chevy II 153 four cylinder

What year C10? Lots of 153s and 181s were in boats and forklifts. They are listed on eBay all the time. What part of the country are you in?

 

Thanks for the tips, I'm looking to restore my vehicle so I'm attempting to find the correct motor, however, if I don't find what I'm looking for, the 181 is an option.

 

The C10 is a '64. The original owner pulled the 4 out and replaced it with a V8..
Information is non existent. I'm assuming it's a 514 casting. I'm attaching a photo of a data plate from a '65 I had since I can't find the pic of the '64s plate that I took.
I'm 40 minutes east of phoenix

 

What vehicle are you attempting to restore?

Charlie Stephens

 

64 C10

 

I really hate to be negative but I strongly suggest you reconsider this project. My guess is that the previous owner switched to a V8 because the 4 cylinder wasn't powerful enough. Is there any way to talk to the previous owner that made the change? If you proceed I think you will end up with a vehicle that is so under powered that you won't enjoy driving it. It will definitely be a conversation starter at shows but you will spend a lot of money just for a conversation starter. I drove a '62 Chevy II with a 4 cylinder back in the mid sixties. I liked it but it was a MUCH lighter car.

Charlie Stephens

 

The previous owner is the original owner.
We are attempting to restore the vehicle. He pulled the inline out and replaced it with a 327.
We would like to find a 153, or 181 if we can't find a 153, turbo it and go from there.

 

I am kinda late to this discussion, but GM never installed a 4cyl. 153 engine in a full-sized Chevrolet C-10 truck. I also agree with comments on being underpowered. I have 4cyl. 153 engines in Chev II and midget race cars in older stock and modified configurations.

 

"Never" covers a lot of ground. They were in some vans and back then special order could get you what you want. I agree that it would be under powered in a full sized pickup but for in town deliveries or other light duty it would be economic. If you are looking to turbo it that is not restoring it. If you are not going bone stock and have to have a 4 cylinder buy a brand new 181 and go for it.

 

The data plate that I posted on this thread is from a 65 C10 that I parted out.
A 153 is listed.
The original owner of my friends 64 has the original documents for the truck. It was sold with a 153. His dad bought it. His data plate also shows a 153 on it.
I've had this same discussion with other 1st gen, C10 owners.. never.. say never

 

As far as buying a 181.. and turboing..
Yeah.. I'm going to do some thinking but I'm now convinced that the little 153s, are few and far between.

 

Can anyone advise me on spark plug part number preferably NGK for my Mercruiser head ,,it appears to be a large port from 80s ,,? I got the head off Charlie Stephens (great man ,very helpful)our parts counter people don't have any idea ,,the original head which was rusted out from the 2005 model engine has different plug holes from this head ,,

 

Even worse than the truck was the fact that they put them in step vans. How do I know, that was where the oil pan on my engine came from. It had the sump where I needed it.

Charlie Stephens

 

153s are out there. Most are boat motors. As far as I know all 153s have the same casting #. If searching eBay try MerCruiser, Volvo, and OMC. The 153 is a 2.5 or 120 for metric displacement and HP rating. The 181 is a 3.0 and 140. Being GM engines they made the change to one piece rear main seal and some other changes in the late 80s. I bought a 153 I'm building and two parts engines that were given to me. The 181 has three different heads 2 with 8 ports. They will fit a 153. Automotive manifolds are not easy to find but not hard to make. There is a duel side draft Weber and a turbo intake available. You can cut down 193-292 six intakes or headers. Funny but according to the HP shown on your tag the 153 can be comparable to the 230 and the 181 is only 5 HP less than the 283. The boat motors were a bit hotter than the Chevy II version. Check out some of the South American videos on Youtube. In Brazil they came in Opalas.

 

Checked an old Autolite book:
MerCruiser 3.0 (181) through '94 # 144 2.5 (153) # 24
OMC 3.0 '87-'92 # 24
exchanges Autolite #144 = NGK 708,4323, BR6FS
Autolite # 24 = NGK BP6FS
These are 14 mm thread, .460 reach, 5/8" hex, tapered seat.

 

Thanks 6 ball I’ll check those out at my parts place ,,here’s a pic of my “hole”,it has a thread down a bit ,,will need a longish thread or part plain shank,,

 

Glad to help. The last number for the Autolites in heat range so 25 or 145 my be a bit longer. I may run across the NGK book today. And thanks for the picture of "your hole".

 

I've really taken a beating on all of this 153 stuff.
We are attempting to do a resto-mod on this 64.
Randy is the current owner. His dad bought the truck new. He pulled the 4 out in 68 after his dad gave him the truck because he said it was gutless.
A 327 was in it for decades.
However, the thought is, find a 153, make it a little "gutsier", leave it a 3 spd column shift, and run a small turbo on the engine.
I personally think a turbo would make it road worthy..
Not a race truck, but give it tolerable "ramble down the road" performance..
AND.. it would be the motor it came with.

BTW.. have not found 1 153 ..
Tons of later 4s that are claimed to be 153s.. but alas.. not

 

The 153 I'm building is for a '26 Chevy roadster. I had the head built with lump ports and bigger valves. It's shaved .035". I had a custom cam ground by Erson. It has a 181 crank and forged flat top pistons. I modified a 3X1 Offenhauser intake for a 6 to a 2X1 for the 4 cylinder. I'm working on adapting a small block cast header. The displacement now around 170ci. 125 -150 hp should be easy enough. That from such a light engine makes it more attractive. They are 2/3 of a 230 6 cylinder which on your tag is rated the same as the MerCruiser boat motor. There was a dual carb boat 153 that I think was rated a 130hp. These are quite a bit lighter than a 6. The block and crank are probably stronger than the 6s. The bottom end is very strong. With lots of boost it may need O rings to seal the head. These things could make crazy horsepower if you want. There was a brand new Ansen 8 port aluminum head on eBay last week. I think you could have a lot of fun with this. This is the only one I've herd of in a pickup. I think your plan is cool! No matter what you do you won't have the fastest '64 C10 on the road so you may as well have some fun.

 

After extensive searching I find I need Y5R in an NGK ,,it’s different in the hole configuration than the later head ,,

 

Good work!

 

I'll agree with that!! Me and a buddy have been looking forever.. we found one that's rotted bad, just for a mock up engine. We are about to give up in an old engine and just buy one of the early s10 iron dukes. They are a lot alike, but it will require an electric fuel pump


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Be sure to do your homework before you buy an Iron Duke. The 181 in my AVATAR is bolted to a '39 trans with a standard speed shop adapter. The Iron Duke has a different bolt pattern in the rear and won't fit the adapter. An Iron Duke from wheel drive car will give you a different set of problems if you are going to a later trans (sorry I don't know the details). What are you going to put the engine into?

Charlie Stephens

 

My buddy is kinda getting into motorized stuff, but doesn't have room to build a car... so we are gonna build a 1/4 midget but without the body. 4 banger, Saginaw 3 speed, and probably a track nose. Kinda a go kart typed thing, but try to make it look vintage.


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He's got some 4 bolt aluminum slot mages, we will probably put those on the back, and then we're gonna narrow a model a axle for the front, try to find some cool motorcycle wheels for it


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Be sure your motorcycle wheels can be used with brakes. Ford wire wheels are nice and Kelsey's are even better.

Charlie Stephens

 

It'll be bigger than a 1/4 midget. They ran both families of these 4s in midgets. Some early Iron Dukes had the Chevy bolt pattern and will bolt to Chevy bell housings and transmissions. I have one from an 80s Jeep YJ. But like Charlie says do your homework. In your build treat these little engines with respect, they are capable of serious stuff. You'll want to be able to stop it.

 

I've got one of these slated for an upcoming project just collecting parts at the moment to mock up. I need an oil pan and timing cover for the 153. Any help is appreciated thanks in advance.

 

I wonder if the timing cover is the same as the six cylinder? If so Chevy might have them in stock. At least they could probably tell you if they were the same and you could check in the junk yards. Be sure to check the boat guys and the industrial engine guys.

Charlie Stephens

 

Almost finished our intake manifold ,it was the easiest way I could think of to do ,,internal corners will be radius formed ,the car is going in for the headers next Monday ,the exhaust guy is happy to make them on the one piece header plate ,