75 Gremlin going from 6 to 8

Ok many moons ago I was given a 1975 gremlin with the 232 6 cyl Auto trans, now the motor has gone to Inline 6 heaven and I wish to put a v8 where a Straight 6 once was..my question to you all is this.......... What all do I need to do?

I've done engine swaps before but never 6 to 8 nor was it on an AMC.

Can I use the same trans?, Motor mounts needed/moved/welded?

Going into this completely clueless so ANY and ALL info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob

I guess mentioning that I was thinking about using a 318 v8 might help with getting my questions answered :) ( The main reason i'm using the 318 is I already own 1)

heh inline 6's usually never go to heaven, damn tough motors. Motor should bolt in, not sure on the tranny, I would suggest changing it.

well...goin from AMC to Mopar you'll have to come up w/ mounts and a tranny...full custom job and you'll have to play w/ it to find what works...

g'luck...

A friend of mine is a Gremlin nut and had 2 V8 Gremlins that I helped him with.
So......here's the scoop.
1. Your best bet is to use an AMC V8. The 304 V8 was a factory option in the early and mid '70's.
So its easiest to locate factory Gremlin engine mounts and an AMC V8. They were offered in 304, 343, 360, 390 and 401. The last two are in the highest demand and are rare. If you locate a 401, they are expensive to rebuild, since they often can only be bored .025 over without an expensive re-sleeve of the block.
Low compression later 360's are common as they were very common in 70's and 80's full size Cherokees and Wagoneers.
All the usual bolt on performance parts are easily available and the AMC heads flow very well as-is.
Just pay close attention to the aluminum housing on the front of these engines, where the water and oil pumps go. Sometimes older V8s suffer corrosion damage, and as far as I know, new ones are not available (but that may have changed recently.)
You might have to get creative to get the accessories and radiator to fit.

The easiest is to find a V8 Gremlin parts car, to get all the mounts, accessory brackets, etc.

My buddy also had a small block Chevy in a Gremlin.
This engine barely fit in there, with no literally NO room to spare. You would need custom engine mounts......solid mounts, not rubber. There is not enough room to allow the engine to rock on rubber mounts, as any movement would have the engine hit the spring towers.
Block-hugging shorty headers will fit. You need a Chevy transmission, (the AMC one won't bolt up) A THM 350 auto works well, its tight, so I suspect that a 4spd auto or THM 400 won't fit.
A driveline shop can easily make a driveshaft using the stock driveshaft and welding a GM yoke on to it.
There is plenty of room in front of the Chevy engine for all the accessories, fan, rad etc. Don't count on hooking up an air cond compressor, though. Also, a power brake booster won't fit, you will be on non-power brakes only. But thereis room for a decent aftermarket intake manifold and carb, so long as its not some funky tunnel ram set-up.

Finally, this small block Chevy Gremlin was FUN. It had enough power to cut 13 sec quarters, while blazing the tires all the way through third gear.
Big slicks and ladder bars would have put this car into the 11's. It was a bit squirrily on the street, way too much power in a really short and light car. Just a blast though!!
Good luck.

[QUOTE=MagicRat]A friend of mine is a Gremlin nut and had 2 V8 Gremlins that I helped him with.
So......here's the scoop.
1. Your best bet is to use an AMC V8. The 304 V8 was a factory option in the early and mid '70's.
So its easiest to locate factory Gremlin engine mounts and an AMC V8. They were offered in 304, 343, 360, 390 and 401. The last two are in the highest demand and are rare. If you locate a 401, they are expensive to rebuild, since they often can only be bored .025 over without an expensive re-sleeve of the block.
Low compression later 360's are common as they were very common in 70's and 80's full size Cherokees and Wagoneers.
All the usual bolt on performance parts are easily available and the AMC heads flow very well as-is.
Just pay close attention to the aluminum housing on the front of these engines, where the water and oil pumps go. Sometimes older V8s suffer corrosion damage, and as far as I know, new ones are not available (but that may have changed recently.)
You might have to get creative to get the accessories and radiator to fit.

The easiest is to find a V8 Gremlin parts car, to get all the mounts, accessory brackets, etc.




TY all for the info ,I think I'll go this route, seems to be the best for the least amunt of headaches. Any more info feel free to pass along :)