232 engine hop-up ?

Ducor Kid

I was wondering if the 232 could be hopped up for more power. One of my

car buddy's said that since it was a destroked 262 I should be able to get good power out of. Or is 232 not worth messing with. I'm still quite new at this family

of engines so please bear with me. I don't have 308 handy to put in the old Pacemarker!



Larry

dwardo99

I'm sure the same hop-up techniques that apply to any engine also apply to this. The problem is, the engine is just as big and heavy as a 308 so your power-to-weight ratio won't be as good. It's probably true you could turn it much faster but being a flathead it wont' breath all that well so gains at higher rpm may be limited. It costs just as much to build the 232 as a 308 so that would be another argument against it. If you just plain like the idea of the smaller and want to do something, you could get the crank and pistons from a 262 and then you would have a 262. AFIK everything else is the same. That would give you a very useful increase in displacement and compression ratio for no more additional cost than the price of obtaining a crank, assuming you were going to buy pistons anyway. Someone else may have different opinion but that's mine.

MikeWA

Maybe the answer is obvious to some, but if the 232 is just a destroked 262, why did they bother? If its the same weight and size, why not just put the 262 in everything? I doubt the fuel saving was that significant, esp. with the 32 cent gas of the day.

rambos_ride

Mike (WA) wrote:

Maybe the answer is obvious to some, but if the 232 is just a destroked 262, why did they bother? If its the same weight and size, why not just put the 262 in everything? I doubt the fuel saving was that significant, esp. with the 32 cent gas of the day.

.32 cents a gallon was in the 60's as I clearly recall my parents lamenting the cost of gas in 1967 at .25 cents a gallon...it was something like

"Can you believe the price of gas? .25 cents a gallon! Now I'll have to cut back on smoking..."

faustmb

I agree with Rick. A friend of my dad's used to drive a Pacemaker 232 with the above parts. I never drove it, but it sounded great and he swore it has a lot more pep than factory. All the parts are bolt on too.

7XPacemaker

We put a 232 in a Hudson pickup. We had the head shaved .100. It boosted up the compression and gave her a lot more power. That is where I would start.

Ducor Kid

Photo courtesy 'Hudsonator' (i.e., copied from one of his posts). It is a 308, but you get the idea...

http://www.classiccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8552

I love the looks of the 4bbl and headers. My first ideas were to replace 232 with small Mopar with auto but since reading forums I wondered about staying Hudson powered. I still want auto and A/C. I wonder if 262 crank and pistons plus 4bbl and headers would give enough power to do that.