Wait, wait. Why are you bringing International Harvesters into this? What I want to know is, if I bought a Rambler Rogue with a 304 and a Torqueflyte, could I drop a 360 from a Jeep Cherokee in it and still use the Torqueflyte? Could I bolt a GM Turbohydro to the 304? Parts interchange - is it complete?
Amc used an amc only bellhousing bolt pattern all years are the same.The change is the pilot hole in the back of the crank was made larger in 72 for the trouqeflight.It is still an AMC only trans .they where built for them by mopar.The trans before 72 was cast iron somewhat resembling a ford C4 but the servos are to small to handle any real horsepressure
I'd run the piss out of that 304. I hear everyone talkin' about them in gremlins and Jeeps, but they were stockers in late model AMX's and javelins too. You might look there for hi po goodies. I ran into a guy with a '71 or '72 AMX at a Mopar show last year with a seriuosly hot 304 in it. You had to hear it lope to believe it. That was one bad azz AMC.
I had a 1968 Javelin SST with the 390. It was a very reliable and very fast car. As you have read it was mostly the same as yours. The quality of AMC engines are pretty good... The quality of the body and other bits left some to be desired. I know I would love to see more AMC stuff around. AMC also printed a great performance book in the early seventies. They still reprint it at some of the AMC vendors. I think it was like "Performance American Style" or something. HyFire
Run what'cha want! Iput a 401 into a gremlin for a bud back home,burned more than a few guys ****s!! Lots of parts around. AL
You can start to redo and up the horses by just gitting AMX parts for that motor. AMX had the most complete high preformance parts from the factory at that time. Now you can get larger cams, roller rockers, and everything you need to make that motor a monster. I have a 360.cu in use to be. It was bored 30 over. 343 pistons which extend beyound the top of the block so the heads had to be opened up .It has been ported, ballanced, had a fluid damper, an Offenhouser dull four intake, headers. and a 548-310 cam. It is figured to have over 500hp with a 8000 redline. You maynot get the horse power of a 360, but the 304 was the meanest motor in its cl*** from the factory. If you check the parts catalogs you will find all you need . It just depends upon what you want to do and afford. AMC is not a small block, so you can do a lot to them and still keep good cooling. Best of luck,,,Ted
When did we begin to believe that crazy is a BAD thing? As a Ford guy, I think you ought to save the 304 for a Gremlin (he said sarcastically), but it would certainly be unique and functional. I suspect it would work as well as any other motor, but get your tape measure busy before you make any irrevocable decisions.
my first car was a 72 javelin with a 304 auto.. i later bought a smashed 73 amx with a 4 speed and no engine.. i changed my 72 over to a 4 speed and got a vibration..the local amc dealer told me that it was because the auto engines and standard engines were balanced differently..one is enternaly balanced and the other externaly...you might want to make sure about this before you start swaping things around..maybe someone heres knows if this is true...AMC v8`s rule.. i got my first piece of *** in the back of that javelin.
In the world of hotrodding, innovation is one of the 'key" elements---and like the man said, "cheap and running beats the Hell out of expensive and almost done". The only way you may suffer for running that motor is when it comes time to sell the car---people are shy about buying anything that is not thought of as "mainstream".
The Jalopy Journal
