Inliners International Forums General Discussion AMC/JEEP Installing a 258 in 1950 Pickup

It's starting to look a little more complete...

That is looking good. Nice work!

Hello,

Well I finally put in the battery and tried the starter...The
engine started right up....Surprise...And it's quiet, and hey
look 60psi of oil pressure... So, minus the front fenders and
grill assembly I went for a little drive around the property..
Man, the drive train is quiet... And the 30% increase in power
is quite apparent.... The 5 speed shifts like butter..

I still have lots of work though.. I will fabricate and install a rear mount to compensate for the transfer case.. I
put the electric fan on the front today.. When I get a chance,
I'll look for a cheap, flex fan that I can modify...That way
I'll have two fans. It's always good to have backup..

This project will be a success when I can take my wife out to dinner in the truck without the constant drive line whine and the smell of trans grease wafting thru the cab... I'm really pleased that the used starter and alternator that came with this
used 258 work...Some days things actually work...Like we all wish
they would.

Photos of the truck fully assembled will have to wait.. We're
off to Pennsylvania next week... I get back on this project after
our trip..

Love to see and hear a project coming together. You are inspiring me to keep going. Jay 6155.

The interior is starting to look better.
I still need to buy more carpet so I can re-do it... What you see here is a patch job.

The engine bay is now FULL of Jeep 258 and yes it does produce excellent power.

I can drive it now... Next up, in a few weeks, I'll be changing out the Timken 5.38 rear axle with a Dana 53 that has 4.88 gears. The last item in this repower will be the freshening up and installation of a Dana 25 as the front axle.... Probably Fall before I can get to it... I don't use the 4x4 function of my truck much so there is no rush... I'm hoping to put lots of miles on this truck in the future... I always try and get my investment back by using the crap out of whatever I build......

Hey Guys,

I did a little highway road testing the last day or so...I
noticed engine oil on the right side of the engine....After
cleaning, running and re-inspecting, I found the source..The
friggin dip stick. Right at the upper end...Weird...The engine
has no measurable blow-by and is equipped with a PVC that is
clean and works...I plugged the tube and went for a drive..No
leaks, not even where the tube exits the block...I'm off to
Jeep on Monday to purchase a new dip stick...I hope the new
one will seal the tube... And, I'm gonna recheck the oil level
by draining and refilling...Other than that small annoyance I'm just stoked with the performance and silence gained with this repower.. Now back to my old bike. Gotta get it ready for an
Oregon run...

Hi Guys,

The new dip stick search is a bust...I can't believe they are
not to be found... In any case, I lowered the oil level 1qt and
drove to the parts house... I purchased a new PVC and installed
it right there... I noticed the idle was now 800 instead of 600 rpm...Got home, cleaned up the oil mess and readjusted the carb.
Then I went for another test drive....The oil leakage is gone.
I must have had an incorrect PVC...Just odd, because I couldn't
detect any blow-by with the PVC pulled out, the hole plugged and
a gauge hooked up to the crankcase (Fuel Pump Pressure/Vacuum
Gauge)... Oh well, if it works, who gives a flyin' fig. I re-checked the oil pressure with the engine hot...50 @ idle and
55 at 1,000 rpm and above...Took the wife out for an evening cruise tonight...The new seat, lack of t/c whine and no smell of
hot 90w are working...She wants to go cruise downtown now...Gotta
go...........

Outstanding! Just gotta keep after it. (or so they keep telling me) Progress is all good

Paul

nice! iv'e been away from this site for some time, no good reason... i run a 195.6 OHV (iron) now, but i have a decent amount of experience with the 232/258 and its variants and vagaries... and some parts.

i've run a Weber 32/36 DGEV on both, have one now on my "hot" (sic) (ok warm) 195.6. the 258 fixed every shortcoming of the earlier engine, the only "problem" is that it's longer. it's a fine, fine motor.

i'm in Los Angeles. where are you?

i'm currently building a rambler roadster -- roofless, step-in, lightweight two-seater -- from a 1961 rambler american. a unibody roadster... wheels on the ground i hope in a few weeks.

you might consider cramming a Ford EDIS-6 ignition on the thing. you'll need a Megasquirt Lite Jr box to drive it, but man oh man... untouchably superior to a distributor, even an electric one. it eliminated timing jitter even at idle, and hearing a 195.6 OHV rev to 5000 is terrifying (not that it makes much more power than 4000).

Hello,

I am located in Agua Dulce, CA...Just North of Santa Clarita.
The 195.5 OHV that I hopped up (thanks in part to Tom Jennings
postings) went to a good home...The fella I sold it to, is transplanting it into a 1962 American convertible.. It currently
has a 195.5 flathead in poor condition... He's really gonna like
the Elgin cam and compression in my old 195.5..

I changed the engine as part of a complete drivetrain upgrade.
The main reason? A whiney, seapy, smelly transfer case... It was never designed for the highway speeds and distance the Rambler engine subjected it to...I also had overdrive in the old
setup.

I figured that the only way to get rid of the Dana 18 short comings was to upgrade to a newer transfer case...This decision was made after upgrading and replacing everything in the transfer case...

I found the new transfer case and overdrive transmission bundled with a 258 engine...And after finding numerous postings
on other websites saying the 258 wouldn't fit without butchering
up the truck, I decided that what the heck, I must look into the matter...

My truck already had the front crossmember lowered to allow the
Rambler engine... All I needed to do to make the 258 fit was
cut a small window in the crossmember..

The installation is now complete.. The 258 runs as good as
the 195.5, but with a bit more power.. And according the gauges
it has better oil pressure (45 psi hot) and runs cooler...And I
used the Rambler 195.5 radiator so, the 258 waterpump must flow better or putting the fan in front of the radiator instead of behind it, improves cooling..

Again, I loved that little Rambler 195.5. But, I am really
liking the 258. I still have to change axles (for higher gearing) but so far, getting rid of the noise, oil drip and smell of the Dana 18 is like having a brand new truck.

Oh, almost forgot...Tom, I purchased and installed a brand new, big head Delco electronic distributor... It was cheap and
brand new...It also has mechanical and vacuum advance..Two things I am familiar with...I starting working on cars and trucks in the 1960's.. I really enjoy working on vintage
stuff... (Because I am vintage)... However, your postings
on modern upgrades are interesting and give me something to
ponder..I'm glad you are sharing your work..You and others
on this website are quite excellent.

Hey Guys,

Yesterday I completed the rear axle change-out...I removed the
Timken axle with 5.38 gears and replaced it with a Dana 53 with 4.88's.. The truck still has gobs of power at highway speeds and
the clutch action seems a little smother on engagement.. I used
a Dana 53 because:

It is a OEM option in this truck, so everything fit with zero mods.
It was cheap and had the correct gears and is in great shape
($300 for both a Dana 53 and a good usable Dana 25 front axle.
That also had 4.88 gears).
It is strong enough to handle the Jeep 258 engine output.

The truck now drives like a near new 1983 Jeep with a hard top.

I will be refurbishing (new gaskets, seals, brake shoes and
wheel cylinders) the Dana 25 next...Getting it ready for installation this Fall...

The 11" non-power brakes on this 1950 Willys truck are quite
powerful... I've considered upgrading to discs on the front with
a vacuum booster but, the stock setup works so well that will have to wait.

The original speedo failed last night during a road test. The
cable twisted off because the speedo head froze up...I'm off to
the speedo shop today to see if they can rebuild it..The speedo
failure was probably a result of age and my pegging it out at
over 80 mph while "road testing" the new engine, trans and gearing... This is an 80 mph speedo (stock 1950).. It just didn't like the kick in the butt I gave it.. The truck gets up
to 80 pretty quick now..

Switching from 5.38 to 4.88 must seem like installing overdrive. How tall are the tires on the Jeep? I think that the 258 came with overdrive please correct me if I am wrong. Jay 6155

Hello,

The gear change dropped the RPM by about 10%...The 235/85/R16
Bridgestone Blizzak tires are about 31.5" tall. And yes, I now
have a T5 trans and 5th is overdrive.

With the 5.38's in overdrive 2,617 RPM @ 60 mph
With the 4.88's in overdrive 2,375 rpm @60 mph.

The gearing is still a little low (high numerically) for interstate travel.. Then again the gearing helps slow this
beast down at speed.. It still has the original 11x2" brakes
all around. They work quite well for what they are.

One last thing..The tires helped with the old gearing. But
if I ever regear again (maybe 4.11's), I'll be going to 215/85/R16's. The 235's limit my left turning radius a bit.
Someday I just may correct that..The orginal turning radius on
these old Willys trucks leaves a lot to be desired. Especially
when maneuvering off-road.

NICE WORK!!

i'm terrible at staying updated with your project, but i have to say, man, you keep at it and do damn nice work!! moving to an axle < 5.0:1, i think you are dangerously entering the 20th century! lol.

that 258 will likely do whatever you want. it's a long six; if you got it to fit in the hole, the sky's the limit.

nice work! more pictures!

how did i miss your thread here?!

man, it's hard to argue against a 258 with a weber 32/36 on it. power and torque like a mild v8! drop-dead reliable too.

man you do nice work. sounds like you got twice the power Willys ever intended! but it looks like it belongs in there.

Nothing more to post on the repower.. Both axles have been
changed out. I did upgrade the radiator surge tank to a OEM
Jeep tank. The Pep Boys one was not plumbed correctly..The hose
from the radiator entered the vessel from the bottom.. The factory one has the hose entering from the top, and extents to
the inside bottom of the tank.. This keeps the coolant from
splashing around in the tank..

I spent an entire day, figuring out which Radio Shack resistors
to use on my OEM, 1950 fuel, oil pressure and temp gauges. And
then I calibrated them. They now look original but function on
12volts.

The new to me, Dana 25 front axle helped make the truck more
stable in turns.. The old one was bent on the right side about
2 degrees of negative camber.. A result of overloading the axle
when the truck was used as a snow plow.

I'm gonna need to install an aux vacuum chamber to help the wipers. When I installed the engine, it ran great, but it was
pushing oil out of the dip stick tube..Just a drip, but annoying.
I installed a new PVC valve and that stopped the drip. But, the
wipers went from full on kick-ass to wimpy and slow.. The old
PVC must have been restricted...So, an additional vacuum chamber
should help keep my 64 year old vacuum wiper motor moving better.
I really don't want electric wipers but I need the vacuum wipers to work well.

That's it for now. I'll be getting back to picking at the body work soon.. I'm wondering if I can talk my wife into a
little cross country trip for Thanksgiving.. My nephew in Idaho
has never seen the Willys.........It's just a little over 800
miles, one way..And hey, the Willys has 4WD in case it snows....