I'm looking for any insight into the building of and a decent motor to start with to put a Chevy 4 cylinder in my Model A. I'm going to use my Ford top loader and '40 rear already in the car. Anybody do this? I'm in need of a rebuildable and as complete as possible engine as well. Anybody got one with which they might part with, hopefully within driving distance?
I think that Mercury Marine sold parts for them, like finned valve covers. They were used in speed boats, I think. That is the 4 cylinders that were used in 1960's Chevy II's, (not the pre 1929 Chevy 4 cylinders). Other than that???????
I'd go with a Pinto motor unless you're really attached to the Chevy . There are a ton of them around , lots of parts and hundreds mounted in Model A's already so the hard part is done .
chevy 153 cubic inch 4 cylinder , came in chevy 2s , postal jeeps and boats , decent little motors , had a bit of a dirt track folowing and some hop up parts available ! dont think you'll be finding an adapter to run a toploader behind it though ! the little motors have the same belhousing pattern as their v8 sibblings so a chevy tranny is not a problem ! or as stated above ! look into the little pinto 4 or 2.3 ford or get a little out of the box and run a 2.3 turbo motor !
Dude I love these little motors! Try boats, but watch out for rusted out blocks. Were also used in fork trucks. The 153 uses six cyl. rods, water and fuel pump, etc, just 2 less cyl. Lots of Merc marine stuff. Valve covers and side covers. Use a Chevy V-8 to flathead trans adapter as the back of the blocks all have the same bolt pattern. PM me as I have extra valve cover. Points motor, but you can build and HEI for it real easy.
Thanks guys, I have an adapter on the way for this set up which is really for a small block. I like the Chevy because of the overhead valve layout which just looks better to me. Many years ago there was one running around in a '29 that was just fabulous. The car had an old Frontenac valve cover fitted and with the hood sides on it was a real cool ruse. This car looked real close to Nutrockers but was built 10 years before. I have some old pics from McCungie where it was for sale. Unfortunatly I don't know how to post them. It was truly the nicest pre-war car I've ever seen. I have some old midget stuff left over from my dad. He used this setup in his RPU and it scooted real nice. Unfortunatly the guy who got the truck pulled this setup an put in a 350/350 and bilittized it.
I've got a 2.2 overhead valve motor in my '01 Sunfire and it's the most anemic motor on the friggin' planet. It ain't got enough power to pull a greasy noodle out of a whore's ass!
I love those CII bangers, have one in a roadster I'm building. Good little engine with an old-timey look. Some marine engines are 180 cubes!
the ecotech can be built up to crazy power levels. lots of readily available 4 bangers out there that can have a good look to them. http://quad4rods.com/
Won't hurt to look at a '79 and newer GM Iron Duke. Same bellhousing bolt pattern as SBC and more modern design with the crossflow head and better bore/stroke combo (4" Dia. X 3"). Here's my spare/backup motor with the T50 5-speed and the one in the modified that's backed up by a Turbo 350 .
I'm a newbie to bangers and as such I'm going to ask some dumb questions. JohnnyFast, any idea what I should look for in the later engine? I.e. what did they come in? Were there better ones than others, bigger displacement or better heads etc,.
I had a '80 Chevy Citation (transverse engine) with a 4-speed. According to the salesman it had some variation of the Iron Duke in it. Was a pretty spunky little motor. Certainly not "pin you to the seat" power, but good low and midrange grunt ... that's what appeals to me.
mercruiser made two variants of the chevy ii motor. the first was basically the exact same thing and it was a 2.5l/153cid and it had siamesed intake ports (two cylinders shared one intake port). the second version was the 3.0l/181cid and it has four intake ports. the 3.0l came with two different styles of heads. the early ones had small intake ports and the later ones have larger ports. the 2.5l/153 has a 3.875" bore and 3.25" stroke and the 3.0l/181 has a 4.00" bore and 3.600" stroke. btw these all came in stern drive boats. mercruiser still sells these motors new today.
a friend of mine got a mercuiser out of a boat for a good price....unfortunately it had hard water problems. check it carefully before you buy
There's one on the classifieds here right now. Do a search for "90 hp" and it will come up. He only wants $400.00 for a complete 153 4 cylinder AND TH 350 transmission!!!! Only he's in California. I seriously thought about driving down from Washington. It would probably cost the same amount in gas money however. Maybe he'll deal, and agree to ship, if he still has it. I would love to get it, and that price is unheard of. Butch/56sedandelivery.
I think they were all 2.5L (151 cube). Pontiac made a Super Duty version of that engine but I don't know much about it. Do a Google search. Or I'd just look for one from an S-10 pickup....they're ready for front engine/rear drive setup. A lot of the later ones are TBI so, if you're partial to carburetors, I'd go with an earlier version. My backup originally had a progressive 2bbl. My backup came from a '79 Monza and I still haven't determined where the one in the car came from.
Check out the later Iron Duke, like Johnny fast said,lots of them around in many configurations, also check out the pontiac super duty stuff for that 4 cylinder motor, guys are still running them in midgets, and there is alot of speed stuff available...
Loads of great info here. I'm sure I'll stick to the earlier motor if for nothing else than the somewhat more traditional look. With the hood on I don't think it will be much of an issue. Thanks to the guys who offered suitable donors but I think I need to find one closer. Something within driving distance.
Larry, I've called a couple friends about an Iron Duke with no luck (but one guy is looking and going to call me back) I also thought "Iron Duke" were the 60/70's but i found this on wikipedia; GM Iron Duke engine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search <!-- start content --><TABLE class=infobox style="FONT-SIZE: 88%; WIDTH: 22em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; TEXT-ALIGN: left" cellSpacing=5><CAPTION class="" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 125%">Iron Duke</CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TH>Manufacturer</TH><TD class="">Pontiac</TD></TR><TR><TH>Type</TH><TD class="">Straight-4</TD></TR><TR><TH>Bore</TH><TD class="">4 in (101.6 mm)</TD></TR><TR><TH>Stroke</TH><TD class="">3 in (76.2 mm)</TD></TR><TR><TH>Displacement</TH><TD class="">151 cu in (2.5 L)</TD></TR><TR><TH>Block alloy</TH><TD class="">Iron</TD></TR><TR><TH>Head alloy</TH><TD class="">Iron</TD></TR><TR><TH>Cooling system</TH><TD class="">Watercooled</TD></TR><TR><TH>Power output</TH><TD class="">85 hp (63 kW)</TD></TR><TR><TH>Specific power</TH><TD class="">0.56 hp/cu in (25.2 kW/L)</TD></TR><TR><TH>Torque output</TH><TD class="">123 ft·lbf (167 N·m)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Iron Duke (also called the 2500, 151, Pontiac 2.5, Cross Flow, and Tech IV, though the decal on the air filter assemblies actually reads "4 Tech") was a 2.5 L (151 cu in) I4 piston engine. All Iron Dukes were built by Pontiac beginning in 1977 and ending in 1993. This 151 was also used by American Motors (AMC) starting in 1980, as the base engine option in the RWD Spirit and Concord, and continuing in both cars through 1982. The AWD (4x4) Eagle carried the 151 as standard equipment for 1981, and carried it midway through the 1983 model year. It was also available (as the Hurricane) in economy model Jeep CJs. AMC replaced the Iron Duke 2.5L I4 with a 150cid Inline-4 of their own, derived from their evergreen sixes. The Iron Duke is often confused with Chevrolet's Stovebolt-derived 153 from the 1960s Chevy II, but the engines are entirely different - the Iron Duke's intake manifold is on the passenger side, as opposed to the driver side. Applications: 1977 Pontiac Astre 1977-1980 Pontiac Sunbird 1984-1988 Pontiac Fiero 1982-1985 Pontiac Firebird 1982-1985 Chevrolet Camaro 1985-1990 Chevrolet Astro 1985-1990 GMC Safari Chevrolet Citation Chevrolet Celebrity Chevrolet S-10 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer GMC Sonoma GMC S-15 Jimmy Chevrolet Monza Buick Skylark Buick Skyhawk Buick Century Pontiac 6000 1985-1991 Pontiac Grand Am Oldsmobile Ciera Oldsmobile Omega AMC Concord/Spirit (1980-82) Eagle (1981-83) Jeep CJ (1980-83) Grumman LLV United States Postal Service delivery vehicle <TABLE style="BORDER-RIGHT: #87ceeb 3px solid; BORDER-TOP: #87ceeb 3px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em 1em; BORDER-LEFT: #87ceeb 3px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #87ceeb 3px solid" cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2><TBODY><TR><TH>Year</TH><TH>hp (kW)</TH><TH>ft·lbf (N·m)</TH></TR><TR><TD>1978</TD><TD>85 (63)</TD><TD>123 (167)</TD></TR><TR><TD>1979</TD><TD>90 (67)</TD><TD>128 (173)</TD></TR><TR><TD>1980</TD><TD>86 (64)</TD><TD>128 (173)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> So it got me thinking you might be looking for the older 153 Cubic inch; 153 The 153-cubic-inch (2.5 L) 153 was a straight-4 version of the family and was only used by Chevrolet with the entry-level Chevy II/Nova. Usage of the 153 lasted until 1970 when the inline six was made the base powerplant with the Chevy II/Nova (buyers opted for the inline sixes - the 230 or 250); currently, descendants of the 153 are used with industrial (forklifts or generators) or marine applications. A later variant of the 153, the 181, used a larger 4 inch bore and a longer 3.6 inch stroke. The 181 (branded by GM as the Vortec 3000 for marine or industrial usage) was not installed in passenger cars. This engine is entirely different from the later 151-cubic-inch (2.5 L) Iron Duke, but the two are often confused today. That name was never used for this engine when it was produced. Applications: 1962-1969 Chevy II 1967-1971 Postal Jeep 1968-1992 Chevrolet Opala (Brasil)
I think the later GM 4 cylinder engine as used in the S10 from mid 80's to early 90's or the Vega-Monza is the choice for a rear wheel drive.The front driver version of this engine might have some block differences?? And the later versions had GM throttle body fuel injection and may or may not have provison for a mechanical fuel pump? And the rumor is they use SBC rods and pistons?
Check out the GM all aluminum DOHC 4 cyl they put in the Small RWD trucks 2.9 liter OR you can be REAL cool and put in the inline 5 cyl that is 3.7 liters!! http://media.gm.com/us/powertrain/en/product_services/2007/07truck.htm
GM STILL makes the Chevy II 4 cyl engine for Industrial and Marine apps,, here are the links,,,, GET one of these bigger engines, lots are available USED, or New,,, better rods, bigger valves,,,not the smaller 153 chevy II http://www.gm.com/experience/techno...specialized/industrial/industrial_engines.jsp http://www.gm.com/experience/techno...ecialized/industrial/2010_3000_Industrial.pdf http://www.gm.com/experience/technology/gmpowertrain/engines/specialized/marine/2010_3000%20Marine.pdf
Ford car...... whatever you do don't consider a Ford engine for it. That does'nt work, go straight to GM.
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