chevy V-8 TH400 fit?

I have a '74 CJ5 and am going to try to stuff a 350/400/20 combo in it.
2 1/2" lift 44 rear.
I think it will fit, I'll cheat the motor ahead as far as I can and use old style (short) water pump and an electric fan.

Any insite?

 

I would think its doable, heck there are guys stuffing a SBC/TH350 in the early cj5's and they are even shorter than your jeep. I say measure and go for it

 

it will be a very tight fit. the TH400 is a few inches longer than the TH350. If you really pay attention to rear driveshaft length and angles it should work. You will definitely need to run a rear cv shaft.

 

If you are willing to change the wheelbase you could always install a set of toyota rear leafs and gain a couple of inches. Thats what I am looking at doing to stretch my wheelbase out but I want to comp cut the rear and have the rear tires almost flush with the rear of the body. Just a thought.

 

Jeep Cherokee XJ springs are popular for this also. They have an offset centering pin so can give a fair amount of flex with minimal spring wrap while allowing moving the axle back if you choose.

 

Well , I really don't want to mess with stretching the frame, or cutting the body, 'cause they're both in pretty nice shape. Although if I did cut the body I would probably make it into a little pickup style cab with a separate box, kind of like a little willys box.

I think I'll just slip it all together and see if it works.

I'm hopefully going to pull everthing out of storage this weekend.