i currently have a 61 CJ5 with the stock four popper and a T18 4spd, i wan to go to a V6, i would like to get one out of a wrecking yard or something wrecked.. wut would be the best V6 to by, and out of wut year of car or truck? or would i be better off with sum sort of V8?

tahnx:confused: :usa:

Well thats all up to you but The 4.3 in my jeep does very well. AND every thing that will bolt to the front of a 305, 350 or what have you, will bolt up to these. Such as power steering pump brackets, alternator brackets, waterpump etc. If you go with the buick or...? The brackets are much harder to come by. They can be easily built up too. then again this is my opinion tqake it for what its worth.

Thanx Mike

V-8 is a tough swap in the short fender'd CJ's. Probably the best fit would be a Ford 289, 302, 351. With your T-18 its rather straight forward, all factory pieces other than motor mounts. It does fit and actually make a good swap. You could look to the 5.0l injected moter going this route.

As for the V-6, the "best" bang for the buck would be the 4.3l vortech chebby. Jeep did use the Buick 225 "Dauntless" V-6 also, which shares a common bell housing with the later 231. There again you have factory pieces available, if you can find them...

chevy 4.3 V6 TPI/MPI/CPI
thats whats goin in my short fendered CJ5(course i wont have real fenders for long :D the TPI has 50 more HP stock than a TBI stock. it seems everyone here uses the TBI though

With the T18 you really need to go with a Ford motor and they do have a 3.8 that came in mid 80's mustanges. It came in other years and other vehicels I am sure. The problrm is that Ford has never made a v6 that was really widely accepted like a Buick or 4.3 so there is little potential for hopping up so a 302 mustange motor would be the ticket. To put that in you will need to do a fair amount of modifying to get it to fit in like: moving the tranny back so that you can get the motor as close to the firewall as you can and then cutting the entire shroud off the grill that your 4 banger radiator mounts to. Once that is done and motor is in then buy an aluminum radiator from Summit and see how much room there is to get it to fit.

I found a 4.3L V-6 TBI out of a astro for $400 at a pick and pull. I also replaced my T-90 with a SM 465. The fun part is figuring out the things you need to modify for the fuel injection.

Greg

i would suggest a buick 225 or 231 odd-fire v6 because they orignally came in 5's and it would be easy to swap one in. Also, they made more hp than 304's and they have a VERY heavy flywheel, somewhere between 50 and 75 pounds! :emb:

my vote goes to either the 4.3 or a 231 Buick even fire

wut did the chevy TBI V6 come in, wut would be a good donor?
:confused:

They came in Chevy S-10, S-15 trucks and blazers, I think full size trucks with a v-6 post 1990 or so, and probably their sedans with v-6s had them too.

they also came in the Astro vans

Mike

Im a Ford guy but Id advise against the 3.8 Ford V6. Like 66CJdean said, there isnt much you can do performance wise and they have a reputation for head gasket problems. 4.3 Chevy seems to have the most aftermarket support.

wut does the "tbi" meen? wut is the diffrence?
:question:

Throttle boby injection vs. tuned port injection and carbed

hey GregS, is that your jeep on Stockton Ave.? The one with the car cover on it?

i am going to have to say the 4.3's are great, but i like my 4.0 in my YJ. go find one out of a wrecked 95 or so and they slip in really easily into CJs. i am a big fan of the 4.0 though, and you are going to be in a 5, so i would probably stay away from v-8s, but you can do anything you want.

Originally posted by TXYJ
Im a Ford guy but Id advise against the 3.8 Ford V6. Like 66CJdean said, there isnt much you can do performance wise and they have a reputation for head gasket problems. 4.3 Chevy seems to have the most aftermarket support.

I'll second that advise against the Ford 3.8. That's the last V-6 I'd choose. My family has had several, and had nothing but problems with them. The head gaskets only seem to be good for 30k miles or so.

Originally posted by aaronlosey
i am going to have to say the 4.3's are great, but i like my 4.0 in my YJ. go find one out of a wrecked 95 or so and they slip in really easily into CJs. i am a big fan of the 4.0 though, and you are going to be in a 5, so i would probably stay away from v-8s, but you can do anything you want.

i imagine an inline 6 would be a tight fit in one of the old short fendered 5's.

Sanyi83

My rig is up at my folks house in Chico. I live in a condo here with no place to work.

Greg

It mainly depends on what bell housing you can get your hands on. The 225/231 take a buick BH with an adapter. The 4.3 uses a chevy Bh that will fit all chevy motors. With the chevy you can go later with the sm transmission with granny. Altough the ford T18 would bolt to a ford v6. I, myself run the 225 so my parts are limited to the buick 225 and the big 350 buick motor. With the 4.3 you can go fuel injection. Me if I knew better I would go with the 4.3 because it is the biggest of the bunch, stay away from any 2.8, they do not use the chevy BH pattern, they also came in S10. stay away from any front wheel drive v6, even if free.

GregS
well the reason I ask is because there is a rig on stockton Ave. It is SOA with 4ich lift springs. Looks like it dosen't have an engine. Thought it might have been yours.

I would have to say that 8 cylinders is better than 6.

8 last longer, have more power, more performance peices available.

a 6 cylinder anything is not as good as a 8 cylinder, this is my opinion but all the big ones on the roads is the proof your eyes need.
dont listen to anyone, just see it with your own eyes, big lasts longer, and therefore is somewhat better.

i'd take a inline 6 258 over a v8 360 anyday for durability. just cuz something is bigger does not necessarily mean it will last longer.

peej: i think you'll need to at least swap bellhousings, because the Fhead 134 is a really old engine. the tranny you have in there is mostly likely a t98, t18s weren't introduced til 1968.

easiest thing i can think of to do would be to swap in a AMC drivetrain, ala grand wagoneer. you should have a Dana 27 front axle and a Dana 44 rear; along with the t98 four speed and dana18, you should be able to handle a moderate v8.

you could go another route and swap the entire drivetrain out of a fullsize truck (3/4 ton chevy, ford, dodge, etc). it depends on how you want to wheel.

Originally posted by aaronlosey
i am going to have to say the 4.3's are great, but i like my 4.0 in my YJ. go find one out of a wrecked 95 or so and they slip in really easily into CJs. i am a big fan of the 4.0 though, and you are going to be in a 5, so i would probably stay away from v-8s, but you can do anything you want.

Obviusly you didn't see the 1961 CJ-5 part of the original question, an inline 6 of any brand will NOT fit with stock sheetmetal...:rolleyes:

Good call Dean, with having the T-18 already the small Ford V-8 is probably going to be the cheapest and easiest way out. Once you remove that raidator shroud / mount there is plenty of room for the small Ford V-8. It's not a bolt in mind you, put it requires the least amount of adapters / custom pieces.

bob, the t18 was never put in jeeps until 1968 (and then only in FSJs; the CJs didn't get t18s til 1971). he's got a t98. also, not everyone is gonna know that an early CJ can't handle an inline engine. kinda like not every CJ guy knows that full size jeep AMC20s are one piece.

The buick V6 can be put in using all factory parts.If I were using the Buick I would attempt yo find the Turbo charged 231 Used in the Regals and GNX's with the 4bbl. It has 60 hp and 100ft lb torque than the NA plus you dont have to mess with FI wiring issues . What brownbagg says about needing an adapter for the Buick bell housing is false. The Buick BH attaches directly to the tranny. This is the BH I am using to mate a FI 4.1 caddy V8 to my tranny in my 2A. My hangup is the Exhaust since the driverside exhaust goes straight out the back instead of dropping down and nobody makes headers.

Originally posted by WillyPete
bob, the t18 was never put in jeeps until 1968 (and then only in FSJs; the CJs didn't get t18s til 1971). he's got a t98.

If that's what he's got, then he's going to have a hard time adapting it. My T-98 started life behind an F134. The input shaft was about 7" long and is 10 spline 15/16" diameter. It's not really long enough to go through much of an adapter and about the only clutch disk you can use with it is the stock 8 incher. I was going to swap out the input shaft for a Ford T-18 input shaft. I found out the pilot hole in the gear end of the shaft is different from the T-18 to the T-98. I ended up using a Scout T-18 output shaft and a T-18 third gear. Here's a writeup on my swap showing the differences.T-98 vs. T-18 (http://www.jeeptech.com/oliver/Modifications/Transmission3.htm)

i like my 4.0 as well. i dont know if i would trust someone with "anti- christ" in his name though...:flipoff2:


- jake

Hy_desert_4wheeler got check out Maximum Torque Specialties at www.500cid.com They are into Caddy motors and swaps and have block style headers that dump straight down.Not sure if they have any for your 4.1 but worth a look.Blazin:rasta:

Thanks blazin I just looked at their site. They do not offer anything for the engine I have.