Orignal 225 ??

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carfan

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got a question for the experts, I'm going to swap motors on my late model year production 1961 Lancer. The one in it is just wore out, honestly I've never seen any thing run, let alone as well as it dose (as long as you keep the plugs clean) and smoke as much as it dose. The block casting no. is 2202857-8 I think this is a very early 225 and it was painted silver I just thought it was a rebuilt one but could it be the original motor?
Larry
 
nothing against the car but, they weren't/aren't overly popular candidates for saving or swapping engines - it very easily could be
 
I do believe he original color was Chrysler Red in '61; I have a '62 in a Dart (B-body) with for sure the original engine and it was Chrysler Red when I pulled and rebuilt it. It's humming along nicely now.

And yes, the block casting number is the same as yours and so yours could very well be the original; IIRC, that was the 1st 225 block casting #. I would rebuild it if I was you just for originality.

Find the block serial number (on a flat edge of the block deck, sticking out behind the alternator and below spark #1).
 
At least some of the 225s in '61 Valiants and Lancers were silver; the 170s were red. Both sizes red for '62. More details here.

The block stamping number nm9 asks about will tell more about the engine.
 
slantsixdan said:
At least some of the 225s in '61 Valiants and Lancers were silver; the 170s were red. Both sizes red for '62. More details here.

The block stamping number nm9 asks about will tell more about the engine.
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Thanks all, this may put a whole new spin on things. Let me ask another thing, besides using copious amounts of oil there is very little to no blow by out the draft tube and it over heat in about 6-7 miles although the radiator has been rebuilt, every thing flushed and no sign of bubbles in the water . Any thought?
Right now cost and lack of a competent machine shop in the area is why I came up with a good used one, but I would like to keep it original.
Larry
 
ScampMike said:
nothing against the car but, they weren't/aren't overly popular candidates for saving or swapping engines - it very easily could be
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I also have a 69 WSS and this little car runs ring around it in power and handling They should get a lot more respect
 
they are plenty light. yes they do not not get the respect they deserve, but then too, unless someone can pull the slant and drop n a sb most people just don't care for it. finds a slant that is not wore out is not easy round here. rode hard and put up wet. ya have never seen such sludge in the oil pans on some of these. how they ever ran?
I spend the $ on a rebuild means ya love the little car, but that takes $ we all might not have !
 
Your's might be the aluminum block slant six, which I think was installed thru 1963. A good write-up on slantsix.org, and easy to tell since you can see the cylinder bulges on the driver's side of the alum block, or just use a magnet. Problem was many corroded, causing over-heating, and needs a special head gasket which is NA today, other than a special buy on slantsix. For a mostly "correct" cast-iron block, the early ones had 3 staggered "freeze plugs", instead of 5 in a row of later blocks, though some later blocks are stronger.
 
A few aluminum 225s were installed in '63s, but not many. Most of them were in '62s. There were also some in '61s, but his is not one of them, it's cast iron. The aluminum block's casting number is 2121 355.
 
carfan said:
... using copious amounts of oil there is very little to no blow by out the draft tube and it over heat in about 6-7 miles although the radiator has been rebuilt, every thing flushed and no sign of bubbles in the water . Any thought? ...
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No blow-by means the rings are good, as a compression test will tell you, or just turn the engine over by hand feeling a strong resistance from each cyl as an "air spring". Sounds like it isn't leaking oil and you find oil on the plugs, so probably leaking past the stem seals. If never done, it certainly needs new rubber umbrella seals on each valve, which often cures that problem. You must remove the valve cover anyway to do a valve adjustment (maybe every 40,000 miles). Just don't drop a valve down a cylinder - before removing the 2 springs insure that piston is at TDC (wire in spark plug hole) and secure w/ a magnet.

Overheating could be due to a head gasket leak, but then you usually see an oily mess in the radiator. More commonly it is due to a small pinhole leak, though usually after driving 100 miles not 6 miles. If it doesn't boil over, perhaps it isn't even leaking, but just a bad sensor-wire-gage issue. You can buy a rad cap w/ thermometer built-in on ebay cheap or use a HF IR Gun.
 
Weeeell... little blow by does not always mean that the rings are trouble free. Sticking 2nd rings and oil ring packs crudded up can allow a lot of oil use despite what the top rings are doing. Ditto for worn bores; I had one worn over .030" and there was little blow by and compression was 115 psi which is fine for a 225. Oil getting past the oil and 2nd rings will make compression tests look better that they should due to the oil sealing the top rings. A leakdown test is more indicative and should be done here.

The low compression ratio of the /6 will makes any blow by less any way. So the lack of blow by out of the draft tube is not conclusive on this engine....sorry!
 
To distinguish oil use between blow-by and valve stem leakage, the traditional test is that continuous blue smoke under hard acceleration is due to rings, whereas a puff of blue smoke after idling a long time at a stop light is from the valve stems. You can also get much smoke if oil drops get entrained in the PCV, but sounds like your engine predates PCV.
 
BillGrissom said:
To distinguish oil use between blow-by and valve stem leakage, the traditional test is that continuous blue smoke under hard acceleration is due to rings, whereas a puff of blue smoke after idling a long time at a stop light is from the valve stems. You can also get much smoke if oil drops get entrained in the PCV, but sounds like your engine predates PCV.
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This poor old girl just lays down a steady stream of smoke from idle up. I tell people its the mosquito fogger attachment!
 
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