6-161 vs 6-148

Mudpuppy

Sharpest Tool
Jul 10, 2017
256
Long Island NY
First Name
John
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1951
I Have a 51 wagon and I'm trying to figure out what engine is in it....its original to the vehicle and I believe its an L head but how do you determine if its a 148 or 161...I know its not a 226 but other than that...not much else. The exhaust manifold id on the drivers side of the engine by the way
 
You don't want that engine, you want something that has easier parts to find... Just put it on a pallet and send it to me....

In all seriousness, being a '51 it should have the 161 in it. The 148 was used in the first 2wd wagons and Jeepsters up till 1950 (as far as my research has shown). Some parts are interchangeable to the more common engines (134, 226, f-heads) and others are near impossible to find, the manifolds for example. Willys actually made an sold a lot of the 161s to Kaiser for use in their Henry-J cars, they came with the kaiser head and have slightly higher compression.

I have a Kaiser L161 in my truck, i need an exhaust manifold, I've been looking for 6+ months and still haven't found one...

*EDIT* Post a picture or two would also help!!
 
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John, I am in the middle of a complete rebuild on an F head 161 for a good friend. If you have any questions please give me a shout. While I do not have all the answers I am learning daily on this really cool engine. I have had no trouble sourcing pistons, rings, valves and guides as well as all the bearings for the bottom end and gaskets. That being said I did not say they were cheap. Looks like I will have about $1200 in internal parts alone and another $1200 in machine work. Luckily the block and head had no cracks when magnafluxed. This one is setting in a 50 Jeepster although I do not think it is original to this car it is period close and really neat. Can't wait to fire it up hopefully before Christmas.
 
edudley said:
John, I am in the middle of a complete rebuild on an F head 161 for a good friend. If you have any questions please give me a shout. While I do not have all the answers I am learning daily on this really cool engine. I have had no trouble sourcing pistons, rings, valves and guides as well as all the bearings for the bottom end and gaskets. That being said I did not say they were cheap. Looks like I will have about $1200 in internal parts alone and another $1200 in machine work. Luckily the block and head had no cracks when magnafluxed. This one is setting in a 50 Jeepster although I do not think it is original to this car it is period close and really neat. Can't wait to fire it up hopefully before Christmas.
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Being a 1950 it should have had the L134 or L161 like we're discussing. The F161 came later around 53-54 iirc.... I too am learning about these 'oddities' so I hope someone more knowledgeable will chime in...
 
I have one of these F-161 motors also to put in a '52 wagon,I bought it running in a CJ-5 frame,tried to put it in the wagon and found the oil pan sump on the wrong end,so found a parts motor from a fellow member here and going to pick it up soon...neat motors for sure.
 
Austin my Jeepster VIN starts with 473 so I agree it was likely the 134 when it was born. I spoke to a few Jeepster gurus around the country to be sure the non original engine did not have a huge affect on the value of this car. I did not want to advise several thousand dollars on an engine that hurt the value of the car. The experts did not think it would and commented that it was a common swap. I have all of the small pieces ready to assemble as soon as the machine shop completes their work. I cheated and had all the nasty pieces dip stripped. That is the way to go for sure. I will post pics before I put the engine back in the car.
 
99FDB0AF-A298-4DF0-9D94-6F12A7B9BF94.jpg5E74892E-D34F-4D24-94AD-50E212B8FCF0.jpgHere are two views...as far as I know it’s original to the vehicle...bought it with 64k miles. She burns a little oil and blows some carbon on startup and a little smoke until she warms up. Just had the radiator steam cleaned (not in this photo) and she had a few small holes. OD works, wipers kinda sluggish..rebuilt the carb, rebuilt the gen, new spark coil disto etc...new plugs an wires and fuel pump...starts no problem. From what I believe ...it’s an L-Head 161...right ?? She has no oil filter ...was this common ?
 
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Mudpuppy said:
View attachment 42055View attachment 42056Here are two views...as far as I know it’s original to the vehicle...bought it with 64k miles. She burns a little oil and blows some carbon on startup and a little smoke until she warms up. Just had the radiator steam cleaned (not in this photo) and she had a few small holes. OD works, wipers kinda sluggish..rebuilt the carb, rebuilt the gen, new spark coil disto etc...new plugs an wires and fuel pump...starts no problem. From what I believe ...it’s an L-Head 161...right ?? She has no oil filter ...was this common ?
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L161 - And I want it.... No, really, just throw it on a pallet and I'll pay the shipping too! :cheers:

The no oil filter is very common, I'm converting an F-head bracket to work on mine. The vacuum wiper issue is also very common, a lot of people convert to electronic, I found something in my stash the other day that I'll be posting about in my build thread to retain the vacuum system and make it reliable...
 
I would be very interested to hear how that goes...seems most of the conversions are for 12 volt and I’m keeping this 6v...how challenging do you think it would be to replace the wiring harness ...I have not been having any issues...been covering the missing insulation with paint on plastic insulation goop...should I leave well enough alone until I’m having issues ?
 
I was wondering does the 161 and 148 have a 'W' in the casting numbers for the Wilson Foundry? I would assume that they do, but I have honestly never had the opportunity to look at one close enough.

Thanks,
Bill
 
When I get back to my shop in an hour or so I'll take a look at mine. I know I'm missing my serial plate above the distributor but I've never looked at the casting. Mine is also a Kaiser L161 but all the Kaiser engines were built by Willys...
 
That would be great guys- I appreciate it.

' Mine is also a Kaiser L161 but all the Kaiser engines were built by Willys... ' I thought they were made by Continental for Kaiser. I know next to nothing about Kaisers, so this is interesting. Do you know if they were cast and assembled at the Wilson Foundry then?

Thanks,

Bill
 
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Bill Norris said:
That would be great guys- I appreciate it.

' Mine is also a Kaiser L161 but all the Kaiser engines were built by Willys... ' I thought they were made by Continental for Kaiser. I know next to nothing about Kaisers, so this is interesting. Do you know if they were cast and assembled at the Wilson Foundry then?

Thanks,

Bill
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The 226 was/based off the Continental Red Seal engine. The 148 and 161 were based off the 134 which was based off the old Wippet engines from the 20s and 30s. Willys produced all the 134, 148 and 161 engines. As per which foundry they came from, I do not know. I took a look at my engine and do not see any distinguishing marks, but I've never cleaned it and it was from a farm so there's a lot of buildup. There are some numbers and such cast right above the oil pan on the drivers side, but again, not clean enough for me to see what they say.
 
Austin,

I had no idea about that link to Kaiser. Thanks for the info. Looks like another rock to turn over...

Bill
 
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