Engine replacement thoughts

Oh I love the the thing, it’s just got a certain look about it that I enjoy. In the brief amount of time I was able to drive it it was quite pleasant.  

I realized at the onset of this, that it was probably limited as far as my options, and either rebuilding the engine I have or sourcing a running replacement, may be my only or best choice.

It looks like ‘65 and up 196 engines have full flow oil filtration also. 

Might have to do a fact check on that. 

By the way... I haven't seen him posting on the forum for awhile.

But a better engine choice because of newer technology, and available parts would be worth it, imagine the piece of mind if you needed to fix it? You could just get the parts at the store no problem... And piece of mind that it would be less likely to breakdown as much since the engine isn't ancient, and you could still drive and enjoy your nice old car. 

I've explored several engine swaps. Almost anything will fit in a 63+ Classic, even the earlier big cars. Not hard to fit something (except maybe big blocks) in the 64+ American either. The 58-63 Americans are the ones hard to fit another engine in.

The kicker with the 56-66 big cars is the torque tube. The tube mounts to the trans and is the main locating arm for the rear axle. Go to a modern engine and you need a modern trans for it, so you lose the ability to mount the torque tube. That means an axle and rear suspension swap. You CAN keep the torque tube in some cases (if trans isn't too long or short), but it's a lot of work -- easier to swap the axle and rear suspension. Keep the stock coil springs and it's not terribly difficult, but you need some fabrication skills or a good friend who can. Several option -- look at the sticky under drivetrain for 56-66 rear end swaps, page 16 is the most relevant. Somewhere before that page is a photo of what it take to keep the torque-tube.

1971 and earlier sixes use the same bell bolt pattern. There is a slight difference in starter position between a 199/232/258 and the 196, but that just requires a little slotting of the starter bolt hole. The link posted earlier is a start, but there are some things unsaid. The radiator might need to be moved slightly forward, but not much. Radiator needs to be moved in a 64-65 American 196 to 232 swap, but the big car used a longer water pump shaft to make up for the longer front end. The 63-66 body was made from the start to take the 199/232 -- the engine just wasn't quite ready in 63, and it's generally not a good idea to introduce a new engine and body at the same time (or wasn't) -- both will have some teething issues and manufacturers really didn't want to have to deal with both at once. The perches for the 199/232 should be the same on all 64-66 models (232 came out in late 64 -- mostly in the Typhoon, but some others got it the last 2-3 months of production) EXCEPT the 65-66 Ambassador. Those had the lengthened front end (63-64 Ambo has same wheelbase as Classic, later model Ambos have longer wheelbase) and the engine perches sit further back so that the same torque tube could be used as in the Classic.

Here, the machining costs to bore, sleeve, new parts ... would be more then what they want for the rebuilt long block.

Have to factor in no core return, shipping and accessories that may not transfer over from the 199.

But it is a rebuilt engine with warranty.