WELL I SAID THAT OVER THE WEEKEND I WAS GETTING AN 86 S10 BLAZER TO WHEEL...AND I WANTED SOMETHING FOR MY FAMILY TO RIDE IN TOO BUT...I FOUND THIS 79 JEEP CHEROKEE 2DR W/A 360/T400/QUADRA TRAC. I CALLED THE GUY AND HE SAID THAT ALL IT NEED TO RUN WAS A BATTERY.SO I TOOK THE BATT OUT OF MY MOMS SUBARU AND A GALLON OF GAS AND SOME LUCAS FUEL TREATMENT AND I WAS OFF TO SEE THE JEEP.HE WAS ASKING $850 FOR IT AS IT WAS.I GOT THE JEEP RUNNING AFTER ABOUT 15-20 MINS OF CHECKING AND PUTTING LITTLE THINGS BACK TOGETHER(THE SHIFTER WAS DISCONNECTED AND THE FAN HUB WAS LOOSE)I FIRED IT UP AND HAD A NASTY EXHAUST LEAK! PRETTY MUCH NEW WHAT I WAS GETTING INTO SO I OFFERED THE DUDE $600 AND HE TOOK IT!....FUNNY THING THOUGH, AFTER GIVING HIM THE MONEY I HAD MY BUDDY FOLLOW ME HOME AND WE DIDNT EVEN MAKE IT 1/2 MILE FROM WHERE I BOUGHT IT! THE JEEP HAD A HEARTATTACK ON ME! IT PUT THE #1 CON ROD RIGHT THROUGH THE OIL PAN(DAMNIT!)SO I HAD MY BUDDY TOW ME HOME INSTEAD.
BUT HEY IT RAN WHEN I BOUGHT AND DROVE WHILE I HAD IT AND NOW MY WIFE *** AT ME FOR IT CLOUDING MY DRIVEWAY!
SO PLANS NOW ARE TO DROP MY 350 FROM MY 74 C10 CHEVY BECAUSE I KNOW THEM AND NOW GONNA START THE TEAR DOWN PROCESS
BTW THIS IS MY 2ND JEEP, AND DONT KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT IT...OH AND IT HAS A POWER BACK WINDOW. DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO GET IT DOWN WITH NO POWER TO IT?  

It would be far simpler to drop another AMC 360 in it (or 304 or 401). I am very surprised that you threw a rod because those engines are VERY durable. I have a 79J20 that I have owned for 22 plus years and it still runs well and engine is still factory stock (except for a timing chain) You had to run it out of oil or something as AMC 360's do not just throw rods out of the blue. ALso I can tell you from experience that while I like a 350 and own two of them, they can not match a AMC 360 in low RPM grunt/torque by a notifiable amount.  

i checked the oil and it was full and not dirty. the dude i bought it from said that the fan blades broke and i think it over heated that way because there was no fan on it.i had it running for maybe 15-20min. and it wasnt making any noise other than the exhaust leak.

so i think it got way hot and gave ip the ghost that way.
now im hunting a 360 or whatever, or i could just drop my 350 in IDK yet...  

It is possible but another AMC V8 would be far easier to do (A 258 would bolt in too) You could put a 350 in there but you would need to adapt tranny bellhousing and you cannot just simply change tranny as that THM 400 in there has a output shaft unique to the Quadratrac Tcase and output shafts would have to be swapped too. Then you would have to modify wiring harness too and change ignition system too.  

Hmm... that sucks!

I know how simple a 350 sounds and would be, but in this case I have to agree with Sno. If you can find another 360, or even rebuild the 360 you already have, you will save yourself sooo many hours of headache in trying to get the 350 to run correctly.

But if there is no AMC option, then the 350 would be the way I would go. You can get that stupid thing running with like four wires.  

Not exactly true. The Qtrac is the monkey wrench in the swap. Normally you could change tranny with it but Qtrac needs a special output shaft on THM400 (sticks out about 16 inches) and a pain to swap out in a THM400. For what it is worth, a earlier AMC 290, 343 and 390 should bolt in too.  

What's not true? I agreed with you that the 360 is the best bet for an engine swap.  

to get the back window down without power... you have to put power to it... there is no manual overide... there's an access panel in the middle of the back door... mine was just phillips screws... but you should be able to find the two wires that come in from under the body and just jump some juice to them and see if the motor is even good anymore... i've removed the entire system out of the back of mine... it's not a very strong system...  so i'm just going to make a canvas/plastic snap in rear window... there's plenty of room for it... and i think it'll be better in the long run anyway... especially for four wheeling...  

and if you're going to swap out the engine you may as well swap out the tranny and trasfer case while you're at it... yours probably has carpet inside still but if you lift the carpet then almost the entire center hump unbolts and there's a huge access panel in the middle of the passenger compartment... and i'd check the rear anchors on your back seat... they have a tendency to rot out with vibration and what not... same with some of the corners of the wheel wells...  

and watch the rear end if you swap out the transfer case... because the pumpkin in the rear axle is offset to the passenger side if i remember... mine no longer has the original rear end... and while you can run the offset rear end with a standard transfer case you just have to allow for the extra offset...  

By implying it is a easy hookup of sorts for a SB swap. Since it is a Qtrac, there is a lot more involved in a engine swap because of THM400 output shaft which is unique to AMC Q trac apps and bolt pattern on bell housing too.  

well im pricing out rebuild kits for both the 350 and the 360, i may go w/the 360 but dont know as of yet if the block is good, i do know that the oil pan is shot, i hope thats all.
thank for the tip GOTMIKE on the back wndow and on the trnny hump.and yes mine has carpet and the whole interior is clean w/no trashy looks to it and the body is rust free! (hard to believe) the only rust spots is on the rear fender flares, the rockers have no rust either so it looks like i got a solid cherokee for $600 minus hole in engine!..lol  

a buddy from work said that the other day a buddy of his asked if anybody needs a 360/tranny combo from a rolling jeep chassis...so i think i have a new heart for my jeep for 200$...cool!  

only 800 bucks in so far. your not doin so bad. and an extra tranny.  

hell... if you can get up here to wyoming you can have my old transmission and transfer case... i have no use for it... it's just sitting out in the yard... and it's got the quadratrac...