4.0 into a Gremlin

[Amc1320]

Ok, not really a Spirit or Concord but very closely related

We (my dad and I) have been working on a 74 Gremlin X,  it was rescued from a shed and picked up for pretty cheap. However it's needed everything.... But the body is solid and has no rust at all!

First was brakes, all of it,
The  232 under the hood ran terrible. So we checked compression and it was bad, took it out and tore it down and it was toast .

So, found a good 4.0 from a salvage place and we are working on getting it installed, it's amazing that from 1974 to 1997 so little really changed on these engines. Of course we are swapping things from one engine to the other and so far so good. Hope to get the manual transmission attached soon and put it back in there!

We still have to do the interior, a lot of rubber moulding, and of course paint it, but still it will be nice to get it running soon

I will gather some pics and try to get them posted if anyone is interested

Rob

[vangremlin]

Sounds like a fun project!  Are you swapping over the fuel injection with the 4.0?

[Amc1320]

No, we are carbing it, I had a spare aluminum 2brl intake off the parts spirit, prob put a mc2100 set up on it like I did on my eagle.

My dad wanted to keep it real simple so that's how we are going, the only "accessory" is the alternator, this was a plain Jane gremmie

I think even in carbed form the 4.0 will have a lot more pep than the tired 232 did, it doesn't take a lot to push a gremlin down the road after all

[vangremlin]

Simple is good! And I believe you are right, it will move just fine with the 4.0 engine.  I had the 232 back in my old 74 Gremlin.  It didn't set any speed records but it motored down the road and over the Rockies without any problems.  But the 4.0 will definitely be a step up!

[eaglefreek]

It's going to feel like a V8 in the Gremlin. Your dad will be grinning ear to ear when he mashes the throttle.

[EAGLER]

i agree the simplest the better. carb engines are very reliable and easy to fix, and unexpensable too

[Amc1320]

Getting closer!

Got the underhood area cleaned up and prepped. Swapped most everything over from one engine to the other. Painted the 4.0 AMC blue!!

Still working on the pilot bushing, there is a 55 thousandths of a diff OD between the 4.0 and 232 crank. Have a machine shop friend helping me with that one.

Should be ready to install soon, if I can just get a little time off from work!!









PS- that's not the carb we will end up using, its on there for reference so I can figure out linkage

[Prafeston]

You guys sure are doing some good work lately! Mind if I just take that engine and put it in my Eagle instead? PLEASE!!!

[IowaEagle]

Outstanding!  That will really wake that Gremlin up -- more HP than a stock 304 coupled with better low end torque.

[vangremlin]

What distributor do you have on there?  Thanks.

[IowaEagle]

Looks like an HEI

[Prafeston]

Whatever it is it looks huge!!

[IowaEagle]

Don't they when they are outside of the car.

[Amc1320]

Yes it's an HEI, I put one in my Eagle too and it's works great, it is huge however!

The gremlin had points so we didn't want to use that, although technically it would work however it would be abig step backward in the evolutionary chain

[Prafeston]

Using the '97 Cherokee exhaust mani? Gremlin intake? Just curious? I'm about to start my 4.0 swap...rather, the shop is, but I'm currently working on a complete 4.0 swap guide. If you stay carbed does it not matter what 4.0 engine you use? I know if you want to go stock EFI it's best to grab a 4.0 from a '91-95 because after that they switched to OBDII. But I guess if you stay carbed it doesn't matter cause you won't be using the harness from the 4.0...