Help with 360

[JRichards]

I am swapping out a 4 cylinder in my '81 CJ5 for a 360. Has anyone one here done such a conversion and if so can you help with the following:

1) will a bell-housing from a 304 work with the 360 and my SR4 transmission?

2) is the clutch kit for a 304 compatible with the 360?

3) can you buy a flywheel for a 360 or is it better to have one from a 304 balanced for the 360?

4) will the starter for the 304 work for the 360?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[jeepjoesXJ98]

well i have never done what you are trying to do but i do restore old mopar muscle cars and i do know is that everything will go together just fine but the 304 trans and bell houseing will not stand up to the load power that the 360 puts out so if i were you i would go get a bell houseing and trans for a 360 out of a local srap yard or craigslist.org it will save you time and money in the long run trust me i been there a done that in my old 67 barracuda...

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Bellhousing yes, but I don't know about the flywheel.

Why not go with a 401? :twisted:

 

[Junkpile]

That SR-4 transmission has absolutely no business behind a V8. It is a Ford unit originally designed to go behind the 2.3L in vehicles like the Pinto. My first CJ had one in it behind a 258. After hopping up the engine a little with a shaved head, good ignition, 2150, and exhaust it immediately took a dump on me... after I had spent all of my money on the engine!! A T4/T5 is actually an upgrade compared to it, if that tells you anything. That being said, the Iron Duke four banger has the Chevy bolt pattern and I know guys who have slid smallblock Chevy V8s in front of them... for a little while anyway. Seriously, you will be much better off to just find a T-176 and swap that in too. It will save you the frustration and expense of having the SR-4 take a dump on you... which it WILL do. The input shaft is different on your four cylinder version than it is in the 258 version, which is what you need for AMC compatability.

All the AMC V8s made after like 1966 can share accessories. The flywheel? You can buy them, and starting with a fresh one would be the best way to go, but you can have yours rebalanced and resurfaced if you choose to go that route. You shouldn't really have any problems with the conversion, just need to find the right parts. Should you do the conversion with that transmission? Absolutely not IMHO, but it's your ride and I'm fairly abusive to my Jeeps. If you baby it you might get a little life out of it.

 

[redrooster]

Junkpile is right on the accessories. Starter, bellhousing, intake, exhaust and many other components are the same between the 304-360-401. All were the same block with different bore and different heads, but the bolt ons were all the same. With that said, when I bought a flexplate (automatic trans version of a flywheel) for my 360 I recall the part number being different than that of the 304. This tells me that the balance may be different, but I'm no expert in that area. Look in a Quadratec or other Jeep book and see if the flywheel part numbers are the same for the 304 and 360.
x 2 on the T176 transmission.

 

[Junkpile]

You're right rooster, they would have had a different part number. AMC engines are externally balanced, so the flywheels/flexplates and harmonic balancers are size specific. All other external parts are pretty much interchangeable between the 304-360-401. The older 290-343-390, which are just shorter stroke versions of the later engines, can also share many parts with them but they had a different deck height, as well as some little stuff like different head bolt diameters and such.


Bounty mentioned a 401 earlier... I just sold mine for $700. It was a 68K mile engine and didn't have any kind of wear ridge in the cylinders yet, and it also had a semi-rare Edelbrock R4B intake that went with it, but the number one piston was seized and it needed a complete rebuild. Point is, those engines are getting up there in value and are almost to the point where you wouldn't want to put one in a Jeep that actually gets used. You can build a stroker or a hot 360 that will make more power than most Jeepers can handle. Save the 290-343-390-401s for the AMC car guys with deep pockets.

 

[JRichards]

Thanks for the input. I will start looking for a T176!

 

[SteelHeadz]

T-176 or t-177 will work. as far as the fly wheel, yes you can use a 304 flywheel on a 360. the only difference bet a 304 and a 360 is the bore and stroke. I pulled my 304 out of my Cj7 several years back and dropped in a 360 with a T-176 trans. i used an edelbrock performer Cam, lifters, intake manifold , carburator. HEI distributor, dual gel battery and 130 amp alternator. hi- flo waterpump. i found out later that this 360 beast is too much. i have several pretzel twisted driveshafts in my junkpile now.