‘66 Rambler classic 232 opinion needed

tomj wrote: I wouldn't make any assumptions, a compression test isn't that hard and is worthwhile knowledge. Unless you know it's full history, it is far more likely that 46K miles is 146K, American cars having 5-digit odometers. How are the plugs? Is it burning oil? Etc. The 232 is a rugged beast, even if abused. It's also torquey and revs gladly (to 5K anyway) so you might not really need "more power", before you have a solid motor. All sorted out, good carb, good spark etc it will be pretty nice. If you indeed have the gumption to swap and rebuild, I'd suggest rebuilding your freebie that's already out of the car, drive and tune what you've got, then out the rebuilt 232 in. Also make sure they're the same generation 232 -- starter on the left, mainly. After 71 they switched to the V8 bell pattern.

Edited by Itschrisb - May/28/2021 at 4:43am

tyrodtom wrote: If that idle oil pressure is after the engine is warm,  that's not bad. Unless it's a quality oil pressure gauge,  it's readings might not be that accurate on the lower scale.

I'm in 100% agreement with going to 20w50 oil, doing that change to my 258 was literally like night and day in terms of valve train clatter.  Modern 10w30 is way too thin, and if I remember correctly 10w40 was AMC spec on these back in the day. The 20w50 should quiet it down nicely, and bring your pressure numbers up a bit. Good luck!

The worn 258 I mentioned was switched from the 20w 50 to mobil1 synthetic since it was a year round transportation where we do have some chilly northern Illinois winters.  The engine had 125k on the clock. Never had any sudden leaks pop up as many claim. When they were first introduced problems did occur since synthetics didn't have the same tendency to swell rubber like it's petro counterpart so they adjusted the additive package. 

The Mobil1 15W-50 doesn't change viscosity with temperature anywhere near as much as conventional oil. But it is very expensive. 6768rogues is right, buy decent quality oil and change it often, is a better idea. Especially an old engine, if oil pressure has dropped due to wear, likely blowby is increased, and frequent oil changes are called for. And in my recent experience, driving a car (199ci American) that the owner changed inexpensive oil very frequently (1000 - 2000 miles) frequent changes are the way to go.