Just my own "druthers" but I'd stay with AMC power. I had a 4.0 HO Cherokee for a while and while I didn't like the car per se, the engine was a sweetheart. 258 cores are plentiful and cheap, and there's plenty of performance parts out there for the 4.0, and good resources on the web such as
rockcrawler .
Not having compared a 292 with the 4.0 I can't say for sure, but the 4.0 is a fairly compact engine, and a 292 would probably present some challenges with mounting, hood clearance and drivetrain compatibility. Then again, there's no substitute for cubic inches! It would really depend on your fabrication skills and if you already have a 292, it would make sense to give it a shot.
