4.2 L I-6 Re-man

[signguy]

Under the heading of "Gee, I didn't see that one coming"....
I was going to rebuild the 4.2L in my '79 CJ 5 this winter. Meant it to be a learning experience for me and my youngest son. The Jeep will be his some day anyway. Then I had a major heart attack last week and things got a little changed around. Still, I think the lad could do the job on his own if I was there to supervise if we were just replacing the old mill with a crate motor. My question is simple; does anyone have any good advice or experience with crate 258 cid motors? I have done a couple of the the old 350 target motors in Chevy pickups years ago. Seemed OK. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

[69jeepcj]

No experience with the crate 258, but something to think about is that all of the AMC v8,s use the same bolt pattern as the 258 and only the drivers side ( I think its drivers side) motor mount needs changed and its a bolt on. Its a total bolt in swap, uses the same harness too.

[superj]

Wow, so you ok then? You're typing so it must be

[signguy]

Yup... Doin' way better than I deserve! Gonna stick with the old six banger tho', I kinda' like them. I'm sure something will turn up on the Forum here. Thanks.

[0III0forlife]

I put a crate motor in my 87 YJ. 258CID. 4.2L.

I got it from NAPA, although i'm sure you could find one for cheaper, for $2,000.

It currently has 12,000 miles on it and it runs great, money well spent.

The major reason that i went with NAPA, is that i get a Jobber Discount at my local store because i do a lot of business there. And the shipping was taken care of by NAPA. Made quite a difference when having to look at truck freight on 600lbs.

I put a new flywheel on it, but used all of my old externals, except for the intake, i went with an Offenhauser for that. So that i could mount a Holley 390cfm 4 bbl.