I'll start by saying I like these little Eagles. I think they're great but built wrong. Too much electronic garbage in my way. I have so much low end torque but it's barely any good because of my 1spd transfer case and my high gearing. The Eagle is a select drive vehicle and I want to increase my overall range of power in both worlds. I'll take care of the low range with a newer transfer case. The other part is confusing. I've been crawling the junkyards for awesome parts and by awesome I mean totally sweet. It's like Christmas every weekend and I currently have enough options to make the next Jeeper drool himself silly. The problem is, I'm not sure where to begin or if I should change my focused efforts. I don't know what will give me the best result.
First, what I've got:
My Eagle has the stock 258 engine and a 2BBL Carter-Weber. I've got two more of these stepper buggers but the only overhauling I plan to do with them involves a stick of dynamite.
I have a straight downdraft 2BBL Carter I pulled from an 80 CJ5 last week and a cleaner copy I just pulled from a 78 Concord this afternoon.
I have ONE rebuild kit for these carbs and this is where it gets messy real fast.
This morning I went into the picking yard and found a sweet little
69 Hornet sedan that was there for NO other reason than a
broken driver side door handle. I'm not kidding. My heart just about threw itself onto the I-5 when I saw it perched in the very back of the lot. Hasn't even been sitting there a whole day and I got the very first pick. The engine is interesting too. It's a cute little 232 block that makes the engine compartment feel very empty. The air cleaner, manifold and carb are different than what I've seen and the coolant, wiper fluid, alternator and battery positions are mirrored to the Eagle. The wingnut is part of a long axle that threads into the carb through an upside down(or is it?) air cleaner assembly. It's easily the manliest thing ever. Under the cleaner, you can instantly see how the Carter YF works. Fuel just flies into the airhorn and gets shot straight into the manifold at a rate comparable to my endless cola addiction. I bet this used to be a real hotrod. I have questions about this block and the carb. I don't want to use a 232 engine, or do I? Is the 1BBL ideal for what I want? Does the head swap onto a 258 and what performance gains would I see from going that route?
Then, there's THE BEAST. In the same lot as the Hornet and Concord, there's a pristine looking 92 Jeep Cherokee with the 4.0 HO head I've heard so many great things about. I finally broke the headbolts loose but it got a little too complicated for me after that. Everything seems stuck but there's so much electronic garbage in this tiny engine compartment that I'm thinking of giving up. Does it really make sense to put a 4.0 head on a 258 block? What would happen if I did that to a 232 block instead? Favorable or no?
What would you guys do in my situation with these available options?
Topic: Options have me screwed up (Read 1967 times)