Engine swap advice needed

[lomodyj]

Originally Posted by JeepDawg

If you think you are going to do an axle swap, have you considered using brand new from the factory D44's for the Rubicon? Cut off the hardware for the coil springs, weld on perches and you have electric lockers and 4.10 gears in a D44 that is the right width.....and has disk brakes....

Not a bad idea. But, you don't grind off the axle plates. Grind them off your frame and go coils on the YJ.

[dorfs]

Why sbc, unless it's injected?

Looking at your profile, it shows your yj is an '89, carbed 4.2?

An injected 4.0 will out torque a carbed sbc at the low end anyday. My recomendation is to swap in an injected 4.0 and save your money on axle upgrades, soa in the future. This setup is almost direct bolt, without all the special mods required with sbc. Exhaust, fuel, motor mounts, tranny, transfer case, linkage, prop shafts, and axles all at once aproaches a ground up build.

[Olin18]

A couple of years ago I put a 350/465/D300 in my Jeep with a set of Waggy axles. I took to rear from a late modle Waggy and I got my front from a 79. If you can find a 77,78,or79 waggy front it will have flat tops on it, that will make high steer an easy add on.

I did a lot of thinking about my drivetrain before I finally actually installed anything. If I were you I would NOT use an NP xfer case. You would need to buy an adaptor to hood a 465 to an NP case and then you are going to end up with a very expencive np case that has a chain in it. A 350 is too much for a chain drive np 231. On top of the chain that case will also NOT have a fixed yoke on the rear. Sure you could SYE, but that is just more money added to a chain drive case.
If I were you... (and I was in your situation a few years ago) I would go with a gear driven case. That leads you to a 205, or a D300.
The 205 case is HUGE. Does your Jeep have a body lift? If it does you could tuck it up higher. MY jeep did not have a body lift, and I did not want to add one, and I did not want to cut that much floor. For me the D300 was almost a no brainer. I like the lower, low range 2.6 vs 1.95. I like how much smaller, and shorter it is, I like how easy it is to twin stick, but you can also twin stick the 205. I like how I have the option to go to 4:1 gears in my 300 if I chose to go there (I am thinking that in the next year or two I might) When I built my Jeep the Low Max 3:1 kit was just coming out.
The great thing about the 205 is that it is just about unbreakable.
For me the D300 just was way more attractive and I am so glad I went that way. I would not go back and chance my choice.

What I would change if I could go back is my choice of Axles. I wish I would have just gone D60/ 14bolt to start with. I like my set up very much, I have 4.10:1 R&P and I put ARB's in both ends, and I have full High Steer on the front... it's great. But I wish I would have just spent that money on Tons. Keep your eye out for a 60 front... You won't be sorry.

[myscrambler1]

i think you are on right track with sb chevy power but just make sure you put the right cam for the low end power band.... i use a comp cam setup with what they call a rv cam so all the power is in the low rpm range,,,,works great... as far as a 4.0 out pulling this set up of mine using a dana 300 trans case and 4 speed trans with a heavy built good old amc 20 with 4.10 rear gears and the 24volt simpson miltary winch powered by two optima truck batt mounted in back bed of the scrambler.... i dont think so take a look at the pic see what you think