My 54 Manhattan has now gone thru four engines. To it's credit, the odometer has somewhere around 315K on it...but I figured the latest engine would last longer than 15 minutes. I bought the engine sight unseen...my mistake...but it did run. Unfortunately, I soon noticed that the oil seemed to be increasing in volume and the coolant was decreasing by the same amount. So, I pulled the head and there it is...a crack at the exhaust valve in cylinder number four.
If this were any other car than the one my dad owned since near new, I'd have long ago sent it packing. So...it looks like I might be looking for engine number five. The only decision...to go with another 226, or repower with something more modern...