I have a 87 jeep wrangler that I bought with no drivetrain.  I have a chevy v8, 350 trans,  and some t case but of course the front shaft is on the wrong side.  I need to know how to hook the engine to the axles the cheepest way.  I cant afford to buy the 500 dollar advanced adapter peice of metal with holes in it.  I have the means to fab most anything if Iknew what I needed.  Any help would be appreciated, thanks.   

you would always wait and get some larger GM axles, that way you could run larger tires, and at full width if you likes... with diff on correct side..  

I could do that because I already have a back axle lying around but the jeeps already have arb lockers in them.  

Personally, I have owned 3 Jeep products and currently own 2 and though I am a GM man and own two GM 4x4's too, I would NEVER GM power a Jeep. It is a Jeep thing. I power them with what they keep with on engine type/brand and they never came with a chevy SB engine. A Jeep looses some of what it is when you do this and I take pride in keeping a Jeep a Jeep. AMC made some sturdy V8 motor that will basically bolt right in there and the bellhousing bolt pattern is the same from the mid 70's on for all AMC engines used in a Jeep. (AMC 360's and 401's are strong motors too with great lower RPM torque) The only exception is the two years that the CJ was powered with a GM 2.5 (not AMC 2.5) as they had a different bolt pattern which is the same as used on a GM 2.8, 3.1 and 3.4 V6. (there was a also a few years that the GM 2.8 was used in a Cherokee which shared this GM 2.5/2.8/3.1/3.4 bolt pattern) Also Jeep in early 70's used a GM 225 V6 that they bought from GM (when Jeep was owned by Kiaser) before they sold it back to GM (after AMC bought them) and it became a 231 and 252.

Thanks for the history lesson but that wasnt really my question but thanks for rambling about your opinion.  If I had the money to go buy all correct jeep stuff I would just go buy a stock new one and use it.  thanks for the post.

Call it rambling if you want to. I have a old J20 with a AMC 360 and though I have owned several 350 powered 4x4's, none of them ever pulled below 2500 RPM like that 360 will (and I have had some strong 350's) and it is a stump puller even well below 2000 RPM. The 350 does have the edge at higher RPMs though. On you axles if you keep tires sizes around 33 or so, they will holdup okay and you could always install aftermarket axles in that that are considerably stronger than the stock 1040 alloy ones in them now.

Minor correction Snoman.  Jeep also used the Buick 350 V8 in the late 60's up to 1970.  Therefore my Willys with the Buick 350 is ALL JEEP!

EverydayRacer, it may be hard to get help when you thank people out of the left side of your mouth.  If you already knew what you wanted to do, why did you ask? 

Prove it on that one cause I don't remember jeep ever having the buick motors in them.  

You asked for it, you got it.

http://www.jeeptech.com/engine/dauntless350.html

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/jeep/engine-factory-buick350v8.htm

http://home.off-road.com/~ozifsja/tech/history/hist_wag.htm (scroll down to 1969 Wagoneer)

http://www.jeeptech.com/models/jpu.htm (scroll down to drive train)

You need to find some GM axles and swap them in. You might as well accept this and just get started on it, because if you put a 350 (unless it's terminally weak) in there with the stock Jeep D30/35 combo (locked, no less) you will merely end up with grenaded axles. A 350 is too much engine for those axles.

One thing to keep in mind with this swap is that many (most?) of the GM axles are spring over, and your Wrangler is spring under. Now, you can just leave them as SOA, but you will have huge problems with axle wrap. Personally I would convert the axles to spring under and get my lift from springs.  

Actually a Ford 8.8 is a good option here as it is a pretty stout rear axle and above a D44 is strength and has a sturdy housing too. Even the Chrysler 8.25 is above a stock D35 in axle strength. The D35 is a marginal axle at best.  

I agree that the Ford 8.8 is a good axle. It's a very common swap in Wranglers. However, it is typically swapped in as a replacement for the d35 in Wranglers with the 4.0. I am not convinced it is strong enough for a V8 powered Wrangler with big tires and lockers. The 9 inch, certainly, but the 8.8? In any case, unless I am mistaken (entirely possible since Ford is the brand I am least familiar with) the 8.8 is only used in the rear. The original poster is specifically asking about the front.
I would say best choice for a 350SBC powered Wrangler is a D60, but if that is not possible (they're big bucks....) then my next choice would be a D44 from a 70's era Chevy 4x4. They're stronger than the more readily available 10 bolt front axle, and have flattop knuckles that make it easy to convert them to high steer.  

When you size a vehicles axle you have to consider a tires size and vehicle itself. A axle that might be maybe marginal in a 60000 lb truck is usually fine in a much lighter vehicle. I am not by any means a Ford fan but I can recognize good hardware they have in certain areas. The 8.8 is a pretty good axle in a wrangler and unless you are planing on running bigger than 35's or so it will hold up fine with a SB in it. The 8.8 also has a pretty strong housing which many never seem to consider because even if you put stronger axle in a D35 it still does not change housing strength which you need too with a lifted vehicle with big tires. A D60 for a Jeep is over kill most of the time unless you are running some really big rubber. A 9 inch is a good axle but it adds weight and expense when a 8.8 could do nicely.  

I don't really disagree with you all that much, Snoman. As I think I said, it really depends on what you're building. You can get away with a lot less axle if your idea of off roading is a gravel driveway, or mild trail runs. I consider 37's to be a good starting point for a trail rig, so in my comments I'm not really thinking of tires smaller than that. And too I made the assumption that the original poster was talking about a 350. Re-reading, he actually said only a 'Chevy V8' so it may well be a 305. If that is the case, then we're likely looking at around 200HP, which even locked and running 37's is not likely to overpower an 8.8".
However, if we're talking about a relatively stout 350 or (even better, to my way of thinking) a 383 stroker (gotta love the torque) with a setup that can run difficult trails (37's or larger, lockers, body armor....) then I do not think the 8.8 is adequate.  

Your points have some merit but you could simpling put some Strange or other aftermarket axle shafts in the 8.8 have have a rear end that is stronger and lighter than a 9 inch. While a 9 inch has a removable pig it is the integral carrier design on axles like D60 and GM 10.5 14 bolts that makes then so strong and why the 8.8 is a sturdy rear axle when properly built. A CJ type is not a 6000 lbs SUV and even if it has a warm SB it is not going to over power even a stock 8.8 very easily at all.