Mexico VAM 282 I6 - still works with 4.0 head?

[hafner]

Hi all,

I recently moved to Mexico City, where I'm discovering that many Mexican AMCs (VAMs) and Jeeps came with a Mexico-specific VAM deriviative of the old I6 - a 282 cu. in. (4.6-liter). I instantly started wondering if you could slap a 4.0 head on for some extra horsepower as you can do on the 258 (4.2).

Any ideas? And when people do the 4.0 head swap, does that also make it easier to bring over the whole 4.0 FI setup?

[joe]

Warning: Not Gospel! I think(?) the only difference between the MX and US motors was the stroke. Doubt AMC MX redesigned the head and block castings? My thoughts say it 'should' work but note line #1 "not gospel" so you'll have to do some careful measuring.

[yossarian19]

Wikipedia is saying it's basically a bored 258. The bore is less than a millimeter larger than the 4.0's so assuming the head bolt pattern is the same, I think you could make this work.
The EFI would definitely be easier if you are starting with a 4.0 head, though tuning the factory computer for the extra displacement might be tricky. I would consider megasquirt if it meets emissions regulations in Mexico City.

[hafner]

Awesome. Thanks as always!

[Cecil14]

The OBDI 4.0L MPFI is stupid easy to swap in. Works just fine out of the gate, especially if you're not running a ton of compression (that 282 is probably around 8.5:1?). I'm running the stock '94 MPFI on my stroker (280ci) and it runs great.


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