My 1982 2.5l Iron Duke Rebuild

[Monkeyjoe]

Hello all,
It has been a couple of years since my SX/4 broke down.  I thought I started a post showing what I was doing with the engine.  I guess not.  I have been dealing with financial issues, and several short military activations.  I am back to working on the 2.5l Iron Duke,  So If anyone is interested, here goes.
I took photos of the project when I started.  I will post those when I get a chance.  The rebuild started with a cam gear tooth failure. Dang those fiber gears.  As some of you know, the cam gear is pressed on so you have to disassemble half the engine just to get the cam out of the car.  Well that is what I did and turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  The bottom of the cam bearings were pitted and the center of the lifters were pitted.  So I pulled the motor out of the car.  Upon complete teardown of the engine, found the fuel pump lobe on the cam was damaged scored pretty bad, the bottom connecting rod bearings were pitted, the bottom Crank bearings pitted, The car only had 69,000 original miles when I got it. the pitting may have been caused from the car sitting for so long, the oil squeezed out from between the metal allowing two different types of metal to contact each other, electrolysis, pitted metal.

[Monkeyjoe]

So one of my last posts a couple of years ago, I was getting my engine block back from the machine shop.  When I picked up the block, the shop charged me for the complete job, they had not done the final hone in the cylinders.  Block sat in storage for over a year.  I took the block, head, crank, connecting rods, and new pistons to a new machine shop.  I just picked everything up 2 days ago.  I am ready to start the rebuild.  I had the block cleaned and then bored .030 over, crank ground .010/.010.  Final hone in the cylinders.  I had the block "Zero decked" and the head milled.  I ordered a complete performance overhaul kit $$$$$.  New freeze plugs installed, and cam bearings pressed in.  I am trying to find the best cam for the mods made to the engine, I have a new cam gear, aluminum one used in the S10, Mercruiser etc. instead of the stock fiber gear.  New wrist pins and pistons installed on the connecting rods.

 I will take pictures as I rebuild.  I hope this engine rebuild will help any other Iron Duke owners out there see what this little engine can do.  It may have been too small for the Pontiac Firebird oh ouch, but I think It is a good fit for the SX/4.  I am going to try and have this done in a couple of weeks as I am deploying with my Unit to the Middle East in April.

[eaglefreek]

There was a problem with a server a while back and quite a few threads disappeared. I think a warmed up Iron Duke will be fun in an SX4. Thanks for your service and come home safe. 

[lonestar1947]

Do you (or anyone) have a pictures of what an Iron Duke engine look like with Air Conditioning and a full size Radiator?

I recently bought an Eagle with the Iron Duke engine.  I want to install Air Conditioning and the larger Radiator.

Thanks.  John

[carnuck]

Are you sure it's a dookie? I know the AMC 4 cyl came with AC (had several Jeeps with it. Same as the 6 cyl)

[lonestar1947]

I'm trying to find the brackets that attach to the right side of the Iron Duke engine to hold the compressor; the a/c lines look different than a 258 engine.

[captspillane]

For the larger size radiator you can use an aluminum radiator advertised for Chevy SBC V8 swaps into a Jeep CJ7. You'll need longer hoses, but it's not hard to find those. The difference between a CJ SBC radiator and an AMC radiator is that the input and outputs are both on opposite side of the engine bay like the Iron Duke is.

[carnuck]

Try to find a YJ with AMC V8 rad

[captspillane]

Do you mean a YJ as a donor for longer radiator hoses?

All AMC V8 radiators are compatible with an AMC I6 because the top hose is on the passenger side.

The Iron Duke Eagles and Small Block Chevy conversion Jeeps both have the top hose on the driver side.

Several vendors sell very nice aluminum radiators for SBC CJ7 swaps for less than I spent for a normal Iron Duke radiator. At one time I couldn't get a radiator for my Iron Duke Eagle and I bought one for an Iron Duke CJ7 instead. I had to resolder to flip-flop the sides and I also had to cut one side down and extend the other side to center the core. It worked well and is in use in my Kammback but I wouldn't do it again.

[carnuck]

Arrgh! I meant a YJ with GM conversion rad. My bad! I have a brand new 3 row one for 304 to put in my Honcho.

[Monkeyjoe]

Hello,
I think I got lost for a couple of months.  the Eagles nest just quit working but some of my posts are here. 

My iron duke has factory air, not home yet, still deployed to the Middle East for a few more months so I cant take a picture for you.

[IowaEagle]

Good to hear you found your way here.   Thank you for your service to your country.

[Monkeyjoe]

Ok so here goes.  At this point I thought I just had to replace the timing set.  So I had removed the timing cover to find the cam gear is a pressed on deal.  So this would required I pull the cam out of the engine.


So this picture kills 2 birds with one stone.  It shows the iron duke with the A/C compressor and the radiator in place that "lonestar1947" had asked for.

[Monkeyjoe]

So the radiator and the A/C Components had to be moved out of the way.  I was able to do this without disconnecting any of the AC components. 

[Monkeyjoe]

Way to many vacuum lines and wires to remember where they all go, so I took some pictures before I started disconnecting anything