924Board.org

carnuck · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Seattle

What the heck does a Jeep have to do with 924 you ask? Well, it's a little known fact that about the same time Porsche rolled out the 924, AMC bought some of the 2.0L motors for both the Gremlins (and a few Hornets) as well as Postal Jeeps (This was right after the gas crisis in Jimmy Carter days) I happen to have an underpowered '79 DJ5 (used as an Ice Cream truck after the USPS)
I tripped over a pair of '79 924 turbos cheapish (one with excellent body and a rod protruding from the block with 5 speed trans and the other totally rotted from a bad sunroof, but only 35,000 miles on it with auto trans and still runs excellent)
I'm thinking about cannibalizing the rust bucket for the EFI wiring harness and taking the turbo and goodies from the one with the thrown rod. I'll make the good body drivable again and up the ponies in my little Jeep.
I have a customer by the name of Ralph Meaney who tells me it's doable and the EFI is reliable. (I grew up with British, German and Italian cars so I learned how to fix electrical stuff, but electronics is sort of new to me)
Now that I have caused a gag reflex in many of you, what do you think of my "silly idea" (wife says)
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Yes, my Jeep has a Porsche 924 motor

skemcin · Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 1284 Location: Plainfield, IL

Very creative. I owned a postal jeep (DJ5) when I was in college and sold it just a few years ago. Mine had an inline 6 that did pretty well. IT sounds like you've got what you need to do your "silly" project, but I wonder if finding one of the inline 6 motors might fair better? But then again, it doesn't really matter what you take a corner in with one of those (4 banger turbo or inline 6) you still gotta throw your leg out the door (sliding) to counter balance that thing.

Good luck. I say go for it.

When you're done, paint it flat black and tint the windows 20%. Throw some spinners on there and you're all set!

Fun little truck, enjoy...

[reminiscing]
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924.org (no time to complete)
9249206346 - 89k – new shifter bushings, belts, running well.
9249206347 - 8k – waiting its resurrection, no power at the fuel pump and fuse #7 blows w/power

carnuck · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Seattle

I plan to fix the tippiness with CJ7 widetrack axles. Putting a 6 cyl in isn't so easy as the DJ5 was designed with a shorter nose for the 4 cyl (actually more like a CJ3 high hooder)
I'm just looking for a little more oomph as well as fuel economy. Since the Jeep already has the same engine, I figure it's a fairly easy swap except the wiring.
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Yes, my Jeep has a Porsche 924 motor

skemcin · Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 1284 Location: Plainfield, IL

carnuck · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Seattle

I'll probably make them different. Late models had cutouts for the tire clearance. It'll be a bit taller too (just enough to clear my 33/9.50/15s)
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Yes, my Jeep has a Porsche 924 motor

skemcin · Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 1284 Location: Plainfield, IL

carnuck · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Seattle

going for the new rearview mirror with a rear camera piped into it. (New stuff for RVs)
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Yes, my Jeep has a Porsche 924 motor

endwrench · Joined: 07 Dec 2002 Posts: 1631 Location: Victor, Montana

Welcome to the board!

Let me see if I got this correct. The Jeep is carbed, right? So your gonna convert it to CIS injection with a turbo? I seem to remember reading that the AMC head does not have injector bosses. Is this true? This may be a little more involved than you think but would be pretty cool if you accomplished it.

Todd
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'79 924NA. Rebuilt 9.5:1, MSDS header, Mega Squirt Injection, MJLJ-EDIS Ignition, 1.6L Whipple Charger and Intercooler, 10lbs Boost, 944 Trans, Custom HD Clutch.
"simsport" said....superchargers are better than turbos its official!....

carnuck · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Seattle

I was thinking of swapping the head complete with the EFI to the Jeep engine (I've yet to check if the gaskets are the same)
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Yes, my Jeep has a Porsche 924 motor

v8carreragts · Joined: 05 Sep 2003 Posts: 665 Location: Tucson, AZ

I had one of the postal jeep engines. They are very similar. They are based on the early 76-77 924 engine. The head has the injector bosses but they are not drilled. The exhaust manifold is different, the intake is different, the front crank pulley is different, the distributor is a points type, the flywheel is different along with the mounts and engine accessories.

But the block is the same and all of the 924 pieces will bolt on. I believe the head gasket is different but the block and head surfaces are the same. Why they used a different gasket???? I don't know.

One other thing, the starter is different. It is based on a Ford starter. I modified my 924 to use this starter because it is more powerful and is much cheaper than the Bosch starter. You just need to use Ford starter solenoid because it isn't mounted on the starter.

ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15548 Location: Spring Lake MI

Anhaedra · Joined: 02 Aug 2007 Posts: 32

J1NX3D · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 1333 Location: New Zealand

v8carreragts · Joined: 05 Sep 2003 Posts: 665 Location: Tucson, AZ