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Mexican Engine Heads

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mitchito View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mitchito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/22/2017 at 8:25am
cover looks  in same condition and color of intake, red, with most of the paint missing.  Worried that someone swapped a 232 and took the 282 and sold the car. 
1982 Rambler Lerma
1981 Rambler Lerma coupe
1978 American (Concord base)
1977 Gremlin
1976 Pacer X
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 1982AMCConcord Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/22/2017 at 8:38am
Originally posted by farna farna wrote:

Could be an aftermarket metal cover, as many plastic ones were replaced. You could look up the metal replacement for the 82 models and see where the bolt holes are and sizes of bolts. IIRC you have to tap the guide holes around the head (plastic cover had a few little studs in lower edge to line up with those holes) to use the metal replacement cover. 

Farna... what metal cover for the 1982 model engine are you talking about? Do you have a link? 

Thanks!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mitchito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/22/2017 at 1:36pm
This is the one on my engine now
1982 Rambler Lerma
1981 Rambler Lerma coupe
1978 American (Concord base)
1977 Gremlin
1976 Pacer X
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farna View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote farna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/23/2017 at 5:51am
mitchito -- look for the engine date code. I'm assuming VAM marked the engines the same as AMC did. There should be a six character code stamped on a flat just in front of the distributor, on the head/block parting line (flat is on the block). Can't be certain VAM used the same code, but see what you find and post it.
Frank Swygert
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote farna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/23/2017 at 6:05am
1982AMCConcord -- Jeep suppliers sell replacement metal valve covers for 80s AMC engines. You just need to get one for the year head you have, as there are 2-3 different ones. Just looked at 4WD Hardware... they don't offer the stamped steel any more, just the cast aluminum and a plastic replacement. No one seems to have luck with the plastic for long, I'd replace it with the aluminum. Doesn't look stock, but doesn't leak!
Frank Swygert
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 1982AMCConcord Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/23/2017 at 8:52am
Originally posted by farna farna wrote:

1982AMCConcord -- Jeep suppliers sell replacement metal valve covers for 80s AMC engines. You just need to get one for the year head you have, as there are 2-3 different ones. Just looked at 4WD Hardware... they don't offer the stamped steel any more, just the cast aluminum and a plastic replacement. No one seems to have luck with the plastic for long, I'd replace it with the aluminum. Doesn't look stock, but doesn't leak!


Sorry if I am thread jacking... 

Thanks Farna... that is what I thought.... I have been looking for one. I actually had a Plastic one installed by a Chrysler dealership back in 1995 and believe it or not it held until a few years ago when I had to put new intake and exhaust gaskets on. After undoing the bolts.. it started leaking right away but if I didn't have to do that.. I think it would still be good today! The guy that did it was an old timer former AMC plant guy... he waited for me to come pick it up. He told me about how hard it was to do that valve cover. Honestly... I sure thought I was only going to get a year or two out of it because I drove it daily for years after that! But it sure did hold well. That being said.. I am not wanting to go back to the plastic one anymore. I was hoping to find one that didn't require tapping the threads in the head but I don't think that's possible for me!

I found this one.... but I think its for the earlier model I-6 that require a lower valve cover design.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/TDP0/8619/N0575.oap?ck=Search_N0575_-1_-1&pt=N0575&ppt=C0390

I think this is the one I'll be getting.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172644502450?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rambler Mexicano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/23/2017 at 6:13pm
Sorry for the late reply. I'm back now.

I don't know if the VAM valves could be used for the GEN 1 V8 engines.

Unfortunately, the situation of junkyards in Mexico is not too different from the one in the US. AS of 2010, VAM cars could still be found relatively easy in Mexican junkyards. Now, they're pretty rare.

That makes the head/intake/valve import business no longer possible.

Mitchito, for what I see in your picture, your head seems to be original. Yes, it belongs to the previous generation.

The modern VAM head with the plastic valve cover was introduced not at the beginning of the model year (late 1981) but a few months later.

Your car seems to be an early production 1982 Lerma.
Mauricio Jordán

Cuando no se es una empresa famosa se deben hacer mejores automóviles.
- Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos S. A. de C. V.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 1982AMCConcord Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/13/2017 at 9:27am
Did VAM make a specific 258 version or just the 282 version? I found a VAM block for sale and they are saying its a 258. If it is a 258... is the VAM 258 version better in any way than the regular AMC 258 we normally see
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote farna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/13/2017 at 6:41pm
VAM used the 258 from 1973 to the end (1983), 232 from 64-79, 252 69-72, and 282 71-90.
The 252 is a 232 block cast with a larger 3.91" bore, 282 a 258 block cast with a 3.91" bore. You can't bore a Mexican 232/258 (3.75" bore) out to 252/282 size (3.91" -- that would be 0.16", over 1/8"!), would make the 232/258 block really heavy to be that thick.

The 252/282 was used in lieu of a V-8 and because the high elevation in the Mexico City area (where the VAM plant was, actually in Lerma) robbed power from the smaller engines. With the big sixes VAM didn't have to build another line of engines (V-8s), saving a lot of money. Don't know how Mexico taxes cars, but in Europe there would be a bigger tax on bigger engined vehicles. That's why AMCs didn't sell well there. I know they sold some, just not that many. That's also why the Belgian operation run by Renault shut down -- by the late 60s most European countries had started taxing by engine size or power. There was a special formula for "taxable horsepower" that was much less than the engines actually put out.. at least later in years. It came about in the early 1900s and was close then. The formula never changed though. It's actually based on engine size, not power output.
Frank Swygert
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote amcfool1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/13/2017 at 10:42pm
thanks farna, for years i was wondering what that "taxable hp" in the TSMs was about!

82 Concord, if you want a valve cover for your 1982 258, and don't want to drill/tap holes, check out www.yourcovers.com. expensive, but pretty. Part #8656, has a cool screw in O ring sealed oil fill cap as well. Only one out there that does NOT require drill/tap on DRIVERS side, which is the problem side, as you may hit water if you drill too deep. PML, and made in the USA! good luck, gz
george z
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