225 Rebuild Or Swap?

So I am leaning more towards rebuilding the 225 origianal to my Jeep as opposed to swapping in the 350 that I have already dumped a load of money into. Here are some pics of the teardown, tell me what you all think of the components and if it looks buildable. It had 175,000 miles on it when parked 16 years ago.

 

First, to clarify one thing. How close are you to having the 350 complete?

 

:iagree: looks rebuildable to me.

 

Waitin' on the Machine shop to finish the 350 up, then I give him 500 dollars and I bring it home and put it together.

 

Looks good to me.

 

All I have is the 350,Edelbrock Intake, Edelbrock Carb, and Starter.

 

You'll need to adapt the tranny to the chevy bellhousing.

 

Ok then, since you still have to put the 350 together, I vote to rebuild the 255 and sell the 350 so someone else can put it together. I would imagine the 350 will be easier to sell to someone in your area, if that is what you wanted to do with it.

 

Also, new radiator and supports will need built along with the adapters. You can make the motor mounts fairly easy. The firewall will need to be trimmed so the distributor clears. Speedy has a saginaw set-up, so there were no clearance issues with the steering. Not sure what you have there... If I think of anything else, I'll list it for you.

 

For what it is worth, the 225 V6 is the perfect motor that ever came in a CJ. I new guys back in the late 70's that took out their V6's for a V8 and regretted it. Besides in this day of high gas prices I would not put a V8 in a CJ5. There is no reason in my opine for a V8 in an early CJ5, the 225 V6 fits perfect, has plenty of power, great low-end torque, will idle down for crawling. Just my view, I would sell the 350 and re-build the V6.

 

I'm with you. I test drove a '55 CJ with a built 350 in it once. I didn't buy it. It was just total overkill for a vehicle that size. The 225 saves weight, and gas, and still has decent power. Unload the SBC...there's always someone looking for one. That motor in the pics looks like it should make a fine core for rebuilding. Or, if you really have to have a V8, sell me the 225 and I'll put it in my CJ6 .

 

Re the rebuild, at 175K, you likely have some bore taper if the engine has never been overbored. You need to measure. Measure, measure, measure. Also, you need to decide what lifespan you expect from the engine before a total rebuild. If this is a hobby car that sees only a few thousand miles a year, you may want to overhaul with new rings, rod bearings, and reground heads, rather than go with an overbore and new pistons. This would give you another 20K or 30K miles at least. You need to measure your crank journals and the amount of taper in the most worn cylinder. Even with significant taper, you can put new rings on old pistons, though they will wear out faster than if the bores were straightened.

 

When I get this thing running it will be my D.D. back and forth to work on Base, and I want it to last the next 15 years without having to tear back into it.

 

Talked to a GM motor guy thatI work with and had him take a look at the 225. He broke it down in a couple of minutes and said that it does not show like a high mile motor at all with no lips and no valve wear. He figures that if I hot tank the motor, get the heads modernized, and polish the journals on the crank I can put the whole thing back together and get it running for 800 dollars or so. Wish I had found this site before dumping cash into the 350 . Thanks guys, I will keep you all updated.

 

I am getting ready to re-assemble the bottom end while I wait on the heads and I noticed that the harmonic balancer is cracked from someone beating on it with a hammer. Anybody have a spare laying around for cheap?