Odd engine swaps

'61willys

Gear Grinder
Apr 5, 2017
14
Washington
First Name
Gabe
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1961
Curious what kind of engines you all are running! My '61 2 wheel drive currently has a 350 sbc out of a '69 ss Camaro but I'm thinking I want something different. I don't like people going "nice truck! Let me guess 350?"


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I have a sbc also. nothing wrong with it, there is a reason so many use the same kind of engine, whether it be a 350 or a F.I. 5.7, they just run, most times for a long time with little to no trouble. That's what most people want, reliability. If you want to put something uncommon in, you may need to deal with lack of parts when you need them, bigger cost and possibly reliability issues. What is your idea of another engine choice ? Mine would be a F.I. 6.3 L. with a 6l85E.
 
Same here my 51 truck has a 95 SBC in it which has the 5.7 TBI (Throttle Body Injection) setup this is a hybrid cross between carburetor and full Fuel Injection.

just took it on its first ever road trip to car show on Sat. reason i have the SBC is because that is what was in the truck already when i bought it so no need to replace it. This is a junkyard engine of unknown quailty i did not even know what it came out of ,....how it was taken care,... of or even if the damn thing ran!
another obvious reason to have this engine is......of course.....Parts! engine is only as good as its weakest part which is no good unless you can get replacment parts. the SBC lends itself quite handily to that fact you can go bout anywhere in the US or even the known damn world and be able to get or least find parts to a SBC major retailer in city or backwoods brokedown redneck ramshackle rathole in the middle of BFE!
they only made 2,568,235,764,312 of these engines so findng a part should not be much of a problem. now if you put some engine in that they only made 1000 of and it breaks ...you SOL pal! you simply got to have any engine they made millions of and that are reliable and can work on and get parts cheap and easily.


Larry
 
I agree 100% with both of you! These sbc engines are awsome, I love the ease of maintenance, reliability, availability of parts, price, and most of all he power. Mines pushing 350 hp, that gets this little truck moving.
If I was to swap again I was leaning diesel. Big power, reliable, great parts availability, and fuel economy. The only thing I worry about is the size and weight of a 6bt 12 valve cummins.
In a side not how easy was wiring up the tbi? I've considered finding a used port tuned injection off of a '80's camaro or vette, I think they look bad a**


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I run a 258 Jeep six, T5 and Dana 300... In my dreams...........A Hino turbo 4 cylinder diesel. A built Ford Model B 4 cylinder. Or a Packard 6 cylinder flathead.
The Ford model B would be great fun... They can be built out to 221 cu inches and make over 200 horsepower....In my imagination, the installed engine
would look like a pre 1950 Willys four on steroids..........
 
All awsome choices. For mine the vision for the truck is definitely a high performance street truck. Full cage, independent suspension, at least 400 hp preferably 500+. I've been leaning towards an ls swap with a single turbo, converting my 350 to fuel injection and a single turbo or going crazy and dropping in a 2jz with a single turbo (for those who don't know that's a 3.0l inline 6 that came in a bunch of 90's toyotas. Most famous is the twin turbo version that came in Toyota supras) they can easily and reliably put down up to 1,000 hp at the wheels. Making 500hp is simple.


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in my 1949 willys truck I had Mercedes 5 cylinder diesel with Mercedes automatic would get 20 mpg ran great till oil cooler broke . my next motor will volkswagen tdi diesel
 
Maybe what the difference is, is that I use my wagon for 4 wheeling and usually were not in a place that is easy to get a tow truck too. Were usually to far away to limp it home or walk out. I need reliability. My old 383 10.3:1 compression 550 H/P SBC was high maintenance to say the least and not what I needed in a Jeep. It was fun flinging mud 30' in the air off the 38" tires though! But, it blew up and I put a tamer 383 back in.
 
Oh yeah big difference between the needs of a wheeler, a purist, a resto mod, and a hot rod. I'm just curious what people have been able to cram into the engine bay


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I still think the Jeep 4.0 H.O. engine I had in my '62 wagon was a great match as far as power to weight ratio. It, matched to the AW4, Dana 300, d30 and a d44 in the rear was a great combo for the 33" tires I had on it. I loved that drive train.
 
I still think the Jeep 4.0 H.O. engine I had in my '62 wagon was a great match as far as power to weight ratio. It, matched to the AW4, Dana 300, d30 and a d44 in the rear was a great combo for the 33" tires I had on it. I loved that drive train.

Dave, was your '62 a later '62 with the firewall factory indentation for the 230 OHC Tornado? Just wondering about fit and clearance of the top of the 4.0L.
 
I pulled a run of the mill, small journal 210hp 327 and t90 trans to put in a run of the mill 5.3 Chevy LM7 out of my suburban we retired coupled to an SM420 granny 4spd. Simply because I have several in shop trucks with well over 300k miles on them. One with a tad over 400k that just passed smog test here in Ca.

They are not perfect but they run

My original plan was going to be a Chevy 292 inline, headers, cam, 4 barrel intake with a Projection EFI. Just because they sound bad ass. Wish the UPS trucks still rumbled with them.

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Always wondered about installing the 215 Buick aluminum V8.

Pros seem to be its light weight, more but not too much power for the rest of the drivetrain. Also it was bought by Rover and lives on to this day as their V8. Some articles claim that this engine is akin to the Chevy 350 in England.

Cons included rarity and adapters. Also problems with the cylinder liners.
 
I'm looking at using what is laying around already in trying to get one of my pickups to traveling status. I have the 49 cab, the 53 frame (which had a 4 cyl) and the rest of the 62 does not have much left - hope the diffs match gear ratios so I can use the 53 frame's front diff with the 62's rear diff. Recently I pulled the Dauntless out of sitting in the tub of my rust-test 69 Commando to check it out. If I can use the Dauntless engine / T14 and case, I won't have to notch the frame for the Super Hurricane and I can use that engine in the 61 pickup. Then at least it would be Jeep under the hood!

The Dauntless has one center cylinder which left a rust mark on the bore, already got the two stuck rings off the piston. Gotta hone and re-examine it. The engine is so tight since it only has 38K on it. I drained the water out of the T14 and case then opened the T14 last night to find some rust on top shaft gears, but the thing sure moves freely and the lower bearing in the t-case looked just fine for being in water! Go figure!

69_Dauntless0898.jpg 69_Dauntless0905.JPG 69_T14A0913.jpg
 
It did have the indentation and the stock 230 in it when I bought it. It did take a little fire wall messaging to gain clearance. It was worth it, the 4.0 only had 49 grand on it and always ran great. I would probably still have it after all these years but I couldn't defeat the rust. I had already bought the '61 before selling the '62.
 
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