Military Vehicles, November 1996,: Re: M-725 Kaiser
Re: M-725 Kaiser
Gale Barrows (barrowsg@rapidnet.com)
Mon, 4 Nov 1996 09:01:24 -0700 (MST)
>I just bought a 1963 1 1/4 ton Kaiser Jeep M-725 Military Ambulance with
> no engine, transmission, or any electrical, basically just a body,
>chassis, axles, and wheels. The truck had a shipping weight of 6500lbs.
>I want make it road-worthy but i'm not sure where to begin. Does anyone
>out there know what type and size of engine this had originally? I want
>to put a newer engine so i won't be restoring it to perfect original.
>Some people have suggested diesel but i've heard they're hard to start
>in cold weather. Obvisiously, i need something with a lot of torque.
>Would a straight 6 300 be enough? Is there such a thing as a straight 6
>larger than this?
>
>
Are you sure of the year on this vehicle? They were not made till 1967 and
production ended in 1968. Origional engine was the 230 inch Jeep Tornado
engine which was an in line 6 cylinder overhead cam engine, not known for an
abundance of power and only installed by Jeep in civillian vehicles for
about 4 years, 1960-1963. (the only reason I can think of for Jeep to
install that 230 engine in the M715/M725 series 4 years after they
discontinued it in civillian vehicles is that Jeep must have had a stockpile
of engines they wanted to get rid of.)
The Chevy 350 inch V8 is a comon engine for a repower and that engine
along with the stock manual or automatic transmission is probably among the
easiest and cheapest ways to go. Mst any V8 or 250-300 inch 6 cyl would be a
fairly easy instalation. There are bigger 6 cylinders than the 300 inch ford
but that is about the biggest engine practical for this vehicle. I have a
couple 602 inch 6cyl Continental engines sitting out in the shed but they
weigh as much as many cars today !!! Don't overlook the Chevy 292 or the GMC
302 engine out of a Civillian tuck or the M211 series 2 1/2 ton trucks if
you want to go with a 6 cyl.