V8 swap questions

[FZJ80ismybaby]

when you installed the v8, what did you do with the stock t-case, keep it, do you need a new torque converter. im doing a carb'd 350 swap with a turbo 350 trans, and wondering what all else needs to be done, besides motor mounts, adapter to the stock tcase, wiring harness, and floor plate for the shifter

this is for the 62 by the way, not much i could find for it

 

[iaintscared1969]

Keep the stock transfer and run a Downey adapter to it. Do I still owe you a part sheet?

 

[FZJ80ismybaby]

i was planning on it, the downey adapter? i was looking into the advanced adapters also

 

[FZJ80ismybaby]

what do i need to do in the way of drive shafts, lengthening or shortening?

 

[iaintscared1969]

Front will be longer and the rear shorter but they will be almost the same length when you are done

 

[Downey]

Here's the neat thing---you get to call me and talk (ask questions) to your hearts content. All the stuff you are asking is what I do for a living. Don't call today though, I'm leaving to put my mom in her final resting place.
Jim
(562)949-9494

 

[ntsqd]

Dang Jim! Sorry to hear that.

 

[iaintscared1969]

And when Jim says, You can talk to him he means it. He has probably forgotten more than most of us know about doing V-8 mods. BTW Jim our condolences to you and you family.

 

[lehiguy]

Bro, drop the TH350 and find a 700R4. They are plentiful. I have seen cores sell locally for $100 for a PAIR! Then you get a lower first gear and an overdrive. If you going to rebuild something, rebuild one of these.

 

[FZJ80ismybaby]

yes jim, sorry about your mother hope everything goes well

see, the thing about the tranny is that im getting the whole bundle including the block, everything on it already, and when i say anything i mean anything, plus the trans for 725 total and that comes with the rebuild kit for the tranny too, so i cant pass this deal up. will there be any modding the drive shafts to allow them to lengthen and shorten, or will they take car of that or their own. thanks

 

[Turtle60]

You should check local smog laws. I think that older engines into newer vehicles might be prohibited in some states. Someone on this board ought to know the answer.

If you don't have any smog laws, then you are good to go, but don't do a swap that you can never license.

An additional consideration is that the fuel savings from overdrive could pay off in a very short time if you do much highway driving.

 

[ntsqd]

General Rule of Thumb is that the engine configuration must be at least the same vintage as the vehicle, or newer. The way a CA smog ref put it to me, and why I phrased it the way that I did, is that technically any vintage engine block could be used so long as the configuration (Carb, TBI, TPI, emissions equipt. present, etc.) is of the same or newer vintage. Technically in CA they could reject you based on the actual engine vintage, but if you make it look like an '84 (or whatever year FJ) and it all is there & functioning I wonder if they'd worry about the actual block vintage. How it gets labeled is how it will be smoged (unless re-labeled with a new configuration) so the engine block vintage means nothing at that point.

 

[FZJ80ismybaby]

i live in good 'ol west virginia, where we like to live back in the olden days, where no one gave a s*** about the environment

 

[Tinker]

If you ever have an opportunity to move out of the woods (hope I never have to) or sell the wagon to someone who lives in a smog area, you'll have problems. The EPA rule is federal.

 

[FZJ80ismybaby]

ill never sell my wagon, unless its my only option, but you do bring up a good point, so i might be forced to take the way that causes less problems

 

[ntsqd]

At least set yourself up so that it's not a huge headache should you have to make it comply.

 

[FZJ80ismybaby]

yeah, what year should i go with, probably a 90 or later, however i really do not want all the smog equipment... but i guess i might just have to deal with it, i have another option on the line right now, for a chevy silverado with a 5 speed manual, and i really dont want a manual trans, gets to be a pain when offroading, ill look around for a 700r4,

 

[ntsqd]

My advice is to stay within the range of your rig's vintage and under 1996. In the '96 model year all of the OE's went to OBD II (use care in selection though, some OE's had optional OBD II as early as '94), which while good for diagnostics is bad for fitting equipment. At least in CA it is, and I am afraid that the other states look to CA and don't see what a F'd up system it is but that's it's the path of least resistance.

OBD II transplants in CA require that ALL of the emissions equipment from the donor be transplanted to the new vehicle. This means things like unless there is a EPA certified replacement Cat that you have to use the OE cat and regardless of what cat, it has to be in the OE location. For example, a '99 TransAm LS1 engine's right hand cat will hit the frame rail of a Jeep YJ no matter where you put the engine. Can rotate the cat, but it can't be an aftermarket std cat (which clears the frame) even if the aftermarket cat is in the correct place. This particular lesson was learned the hard way........

If looking at a Chevrolet I think you're looking for either a TBI or a TPI engine. The TBI's are simple system, but unfortunately are fairly dumb about adjusting for non-stock engine configs. That can be handled by burning a chip, and that is frequently done on those engines, but that may not be a route that you want to take. For 4X specific info on modified TBI engines I'd suggest searching coloradoK5.com's forum. I've been pleasantly surprised with the performance that I've gotten out of the 160K mile old TBI 350 in my '91 Suburban.
My info on TPI engines is only what I've read and I have no direct experience with them. However, they are my first choice in my search for a swap candidate.