Getting a AMC V8 in the frame. Tricks?

Ok, so the jeep stymied me today.....

I have a CJ8 frame I wanted to set an old 360 in. I am practicing for when the 401 in ready. And I'm glad I did.

First think I learned is to not use the motor mounts on the block to feed the chain through. No matter how balanced and secure you think it is, the motor can spin and wind up hanging upside down. That kinda sucks. But not like if it was the rebuilt 401. OK, so set it down and screw bolts in the heads and screw the chains to the heads. Much better.

OK, the question. I am using what I was told was V8 frame horns. They appear to match a 304 CJ I have. I am using Poly mounts (Energy Suspension brand?). The motor came out of a waggie and I'm using the block motor mounts that came on the motor. again, they seem to match what is on the 304.

The problem is the the frame appears to be about 2 inches too narrow to fit the motor mounts. I had the motor mounts on the motor, the poly bolted to the motor mounts and the frame horns bolted on the frame.

What is the trick to getting the motor in the frame? I did not want to force the frame apart 2 inches.

What about bolting everything up on the motor and then trying to slip the motor between the frame. But that way, the frame horns and the frame sides are paralled and seems like that would not work.

So what say youl, what is the trick?

 

Are you sure the mounts are from a CJ of the same vintage? The Wagoneer mounts are different, both in the frame towers and the block brackets.

 

Tim, I don't know for sure. I am fairly certain the block mounts are waggie mounts.

I bought some what I was told was CJ frame horns, and they look right, but I'm not sure. I also have a v6 set of frame horns......

Any body got a set of CJ block mount picts I can see?

 

In the above pict, the pass side block mount looks different. Any picts of them not on the block?

From what I've learned, I think I have waggie block mounts and I need CJ block mounts.........

 

There are 3 pieces to the puzzle. There is a mount on the block the rubber cushions attach to, then the cushions attach to the frame horns. The block mounts off my 360 from a Wagoner are definitely different than the ones off my 304 so I am using the ones off the 304. I think the Wagoner block mounts are taller than the CJ mounts. My guess is that is your problem.

 

my cj 304 also had fit issues. prob not as bad as yours.... but i found that all parts fairly lose on bolts made it much easier. then went back and tighten everything.

 

btw i did not know the mount were different either. the waggys i have look the same as the 304, so aallison I pretty sure we better not send them down to you

 

Po that put my 360 in the cj7 aparently used 6 cylinder horns and built a neat little square spacer ,to bolt to frame horn and the motor mount.
if you need it i can measure the 304 the 232 and 360 mounts ad let you know.

 

The PO of my Jeep also used a V8 out a Wagoneer. My mounts did not fit either. I finally found a complete set, minus the rubber mounts, from a salvage yard in California. I recently saw an after market set on this forum. They looked very nice and might be a quicker way to go?

Gasseous

 

OK, so here is my confusion. Before I did this, I researched it and understood the difference in the motor mounts was in the frame side mounts only. The part that bolted on the blocks were all the same from the 304 to the 401 and from the CJ to the waggie to the J-trucks.

On ebay, I see a motor mount for a CJ that looks different than the one I have on the waggie block. If you look at this set http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jeep...8?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_100&hash=item56393e6570 the block side motor mounts do not look like the one's I have that came off the block.

This set http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/attac...e-swap-amc-360-out-j10-i-believe-101_0157.jpg appears to be the same as the one on ebay. So I will assume the CJ motor mounts look like this.

The ones I have are more triangular. I'd post up a pict but I'm having pict posting issues.

Could the poly motor mounts be to thick? How tick are the stock ones?

I'm stumped here...........

 

I guess i am in the same boat, i thought and look at and did not see a difference on the block side of the equation. But I also don't have much to compare too also. Poly blocks could be bigger and more stiff. Have you tired with everything very lose? I had to use a pry-bar and hammer to get bolts to drop through, but was perfect after they fell.

 

The E-Bay listing is 76 on, You are working on a 74, I know there was a maijor re design on the CJ in 76, was the frame changed then also?

 

Mine is a 75.... I was told that the frame on the Wagoneer is 2" wider than the CJ.... I don't know if this true or not.... however, the mounts that I had were about that much too big.... no matter what I attempted to do... Once I got the correct mounts, they fell right in.... I was also told at the time that the rage was to turn CJ5's into rock crawlers and the mounts were difficult to come by... again, I don't know if this is true, but it made sense to me...

Hope that this helps,

Gasseous

 

This is what I was talking about.... a bit pricey.... but they look pretty solid.... http://www.4wheelerssupply.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/1781

Gasseous

 

If your going to wheel it these mounts are the best. You'll get much less engine and transmission movement and you don't have to worry about the stock ones coming apart. The engine becomes part of the frame. Added strength is good especially with the torque of a 401.

 

Ok, here are my mounts.








I can see how different they are now.

And the tape above shows the hight of the mount is 2 5/8inches. Both sides are the same.
Any my frame is a CJ8 frame. I'm thinking it just won't fit until I get the right combination of mounts.........

 

get a pair of these and end all the problems

They also make kits for the 360-401

 

Yes, the 360 and 401 V8s that went in the Wagoneers used a deeper block mount then the 304 V8 used in the CJ.

You need BOTH the frame and block mounts from a 304 equiped CJ.

The difference you read about on the passenger side is when going from a 6cyl to a V8 in a CJ as the frame mount is a bit longer to include an extra hole AND the holes are offset compared to the other.

As a side note, the frame mount bolt pattern is SMALLER on the pre 76 than the post 76 CJ. When I swapped in a 304 in my 75 CJ-6, I was lucky and had the whole 75 CJ-5 as the donor.

 

I have a set of what I believe to be the correct block side motor mounts comming. Hopefully, it will fit. The frame horns I have were from a V8 CJ.

If this does not work, or is not easy correctable, I think just going to order some aftermarket mounts.

So what I have learned if you are swaping an AMC v8 into a CJ, you need to have block motor mounts from a 304 and you need a passanger side frame mount from a 304.