Get ready CJ-5, Here comes the 401!

[scrible88]

So I had 2 lifters collapse in my 360 the other day, I ended up pulling the plug wires and rockers/pushrods from those cylinders so it is driveable, but it lost a ton of power. The engine is getting tired, has over 120,000 miles on it... leaks a little bit, smokes a little bit... Pulled the oil pan the other day to fix the rear main and found some bearing pieces in the pan... not a good sign.

I am still driving it but its days are numbered. The engine was amazing when it ran well, pulled the front tires, accelerated great, etc. Tons of fun.

My first thought was since I want a reliable motor was to go to o'reillys and autozone for a long block rebuilt AMC 360 assembly. o'reillys was $1900 and I'm not made of cash so that is out of the question. I headed over to Autozone to check their prices... $1490 for a long block 360... then the idea hit me... I told them to type in 1978 J20 into their search and found that they also have available a long block 401! How much do you ask? $1490!

So I made up my mind, haven't ordered it yet but my CJ-5 is getting a 401...

:shock:

Anyways, how much of an improvement in performance will it be over my 360 when it ran well? Hopefully it will be significant. It will be stock except topped off with the edelbrock performer intake and edelbrock performer 750cfm carb along with dual exhaust which is currently on my 360.

What do you guys think of this idea? Sound good?

:t:

[Dusty]

stock pistons 8.8:1 or right in that ball park ... matched to the howards .479 lift 222 dur@.050 292 adv dur on a 114 lobe sep runs awesome in a 74 cj5 with 3.73 gears and at-18 on 33's idle is great idles down to 300-400 rpm and will wind up to 5500.... never thought the combo could run so well. it had a 750 on top and currently is running a 670 with a torquer. had a 600 holley on it at one point too and that ran really well. 670 seems to be a good match for the intake and the combo works well offroad and is snappy on the street. a performer probably would be better but cant knock how well the toquer works on this one. 750 can be made ot work well too the 670 just seemed to idle a little better on the trails. are you in the west coast area... possibly sac if you want to take a gander and see how she runs/ drives offroad ect the offer is open.

Also the jeep runs fender well headers with duial 3" pipes poking out each side. its an animal of old school sorts

[scrible88]

stock pistons 8.8:1 or right in that ball park ... matched to the howards .479 lift 222 dur@.050 292 adv dur on a 114 lobe sep runs awesome in a 74 cj5 with 3.73 gears and at-18 on 33's idle is great idles down to 300-400 rpm and will wind up to 5500.... never thought the combo could run so well. it had a 750 on top and currently is running a 670 with a torquer. had a 600 holley on it at one point too and that ran really well. 670 seems to be a good match for the intake and the combo works well offroad and is snappy on the street. a performer probably would be better but cant knock how well the toquer works on this one. 750 can be made ot work well too the 670 just seemed to idle a little better on the trails. are you in the west coast area... possibly sac if you want to take a gander and see how she runs/ drives offroad ect the offer is open.

Also the jeep runs fender well headers with duial 3" pipes poking out each side. its an animal of old school sorts

I would love to but I am in Oklahoma #-o

It will eventually get a new cam, but it will be stock for a little while.

[AMX69PHATTY]

Did you ask the proverbial question: "Is there a CORE CHARGE ?" #-o

[scrible88]

Yes their is a $200 core charge but they said they can take my 360.

[fifesjeep]

Are the crank and rods still forged? or have they been replaced with cast material? :-|

[Goose]

Crap! thats cool! I wouldn't have thought of that..

Hmmm Sez he....HMMM!! :-| :-| =D> :!:

[76-cj7]

Watch it man........Auto zone has some shit ass motors. My brother bought a 350 from them and it crapped out in 5k miles. It had a cracked block so it litterally poured the coolant to the bottom end. The valve seats were shot so heads were pieces of shit. Well they screwed us on the warranty too since we installed the motor ourselves, it has a tach, it was in a 4x4, and apparently the half ass mechanic who they had look at it says water in the transmission caused the motor to blow up.....??? Yet to figure that one out :-| So we decided to pull it all apart and rebuild it the RIGHT way! It was already a .060 over motor and the pistons werent even the same make.....had differnt numbers cast into underside of piston.....certain ones matched and other ones didnt.......beware of rebuild motors!!! On their screen they will list all of the things done to the motor and be sure to read whats new and whats not. Also.....how they said they would take your 360 for a core.....i doubt it. I work at auto zone and they have to be the exact same thing of we arent allowed to take it as a core. So be sure to get the store managers approval and i mean the STORE MANAGER, not the assistant or ne one else. Just watch your ass man, they'll screw you over in a heartbeat!

Check on the price of a short block from them and if possbile find one with good heads, like the single rocker ones.

[fifesjeep]

There's a company out of New Jersey?... I'm pretty certain but they have the most up to date machines and In my opinion they have the best rebuilds in the business... And they're at an equal price as the others... I'll look fir the company... I believe they're still big on ebay.. But I'll find the site and re-post.

[Goose]

Dumb question does jasper still sell the 401?

[scrible88]

Watch it man........Auto zone has some shit ass motors. My brother bought a 350 from them and it crapped out in 5k miles. It had a cracked block so it litterally poured the coolant to the bottom end. The valve seats were shot so heads were pieces of shit. Well they screwed us on the warranty too since we installed the motor ourselves, it has a tach, it was in a 4x4, and apparently the half ass mechanic who they had look at it says water in the transmission caused the motor to blow up.....??? Yet to figure that one out :-| So we decided to pull it all apart and rebuild it the RIGHT way! It was already a .060 over motor and the pistons werent even the same make.....had differnt numbers cast into underside of piston.....certain ones matched and other ones didnt.......beware of rebuild motors!!! On their screen they will list all of the things done to the motor and be sure to read whats new and whats not. Also.....how they said they would take your 360 for a core.....i doubt it. I work at auto zone and they have to be the exact same thing of we arent allowed to take it as a core. So be sure to get the store managers approval and i mean the STORE MANAGER, not the assistant or ne one else. Just watch your ass man, they'll screw you over in a heartbeat!

Check on the price of a short block from them and if possbile find one with good heads, like the single rocker ones.

A friend of mine bought a 1969 302 through autozone as a rebuild long block and it is amazing, machine work and assembly was done perfectly. Autozone does not do the rebuilds themself, they are sent to a seperate company that does the work.

The motor will come without an oil pan, valve covers, etc so I will be able to inspect everything when it gets here. If there are any concerns it will be returned. Plus, it comes with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty.

If all their engines were built that way there is no way it would be profitable for them, too many returns, etc.

Seeing how good my friends 302 was has given me a good amount confidence in them. Also, I looked up the company who does the rebuilds for them on this particular engine, and it is done in the United States.

[rollen dean montoya]

i pay my dad to do rebuilds for me. he has been building engines since he was 14 years old. does it right the 1st time
and has had no engine blow up after his rebuilds or hop ups.
he does not believe in buying an engine from an auto parts dealer. if he orders an engine it is always a long block from
the factory if available.in the case of the amc engines he finds
out where one in good condition is and if a person needs it he can get it.personally i don't trust autozone after ordering a fuel pump for a 70' buick GS350. this engine is a big block and the
fuel pump is way different from the small block 350 chevy.
the fuel pump we got from autozone wasn't even close to
being right. went to napa and not only got the right fuel pump but they stocked it.

[76-cj7]

scrible88.......no shit auto zone dont rebuild them. I know they buy them from a seperate company. But watch what the hell your getting into, and as far as the unlimited mile warrenty goes........i wouldnt doubt if they screwed you over on it.

[scrible88]

scrible88.......no shit auto zone dont rebuild them. I know they buy them from a seperate company. But watch what the hell your getting into, and as far as the unlimited mile warrenty goes........i wouldnt doubt if they screwed you over on it.

Such vicious hate towards autozone, and I've never had a problem with them after years of buying parts... know the people at the store personally and everything...

[Soylent_Green]

What reman company has it's name on the AZ motor? At CSK, I sell Recon, Vege and Evergreen. I've had warranty issues with the Recon's, and the Evergreen's, (Their prices are usually a few bills less) but the Vege blocks seem to be quality rebuilds.

[76-cj7]

Such vicious hate towards autozone, and I've never had a problem with them after years of buying parts... know the people at the store personally and everything...



I work at the local auto zone....parts are shitty over our way. Constantly finding bad alternators and starters. Auto zone is the Wal-Mart of the auto parts world.

We sell recon and evergreen but i think thats it. Even though i work at Auto Doom i still shop our local NAPA haha. The guys at NAPA are great!! Cut me all kinds of deals plus ours has themselves a press, sandblasting cabinet, and they turn rotors and what not. Thanks to them i sandblasted all my parts while assembling my jeep this past winter and they also pressed my pinion bearings, carrier bearings, and the axle bearings for free!!! The the other Napa has a full machine shop. I take every motor to them and in return they hook me up with machining and parts. They do great work!! I dont see auto zone doing this for customers?? They guys at napa have helped me through thick and thin and the Auto Zoners, as they call us, wont lift a finger unless paid to. I have some serious issues with AZ. Been there for bout a year and a half and they still treat me like shit, complete with crappy hours and B/S pay. But i do take a liking to the discounts! :mrgreen:

[rollen dean montoya]

try finding shaped hoses for an 88 lincoln MKVII and cks and
autozone can't even look them up. went to the napa store
here in apple valley and clay says we got 20 of them in stock
how many do you want. try to find parts for sams' 78
suburban. only napa can help cause they stock just about everything for the beast.and since the battle wagon has a
hardin marine 454(it calms the savage johnpaul)they know how to look it up.try that at az or cks.i'll pay the money knowing i
will walk out of napa with everything i need for my collection
of dinosaurs.

[Mudrat]

....they know how to look it up.try that at az or cks.i'll pay the money knowing i
will walk out of napa with everything i need for my collection
of dinosaurs.
So your saying they can rebuild YOU, " ... better, stronger, faster"? THAT is a big job :?:

Hi Rollen, 4 JD's later and I'm going to bed - been an 11 hour day at work.

Yeah, way off topic, but right on target :wink:

[rollen dean montoya]

they just might be able to 8)