Mercruiser 181 4 banger
 

I need a few parts for a Mercruiser 181 140hp boat motor that is going into a car.

From searching I could not find a regular intake manifold for the engine. Is there on available or will I have to rubicate one up. I have found a header, cam, and distributor combo set.

Is the 80' Chevy 2.5 the same base engine? Or which 4 cylinder is if anyone knows.

Re: Mercruiser 181 4 banger
 

I found some information that might be useful to you in post #4 here:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...d-cars.994010/

Re: Mercruiser 181 4 banger
 

my dad bought one of those new in the mid 80s ..they told him it was basically the same engine as in the s10...true or not, I dont know

Re: Mercruiser 181 4 banger
 

They say the same stuff I was beginning to believe were the right answers.

So I will have to build a custom manifold/header combo. Which should be easy enough as I have a ok selection of headers to play with.

Then as I knew before the cam would either need to be replaced or foreground.

Thanks. Either way I knew it would be expensive or challenging.

I am trying to convince my dad dual strombergs are the answer.

Re: Mercruiser 181 4 banger
 

The old 120 and 140 mercruiser motors were based off the Chevy II 153 engine. When the supply of those ran out we were using a mid 80's motor. There were some differences but they were close. We had to drill the front of the block for the mount. The 140 had a head with bigger ports than the 120. They were also 4" bore if I remember correctly. I like your idea on the strombergs.
Jimmy

Re: Mercruiser 181 4 banger
 

My father stole my 28 Chevy project, and bought a bunch of stuff for it. Along with the Mercruiser engine this weekend.

He wants 1 Stromberg, but I told him it may not provide enough cfm or the right look. Plus 2 would run better when dialed in due to manifold spacing.

I was hoping we could buy stuff, but it is good practice anyway. In my dreams of being a better fabricator.

Re: Mercruiser 181 4 banger
 

I like the little 4's. You can still get them in Hyster fork lifts and Lincoln gas welders as the 181 or 3.0. There are some turbo exhaust manifolds from South America. But fabbing your own intake/exhaust is most common.

Clifford used to have exhaust flanges for building a header. I have one of the last Clifford aluminum intakes for a 153 that I am planning to adapt to a 181.

1970 was the last year they were used in a car and that was the Nova, but they are really hard to come by in the 68-72 cars. For that matter in the earlier cars. Most are front sump oil pans, but you can find a rear. In the mid 90's they went to a 1 piece rear seal but no counter balance. You can use a 1 piece small block flywheel/flexplate if you oval two holes and remove the counter balance weight.

The 153 was also licensed to Kaiser and was factory installed in the 69-70 postal jeep with a powerglide. I've got a couple of those, one I am going to power with the Hyster 181 LP motor I have trying to keep it on propane.

Comp still makes cam kits, but the Marine cam is about the same. I found a rear sump pan for my one piece seal motor from a boat supply place.

Cool little motors not at all related to the S-10 motor or the Pontiac 151 Iron Duke. They are 2/3 of a Chevy 6 cylinder as find in a C10.