[Texsun]

Figured I would say hello here Long story short, this was a craigslist find! The guy I purchased this from was having a tough battle with cancer God Bless him and his family! I must say that I am proud to own this, and look forward to many trips! Best part is that it fit in the garage and the wife did not get mad!

The good stuff!

1968 CJ5
283 V8 with TBI
SM 420 tranny
DANA 300 Twin Stick with 4:1
Wheelbase stretched 4"
Dana 44s from a SCOUT with 4.88s and Detroits, chromolly
Final Crawl ration 128:1
35x12.50r15 Goodyear Wrangler MTRs "old style"
mounted on Bart Racing Bead Locks
Custom "classic" Bumpers with a warn m8000
Crossover steering linkage with heim joints.
Custom Roll Cage, best top seats, tilt steering etc.

 

[dg6772]

Cool looking rig. Can we get some better pics so we can get a good look at it. ...

Dave in Muskegon using JeepForum

 

[HackFabrication]

289 Ford or 283 Chevy???? I'm diggin' the small block whether Ford or Chevy.

 

[Texsun]

The PO said 289, however it takes a PH8 fram filter, which is a ford filter if I am not mistaken. The tranny is a SM420 is that a Chevy or Ford? Sorry for my ignorance, the CJ and chevy/ford motors are a new concept for me! I will get more pictures and everything tonight when I get off work. I was quite surprised that it fired right up this morning, had to make sure before I went to work. Luckily this will be a weekend/fishing/hunting/crawler toy!

The Jeep is covered in a layer of dust, cant wait to pretty er up!

 

[Tommy R]

If the distributor is located at the front of the motor, it's a Ford. If it's near the firewall, Chevy. Also, the exhaust ports will be evenly spaced on the Ford small block, whereas the Chevy will have the two center ports on each side close to one another.

Cool rig!

 

[Texsun]

If the distributor is located at the front of the motor, it's a Ford. If it's near the firewall, Chevy. Also, the exhaust ports will be evenly spaced on the Ford small block, whereas the Chevy will have the two center ports on each side close to one another.

Cool rig!

Thanks for the info buddy, I will take a look and get a few pictures when I get home. I wanna say the distributor is near the firewall.

 

[dg6772]

If that's the case you can find the engine I.d. # on the front of the passenger side head,just below the valve cover. This will tell you size,year and what vehicle it came from. At least up to the mid nineties anyway. Not sure how the newer ones are identified.

Dave in Muskegon using JeepForum

 

[Tommy R]

Thanks for the info buddy, I will take a look and get a few pictures when I get home. I wanna say the distributor is near the firewall.

If so, it's definitely not a Ford. And for it to be a Chevy 283 would be a bit of a rarity, although cool.

Like Dave said, I was able to use casting numbers on my block and heads to determine the approximate age and model my engine parts came from. In my case, the heads and block came from very different vehicles so keep that possibility in mind.

 

[Texsun]

Great info guys, I will deffinently get an answer this evening! I will even get a quick video for everyone, its nice and cammed out the EFI will be awesome crawling!


I have some tube laying around, might make up a quick stinger tonight or this weekend!

 

[HackFabrication]

I would wager it's a 283 Chevy. Common swap into the early CJ's and a bolt up to the SM465 trans.

 

[Texsun]

I would wager it's a 283 Chevy. Common swap into the early CJ's and a bolt up to the SM465 trans.

Right on, I will get everyone an exact answer once I get home. The tranny is the SM420 not sure how different htat is to the SM465. From my quick research, it seems like the SM420 has a lower 1st gear?

 

[Texsun]

More pictures and videos to follow, maybe yall can help me identify the exact motor?

 

[Texsun]

Did some cleaning on the motor some, seeing how it sat up for awhile it was covered in dust! Went out and tested the 4x4 and the twin sticks. Everything works flawlessly, I have a small oil leak coming from the filter. I loosened it up some and re tightened it down, it seems to have stopped. Went up to Dollar General to grab some all purpose cleaner.

Before

After

Also added a few of my little touches "stickers and DoD Decals"

 

[Tommy R]

The fact that the distributor is in the rear tells me it's more than likely a Chevy. It's definitely not a Ford. So it's not likely a 289. A Chevy 283 is certainly a possibility....especially if the motor swap was done a long time ago.

 

[Texsun]

Walked out to the jeep a few minutes ago, and noticed a small pool of oil... Looks like the oil filters as leaking, I was able to twist it by hand so I tightened it up, hopefully that was the only issue!

 

[dg6772]

It certainly could be a 283. That was a popular swap and that intake is correct for a older small block.

Dave in Muskegon using JeepForum

 

[Texsun]

I must say, it runs like a top! I was having slight sputtering around 1800-2200 rpm but it worked itself out on the way to work this morning!

 

[duffer]

Definately small block Chevy and could indeed be a 283 as it has the old small journal style intake manifold. I don't usually give the block numbers any credence as there are few engines 50 years old that have all original parts. Most of the sbc's I have put together over the years were from more than one source. That engine could also be a 327 or a 302 made from the 327 block and 283 crank. If it is a 283, you can tell the early versions from the 59 and later by the motor mounts and valve covers. The side motor mounts and valve cover bolts directly across are late style.

If you like tinkering with engines, a Gen I sbc is hard to beat. Let the fun begin!

 

[Texsun]

I am quite excited, I will be digging into the motor once I get everything tweaked to my standard. I have a small Bumper Project I am starting today!

 

[Texsun]

Drove the Crawler on the highway a good 80 miles today, putting right along around 55mph @ 2600 RPMs however it handled nice on the road which was surprising, got tons of thumbs ups Made a random pit stop to check out an odd noise I was hearing, got back to my buddies shop and made the stinger what do yall think? It is not quite complete, going to tie it into a semi exo-cage we are building!

Stinger Build...