I doubt it. The M151 has a transmission and transfer system that has them as one unit so the transmission is not the same. Also, the starter for the M151 mount facing forward onto the bell housing of the transmission. I do not know for sure as I have not personally compared to see so I may be wrong.
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Chuck Graham
1969 Kaiser-Jeep M35A2
you should be able to find a civilian F head pretty easily they were in cj5's, cj6's, cj3b's
the only real diffrence from the civilan F to the miltary F is the 24V system, and the military style carbureator, and these can be swapped out very eaisly
let us know how things work out
Mike
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1947 Cj2a (MB clone)
194? Bantam T3-C (newest addition)
1953 M38A1
1957 Willys wagon
1966 M416 trailer
1967 M151A1
1983 Chevy C30 6.2L (its not a CUCV but its close)
Some people are like Slinkies ...
Not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.
Jasper has a replacement crate motor drop shipped for around $2200! I asked could I get a core credit (usually $5-600) NO GO was the reply as there is not a demand for them....Oh well.
An M38 is just a Jeep CJ5, or should I say that a Jeep CJ5 is just an M38.
There are lots of really good conversions in civilian CJ5s. The only problem there is that a CJ5 has a shorter engine compartment than a CJ7, the most common older Jeep you will find.
A real nice conversion, but getting hard to find and maintain is a Buick 225 or 231 V6. The early ones were call the "Odd fire" engine because the cylinders fired 90 degrees apart. For a 6 banger that meant it fired 3 times then skipped a beat. It had a **** of a flywheel to smooth it out. I have had 2 of these engines. In about 1978 they split the crankshaft into 6 cranks with a single rod on each instead of 3 with 2 rods on each and made it run evenly. That crankshaft wasn’t as strong and was known to snap.
The Jeep 304 CUI V8 might be shoe-horned into an M38, but it might mean some serious sheet metal work. Both a 225/231 and a 304 will bolt up to easily available transmissions, possibly even your old one.
I'm putting a 1970 Jeepster Commando back together with a rebuilt 231 that I drove for years 'til my daughter's boyfriend rolled it. Under the hood the sheet metal looks just like your M38 would; it even has the notches on the right fender for the snorkel. For all the off-road use I will put it to, it has plenty of power.
I'm not sure exactly what your steering system looks like, but I'll bet it has the pre-1970 style with the pivot in the center of the cross member. If it does, look seriously into a conversion. Look at '70 to '75 Jeeps for mounting parts or do like we have done on '60s vintage Jeeps and fab’ your own. Saginaw steering boxes off of '70 to '75 GM cars like Camaros and Firebirds are really good. Look for the ones with 4 mounting ears, but take a 3 ear version if you have to. Try to get one with around 3 1/2 turns stop-to-stop on the wheel.
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/ar....jsp?id=264318 will give you some good ideas. The conversion is a really good thing to do because the old units get dangerous after only a few thousand miles and GOOD bushings for that center steering joint are hard to get. The last time I had to buy one I got a MOOG brand unit. It lasted much longer than the original.
If you do this, TAKE LOTS OF PIC'S and post them. If you like I can show you some pic's of the Commando with the front clip off.
Arlyn
PS I did see a Ford 302 dropped into and early (flat fendered) M38 but it was not a pretty sight.
Last edited by KaiserM109; 01-02-2009 at 14:21.
Reason: Fix PS
There is a recent post on www.dieselplace.com about a 3-53 Detroit in an older jeep. Look under the 6.5 or the 6.2 forum for the thread entitled: DETROIT. I think the second page had the link to another site with the original story. Pretty interesting. It almost looked right at home, and the guy who did it claimed he got 34mpg outta the thing.
Jerry Mambretti, a member of the MVCC had a M38 with a M151 engine in it. I never did look too close at it to see if it had the 151 transfer case/tranny as well or what. He purchased it that way, and was converting it back to the M38 engine.
M38 using a M151 engine
