360 to 258 conversion ?

[Chris W.]

With all the info going around about swapping a V8 in place of a six cylinder, how about the other way around? We have an '87 Grand Wagoneer. It was a 360/727/select-trac set-up. The motor had seized up before we bought it and it's long gone. Tried tracking it down but never found out what happened to it. But, we do have a rebuilt 258 and 998 trans. out of our old '85 Eagle. They are both are lucky to have 1000 miles on them. Does anyone know what it would take to install these into the Wag.?
The 727 was starting to slip so we would rather use the 998. We have a brand new radiator that came with the Wag. I'm sure we should still be able to reuse that. We also have access to a '77 Cherokee. The Cherokee has a 258 and a 3-speed manual transmission. Could we use the motor mounts off of this?
This thing would only be a daily driver. No off-roading or anything like that. We just like the 4-wheel drive (select-trac) in all the snow and ice up here. I know the Wag. is alot heavier then the Eagle, but it's a pretty decent 258. It's got a Comp Cams Xtreme 4x4 cam and a 2bbl Holley. Hopefully it'll even get a header soon.
Any help would be apreciated, thanks.

[GruntDoc]

i know the bellhousing is the same ,not to sure in flexplate/gear count but that is an easy visual thing ,you would need the frame mounts off of a 258 FSJ as i believe the 6 is narower that should not be hard with all the people putting 8's in there rides.
radiator can be reused and like 90% of the other stuff.
But here is the BIG question

How legal is putting an engine that is older than the car in, in your state :rolleyes:

[Chris W.]

Well, this swap is legal for now. But that is just because they don't have any kind of inspections on this side of the state. When they finally do, we will have either of sold it or found another V8 to put in it. But, that's probly years away.
I'm not worried about the bellhousing. I would like to keep the 258 and 998 together because the 727 needs a rebuild. I'm more concerned about the mounting locations for it. Do they use the same style mounts, are the lengths different enough to cause problems, are we going to need new drivelines, and will the Wag's transfer case bolt up to the 998? I know we'll find out when we atempt it, but it's nice to know ahead of time.
Also, if we find another V8 instead, does anyone know if we can swap the 998 in place of the 727?
I know atleast we will need the V8's flexplate. But, how will the 258's torque converter work? Will it even bolt up the the V8 flexplate? Does anyone have an idea how much the stall speed will be effected? I know it would be better to use a V8 converter, but could we get away with the six's for awhile? Thanks.

[andy d]

the exhaust would have to be modified too. it can be done, q is is it worth the time and aggravation? simplest would to find a more intact car or a crashed wag and to do a direct engine/trans swap. just my 2 cents