New guy here. Great forum, tons of info. I've been lurking for a couple months now and decided it was time to jump in.

This isn't going to be too typical of a project.

I'm starting a project to build a warmed up 292 to go into a Kaiser-Jeep M715. The original 230 had been swapped for a 292 long before I bought the truck. The current engine does a good job of moving the heavy truck.
The M715 weighs in at about 5800#s and runs 5.87 gears. Top end on the old thing is about 60mph, it might run faster than that but I ain't gonna do it.

I found a starter engine a few days ago and if the block and head checks out I'll start the build. Te project engine came out of a '78 C10 and the guy I bought it from said it had been running but had picked up a knock so he decided on a V8 swap.
I had to help the kid pull it since he really didn't have a clue, I'm hoping whoever is helping him with the new engine knows more than he does.

Anyway, my plans include keeping it pretty mild, 4 barrel intake, headers and a mild cam and maybe/probably some head work depending on the budget.
I've got Leo Santucci's book and it's great but it and most of the build info is aimed at street performance and speed. I haven't yet found anything for a low geared, heavy 4X4. It's kind of a conflict with this truck at as close to highway speeds as it gets the engine is wound up tight but I still want torque down low. I'm looking for a direction to go ith this thing so any suggestions are welcome.

Nice project. I'm curious as to what trans you use. Anything with a Hi-Lo range?

i,ve built a couple dozen of these trucks and have about 10 right now. top speed is 45mph....... and that is reved to the max (5.87 gears) also with a 292 its gonna cost you about 30-40% more than a brand new gm crate 350 engine plus all 292.s suck the gas. i have both. you better plan this out good or your wallet will suffer alot. you dont need anything other than a bone stock engine, all else is just asking for more gas..... if a 230 can do a great job the "stock" 292 will do superb and a 350 will do again that much better. the trans in these trucks are t-98's. also if you go 350 you can use the money you save to get rid of the stock np200 extreamly problem prone transfer case and up-grade it to a np202 or np205. lastly you need to add 1. power steering
2. a split master cylinder ( not a car m/c like the el cheapo kids do onthe other kiddie web site.
3.change it to 12 volts and move battery under the hood.
4. install a fsj bench seat.......
5. 4.56 gears ( a must for on road use)
6. lockout front hubs (also a must for on road use)
there is alot more you can do but these 6 mods will make this more user friendly.
this is from my 25yrs experience with these trucks. a 4bt cummins is nice also but its very expensive to do it......
bob
p/s
a modern dana 60 1 ton front axle along with aa "van" dana 70 or 14 bolt rear axle is very desireable. cost is the same but its alot more work to install them. just fyi

The tranny is the GM SM420 4 speed.

bcowan, I'm familiar with your trucks from the zone. I spend a bit ot time there also I've done a bit of work to the truck already, Brakes and such, Corvette MC, modded shoes. The 230 had already been swapped out for the the 292 and SM420 trans. Heck anybody can dump a crate 350 into something.
I figure a mildly built 6 will serve my needs as well as be something a little different.
I've never been much for doing things the easy way, heck if it was easy everybody would be doing it

a car m/c will work but if you haul any weight or pull a trailer you,ll find it wont have enough brakes also anybody can install a chevy 6. when you start buying gas you,ll see what i mean. nice lookin truck, better than most have as starting platform

Say what side is the front drive shaft on?

Front DS is on the passenger side on the M715.

The brakes on the truck work for my uses. They'll haul it down hard and fast even with a full load of green oak in the bed.A young lady in a little Honda found that out last month when she ran a stop sign in front of me when I had a big round bale of hay on the back.
Now my idea of road use is probably different than most people. I'll be pretty surprised if I ever get the old girl more than 20-30 miles from home and that would be a big trip. Since I won't be racking up serious miles MPG isn't a huge concern. If I gotta haul something any distance I'll take my "new" truck, my '83 Chevy with the 250.

FRONT D/S IS ON THE PASS SIDE

Totes Phat truck (Fat too).
Lots good advice above.
Mine for low-end and MPG would be:
1. I actually got better MPG from my 4bbl than from the 1bbl Roch BV carbs. So you'd be fine with a 4bbl on there. Either an Autolite 4100 (1.08 or 1.12, 440cfm or 500cfm), a 390 Holley or 450 Holley, or a 500 Carterbrock would work great on there. Use a heated intake, for your use the Offy intake is probably better in cold weather.
2. Long headers (like the truck headers off the shelf) are best for low end, hooked to some long 2.5" duals, pipes runnning back about 4ft before crossover or big box mufflers. Of course headers will help top end too but add quite a bit of low end.
3. You could leave the cam alone if it's good or stay small.
4. Ditto engine, flattops and zero deck will wake up the low end but if the engine is running good, that 292 will be pretty strong already.
5. The 230cid that came in there was about 190ftlb torq, your 292 will be near 300ftlb so you could put quite a bit of taller gear in there as already noted.
Great project.

I had hoped to the get project engine on the stand today and start the tear down but the carb on the running 292 in the truck decided to start puking gas this morning so I spent that time putting a kit in that one. It had needed it for a while. maybe I'll get a little better MPG out of it while I'm building the new engine.

I'd been looking at the Offy and a 390 Holley. As for headers I've kind of been looking at Fentons but nothing set in tone at this point. One issue I may have with the exhaust is the location of the gas tank, it's on the driver side and location and shape/size will pretty much dictates a couple of 90* bends to get around it and exit the pipes to the rear of the truck