Goose
I'll chime in just to give you a ray of hope..You can certainly do it on the cheap..what usually happens is the "Well since It's apart disease" you know .. Well since I have it apart..I'll have those rods resized..(oh gee well then you better have the crank turned too...and well if were gonna do that then.. hmmm those arp rod bolts sure are strong...yada yada yada) for the most part for a daily driver.. (and I know some of you guys are shaking your heads but I love ya anyway..) you replace whats worn and put it back together.. these engines are hellaciously overbuilt on the bottom ends..but a word of advice.. the "waterpump" cover is actually the timing cover and if it's in the slightest bit worn (in the oil pump cavity etc) replace it..and dont scrimp.. the oiling system is the place in the AMC that will bite you..that and the distributor /cam gears mismatch
(Just my opinion and I have several that have been overhauled just like that and they run fine..
Ok you 900 hp guys be nice!
killahxft_jeep
well now you guys have got me thinking.. about ditching the 304 again.. and going with the 360.. only problem there.. is most 360's came with an auto tranny.. and my CJ has a t-18 so I'd need to find a 360 flywheel, or get my 304 flywheel (which has been resurfaced) balanced to the 360.. ughh.. even then.. the 360 probably needs some work done to it before I'd be satisfied.. just thinki9ng if I drop all that money into the 304 and I'm not happy witht he power it puts out. and all my parts I have now will still bolt onto the 360..
I dunno, I'm at the crossroads here. do I get the 360, and run it for a year or so, and rebuild it over the winter, or do I get the 360, tear into it, and have it rebuilt with all the goodies and just wait for it to be done/paid for? I dunno, I'm thinking I'll sit on this idea for a while, while searching for a 360... maybe I'll get lucky and buy my buddies waggy off him.. his 360 runs.. and I know he does'nt have the money to keep it running on the road (he can barely keep his built up YJ and BMW on the road) I dunno..
gschuld
Having replaced a 304 with a rebuild 360 myself in a 76 cj5 (t-150 trans, dana20, dana 44 rears, 4.10 gears, 33/12.5/15 BFG all terrains) I can tell you first hand that there is a BIG difference between the two. I totally understand that Maine might not be the easiest place to find AMC engines, but is there a chance that you could find a decent running 304/360 for a few hundred bucks that you could run for in your Jeep for a while. Here is my thinking on this. If you could get a motor cheap, you could be running your long dormant jeep sooner. Then you would be free to spend some time and find a good 360 core for a rebuild and then spend all the time you need to put together a good motor within a budget. Having been through it myself, unless the gods are with you, an engine rebuild will take longer, be more complicated, and end up costing more than we think is reasonable. So you can take your time and when your new 360 is done, you will have a running motor to take out as a spare. And according to my version of Murphy's law, having a spare engine available will cut the chances of having a catastrophic problem/failure of a freshly rebuilt motor in half...at least. If you were in the NY/NJ/PA area, a 200 buck running 360 would be an easy find. Hope this helps.
George
killahxft_jeep
I have no problems taking a weekday off of work to go on a roadtrip.. just need to steal my buddies little 4cyl Ford Ranger for the long haul as my 1 ton GMC gets about 15 MPG highway (If I'm lucky!)..
and hope that the person I'm buying the 360 from does'nt have me show up to a nearly dead motor. seriously if any of you can help me locate a 360 I can show up within a week or two with cash in hand.. I am by no means poor, but I'm not made of money either. I just want and engine at a reasonable price.. compression numbers would be excellent.. I'm not above going for a day's road-trip to locate a good running motor to use in my CJ for now. I'm located in midcoast maine. Portsmouth NH is about a 3 hour drive for me. let me know if you guys find anything. I'll keep looking around here. thanks.
gschuld
I can't say that I've been looking lately. There are definitely 360's in jeep wagoneer/grand cherokee/j-10's around here. Someone mentioned a 65 dollar motor junkyard deal on a regular basis. I take it you will have to pull it yourself. I'd put a post in the wanted section here and on amcforums.net and amcforums.com if they ever get it back online. There are plenty of AMC/Jeep guys out there with spare stuff. I usually have extra running stuff myself, but I just just let my decent 304 go a few months ago to a friend and sold my 60,000 mile 258 for nickels. I do have a 1968 running 343/4bbl. on the stand, but it is a bit worn, compression is even but less than ideal. It would need a 343 specific flywheel as well. I would think a 360 would be a better bet for you. Personally I wouldn't make the 22 hour+ round trip for my motor if it was free and someone else paid for your gas money. I've been fortunate enough to have enough AMC stuff fall into my lap that looking for them was never a high priority. I would certainly think that if you are willing to drive some that you would find what you are looking for if you put the word out/look around.
George
1980_Cj7
Another good place to start would be on the For Sale and Wanted pages both here and on Jeeps Unlimited.
killahxft_jeep
I'm in luck.. friend of mine went to a local truck repair shop "Copeland's" garage in warren and asked them for me if they had a 304-360 in running order. come to find they had a 360 sitting in the shop already pulled. motor had been pulled from a running DD waggy. so no reason to think it would'nt work out well for me.. the owner of the motor knew the owners very well and said he never heard of any problems with the motor consuming oil, or anything like that. so I may have found a running block for my CJ5.. for 200 bones!!
now... I'm planning to run the motor in it's current condition.. I am however planning to put it on the engine stand. and pull the oil pan.. clean that out entirely.. spray out the block with carb cleaner. clean up the exterior with a scraper, and engine cleaner. spray some oil at the pistons clean up the oil pickup screen and load it up with new oil/filter. and then check on the condition of the oil pump pressure.. cranking it over with a drill. put on my edelbrock intake/carb, and install the HEI. anything else I shoud watch for? going to do a compression test after I get it running..
keep in mind that eventually this motor will get a FULL rebuild. but not for a year or so...
gschuld
Excellent...good for you! I'm sure that you will be glad that you have a 360 to run for a while. Now if can get lucky and score yourself another 360 for real cheap as a core, you can built that motor at your liesure while being able to DRIVE your jeep to and from the machine shop. Trust me when you get that used 360 in there, as long as it is running well, you simply won't be able to justify pulling apart a perfectly good engine to rebuilt it while leaving you without a functional jeep for MANY months. Perhaps if you don't mind being without the jeep during one of those arctic winters and you have everything you need in hand, you could have it ready for springtime. Just keep in mind my Murphy's Law theory about spare running engines! Anyway, I'm glad to hear the good news.
George
1980_Cj7
I'd pull the valve covers too and clean up the tops of the heads if they need it, and make sure the oil return holes are open and clear. I'm sure you were planning to do this and just didn't mention it.
While you have the pan off, it would be easy to pull some caps and look at some bearings, but...I have to warn you, everytime I've done so, I've found bearings that should be replaced. Then you have the dilema do I or don't I. You might be better just turning a blind eye and not looking since you are planning a major rebuild in the near future anyhow.
We did exactly what you are planning with a $150 junk yard 258. (Didn't look at the bearings, but did put a new rear main seal in it while the pan was off.) Basically cleaned it up, put a tune up on it, and it ran like a champ for 5 years for us until we just replaced it with the 401.
killahxft_jeep
brought the motor home today.. seems to be in good overall shape.. been stored in a semi trailer for about 4 years. oil pan leaks a bit.. easily solved with a little brazing.
went to the local Napa. ordered up a set of oil pan gaskets, valve cover gaskets, and picked up some Rotella T 15w-40, a napa gold stubby filter, and a few cans of engine degreaser, carb cleaner, and a few brushes.. gaskets are on order till friday, but looks like I have the time to get to cleaning up the ol girl.. and determine exactly what year motor it is. I'm hoping I picked up the right oil filter, napa is right next to my work.. so no worries if it's not correct. going to take everything off the front end (minus the balancer) and give them a good cleaning, and few coats of high temp paint, check on the condition of the water pump and see if that needs replacing..
1980_Cj7
If you mean you want to pull the timing cover, you can't get that off without pulling the damper/balancer. All you can get off without pulling the damper is the pulleys and waterpump.
The oil pan from the 304 will fit the 360. If you don't want to mess with fixing the leaky one, just switch them. That was a real nice thing with the AMC's, lot's of interchangeability.
