I found this while strolling through the neighborhood. It’s straight six, but I don’t know enough about engines to determine what kind of car or truck it came out of.
QOTD: Who Can ID the Mystery Motor?
– Posted on August 28, 2017
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Curbside Classics Archives
Looks like a Delco alternator and GM valve spring shrouds, so I’m going for a Chevy six.
Chevy 250.Looks Like The One On My Dad’s 77 NOVA.
Agreed Payam Chevy 250 found the below pic on Pinterest.. scraped from
67-72chevytrucks.com
Good reliable engine, my friend had a 76 Nova hatchback, with a 250… drove all over the Cape with it.
The Ford 250 inline 6 is another good engine.
Too bad, both their V6s are nothing to write home about. ?
Definitely 250 Is Tough As nails.In My Dad’s NOVA,The Engine Lasted Eight Hundred Thousands KMs Without Any Major Work Done.You Are Also Right About Ford TwoFifty As Well.
Chevy 250 would be my guess, as well.
Do an online image search for “Chevrolet 250 straight six” and you’ll see how it looks familiar.
Yup, sure are weird looking intake ports on that motor…
They’re shared ports for adjacent cylinders. The post down the middle is where the head bolt passes through from the top.
It has “1970” and “F” cast into it, I wonder if thats the year it was made
Chevy six, head port design similar to the Aussie Holden product.
The knowledge of CC readers never ceases to amaze me. I wonder how small a part would have to be to truly be a stumper. Interior door handle? Climate control lever?
I’ll bet an interior door handle would be identified in less than ten replies. Climate control lever less than a dozen. A Phillips screw might be a bit more of a challenge as long as it’s rusty. 🙂
I wonder what other kind of stuff besides whole engine blocks Actually Mike sees while just “strolling through the neighborhood”…
+1, Jim Klein! I’ve been sorta pulling together a “what is this car part?” CC post–on behalf of an academic archive with some mystery parts—and you’ve prompted me to tidy it up and send it to Paul……
I should have photographed the trailer load of parts that went for scrap last week some of that stuff would have stumped a few people.
Please do! It sounds like fun! Especially since CC clues don’t happen very often these days.
A late production 230/250 GM i6 as it has the A.I.R. ports in the cylinder head….
There’s some dollar value in the head and crankshaft cores…..
@Paul ;
Just so ~ I love coming here as I learn new things every time .
Knowledge not shared is wasted and useless .
-Nate
Hate to be disagreeable, but I’d call this a 64-67 292 block based on the casting number of 1970. As these were only used in trucks, it would not be uncommon to have had the head changed at some point in the engine’s life.
http://www.adchevy.com/info/6-cylinder-engine-casting-numbers
Dang, I don’t think you’re disagreeable…I think you’re GOOD!
FWIW;
The much vaunted 292 CID i6 has a different and specific left side engine mount from the 194/230/250 .
Because it’s a stroker engine it’s also significantly taller .
-Nate
This is setting off one of my pet peeves. Motors are devices to convert physical motion to electrical power. Engines are devices to convert physical motion into MECHANICAL power.
This is NOT a motor, it is an ENGINE!
Motors drive golf carts and Priuses.
Please, people, get with the program. 😉
In general conversation referring to an internal combustion powered automobile I think they can be used interchangeably.
Per Merriam-Webster:
Definition of motor
1
: one that imparts motion; specifically : prime mover
2
: any of various power units that develop energy or impart motion: such as a) : a small compact engine
b) : internal combustion engine; especially a gasoline engine
c) : a rotating machine that transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy
An ELECTRIC motor drives a golf cart but I think it needs that qualifier. A Prius is actually driven by a motor AND/OR an engine at times.
Just roll with it. Most of the cars on Curbside Classics aren’t true classics either. Ducks always look happy because everything rolls off their back.
Motors are devices to convert physical motion to electrical power.
You’ve just described a generator, not a motor!
Engines are devices to convert physical motion into MECHANICAL power.
Umm; are you sure that’s what you mean to say? Maybe you meant to say that “engines burn fuel and convert heat into motion”?
Anyway, the common descriptions of engine and motor are hardly etched in stone. Which is why they call them “rocket motors”, right?
If you’re going to be pedantic, please get with the program (meaning, get your definitions/descriptions right). 🙂
I had an auto class instructor scold me on the use of motor vs engine several years ago. Still irritates me.
Interesting it can only be electric by that definition, considering the etymology of the word dates back to the 15th century and the first electric motors date back to the 1800s
Motor (n.)
mid-15c., “controller, prime mover,” from Latin motor, literally “mover,” agent noun from past participle stem of movere “to move” (from PIE root *meue- “to push away”). From 15c. as “controller, prime mover” (in reference to God); sense of “agent or force that produces mechanical motion” is first recorded 1660s; that of “machine that supplies motive power” is from 1856. First record of slang motor-mouth “fast-talking person” is from 1970
To me an engine is a TYPE of motor. (a motor being a device for causing motion to be used by a machine) An engine uses heat to convert fuel in to motion. It still qualifies as a motor as does an electric motor or a spring motor, ETC.
“First record of slang motor-mouth “fast-talking person” is from 1970”
I’m guessing you meant ‘from 1870’……
I thought A.I.R. came in 1967 ? .
-Nate
Well I guess it’s a Quality product of General Engines! (Oh crap, We can’t do that! The General Electric folks ain’t gonna like two different G.E.s!) LOL
If it was left on the curb of my house instead of the woods, the scrap man would have scooped it up early every Tuesday or Friday morning. Not sure how much he would have gotten for it:-}
Same method applies to discarded stoves, water heaters, washers, dryers, and dishwashers in my neighborhood. This is great way to avoid the haul away fee.
I work in IT and people always ask me what to do with their old unwanted computers, I tell them to take the hard drives out and leave the box on the curb, it’ll be guaranteed to vanish in an hour or two.
Sure enough the scrappers will come through or someone will snag it off the curb. (not I, I’ve got too many as it is!)
Remember to grab the drums out of abandoned washing machines ~ add some legs and they make dandy and SAFE portable fire pits .
-Nate
They also make a great source for very good quality electrical wires and connectors. I rewired half of my Electra with salvaged washing machine wires.
?! You ride a NORTON ELECTRA ?! .
You must be a ‘Serious Collector’ =8-) .
-Nate
(yes, I have that cassette)
The 250 in my ’72 Ventura is going to a new home soon. The friend of a friend wants it for his ’51 Deluxe. Now all I gotta do is find a big block or LS to replace it with…
I was taught that motors are electrical, and engines are internal or external combustion: reciprocating, rotary, or turbine. And that “motor” is gearhead slang for an engine. So I think it’s OK to call engines “motors” here at CC.
It’s a 292, look at the distance between the top of the bell housing flange to the block deck, and compare to the pictured 250. Many 292’s sold in California had A.I.R. as far back as 1966.
Pontiac 215 six. 🙂
a 292 may be worth saving if you are able to. someone would snatch it up as long as it is not locked up.
Maybe not ~ I have a 1966 (IIRC) 292 block with a .060″ bore I’ve been trying to give away for close to TEN YEARS ~
I’m aware re sleeving an engine is a big job but 292’s don’t quite grown on trees .
Yes it’s rusty from outside storage but it does have all the main bearing caps .
-Nate
Be careful before pouring bucks into rebuilding a 292 core, there were tons of subtle differences in this family of sixes that may go unnoticed until bolt-up time.
For example, it’s possible to mixNmatch 292 components into a combination that won’t allow mounting a starter motor for a light duty application.
If anyone cares 292 had a unique flywheel arrangement that required custom fitting with reamed-to-fit dowels. Apparently a provision to handle the 292’s high torque?
As to the Mystery Motor… oil pan looks too large for clearance in a pickup. Flywheel looks like size large too, yet engine lacks evidence of a medium duty’s “horseshoe” front mount.
Alternator bracket looks reworked; bracket most commonly consisted of two stamped steel “Ls” stacked together, rather than a casting.
I’m betting on “bread truck” type application.
Not sure this was ever settled. Because of the left side view of the engine, most of the typical clues aren’t visible. I still vote for the 292 based on the casting number, but I’d admit the error of my guess if I could see a photo from a different angle showing one of the more reliable ways of telling the difference. Actually Mike, if you pass by that engine again, try to capture one of the angles shown in this link. I am curious.
http://www.66submarine.com/292vs250id.html