UPDATE: Price dropped to $4800.
(07/02/2018) This might have a set of Watson hubs.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/847550489239549
(from previous ad) … “Great Fun! Has been in the family over 40 years. It runs, has full roll bar, front and back towing. 2 sets of tires and rims. It has been kept in storage. My father told me it was a 4 cylinder plymouth engine. It is a 4 wheel 3 speed. It has very low mileage. Enjoyable as it is or easily made to look like new. No cracks in the windshield. The original serial numbers are on the under carriage with the 5 pointed star at the beginning and end of the sequence. It has a clear title and has been put on non-op as I cannot drive it anymore because of numerous back surgeries. I will miss it. I learned to drive on it when I was 9 years old. I hope to find it a good home. Some seal are dry and need greasing. You can make an appt to see it. Contact me through my email.”
That is a Pontiac “Slant 4” from the early 60’s.
It is half of a 389, so it’s 194.5 cubic inches. What an amazing swap. Never thought I’d see that in a Willys!
Dave,
it is a great swap. I have seen a few of them. It’s what I really wanted to put into Lost Biscuit, but could not find one when I looked around in 2008-10.
Back in 1985 I bought a fiberglass racer that had a 389 that was literally cut in half. The manifold and engine had welded patches on them to turn the V8 into a 4 cal. Unfortunately, I lost the pics of that engine long ago. The jeep was built to run at high RPMs. He raced it in the Sunfair 300 mile races (eastern Washington desert racing) back in the 1970s. The seller gave up the jeep, but wouldn’t give up the engine.
Very cool. As an old guy and “hot rodder” from the 1960’s-70’s, that Pontiac 4 banger really jogs the memory. Lots of Pontiac Tempests built and sold with that motor. It was Pontiac’s answer to the small car/economy race that was going on at the time…..Chevrolet Corvair……Ford Falcon…..Plymouth Valiant ……Oldsmobile/Buick F-85 ……flat aluminum 6cyls……small in-line sixes……slant sixes…..small aluminum V/8’s.
Major hot rodder/land speed record holder/high performance industry pioneer Mickey Thompson not only made history with lots of Pontiac 389 and 421V/8’s, he did a variety of dragsters, road racers and Bonneville vehicles using the 4cyl. engines identical to this Willys.
Gonna have to dust off some of the old Motor Trends and Hot Rods in the basement and re-live a little of this great era.
Those early Pontiac Tempests had a long flexible drive shaft going to a rear mounted transaxle. No floor hump. Used that system even when Tempest had the early 326 ci V8 in 1963. 1964 brought the larger body that became famous as the GTO.
Dave E,
Wow, did that cut-in-half engine run the v8 crank? Did it use spacers for the missing rods? Well, gotta love all those car companies from those days making odd engines that would use the tooling used for their mainstream V8’s. Like the Dodge 3.9 v6, etc etc. The Pontiac 4 is a cooool engine. I’d love to just collect engines. There’s so much cool stuff out there.
Dave,
I never had the engine apart, so I don’t know. I bought the fiberglass race jeep for $600 with the understanding that I’d pull the engine and return it to the owner. I didn’t know much about engines at the time, but I did recognize all the welds patching the manifold and engine were usual.
The seller claimed he built the engine to race car specs. He said it was a high RPM engine that would never work well for jeeping or tight course racing like we did in the PNW4WDA.
Is the coffee cup included?
We had a guy in Lisbon Ohio that raced one with a turbo Pontiac 4. It was a screamer.
BULLCRAP — ITS A I-H SCOUT SLANT 4
For those are now thinking that “International has half a V8 too?” They did. The 152, half of the 304. The easy way to tell them apart is the IH has a valve cover that is wavy at the bottom edge and says “International” across the whole length of the valve cover and a very tall thermostat housing.
Scout engine had the front mounted distributor, Pontiac had rear mounted distributor. This is a Pontiac.