chevy II 153 four cylinder

Do you still have stock manifolds for a 153 Chevrolet? I just pulled mine, and it is rough..Would be interested in an upgrade.
Thank You,
Scott

 

I finally built a piston pin That I could press on by hand so I could check the deck height of my Ross flat tops. They are so close to zero that I didn't even try to measure them. Now I can get the pistons fitted to the rods and get the balance job done. My GMC valve cover is coming along too.

 

I finally found 1/2 a set of Fenton Black Widow small block headers. I've been looking for years. This is a new one from Patrick's and I had given up and ordered a pair. When I told him what I was doing he said he had one from a broken set. Good deal for both of us. I got it a few days ago and got to play with it today. So here are the initial pictures. I'll have to modify the mounting tabs and do a bit of port matching but it's going to work. It will be much easier than building tube headers even though I had already made the flanges. Its my favorite set up so far for these engines. There will probably be a dozen out there before I get mine on the road but just remember me when you see them. Post # 9 on page 1 of this thread has my intake pics. I may use the flange I made with this.

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I like these little engines that could....
they are now 54 yrs old and been produced in the original 153 ci or the 181 continually since 62, I got an original small pages popular mechanics sept 61 that described the new 4-6 cylinder engines.
And also the jan 62 one with the 10,000 chevyII 4 cyl test drive article .

some things I have found out about possibilities,

there is a hydraulic roller cam available for them, and as mentioned in a different thread SBC roller lifters CAN work with the right tie bars( possibly 350 olds has the right spacing).

anyone who studied the leo Santucci 6 cylinder performance book, that chapter about the hybred head-where they cut a cylinder off a small block and weld the two together,

Also has noticed the pictures of that "AFTERMARKET MERCRUISER HEAD" a 4 cylinder head that's crossflow...........
it looks like the original version of the aluminum anson head

where they got those I surely would like to know, that picture is the only inference to those I have ever seen anywhere,
and have never herd another word-and have never come across them, I have thought of traveling up to Stillwater just to find a greybeard at Mercruiser to tell me what/ were they were used .

Anyone got one of those iron heads they want to sell?

 

Also they are now called the VORTEC 3000 and have been efi port injected since around 2007, the ports are machined in the top of the intake ports pointing down at the valves-rather than being installed in the manifold.
its back as GM powertrains industrial engine-detuned to around 60hp ~??
But is still mercruisers 135 hp motor.

For one year only, 2009-- the last yr that Volvo Penta used it as a marine engine , the Volvo penta gxi3.0
it had a wild long runner intake with the plenum up over the valve cover, I suspect Lotus designed the manifold for Volvo, just like they did for the revised south American 12 port 250 head with a similar long runner intake.
why they went to the trouble to do that for one yr when they knew they would discontinue it is a mystery, but what a cool long runner intake!
JLG lift trucks has a long runner two piece intake with a restrictive top half for their 60ish hp version, the bottom half is usable, but at $350 its not really a feasible starting point for a good efi manifold
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...37b96c502cddc74bf989c8d389229e47o0&ajaxhist=0

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=volvo+penta+3.0+gxi&view=detailv2&qpvt=volvo+penta+3.0+gxi&id=0D87A84309BD87C203844153A7D253A85831AEDF&selectedIndex=2&ccid=JTVyI/Kn&simid=608036682898147248&thid=OIP.M25357223f2a7f23746b00d2c00d65cb7o0&ajaxhist=0

 

here are pics of the odd iron crossflow head that mercruiser made,
anyone got one of these?

 

I've never seen one those. I'd like to see some clearer pictures. The line between the 3rd & 4th port and the line across the head make me wonder if it was made from a 12 port 6 cylinder head.

 

What a neat thread.Thanks for starting it.An oldie but a goodie.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Nope~ the opposite. merc did not make a 6 head or it would be well known.
Get the leo santucci book and read the hibred cylinder head chapter, they were cutting SBC heads up and welding two together to make a 6 cyl head, and also with these.
book states they did not have any flow work done on them.

 

I believe cut and welded V8 heads were used by midget racers believe there were pushrod problems with the 4 cyls.

 

Mike Kerby was making 12 port six cylinder heads that could be easily cut down for a 4 cylinder. There is also mention in Leo's book of using 2 181 heads to make a 6 cylinder head. Does anyone have a better picture of a cross flow Mercruiaer head?

 

kirbys head is got all the ports on the DS, besides, anyone who would cut a high dollar head like that~has a few screws loose, because-- you would just end up with a aluminum version of the 181 head

 

Yeah, you are right also the Duggan/Deppe. As far as loose screws, it goes with the territory. It's just metal. I'd like to see the Mercruiser.

 

It would also create a BIG job dealing with that extra 1" of cylinder chamber to be filled in after cutting past the last required bolt bosses, trying to make a 6 head fit a 4, and then the front piece of steel to close off the wound and make a mounting area for the water outlet.
As far as that strange head in the pics, that's the only known animal. Where, why it was done is a total mystery, the ansen head was apparantly copy'd off it.
And when you get down to scrutinizing it, its not much different than a garden variety 151 duke crossflow head

 

It would be done the same way the heads in Leo's book are done either by cutting a chamber from 2 V8 or 2 181 heads. Making a 4 from a 6 you would cut between # 3 &4 and cut between # 5 & 6 then furnace braze #6 to # 3 . Bolt holes and water jackets in the right place. It would be a lot of work for nothing but it would work. Better options would be use a 181 or find an Ansen or CNC a two piece head. I really doubt many guys would really gain enough to make any of this worthwhile but if you were building a bad ass 4 cylinder and had a 12 port cross flow possibly a damaged one…….

 

Here is a new cast valve cover for these engines that I saw on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/282120340260?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 

I'd like to ask a VERY basic question. I just purchased part of an estate and in the 10 engines I got was an OMC (tag on the pass. side of block) 4 cyl. Is there any externally visual way to tell if its a 153 or 181 cid. There are numbers stamped into the OMC tag. Would that help me?

 

Post a picture of the tag or at least post the numbers on it.
I think OMC engines are easily to id.

 

The 153 came with a 5 port head and the 181 had a 8 port head. The heads will interchange but it is unlikely someone did that. By the way, what does OMG stand for? I only know of one definition but it doesn't make sense in this case.

Charlie Stephens

 

Charlie...its OMC. Outboard Marine Corporation.
The OMC tag reads Model number CU14D and the Serial number is W34232. Thank you.

I'll take a couple of pics. It has a header, chrome side cover and water outlet, Offy breather on the valve cover and has flex plate not a flywheel. Used in a racing application? I'll have to take the header loose from the head...check out the ports.

 

pics

 

According to one of the boat forums the Cu14d is a 120 hp twin carb engine. Pretty sure it is a 153.

 

If Charlie is correct about the 8 port head, then its a 153 with a 181 head?

 

That 8 port head looks like what I am used to seeing on a 181 but since they interchange it is possible to be a 181 head on a 153. Have you tried contacting OMC with the numbers? Remember you should replace the cam before using it on the street.

Charlie Stephens

 

All this talk about cutting heads.... If you were to go back near the beginning of this thread(OR : Go find a shop that built Midget engines in the '80's to ask a few questions) you'd find that you can use a Chevrolet V-8 head on either one of these quite easily! Most shops had a head template to show which 4-cyl head bolt holes to 'plug' & where to re-drill the block for the V-8 head bolts(or studs),& you now had a cross-flow head! One header from a sprint-car= exhaust solved. Add std chev rockers, check for pushrod length, add one ea v-8 valve cover, & add 1/2 of a V-8 fuel injection manifold, & Presto one Midget race motor! For the street you'd need to fab an intake manifold, but IT's NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!! After all : the 153 is approximately 1/2 of a 302V-8, & the 181 is approximately 1/2 of a 350 V-8

 

See if you can measure the stroke through a spark plug hole. 3.25" is a 153 and 3.60" is a 181.

 

It's 1/2 a 307"

 

I recorded the stamped onto-theblock engine number. It appears to be F04221AB. I ran a Google search but came up with nothing. Does this help to i.d. the engine?

 

Try Googling some of the companies that supply parts for these engines and ask them.

Charlie Stephens

 

Good idea. Thank you