Mexican Engine Heads

Mitchito, I'm sorry I couldn't help you with the gasket issue, I didn't know the information you asked about.

Question for everyone.

Can you see the pictures I posted links of in my last posts?

I just clicked some of them and there is a message from Photobucket with nothing to show. If you can't see pictures out the links those guys at Photobucket are out of their minds. I'll definitely be closing that account, since now it is practically worthless.

Thanks Frank for suggesting the alternatives for uploading pictures with remote linking.

See pages 1, 2, and 5 for old and new pictures as well as updated descriptions.

More 1977-1982 head design pictures:

















1973-1986 Intake Valve:


1973-1986 exhaust valve:

I've read through this entire thread and could not find the info I was hoping to find. Im wondering if the length of the bore in a 282 VAM block extends deeper toward the crank than a regular 4.0 block.  Does anyone know this for fact or not? Thanks in advance and btw, awesome read!

SIXPAK, all VAM engines had the same stroke as AMC sixes, the bore was the one that was different. The 252 has the 232 stroke while the 282 has the 258 one.

I have some news here, some of them related to the pictures of page 5 and this one.

I might have the chance of documenting four VAM heads in the following weeks.

1.-

I will be taking my 1977-1982 VAM regular production 282 head to a shop to have the valves removed so I can take pictures of the intake ports and compare them to ones the 1984-1986 Jeep head.

2.-

Also, a friend of mine needs to do routine maintenance to the head on his car, which is a 1982-1983 car line 282 head with the smaller 5/8 sparkplugs, internally-rounded out intake ports and the metal valve cover.

This is a chance to finally confirm if this head is the same as the 1984-1986 Jeep unit, to finally know for sure if the only difference is the plastic valve cover in newer version.

Unfortunately, he's in another city and I won't be able to be there when that happens. I just hope he doesn't let me down, which has happened more than once.

3.-

I will have a chance to take more pictures of the 252/1971-1972 282 head with rocker shaft and small valves.

The owner of the 1971 Javelin, in part due to my recommendations, ended up buying a 1977-early 1982 head with quench-type combustion chambers, large valves and independent rockers for his car.

He will keep his original head as a spare and is looking for an industrial chrome shop to rebuild the rocker shaft to keep it in working condition.

This means that the original head now assembled in the engine will inevitably go down, thus opening up a chance to document not just the combustion chambers but the internal part of the intake ports and make a comparison with the ones in the 1977-1986 heads.

4.-

A friend of mine owns a 1974 Classic DPL (Matador sedan) that has been sitting in a repair shop for some time, I was told they will restart work on the car in the following weeks/months. Part of the aspects to work on the car is the engine.

This is a very important opportunity, because this car has what I call the "third generation" 282.

The "first generation" is the 1971-1972 with 9.5:1 compression ratio, rocker shaft and small valves.
The only difference between one year and the other is that the 1971 version still has the starter on the intakes' side of the engine while the 1972 version's is on the distributor's side.

The "second generation" is the 1973 282, keeping the 9.5:1 compression ratio BUT changing to independent rockers and large valves.

The "third generation" is the 1974 282, changing to 8.5:1 compression ratio, keeping the indendent rocks and large valves. It also kept the same points distributor and Carter ABD carburetor as all 1971-1973 282s.

As far as my knowledge goes, the only difference between this engine and the 1973 version would be thecompression ratio, which happned due to the 1971-1973 flat pistons being replaced in favor of dished units. As far as I know the rest is the same: head, head gasket, head height, etc.

This time I will be able to document the 1974 head, which might be the same as the 1973 head. I'll try to fully take pictures of the whole head: combustion chambers, ports. I just hope they don't keep on delaying/postponing the repair of the car.

These are the updates that will be coming soon.


Edited by Rambler Mexicano - Dec/26/2017 at 4:13pm

If you get the "Ooops!"message from Photobucket you can install a work-around if you are using Firefox or Chrome. Microsoft browsers don't allow third party add-ons/plug-ins, so no fix for those. There is a fix for Safari and Anroid devices as well. Just search "photobucket fix".