are no takers, I'll pull it before it goes to the scrap yard and throw it it storage. If my F ever dies, maybe I'll use it.

THanks for the opinions fellas.
 
Don't worry about being oddball if you know the motor. I shoehorn Pontiacs into everything since in my opinion they're a superior motor to small blocks as the engineering that went into them was a step above. That being said you'll be in uncharted water, with my install for my 63 I had the motor in and out probably 3 times as well as the transmission and transfercase to make sure it was done the way I wanted it. I made my own crossmember and motor mounts as theres nothing commercially available thats even close. However mine fits so well I can keep stock driveshafts with the three speed as I'm planning on using a Super T10 when my inventory of three speeds depletes since I have a purpose built wheeler in the works and wanted a street freak to cruise in as a DD. I wouldn't advise doing this without rebuilding the motor because frankly with the work and money it seems silly to go through the effort to put in a worn out motor. I feel this way about almost any conversion though.

NOTE: I also have a small block for my crawler due to ease of parts availability, in no way am I implying that the sbc is not a proven motor. I'm not a professional drivetrain specialist and this is just my experience having been down this road.
 

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