Oil pump drive gear

First_Gear wrote: I once looked at a 58 rambler which had an aluminum block 196 engine. I had no idea they were uncommon when I looked at it. The car was misrepresented so I passed.

That is odd, and had to have been transplanted. The aluminum block first came out in '61 and used through '64 in Classics. I still can't understand why AMC invested so much in a new block for an old design, instead of a completely new engine!

The AL 196 was a good idea, just not a good time for it. In the early 60s aluminum actually cost more than cast iron. The savings was in the molds though. Aluminum engine blocks used a reusable steel mold, a sand mold had to be made for every cast iron block, so you saved all that time making all those molds.

The issues were:

1) the 196 design itself has head sealing issues to begin with, dropping an iron head on an aluminum block certainly didn't help! You still had to check/tighten head bolts every 8-10K miles. The first owner might have done it, the second and third? Not likely to even know or read the owners manual (if it was still with the car)... or care -- it's a cheap used car!

2) Anti-freeze at the time was corrosive to aluminum. You had to buy special anti-freeze that was aluminum compatible. Many frugal Rambler owners didn't. So again, first owner -- probably ok. Second and later??? Don't know/care...

Both of those combined caused overheating/sealing issues. When you have those the cast iron liners, which were unsupported at the top of the block (no deck) could shift, and you had internal corrosion from the wrong anti-freeze. All the troubles were maintenance issues, not design issues.

Now all anti-freeze is AL compatible and most engines are aluminum -- some are even die-cast like the Rambler motor. Early tech adopters always uncover the issues first!

It was definitely aluminum and definitely a 58. It maybe could have been a 59. It probably was a replacement engine after all the car is over 60 years old! The car had one of those terrible bondo over rust mess paint jobs. New carpet over holes in the floor etc.. All the signs of a quick flip. Seemed to run ok though!