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Another 401 build and discussion thread....

17K views 183 replies 22 participants last post by  CSP 
#1 ·
Since I don't want to derail-highjack someone else's build thread I'm going to start my own.

1) My 401 spun a bearing and is done....

2) This will be my first individual build...

3) I'm new to AMC and their idiosyncrasies...IE oil pressure and drain back issues I've read about

4) Call me stubborn, but I'm not gonna take, what I feel could be, the easy route and drop a SBC into it.

The CJ (see profile for specs) is going to remain primarily an occasional daily driver that I want to be reliable and capable of moderate off road use.

The PO did the 304-401 swap and the 401 appears to be all OE. Based on the block (3198951) and head (3216090) appears to be of the '73-'74 vintage....which goes with the build tag on the valve covers (606Z21), which I'm told translates to June 21, 1973... Z denotes 401.

That being said, my research for similar builds had led me come up with this "preliminary" spec sheet:

Providing the bore just needs a hone, new .std pistons. I'm undecided on brand, thinking cast will do......I want to keep the comp around 9:1 (8.5:1 is stock I believe)

Re-use stock forged rods if possible.

I'm assuming the crank will need to be turned .010, will deck the block as needed, and hope to balance the rotating assembly.

Heads will be rebuilt...port matched

Edelbrock Performer Intake (EDL-3731)

Unsure on carb just yet...Holley TA 670...?

And for the most important, most debated piece...the cam. As of right now I'm leaning towards a Comp Cams XE256H kit from Summit, mainly because it comes with lifters, valve seals, timing and roller kit ect.....

MSD HEI with 6AL

....and of course all new bearings - seals - hoses and gaskets.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, but that's basically it.

 
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#80 ·
Started pre-wiring some of the gauges I had, rest should be in tomorrow...

Mounted one of the red bus bars on the inside of the firewall, up as high as I could so its not obvious. Im using this as a source for 12v switched with fuse; for Volt-Oil Press (mech)-Water-Tranny and Fuel gauges.



Im adding a black bus bar on the firewall just above the battery and will use this for all my grounds, using the existing hole/grommet for the QT vac lines....It will then be grounded to the battery and the tub...and covered as well.



Plan is to put Volt and Oil Press in OE locations. Use Auto-Meter 3 gauge mount:



...affixed to the dash, centered on the OE radio. This will house Water-Fuel-Tranny gauges. I am just gong to leave the OE Water-Fuel gauges hooked up so Ill actually have 2ea.

Tach, Auto-Meter 3 3/8" will be mounted in the dash to the left of the steering column and wired seperately from the rest. I dont have a speaker cut out there and essentially thats the only spot where it will fit.

Clock, Auto-Meter 2 5/8" will be mounted above the OE Volt-Oil Press. My reasoning here is that even though I need to drill a hole in the dash fo it, if at any point I or anybody else doesnt want it there a new overlay will cover the hole and because I will be able to have all my gauges consolicated down to one focal point.

I dont necessarily count the tach as a gauge I need to constantly monitor while driving, more of a tuning instrument.
 
#81 ·
I hate when the UPS guy doesnt deliver early :brickwall

I could've wrapped this up today before I left for work if the other gauges arrived. They should be sitting on my doorstep when I get home....gives me something to do tomorrow :duhrock:

Anyway, here is what I have so far:













 
#84 ·
OK, installed all the gauges this morning. Still need to run the feeds to the sending units for the Oil - Water - Tranny and Fuel gauges once everything get dropped back in.....

I realize some of you purists may not dig the set up, but Im good with it. I had intended to put the tach and clock in the OE locations, but the tach is too big. First thought was to just swap tach and clock locations, but thought the clock would look better centered on the dash....ala' Infinity style.









I have a covered bus bar mounted to the engine side of the firewall where my grounds are consolidated. All my wires (grounds/sender feeds) run through some loom and will be sorted out once the moter gets back in.....
 
#86 ·
Looking forward to the engine portion of your build. :thumbsup:
Matt
......knocking out a few of these side jobs while its down. Headlight relays are next up as I slowly aquire hard parts for the motor.

Hope to have most of my parts by the end of the month, then just going to drop everything off at the machine shop.

IIRC, for an additional $400 they will assemble it and break it in on their stand. Need to ask if they can dyno too..? This way, after I pick it up, it goes straight from the bed of my truck into the CJ.... :thumbsup:

Im shooting for an install date near 4/1...
 
#87 ·
Posting a quick update on this build....

So since the motor was out I wanted to clean up the engine bay and repaint it. My plan was to POR15 it, which turned out to be a nightmare..... I cleaned and prepped according to their instructions, used their primer-etcher and applied the POR15, per the instructions..... It just wouldn't take. It was like painting glass. After 3 coats I pretty much decided it wasn't working out, stripped it all off, sanded, wire wheeled, re-primed with rattle can and re-painted with rattle can.

Maybe I had a bad can, but I was pretty disappointed. Anyway, the job got done and works for me. This will never be a show Jeep, but it's good enough. I'll try to get some pics up this week.

In the meantime, I've been re-looming the wire harness, installed new body and trans mounts, ordered new Hella headlights and a 6014 to H4 harness with relays. I got the lights/harness from Summit. Lights are due in later this week, but I got the harness in and messed with it a bit. It's pretty much plug and play, I did modify it slightly by extending one of the plugs so I could fit it to my liking. Again, lights are due in this week and I'll try to get some pics up of it all mocked up.

On to the motor..... I want to thank Matt, Shawn, Fuzz and others for their input. After much consideration here's what I ended up ordering:

Wiseco forged pistons
Sealed Power Moly rings
Re-using OE rods
Turning crank .010
Clevite bearings
Assembly will be balanced
Crane Cams 260H cam-lifters-springs
Summit roller tip rockers
Melling double roller timing gear set
Melling pick-up
Bulltear oil pump gears-mid plate
ARP bolts for main caps, rods, heads and rocker studs
MSD HEI w/6AL
Eddy Performer intake
Holley 670 TA
Heads will get worked
Keeping OE manifolds

Dropping off the OE rad to be rodded, pressure tested and cleaned up.

A few other goodies going on as well include:
Daystar motor mounts
B&M deep pan for tranny
Lokar tranny dipstick
Borgeson steering shaft

May add a deep pan to the motor $$ permitting.
 
#91 ·
Captainak said:
I have the Bulltear I'm glad I went to it .....
One thing I just learned the hard way about Bulltear, they are expensive. I ordered their double roller timing kit and "hand lapped" oil pump gears....mistakenly expecting them to be "in house" products because they don't list PN's or state manufacturer...they just tout the fact they are Made in USA.

When the parts arrived the timing set was a Cloyes set and the oil pump gears were Sealed Power: both of which I could've gotten from Summit for $30 cheaper and free shipping.
 
#94 ·
I have never had a problem with the factory set up my self
 
#95 ·
Not much progress to report, primarily due to back ordered parts.

Got the MORE mounts in and really glad I picked them up when I did.

Yesterday my MSD cam/dizzy gears and ring kit arrived:



...just waiting on pistons and roller tip rockers before I can take everything to the shop. ETA is about 2 weeks.

I'm actually moving this weekend too, but that in of itself hasn't delayed me any. New place has an RV gate and slab on the side of the house that will give me a lot more room to work so I'm excited about that.

FWIW, our local Jeep club/ forum members are fantastic.... Since the CJ currently has no motor I was going to just pay to have to towed on a flat bed to the new place, $80 for a 15mi trip was the best quote I got. On the local forum there is a section for helping other with wrenching and ect...so I asked if anybody had a trailer, or their own flatbed and was willing to help. Turns out a guy on Thursday is coming from the west side of town to pick up his Jeep from a shop near my new place. He offered to swing by and pick up my CJ and drop it off since he will be going right by the new place.....score! Just made my day, not because I saved a few $$ but just to know that Jeepers are truly a good group of people.
 
#97 ·
Matt1981CJ7 said:
Nice to see your finding some local Jeepin' buddies. Some great people in this community. :cheers2: What ignition did you decide on? Carb or injected? Which cam? Sorry if you've covered this already.... Matt
Ignition is MSD HEI with 6AL, Holley 670 TA, performer intake, mild Crane 260 cam-lifters-springs, roller tip rockers, Bulltear pushrods, Cloyes timing kit, heads getting valve job, forged Wiseco .030 (block will be decked, comp at 9.5:1), OE rods are forged and will be resized and used, all new ARP bolts, Clevite bearings, new oil pump gears... ...after much deliberation I'm sticking with OE manifolds (gonna clean them up just as you did) and will do 2-1 exhaust with a Flowmaster Super 44, no cat.
 
#99 ·
Matt1981CJ7 said:
"MSD HEI with 6AL"...??? Most HEI distributers I'm familiar with have the module built into the cap, so they don't require a separate stand-alone module like the 6AL. Otherwise, is sounds like you have your ducks in a row. Should be fun. :tea: Matt
I typed that out wrong, it's the Pro Billet dizzy with the 6AL box....I believe you are running the same?
 
#100 ·
So Im moving today. Used the new address when I ordered my pistons 2 weeks ago, not expecting them for another 2 weeks. Get to the house this afternoon and guess whats on the doorstep:









They sure are purdy.....

Still waiting on the Summit roller tip rockers which have a ship date of 3/4. I think if they dont ship on Monday Im going to cancel that order and get the Scorpions from Bulltear.

Just about time to get this thing to the shop..!!
 
#102 ·
free floating pin or press pin??
 
#105 ·
Just to confirm, yes the pins are floating.... the disregard comment was a post I deleted.

Summit roller tip rockers arrived today:





Just a few pics of the engine bay after I cleaned it up a bit. I still have some wires to re-route and loom:





Hoping carb shows up tomorrow...?
 
#106 ·
make sure to check your push rod length with the rockers, to get them were they need to be on the valve - stamped rockers are a lot of times listed as ford and other makes and they are not always right - and on the factory rods check the area were the rod nut seats for being flat a lot of times it is concave and the nut just barely touches the rod cap to hold it
 
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