T- case swap

[ryanAmceagle1983]

I have a 1983 4 door sedan and was wonder if there is a bolt in t-case that has 4 low? I am going to be doing a axle swap from a 1/2 ton chevy and possible a engine and transmission swap later. If I do the engine and transmission swap I will be using a Chevy 350

[eaglefreek]

What side drop is the Chevy axle?

[ryanAmceagle1983]

I belive driver side

[carnuck]

Unless you mean IFS, it's pass side drop till '88. If you had an '80-83 with the Chev 4 cyl, a 350 would bolt to the trans (it may not last long thought)

[ryanAmceagle1983]

Okay is there a t-case with low range that bolts directly to the stock transmission of the eagle? Oh the transmission is a 4 speed manual by the way

[rmick]

A NP229 is pretty much a straight swap. transfer case info
 http://www.n0kfb.org/homepage/amc/tech/transfer_case/swap/index.htm

[ryanAmceagle1983]

okay thank you. does anyone know of a good place to buy transfer cases of should i just try and find one a a junk yard or something?

[captspillane]

The 229 is a really nice choice because it is externally identical to the stock Eagle transfer case except for the extra low range lever parts. It is possible to take a bad 229 and a good Eagle 129 and mix them together. The low range lever is also compatible and easily installed. The bad thing is that the viscous coupling in that family of transfer cases (119,129,128,219,229) simply doesn't work very well in comparison to the newer options.

I think you said you have a four speed. The stock stickshift transmissions are all compatible with a NP242.

The NP242 is much more common and easily found, mostly in Jeep Grand Cherokees. In most cases you can find ones on Craigslist already pulled and ready to pick up. There is a number of lever solutions, although none of them are as simple as the 229. The NP242 has an open differential AWD option identical in performance to the NP128 found in all 1986 Eagles. It then also has a "part-time" mode with the yokes fully locked. That is really nice in very slow, very slippery conditions like on beach. There are also NP249s and NP247s as options.

The military HUMVEEs use a GM input version of the NP242.

[Nightpath]

Adapt an NP242 to the stock drivetrain, keeps the spirit of the Eagle and has been done before if Im not mistaken.

Novak sells a shifter for about $150 for it, a bit pricey but it can be used on several transfer cases out there and would be well worth it.

[eaglefreek]

Adapt an NP242 to the stock drivetrain, keeps the spirit of the Eagle and has been done before if Im not mistaken.

Considering he's installing Chevy axles and later possibly a Chevy engine, keeping "the spirit of the Eagle", probably isn't that important. 

If going with a driver's drop an Np208 or 229 from a Grand Wagoneer or early 80's Cherokee will bolt up. The 242 and 231 from XJ Cherokee's will work alos, but there may be an issue with transfer case input shaft length.

[ryanAmceagle1983]

Okay so plans have changed quite abit...  My dad has a 93 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 4.0 and a automatic transmission is it possible to swap the motor and differentals but not the automatic tranny? Sorry for the big change but he decided he dindnt want to mess with the jeep

[eaglefreek]

Yes. The 4.0L should bolt right in. You can even keep it carbed using the Eagles intake manifold. The rear of a GC uses coil springs. A rear axle from a regular Cherokee would be easier since it's almost a bolt in. However, you can remove the coil buckets and weld in leaf spring pads to the GC rear. No matter what axle you use up front, it will require fab work. A friend installed a coil spring front axle from a XJ Cherokee using the factory Jeep arms and brackets many years ago and it's still in there without any issues.

[carnuck]

Okay so plans have changed quite abit...  My dad has a 93 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 4.0 and a automatic transmission is it possible to swap the motor and differentals but not the automatic tranny? Sorry for the big change but he decided he dindnt want to mess with the jeep

'93 JGC (ZJ) had 2 options for transmission on the 4.0L. Early ones (like the 2 I parted) are AW4 like the XJ Cherokees and later ones were 42RE. The 42RE has the same pan shape as the 998 in the Eagle, but it's slightly longer (between 3.5" and 5 inches I think). It's not as strong as the 998 in Eagles but the torque converter neck doesn't snap as easily.
   They had 2 tcase options. One of mine was a NV249 (sold it long ago and have a Rubicon NV241 Rock Trac to go in it's place in my J10. I have a NV242 in the one I'm parting now (which is going into my '83 Honcho with the AW4 and my 304.
   NV249 aren't that popular as they are similar to the BW Quadratrac only in that they are always in 4x4 and use a viscous coupler with a weaker chain. They start skipping and soon after that the case gets chewed through and the case goes dry and either binds up and seizes or ceases moving forward.

[Nightpath]

If you have a 249 transfer case, only use it long enough until you can get something better. Once they go they GO. I have seen some of the offroad guys rebuilt with heavy duty parts (well, what they could get) and they made for a good t-case.

42RE can be faulty but there are some decent fixes for it. It's not one of the better ones, nor one of the worst. The guys here love to rip into them and upgrade the internals, once that's done it makes for a nice transmission. I've seen way too many have shifting issues between 1-2.

[carnuck]

Some offroad guys back @2001 were taking parts out of the NV241 DHD (wider chain and 2wd/4wd selectable assembly) to beef the NV249s up.