Ford 302 engine swap

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RJ Muth

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I have a 2001 TJ that I want to swap a carburated Ford 302 5.0 into. Hope someone can put in the correct direction as to what all I need. As in mounting brackets and what bellhousing adapter to use the stock tranny, etc..

Thanks A Ton
 
You will have to change out the trans as the AX5 behind the four popper is barely enough trans for itself and definitely not enough for a V8. At the minimum you will need to find an AX15 and a new input gear for the NP231. Advance Adapters has the stuff for doing the AX15 behind the 302.
 
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Check out Advanced Adapters or Novak Adapters. They will be your two places for swap parts and information.

You can't reuse your stock transmission as it isn't strong enough for a V-8.

You'll also need a new input gear for your transfer case since it's a 21-spline input and a AX15 is a 23-spline input. You'll either need to change the input gear or swap t-cases.

Just because you HAVE the engine doesn't make it a good candidate for a swap. Can it be done? Yes. Is it legal? No And before you say you don't have emissions testing where you live, I'm talking about federal EPA rules. By the EPA you are supposed to use a same year or newer engine when swapping into a vehicle. I'd also check size measurements since I thought a 302 was wider than Chevy or Dodge V-8's but I could be mistaken.
 
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Welcome to the forum and don't take this wrong but just because you have an engine sitting in the shop doesn't make it a good candidate for a swap. You are going backwards putting a carbureted engine into a tj.

You will need to buy a different transmission plus all of the other costs associated with doing an engine swap. It won't be cheap. I would definitely reconsider
 
P man said:
Welcome to the forum and don't take this wrong but just because you have an engine sitting in the shop doesn't make it a good candidate for a swap. You are going backwards putting a carbureted engine into a tj.

You will need to buy a different transmission plus all of the other costs associated with doing an engine swap. It won't be cheap. I would definitely reconsider
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Another Welcome to the Forum. He didn't say if it was a carbureted or fuel injected 302 and there have been a few members who installed older Chevy 350's in their TJ's I ain't saying I support it or agree but others have done it.

For the OP here is some food for thought. It's a good thread on doing a Dodge magnum V-8 swap into a TJ.

https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/wrangler-magnum-v8-discussion.1365878/
 
Wildman said:
Another Welcome to the Forum. He didn't say if it was a carbureted or fuel injected 302 and there have been a few members who installed older Chevy 350's in their TJ's I ain't saying I support it or agree but others have done it.

For the OP here is some food for thought. It's a good thread on doing a Dodge magnum V-8 swap into a TJ.

https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/wrangler-magnum-v8-discussion.1365878/
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He said carbureted in the first post. If you know what you're doing with a carburetor then it's doable.
 
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Yes he did and I'd missed that. And yes you can make a carburetor work off-road but it's never as good as fuel injection.
 
Im mainly building this Jeep to run around town. At 55 and having Parkinson's my off road days are behind me. So basically I need to find myself a AX15 tranny. Plus if someone knows what wires from the wiring harness I need to use please let me know.
 
RJ Muth said:
Im mainly building this Jeep to run around town. At 55 and having Parkinson's my off road days are behind me. So basically I need to find myself a AX15 tranny. Plus if someone knows what wires from the wiring harness I need to use please let me know.
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You are going to have to run aftermarket gauges or run the stock computer and then adapt the sensors to send a signal to the computer. The stock gauges are fed off a CCD bus from the computer. In your case it'd most likely be easier to just run aftermarket gauges.
The FSM's are available in the reference section, just find your year and start looking at the wiring diagrams.
 
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RJ Muth said:
I have a 2001 TJ that I want to swap a carburated Ford 302 5.0 into. Hope someone can put in the correct direction as to what all I need. As in mounting brackets and what bellhousing adapter to use the stock tranny, etc..

Thanks A Ton
Click to expand...

Fuel injected 5.0 with an AOD would be the way to go.
 
I'm pretty sure the old ford small block is smaller than an sbc. The big problem with using one is finding a rear sump oil system for it. Idk if the fox body pan would have enough clearance
 
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