I have an old early 80’s AMC engine. It was the iron body/head, inline vertical 6 cylinder overhead valve. I believe it is a 258? (252?) cubic inch engine. Or is it something 352? (i’ll try to dig up the manual)I also believe that engine was used in lots of jeeps from that era. It was properly rebuilt about 12 years ago. After probably only 10k on the engine its been sitting since.
Car body is toast so its very probably going to the junkyard. Any idea of what its worth a minimum?
And, I woulndt mind making a deal with some person that we drop the engine, maybe he just pops head to give the cylinders and valves an inspection, then do a compression test (its tests fine), he uses it in what he wants and if it doesnt explode in a month he pays me what we agree on
Running 60’s-80’s small block V8’s on craigslist are usually about $500. Usually a straight-6 would be worth even less, but since there is still the enthusiast base with the old Jeeps I’m guessing it’d be in that same range. Unfortunatley, low mileage on the rebuild probably isn’t going to make a difference since that’s not really verifiable.
Of course, the big thing is that most people don’t just squirrel away spare engines so it might take a while for someone who needs a 258* to come along.
*Probably what it is, by the way. Same thing as the 4.0L 6-cylinder that Jeep/Chrysler kept using until embarrasingly recently.
If you plan to sell it, just sell it as is for cash up front. Make a deal like you propose and I’d be willing to bet it develops some kind of “Mystery” problem when payment comes due. :rolleyes:
Just googling, it looks like the motor probably weighs between 350-400 lbs, unless it happens to be a pre-81 in which case it might be as much as 500. They’ll probably give you something different then the bulk scrap rate, although oddly enough one of the scrap metal places in my town pays more than the bulk rate for engines and the other one pays less so go figure. I scrapped an old 305 a few years ago which IIRC was about 450lbs and got $80 for it.
I think my plan is this. I can get it towed for about 75 dollars from point A to point B. At point B I can take some time to get it where it will run.
At that point anybody that is interested will be able tell that at the least there isn’t something seriously wrong. So, then we can negotiate based on the risk they think they are taking. They would have to agree to somewhere in the 300 dollar plus range if they were happy.
If they weren’t happy, I would at least get them to previously agree to buy it at the 75 or so to tow costs plus the scrap value of the engine.
Yeah, I might get screwed and they claim be unhappy when they are lying, but I find those old coots who still rebuild and install engines to be a bit more reliable, honest and easy to read than your regular craig’s list wackos and con artists.
BTW did you know if you accidentally type in craigs list with a gh in it rather than just a g it goes to a porn site?
The 258 was replaced by the 242 (4.0L) in 1987. The 258 was a solid engine, and the 242 was an AWESOME engine, especially for a vehicle like a Jeep. IMO Chrysler should be ashamed of themselves for replacing it with a V6 out of a minivan (3.8L) that has peaks at 4000+ RPM. The newer 3.6L is supposed to be a bit better in that regard, but neither live up to the 242. It throws 90% of its torque at a lowly 1200 RPM and is widely accepted by enthusiasts as being bulletproof.
The 258cid straight 6 was a desirable engine in the 80’s Jeep CJ’s. Off roading with very low speeds you can lug a straight six much easier than you can a V6 or V8. The weak point of the '80s 258 was the plastic valve cover which seemed to seep oil no matter what you did. After market covers are an easy fix for this. Overall it was a very bullet proof engine.
That being said, it is not a popular engine when doing swaps in a street rod or other custom application. It will have real value to vintage CJ Jeep owners though. The V8 of the era wasn’t robust and many swapped in the straight six when the V8 went south. Any serious off roader will want the straight six.
Find a Jeep forum or try E-bay listing under Jeep. Tell them the engine sits on a pallet and shipping is on them. I’ll bet it sells for pretty good money to the right person. You just have to find a way to reach that vintage Jeep group.