Inline 6 Swap

[Saltie Olds]

I have the 1/24 Monogram Jeep CJ-7. I’d like to know what kit I’d need to get to resemble the 258 inline 6. I don’t want to use the V8 that came with the kit. Thank You.

[slusher]

I am not familiar with Jeeps but you can alway look at Jeep kits on eBay. Window shopping is free..

[gman]

It might be tough to find in scale. 

There are people who part out vintage JoHan kits on eBay, and a Rambler (American Motors) 232 cubic inch inline 6 from the mid-60s is the engine on which the ones in straight 6 powered Jeeps  (258 cubic inches to 4.0L) was based. While some of the accessories, intake and exhaust on later Jeeps differs, the AMC mid-60's block is the same basic casting in use until 2006.

[gman]

 

Thread from 2012, so no guarantees it is still available.

[oldnslow]

I think the latest kit with the 6 is the Pacer .

[Chuck Most]

For 1:24 the only in-scale choice would be the Tamiya Wrangler engine. Two problems there. First, being fuel injected it's way too new for the CJ (unless you want a resto-mod kind of thing), so you'd need to make or modify a carbureted intake manifold and an earlier valve cover for it.  Second... good luck finding one of those kits for a price even approaching "reasonable". 

If you're willing to fudge it, any of the 1:25 engines listed could be made to work. Personally, I would go with the MPC '78 Pacer engine. It's relatively well detailed, and doesn't have a notch or hole for clearing a wire axle. You'd need a different air filter, and if I recall you'd need to fill a hole in the valve cover (for locating the Pacer-specific air cleaner assembly), but it's a pretty good engine for a late '70's tool, and holds up pretty well by today's standards. 

[David G.]

The 78 AMC Pacer by MPC has a straight six.

 

I think it should be the 258.

 

David G.

[Fat Brian]

The 77 Pacer wagon kit might be easier to find.

[Leica007]

I've a inline 6 from a 65 AMC American kit that I didn't use.  Looked at the box and instructions but could not find the scale (1/24 or1/25. The only part missing is the chrome fan blades. Look at the photos and let me know if it would work on your build.

[Saltie Olds]

3 hours ago, David G. said:

The 78 AMC Pacer by MPC has a straight six.

 

I think it should be the 258.

 

David G.

Great, Thank You.

[Saltie Olds]

30 minutes ago, Leica007 said:

I've a inline 6 from a 65 AMC American kit that I didn't use.  Looked at the box and instructions but could not find the scale (1/24 or1/25. The only part missing is the chrome fan blades. Look at the photos and let me know if it would work on your build.

Yes, that should work perfectly for my project. Thank You.

[spencer1984]

I used the Pacer straight six for this build, mated to the stock Jeep transmission. The radiator needed to be nudged a little to get the longer block to fit, but otherwise dropped in with no trouble.

[Saltie Olds]

Thank You everyone for the help.

[Oldriginal86]

One would think that someone would have made a 258 or 4.0 in resin or 3D printed.

[Saltie Olds]

On 4/18/2022 at 11:04 AM, spencer1984 said:

I used the Pacer straight six for this build, mated to the stock Jeep transmission. The radiator needed to be nudged a little to get the longer block to fit, but otherwise dropped in with no trouble.

Do you happen to have an extra complete engine for that Pacer kit?

[spencer1984]

12 hours ago, Saltie Olds said:

Do you happen to have an extra complete engine for that Pacer kit?

Sorry, no - this *was* the spare engine, from a Pacer I bought to complete a vintage kit.

[Saltie Olds]

3 hours ago, spencer1984 said:

Sorry, no - this *was* the spare engine, from a Pacer I bought to complete a vintage kit.

Ok, Thank You.

[Leica007]

The engine is on the way, should arrive Sat or Mon. Have fun.

[Saltie Olds]

On 4/18/2022 at 9:19 AM, Leica007 said:

I've a inline 6 from a 65 AMC American kit that I didn't use.  Looked at the box and instructions but could not find the scale (1/24 or1/25. The only part missing is the chrome fan blades. Look at the photos and let me know if it would work on your build.

I got the engine today. I’ll be sure to post pictures of it, as I’m building it.

thank You

[Chuck Most]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:08 PM, Oldriginal86 said:

One would think that someone would have made a 258 or 4.0 in resin or 3D printed.

Well, there have been resin 258 engines. 😊 Motor City Resin Casters does one for the Jeep DJ and he will happily sell you just the engine. There might be others but that's one readily available. In fact I know there are others- years ago I had a really awful resin 258 that was obviously based on the AMT '77 Pacer wagon engine. That one definitely was NOT the Motor City engine, which is a beautiful casting just like everything else Jeff makes. 

4.0 on the other hand, other than the Tamiya Wrangler it's just not out there. That would be a perfect subject for the 3D guys but I've never even seen the CAD files for one online. It is a fairly popular off road engines but there aren't many existing kits of vehicles that use the 4.0 from the factory other than that Wrangler and the Tamiya Grand Cherokee (that kit comes with a V8 but the 4.0 was the standard engine in the actual Jeep).  Then again, I can think of at least three different 3D printed Cummins 6BT, and all but one of the second gen Ram model kits out there are curbside, though to be fair I guess the 6BT is far more popular for swapping into other vehicles than the 4.0. 

[Oldriginal86]

I just purchased two 3D printed Chevy engines from Texas 3D Concepts and was very impressed with the detail. On the website there is a “contact me “ button so I left a message that the 4.0 should be the next project to pursue.