Jeep 4.0 in 69 Barracuda

txstang84 said
Totally understandable...if you're the type that doesn't mind reusing gears you can find basically whatever ratio you want either from a truck, Mustang, Explorer--whatever. Man, I'm growing some interest to see how this works out--seems like an easy way to gain some cubes for sixer guys out there without having to swap over to a V8, and getting the trans with it is a bonus. Those 4.0s are just as indestructible as any 225, plenty powerful, came with a solid EFI setup, and they were built en masse until 2006...even eBay doesn't seem too bad on scalping.

What got me thinking down this path is partially the fact that the last several years I have been working on nothing but jeep with 4.0's, and I have gotten quite familiar with them. The other thing is I have already built 2 slant six's. One stock, and the other a custom build while working at the machine shop where the work was done. I was able to pull consistent Mid 13's.

If I wanted this Barracuda to end up with a slant six, I would go thru the effort and build a EFI slant six. But my end desire is the Aussie 265 Hemi In Line 6. No reason to fab up EFI for 225 only to need to redo it for the 265. Going the Jeep 4.0 route means no fab work, bolt on and run. I can enjoy the car and restore the rest of the car while building a 265. The Jeep ECU is batch fire and fairly simplistic. Should be more than enough to drive the 265. And with after-market re programming, the options are limitless. Further more, the jeep harness should be long enough and look good on that 265. As if it belongs there. I just dont see a 265 in my near future, probably 5 yrs out. So I am thinking with this route I can enjoy the car and continue working on it along the way.

Besides, has any one here heard a Stroked Out (4.7 or 4.9L) jeep inline 6? I just did recently at the local store, OMG. I thought for sure the owner had installed a new hemi in his 2004 TJ. It sounded good. And lets not forget, that the Jeep engine is pushing around 5000 pounds of vehicle, and doing so easily. The Cherokees are getting and easy 19MPG while doing so with the larger tires such as the 32's (such as the one I own). This Barracuda should be no problem for that 4.0, even as a stock engine.

I will keep everyone posted. Looking forward to pulling the original v8 (318 I think) and tranny out and starting to get measurements. Hopefully by the end of July to mid Aug.

:cheers: