It sounds like a no-brainer at first. But I'd like some opinions, before I swap this and kill myself.
First, the Jeep. It's a CJ-5, 99" wheelbase, 39.5's, D60 and 14 bolt. I'm not too worried about the drivetrain handling the power. It is NOT a street Jeep, although when on rare occasion it drives to the nearby trails I wish the big motor was in, 304's kinda slow.

The 304 is a bone stock 2 barrel, recently overhauled.

The 401 is a beast, forged pistons, big cam, single plane intake, ported heads, 11:1 compression, roller rockers, blah blah. Figure 400-450 HP. I have all the parts for it, it's sitting in storage needing only a gasket kit to bolt it together and drop in. When the CJ was stock I had that motor in and street raced it. :rasta: But now the Jeep is a rockcrawler, period. I don't need the power and fuel consumption 99% of the time. But, it's just sitting there- waiting to run. Sounds about like Mike Palmer's buggy.

I need to add fuel injection to either motor, so that's a moot point. So, run it- or sell it? The 304 runs fine.

You know, you should get that 401 together!

your cj did not come w/the 401?

Ok I got it

the cj was stock w/401
but originaly came with 304

Er, no. I don't think any CJ came stock with a 401.
When I bought mine it didn't have any engine in it. I put a stock 304 in, built the 401, dropped that in. Eventually put too big of a cam in the 401 and wiped out some lifters. Put the 304 back, fixed the 401, which is sitting ready to go. Got it? :flipoff2:
Now, back to my question: slow and easy, or ready to rip. Which one? I could give a shit which one the factory put in, if you know AMC's then you realize they are identical externally, so it's like taking out an engine and putting the same one back in- except for almost triple the power.

DO IT:D Throw that 401 in there! I would think about a new cam though. One that will give you the power at low RPMs and give decent torque at like 1500 or 2000 RPMs. A racing cam probably isn't gonna be much help to you when your crawling.

Even with the racing cam, a 401 is still gonna make plenty of power down low to move a Jeep, just so it's not too peaky as to cause it to run like shit at low RPMs.

Just think of how much better she'll do in the mud!

edelbrock intake and 4bbl on the 304

or

find a cheap AMC 360, edelbrock intake, 4bbl

hide the 401 (thats what i'm doing).

Aw hell, I guess I'll go for it. :D If I start rolling over all the time I'll blame you guys then.
Now, where'd I put that piston? I can only find 7 of them. :mad: This could suck.