I was only suggesting bore centers, I knew the bolt patterns wouldn't be the same. That didn't stop AMC V-8 guys from bolting Chrysler big block aluminum heads to the late AMC V-8s. They had to drill the AMC pattern in them and seal the head bolts, but it worked. Glad there are "native" aluminum choices now! Back to the subject (which we all seem to have a problem with lately). It dawned on me as I read that I have a 94 or so 4.0L head right out the door! The bore centers are approximately (measured with a ruler) 4.125". AMC V-8 bore centers are 4.75" (all of them, the new version kept the same as the old so the boring tools could be reused!). I did a quick search and couldn't come up with bore spacing. I did find that the Ford 240/300 six has 4.480" bore spacing, not much help! I'm pretty sure the small Ford six is closer though. To go over 200 inches they had to go UP (increase deck height). I found this statement which seems to refer to the smaller sixes though: "We talk about modular engines today, but Ford Engines have been modular since 1960, and todays 4.0 DOHC engines still bear the same architecture of the first 4.08" *bore* centre sixes". The cylinder bores were 3.5" (144,170) to 3.68" (200,250). That's a tad smaller than the AMC six. I wonder what the centers are on the 196? Has to be close to 4". --------- Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:48:15 -0500 (EST) From: adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker) " From: Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx> " " I wouldn't mess with the block at all, just cast a new cross-flow " cylinder head! I wonder how close the Aussie slant six hemi head " is to the 4.0L bore spacing, bore, and head bolt pattern? Now if " that could be modified to fit you'd just about have what you want! not close at all, i think. the slant is a small small-bore [3.4"] long stroke engine, but the aussie hemi is a large small-bore long stroke the 194/230/250/292 inline also has 4.4" centers, so the ohc derivative does too. it's very unlikely that the amc 6 shares spacing and pattern with any other engine. i would've hoped it had something in common with the amc v8... -- Frank Swygert Publisher, "American Motors Cars" Magazine (AMC) For all AMC enthusiasts http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html (free download available!) _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://splatter.wps.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/amc-list