Technical Chevy 181 4 Banger - Timing Info

Good looking car.

 

Charlie, I think you are right. It looks closer to the one on the right (153 I assume.). Now how do I check the block?

 

There is probably a casting number but I don't know the codes. Maybe a company that sells industrial engines would have the codes. One of their customers would need to know what they have before they order pistons or gaskets or many other things. If you had the head off you could just check the bore. Actually the 153 is on the left, you can see where some of the ports are Siamesed together. The 181 head on the right has 8 separate ports.

Charlie Stephens

 

Well if it was something large more fuel pressure would close the passage but if it's a bunch of little stuff it could be getting s little threw at idle and more when driving. Either way it takes all of a few minutes to take it off and blow it out

It's awesome congrats!
Your tuning issue will most likely not be an issue specific to these motors so don't get to confused when the argument on them being the same or different than a mercruiser/iron duke/ blah blah blah starts up as it always does in these threads and focus on getting the car running correctly.

Any idea if it ran like this with the previous owner?

 

Well, Iwas watching this guy's video thinking I must be able to get this thing working better. His Nova sounds good.

 

Inspiration for sure

 

These shook really bad when new. The trans even had a counter balance weight attached too it on the bottom side. Good luck.

 

As a slightly off topic response when I was building mine (in the seventies) it was recommended to use the original Chevy II motor mounts for the engine and not go with the stiffer flathead Ford biscuits as was a common approach at that time for engine mounts.

Charlie Stephens

 

This is why I like being on here. I get to learn about stuff I never had a chance to mess with like this. I would have never known those engines had that characteristic to them. It would be interesting to know why the 153's ran that way. Anyone ?

 

I fought the rough running, plug fouling, backfiring, jetting problems on my 153 Mercruiser conversion. The fix was a 3 ohm coil. All better like magic!
Same setup, weber with Clifford manifold,
Pertronix, vacuum adv distributor. about 8degrees adv worked on mine. When I got it figured out it ran great.

 

Another characteristic if your engine started as a marine or industrial the cam should have been replaced for the best street performance. It wouldn't explain the shaking but would result in a loss of power.

Charlie Stephens

 

Great insight. I'll check my coil too. If that doesn't work, I'll put the car on a trailer and drive it up to you!

Man cartman4gc, that's a beautiful engine. Could you post a picture of the other side too?

 

I got to thinking about my question on why a rough characteristic on the way home. Now this would apply to the 151 for the moment. The Siamese intake runner would be a factor. That would be comparable to an all stock V8 engine running a single plane intake vs a two plane 180* intake. The intake pulse's are be disrupted at a low idle but become better as rpm's rise. Now the 181 marine and industrial with the cam you mentioned would even aggravate things further with a 151 head. So logic tells me ?

 

You weren't addressing the request to me but I thought I would post a couple of my engine. It is a 181 with a 153 head and Clifford manifold. I blocked off the top of the cast iron exhaust manifold and kept it (temporary). Plans called for a 181 head at a later date but I still haven't gotten around to it. I used a generator off of a 1962-65 (?) Chevy II because an alternator looked to "new". I think, but could be wrong, hat the 4 and the 6 used the same generator mount so they should be easy to find.

Charlie Stephens

 

Great engine charlie. Thanks for posting

 

Cartman - My coil just went bad and I remembered this post from way back. Did you install the Petronix 3 ohm coil? Or what brand did you use? Thanks