deceased motor

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

Welp it had to happen sooner or later... the old tired motor in our 1972
Hornet has crapped out. This is the 232 that was originally in my '70
Hornet; back when Ron owned it, the '72's 258 decided to vacate some
parts out the side of the block, so Ron swapped the 70's motor and BW
auto trans into the '72. We've been driving the tired thing since.

It's had an intermittent ticky lifter for some time, that's recently
gone full time, and now sounds like bent pushrod time. "Luckily" it's
#1 cylinder, so I can see the rockers, and the exhaust rocker
is barely moving... about .2" of lift! The tick coincides with a
non-contributing-cylinder lump, it's lost a lot of power too. Where's
that warranty when you need it? Isn't it 33 years/200,000 miles? Ahem.

There's umm no oil in the top end, so it's succumbed to the chronic
problem these early sixes have, crud-plugged oil passageway from the
block to the head, so this isn't exactly a surprise. We changed it
excessively often on the theory that oil's cheaper than motors. This
one stopped subscribing to that one! It liked to drink it also, a quart
every 1.5K or so, with slightly fluffy plugs.

The trans is very tired, the fluid is basically black, though it does
shift OK. (It's not my car...)

So while I could probably squeeze some miles/months by rebuilding the
head, I think I should find a 258 or 232 + Torqueflite, that it originally
came with.

I know the 4.0 swap is current-fashion, but it ain't no "drop in" and
this is a car repair to me, not a project. I'd more likely put a 2.5L
in anyways, since it'd be a LOT cheaper and economy is more important
here than performance (I know the dance about underpowered may be less
economical, etc).

I'd really rather have a 232 or 258 and a TF, I just rebuilt the steering
column and column shift, don't want to mess with mounts, exhaust,
shifter linkage, driveshafts, radiators, fans, head:firewall clearance
(that even the 80's 258s have with these early Hornets) blah blah.
Maybe if I had a garage; working outside even in LA winters is No Fun.

The good news is, the mortgage co. was escrowing too much cash, so we got
a kilobuck back in the mail today. So we know where that check is going...

If anyone in So Cal has a good-running 72-up six I've got cash and an
immediate need!