Nearly two years after removing the 401 V8 from my ’77 Wagoneer, I finally finished rebuilding it and was ready to drop it back in place. I was set to drive this vehicle 800 miles to Ouray, CO, for the…
AMC V8 Intake Manifold Info
Table of Contents Thermostat housing problems Edelbrock Performer install Emissions equipment Thermostat Housing Problems When I rebuilt the 401 V8 in my ’77 Jeep Wagoneer, I noticed that one of the thermostat housing bolt holes was partially clogged with something.…
AMC V8 Timing Cover Inspection and Dress Up
Inspection One of the weakest points in the design of the AMC V8 is the aluminum timing cover. Unlike the timing cover on a small block Chevy, which merely covers the timing set (as the name implies), the AMC V8…
AMC Cylinder Head Reconditioning
Table of Contents Tear Down / Inspection DIY Head Porting Valve/Spring Assembly Installation onto Block Miscellany Tear Down / Inspection I’ll write this section someday. The heads, like the rest of the engine, were a basket case. 1974 heads…
AMC 401 V8 Engine Rebuild Parts List
Here’s the list of parts I needed in order to get my401 V8 back on the road.
Holley 1850-4 (4160-style) Carburetor Rebuild
By July 2002, I was finally finishing up the engine rebuild on the AMC 401 V8 in my ’77 Wagoneer. This vehicle was a bit of a basket case, especially under the hood. It had had 10 owners in the…
’77 Wagoneer Engine Bay Dress-Up
I took an extended break from working on the Wag in order to finish some school work and prepare for the birth of our second child. I then decided that, as slowly as I was making progress, I should probably…
401 V8 Camshaft Selection
While rebuilding the 401 V8 from my ’77 Wagoneer, I found that the camshaft it had (which appeared to be aftermarket, since the measured lobe lift was higher than stock on many lobes) was quite worn. Since I had the…
’74-77 Wagoneer Gas Filler Hose
When we first bought our ’77 Wagoneer, every time the gas tank got semi-full, gas would leak out the top of the make-shift filler hose and run down the inside of the quarter panel onto the ground. Not only did…
’74-79 Wagoneer 2.5″ Exhaust System
When we first bought our ’77 Wagoneer, it was missing half the exhaust pipe and leaked fumes everywhere. What remained of the stock exhaust system (just a couple inches past the muffler) was very rusted and beat-up. I could have…