Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines GM 4 cylinders 151 153 181

Beater are you Six Ball on the HAMB?
The ports are way smaller on the 153 head. You should get the 181 head done its way better flow. Only drawback is you have to build an intake. I will call Steve and will prolly get the same cam you got.
Thanks eh!

-Shiny

No, I just stole that guy's avatar. OK, it's me, I'm busted.

I'm sending the 153 head to TLowe. He says it will flow around 225cfm when done. I've already got the intake and header flanges. It will be fine for my build. I'll take a good look at the 181 head. It may go on the 151 sitting in the corner. It has the cross flow head that reminds me of Swiss cheese.

Tell Steve you heard it from me. It can't hurt. What is your engine going in? Tom

Ohhh great 153 guru's....
I wanted to share a build that I did with my Pops in 1989. I bought a 1953 CJ3-B from a fire department that used it to scout grass fires for about $400.00 and it was a steal. The Jeep had a 45hp flathead ford and the head was toast. Pops's said, "Let's put a 153 in it", so we did. It took some modifications and I will list them later. But for now, It has been sitting for 15 years and I want to freshen it up. My understanding was that 153's were basically a 327 SBC cut in 1/2. Everything 327 went in it. Crank, pistons, rods etc. We did have to lengthen the mainshaft (had it machined in Hayward, CA) to fit the stock T-18 back in it. But the 327 bell housing and started bolted right up. We built it for torque as the main objective was to run it on the Rubicon. We fabricated mounts for a quad core Chevelle radiator and slapped and electric fan on the outside between the grill. This was a great bui;d and made for a rig that wouldn't over heat while idling for long periods of time. That's my inliner story and I'm sticking to it!

Sounds good to me. The 153 is four cylinders of a 230 L6 but there is a lot os early V8 cross over. I just finalized a 151 Jeep Iron Duke deal today. I get it Saturday. Get yours going again and show us how it works.

OK, I picked up the '80 Jeep 151 today. It has a cross flow head like the FWD one I got on eBay but the bell housing pattern is Chevy. It has a coil in cap HEI with vacuum advance. It has a 2 bbl carb and a mechanical fuel pump. The bell housing has the Chevy pattern on the block side and what looks like Ford on the tranny side. It is complete except for the power steering pump and alternator. The guy took it out of his jeep because it didn't have enough power after he put 33" tires on it. It has 80,000 miles on it. I'm not sure but I think it should use the wide rear main bearing. If so it would take a 181 crank and be a 181. That is a gain of 30 ci using stock parts. It could also use a 153 or 181 head. I will get some comparison pictures posted soon. PICTURES

I just finished unloading the Jeep 151, a brake in the snow. I need skis on the cheery picker. Looking at the distributer it is clear that the cap is the same as a V8 only four of the eight bosses have contacts. It is a big ugly unit but is HEI with vacuum and mechanical advance. I matched the trans side of the bell housing wit the T5 from a Mustang. They are the same. An easy way to put those T5s on our L4 and L6 engines. The clutch arm, pivot ball, and throw out bearing are pretty simple too. The bell housing is very light aluminum and is probably not real strong. I don't know yet if it will clear a standard Chevy clutch and fly wheel. The jeep appears to have a 9 or 9 1/2 inch clutch.

Sounds like and awesomne score Beater.... what year was the Jeep? Sounds like it will be the perfect motor for your project. Ski's on the cherry picker sounds like a fun fab job!!! I might be up for that one.... skinny or fat???

The Jeep was an '80. In the next day or two I will try to fire it up. I think fat skis. I don't plan on doing cross country runs.

I was just going through the new Power Manual and was looking at the hybrid heads. What head is that Mercruiser in page 185? None of the 153 or 181 Mercs I've seen are cross flow. It is not like the Iron Duke. Funny I didn't notice that in the old book. That would be another option for the L4s. Leo says the bolt pattern is the same.

Today's lesson. Some 181 cranks have a one piece rear main seal and some use the older 2 piece seal. Some use rods with a bottom end width equal to the sixes and some are the same width as V8s. I thought the one piece seal went with the narrow rods. It seems that some 2 piece seal cranks use narrow rods. It appears that I have one of those. Oh well, those rods are easier to find. I'm going to take a good look at V8 rods.

The small block rods are too narrow. The other 181 rods are just right. I don't know exactly why the first one was so tight. Maybe I didn't press the pin to the right depth. The 250 pistons may not clear the crank.

Rods are fine. Wrist pin was a bit tight. The 250 pistons wont work. They are still a bit down the bore. That plus the dish and a slope shape toward the cylinder wall just wont get it. Tried one of the 153s and it sticks out about half of the top ring land and hits the crank at the pin boss. I could fix that. CRs and 1.779" for the 153 and 1.64" for the 250. If I could find a 307 flat top set at 1.655 I think it would be perfect. Well, close enough. So if someone has four .040 over 307 flat tops laying around.....

Beater,
Remind me what mix of parts you are working with.
Crank
block

The block is a 153 that is .040 over. The crank is a 181. 181 rods are 5.7.

Beater,
Mic the hole and tell me what skirt length you are looking for. Have a ton of flat tops from 3in to 4.125. Confirm wrist pin Dia. 1.655???

CT

307 Chevy small block. 3.875 + .040 over bore. Compression height 1.655. Pin dia. .9273. The flatter the better. I think a standard skirt length will work. 181s use 350 small block pistons. Thanks for the help. Beater

I have used 327 pistons in a 181 for rebuild.

Beater...
My math apparently does not work like your math.... lol
I can get you closer with sbc 400 rods. Measure your block height and I'll try to get you closer. I do not have 307 flat tops... sorry... I have many piston options open. But better with 400 rods.

The V8 small block rods are too narrow. .094 vs 1.030. Using stock parts I'm pretty much stuck with 181 5.7" rods. Tlowe has some very nice 250 flat tops from Ross that are .010 to .011 too tall. I could work with that because the top land is extra thick but my original plan was to use cheap off the shelf components. I don't need forged pistons for this engine. I just want to get to 9 to 9.5 to 1 CR.

Your head is going to be right near 70CC. Why not use the 250 pistons and deck the block?
Check this out.

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/compstaticcalc.html

I used
3.905 bore
3.6 stroke
.041 head gasket
10 CC dish
Zero deck
70CC head chamber

Get 9-1 compression. If the piston is only 6CC dish then slightly more compression. Tom

This is the piston I have. PISTON

Hey guys,
I have a 153 ci that I need a timing cover for and was wondering where to look. It's in a 1967 boat but the engine was replaced in about 1984. Engine says 2.5L and my parts guy identified it as a 153. My cover has rusted through on the bottom and is paper thin and full of pin holes. Would anyone know if this cover is used on other engines? Thanks.

If i remember right you should be able to grab one off any L6.No pun, But i have a boat load laying around.

Excellent, thanks!!! That helped me find one for $25.00. It's a good thing, the fish are biting.

I got the head back from Tom today. It looks great. I will post pics soon. It will be with me at Rappin' to Minden in June. Beater

Here are some shots of the 153 Lump Port Head Stainless 1.84 intakes, 1.6 exhaust, ported with HI Flow lumps, screw in studs, duel springs, and shaved ,030". Tom says the chambers are near 70cc and it should flow about 225 cfm. Good head for a little street roadster.

I did a little on my intake manifold today. Basically two cuts on the table saw. I couldn't find the sawsall. I'm Turning an Offenhauser 3X1 for a 6 cyl into a 2X1 for a 4 cyl. I think it will work fine and it will look just like Offenhauser made it. A plus is that the cut allowed me to see the exhaust heat runners that run the full length of the manifold. I think I can run water through them pretty easily. I hope they are big enough. Pictures

Clean-up water passages before welding end cap with long drill bit, file ?

Nice job! That is a quick way to come up with a very hard to find part. Nobody has intakes for chevy 4 cyl's.

Mike thanks, I was planning on doing what I could to clean the passages. I may put a fitting on each end and a plate in the old exhaust spot.

TOM,
"Nobody has intakes for chevy 4 cyl's." I do! A 2X1 for a 6 could be turned into a 4bbl. A 3 and a 2 could be turned to a Howard. Just need someone who can weld like Hank's guy.

I'm just glad I got something done even if it was cutting up a perfectly good intake.

Howdy ! New guy here. I am thinking about putting together a project car using the Chevy 153/181 family. The problem is - what body to use ????? The most common vehicle with the 153 is the old mail jeeps and I have been watching CL for a few months. I would prefer something smaller, sleeker and lighter but a mail jeep would do for initial tinkering.

The Vega - Monza, etc H-body cars would be an obvious choice but something a bit newer would be easier to find parts for. RX7's seem to be good candidates for American engines and auto trannies.

I thought about Plymouth Arrows as I am familiar with Mitsu motors and the Arrows, Colts and mini trucks came with 904 auto's but I really want to stay with Chevy's.

My plan is to eventually turbo the engine. How about some input ?

Thanks
Ray

Well....... the 151 is actually the same engine family just a little brother. That would make S10s pickups and Blazers good choices. Everything done and parts easy to come by. A nice turboed S10 4 banger would be a kick. I'd like to find a clean S10 4X4 pickup with a 151 in it. Early 80s ?Js Jeeps used the Iron Duke 151. I don't think the Comanche pickups had L4s but it could be easily done. A friend here has an American Bantam with a 153 in it. That is a BIG engine for that car. Mine is going into a 26 Chevy roadster, Soon I hope.

On the 151 they really took a lot of metal out of the parts. Compare the 151 crank to the 153. The earlier 181 cranks are fully counterweighted and make even the 153 crank look wimpy.

My next door neighbor used to race 2.3 Fords in ministock and he said that the 2.5's as used in the s10 don't hold up. The 153 and the 181 had great reputations in midgets back before the VW/Autocrafts took over. Even today many of the latest custom midget engines use the 153/181 architecture but set up for V8 heads.

Plus I want to stay with readily available v8 bellhousing pattern Powerglide or T350 or 200-4r trannies.

So what do plan on using yours to do? Short track racing is very demanding and specialized. A 153/181 would fit anywhere the RWD 151s fit. I have a 181 crank in my 153. It comes out to 170 something CI. All the heads and cranks interchange. Pans, timing covers, and timing gears swap and cams do somewhat. The RWD 151s I have seen have the same bell housing pattern as late L6s, 90% V6s, and V8s. Lots of options. A 153 would bolt into a 65 Avanti or Lark. No Limits!

Just run errands around town and the occasional trip to the drag strip. I've never had a turbocharged car and also I would like to learn about fuel injection and programmable engine management systems. It would be cool to alter the "jetting" without getting gas on my hands or to modify the advance curve without welding and grinding and playing with springs or vac adv cans.

Have you considered a 2.9 Vortec 4 out of a colorado - they came with manual and automatics. Make 185 HP/190 #tq. EFI from the factory.

I have the 5 cylinder version in my colorado daily driver - on the highway it gets darn close to 30 mpg. And its 100% stock.

You are familiar with CopoRat's fuel injection conversion of a Clifford 6cyl 4bbl intake manifold. There is no reason that intake couldn't be modified like you have done to the Offy manifold, i.e. cut off one branch and block off the resulting hole. The throttle butterfly wouldn't be centered between the cylinders but many modern oem FI setups are the same way. You could have the throttle body be at the front or rear of the head depending on which one best suited your installation.

I checked it out via google and found that the 2.9 has ever feature I DON'T want. Alum block, alum head, balance shafts, chain drive overhead cams, etc.

Well you never did say what you wanted other than EFI. To each there own.

Are there 4 cylinder Colorado/Canyon 4X4s? I may have ti check that out.

Spent some time today checking out used Colorado/Canyons. How'd I miss them? Too new I suppose. I'd like to find a used 2.9, 4X4, Standard trans, extended cab, and locking rear end. What are the best engine years?