When I was a kid, my family had a number of friends with '40's and 50's flatfenders; MB's, CJ2, CJ3B ect.
It has always been popular to drop a v8 in them. But, those drivetrains were designed around a little flathead 4-cylinder. Those guys were always busting stuff. Eventaully they gave up, or finally decided to get trannies and axles that would hold up. The other thing was twisting and breaking the frames on the '42-75 Jeeps. Most were C-Channel, except around the engine mounts and front bumper. Just about any old Jeep with the C-Channel frame will have repairs around at least one of the spring hangers; I have seen them bust clear through.
This is not to say they were bad Jeeps. They were/are awesome little machines. They just had thier limitations before you had to really beef them up...
One of the nicer setup I saw was the mid-60's through '71 CJ5's. The Buick 225 V6 that was a factory option was about a perfect power ratio for the size and weight of the early CJ5. My Dad had a '70; it worked great. The later ones with the inline 6's were nice too, but those older ones had the shorter fenders and wheelbase.
A friend had a nice mildly built '72 CJ5. Most of the parts on it were over the counter. His thought was, if he broke on the trail, someone may have the part. If not, someone could go and get an over the counter parts easily. The idea does have some merit... If you break in the middle of Rubicon, it is easier to go get parts than it is to get towed out... For the tow-er and tow-ee.
This 2wd Jeep should work nice with a hot motor. He's got the motor and a decent tranny. It dumps in to a Dana-44.
