225 rebuild

The motor in my 67 Jeepster needs a rebuild bad, blowing compression thru the valve covers. Talked to TA Performance about best way to go on it. They suggested punching the 225 out to 231, installing 350 pistons and late model 231 heads and intake. Then run an RV style cam, or a little hotter, and it should do ~200hp at about ~300lbs torque. They say they have done afew of these and the chassis dyno showed ~210hp and about 500lbs torque through the trans.. OK they're good numbers but will the 231 heads work on the 225? They say "yes" but I've alway heard no they wont. Anyone else with a better plan.. The Jeepster is a little heavey so I'm wanting a few more ponies to pull it.
Thanks
Keith

 

Can the 231 heads work. Yeah. How much you wanna spend. Those numbers sound good, but at what RPM? And if you don't plan on twisting your motor that high, what good is it? If you just plan on using it in a stock jeep, then do a stock rebuild, and save your money for other things...

just my opinion.

 

thats the build i am working on right now.
i have a 231 punched .030 and bought pistons from summit @ $36 each.
i am putting the even fire intake on right now (just ported the casting flaws from the intake runners and cleaned up the exhaust some). if you want, you can run the even fire heads/valve trane and intake and itll bolt right on. you have to use the rockers/push rods to match the heads you use, but other than that, it should bolt right on. if you have the heads off, you should take a look at the casting flaws behind the intake valve...its ugly. grab a dremmel and knock it off and you can increase flow by a good deal. run your finger from the valve guide to the valve face and feel that ridge. ugly...
if you have time, i am almost done with mine. i will finish cleaning up the heads this week and put em in for a valve job. i have alot of pics so far i will send to sparky for posting on this site for those interested. give me a few and i will list all parts and mods and post the hp/torque when i get it measured. if it works out alright, you can build it like mine and ask questions here or give me a call. (will post # if needed).
mine is going to be built for street cruising in florida, but if it shows good numbers at the lower rpm range, who knows.
i have the offenhauser dual port (which is good for low end torque) and the rhodes lifters (which make the engine think it has a smaller cam at lower rpm). plus i will be adding a 1" swirl torque spacer. so lower end should still be stout (not the best, but stout none the less), but itll breath if i need to pass someone on the highway.
those are my plans..but murphy being who he is will probably make the parts counter each other and i wind up with less hp than i started with..lol.

 

I wouldn't bore a good 225 out to a 231 bore, not for a 1st bore. At .050 you basically just took most all of the material out of the motor. get you a decent rebuild kit from Autozone, clean up the factory heads, put ina rv cam from Competition cams with a roller timing set and a hi voulme oil pump, the motor will last and make good hp. I did basically this but also added hardened valve seats and valve seals. I used the factory cam, my motor runs great in my cj. The TA setup will work but will cost you a small fortune to build, probably 2 grand or more. I have enough money in mine and have around $1400.

 

Thanks for all the replies...That's the kind of feed back I was looking for.. Phalanxx, I'd be interested in seeing the dyno on that motor.. With the weight of the Jeepster, 3300lbs, I just kind of wanted a little more horsepower and torque.. But I've never driven it with a fresh 225 either.
Keith

 

no prob. the cost for heads from a scrap yard for an 80's buick are low. grind with dremmel and match an intake doesnt cost much at all. i have a 4.1 aluminum intake in my garage with an economaster 4bbl that will bolt right on and make great power (not too much). all ebay items and only paid $30 plus shipping. watch ebay and you should be able to build something like this only cheaper.
more to come...

or, you can get this buick turbo setup sitting in my garage and put power to ground..>=)

 

I'm thinking that's the way I might go. My 225 needs a rebuild and I was going to use an RV cam anyway. The RPM range should be a result of the cam/intake setup, right? So an RV cam would keep it down low and I have an Elelbrock DP sitting in the shop. TA Performance said use 350 pistons for 9.8 compression, is that to hight for pump regular grade? Would be nice if you could just swap an oddfire crank/cam into a evenfire block but don't know if that would work. Really don't like doing a .050 over on a first rebuild but they said the heads are wasted without the 350 pistons. And like they say "there's no replacement for displacement". Basicly it sounds like I'll be building an oddfire 231 with a RV cam, right?
Keith

P.S. To bad you already bought the intake, I have a factory 4 barrel manifold you could have had for shipping.

 

the RV cam will keep your power band low, which will be a waste with the tall port heads. i mean itll work, but your best benifit from those heads will be when you start to wind it up from what i understand. i have never seen a chart on power except the edlebrocks performer package for the even fire. i would love to see a comparison on the 225 vs the 231 odd vs the even fire stock.
oh and if you bore your 225 .050, itll use stock 231 pistons. so if you wanted, you can buy the 8.0, 7.9 turbo, or 9.4 speed pro (like mine) or have them custom built for about $600 a set..=\
pistons are out there no prob.
you have a factory 225 4bbl intake? or 231? mine is the 4.1 which fits the same heads so basically, its the same. i have never seen a factory 231 4bbl intake. what did they come on?
know anyone who has a buick 350 4bbl intake? 0=)

 

Just rebuilt our 225 and only went .030 over. The rebuild kit only ran a little over three hundred bucks and the machine work was around six bills with new valves. The fresh 225 with an HEI and Holley 350 2bbl is alot better set up than a whole lot of money for a 231 set up. If you are spending the money for a 231, just do a v8. By the way, we just broke the engine in by taking it to the Laughlin Harley Run.

 

Phalanxx..Not sure what the manifold is off of but think it's the 252. It was given to me by a friend.. Found out it was for higher RPM so didn't use it..

I'm going to have to do some desktop dynoing before I spend the money on it. The reason I'm doing this is to try to duplicate the power of the 4.3, 190hp/240lbs torque @ 4000rpm, but at a lower rpm and with a bolt in setup.

For now I'm just going to swap in a used 231 I have. Meanwhile I'll be researching, and maybe building, the little 225 because I think it's a better motor.

Keith

 

same motor, just bored .050. (225/231 Of).
the EF 252 intake would be best used with the EF heads for alignment. let me put mine together and run the stats on it. it might be closer to the rpm you are looking for. prolly not, but maybe..=)