When I did the rebuild of my Jeep in what seems to be oh-so-long ago, I put a 258 "crate" (meaning commercially rebuilt) motor in it.
It did just fine around town and on the trails, but with the stock 3:54 axle gearing and 33" tires, it lacked the "umph!" (That's a technical term) for long grades on the open highway or pulling a trailer.
Ultimately, I put a 4.0 head on the engine.
Difficult to tell in this picture, but there is a difference.
The ports are angled, so it breathes better and gives a slight bit more compression. It certainly made a noticeable difference. Another modification was the addition of the GM Throttle Body Fuel Injection. A glorified, computer controlled carburetor, but it started in the cold and didn't stall on off road hill climbs. That was a painful learning curve, but that's a story for another time...
All was finally running pretty well, I was fairly content with performance. Famous last words. I was driving to work one morning when it coughed and sputtered a couple of times and left me sitting on the side of the road. Another long story, the distributor drive gear on the camshaft got wiped out.
Supposedly, the motor came out of a '72 CJ5 and only had 20,000 miles on it. The Jeep was used for plowing snow and the salt carried around in the back gave it an earlier than usual demise.
Of course, being 12 years in difference in engine blocks meant having to fabricate brackets for the brackets for things like the power steering pump. I got it done and the engine installed, only to quickly discover that something was amiss in cylinder #3. There was either a stuck or broken ring. The spark plug had to be pulled every 800 miles or so and be replaced or cleaned. It would be so fouled with gummy oil build-up that it wouldn't fire. Also, this engine didn't seem to come close to the power the previous engine had and the fuel economy (for a Jeep, anyway) was worse!
For the last several years, I've just dealt with it, as it didn't get driven quite as much as it did originally. In the long term, I wanted to replace the motor, probably with a V8. There's no replacement for displacement, as the saying goes.
I bought a "mostly" complete 304 motor from my friend. (The one who gave me the current engine)
With all the additional items I would need to find for it, all the brackets, flywheel, etc., in addition to the cost of having it rebuilt, that option literally sat in the corner of the garage for the last couple of years.
As I grew more weary of dealing with this current engine issue, the decisions that needed to be made were not taken lightly. Rebuild the current engine? Rebuild the 304 and find all the missing stuff?
When I say rebuild, I mean take it to a shop and have them do the rebuild. I don't have the tools, time or gumption to do that work myself. I don't consider another crate motor an option after my previous experience. I don't know the quality of components they use in their mass rebuilds.
During this time of waffling more than an Ihop on Sat mornings, I came
to realize that the curent engine might not be a 258. It might be a a
232, which was very prevalent in early CJ's. The 258 is a srtroked
232. Cylinder diameter is the same but the throw is different. That would certainly explain the lack of power and poor fuel economy, as the TBI is programmed for a bigger the 258.
I missed out on the opportunity of obtaining a fuel injected 4.0 engine because I drug my feet. However, the same guy made me a good deal on a complete, ready to drop in 304!
So this week end, while several folks I know are having a good time at the NRA convention, I'm getting my hands dirty.
Starting on getting the current engine out. Good time to do some housekeeping of wires that aren't used anymore. Also need to redo all the plumbing for the on-board air, as the existing rubber lines are dry-rotting.
To be continued.....
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