page_title: AMC V8 engine
section_title: Gen-2 AMC short-deck V8 (1966–1970)
hierarchical_section_title: AMC V8 engine / Gen-2 AMC short-deck V8 (1966–1970)
caption_attribution_description: English: Engine bay of 1969 AMC AMX, a two-seat GT-type muscle car built by American Motors Corporation, showing a bare engine block as it is being prepared for "All American" racing. Picture taken of the car at Courtesy Jeep In Rockville, Maryland.
context_page_description: American Motors Corporation designed and manufactured two distinct V8 engine designs. Their first V8 engine design was made from 1956 through 1967. The second design debuted in 1966 and was made through 1991. Chrysler kept the last design in production until 1991 for the Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
context_section_description: The new-generation AMC V8 was first introduced in 1966. It is sometimes referred to as the "Gen-2" AMC V8. The first version was the completely new 290 cu in (4.8 L) Typhoon V8 introduced in a special mid-1966 model year "Rogue" hardtop. Available in 200 hp (149 kW; 203 PS) two-barrel carburetor version or producing 225 hp (168 kW; 228 PS) with a four-barrel carburetor and high compression, the new engines utilized "thin-wall" casting technology and weighed only 540 pounds (245 kg).
  All three engine sizes - 290 cu in (4.8 L), 343 cu in (5.6 L), and 390 cu in (6.4 L) - share the same basic block design—the different displacements are achieved through various bore and stroke combinations. All blocks share the same external measurements and thus can be swapped easily.
  Bore center measurement was kept the same as the Gen-1 V8 at 4.75 in (120.7 mm) so that boring equipment could be reused. Other than that, this engine is vastly different from the Gen-1 model. The Gen-1 engine is physically the size of a big-block Ford or GM engine, and is sometimes called a "big-block". The Gen-2 is closer to the physical size of U.S. made small-block V8s except for the bore centers, which are the same as some big-block engines. The only parts shared between the 1966-67 Rambler V8 and 1966-91 AMV8 are the lower cam timing sprocket and the timing chain.
  The AMC V8 was not built by Ford or anyone else although it bears an uncanny resemblance to the later Buick V8 engines (400, 430, 455). It shares the same design employing a timing gear case that mounts both distributor and oil pump. It also shares the same oiling scheme employing a single passage to feed both cam and crank from the right lifter bank by tangentially intersecting the cam bore instead of two drilled passages, one from the cam to crank and another from the crank to the right lifter bank. Some electrical parts (starter and distributor) were shared with Fords, and some models used Motorcraft (Ford) carburetors, but the balance of the engine design is unique.
  The Gen-2 AMC V8 was first introduced at 290 cu in (4.8 L) in 1966. It was used exclusively in the Rambler American model the first year. The 343 cu in (5.6 L) came out in 1967 and the AMX 390 cu in (6.4 L) arrived in mid-1968. These engine blocks were unchanged through the 1969 model year.
  The head used during this time was the so-called "rectangle port", named after its exhaust port shape. The 290 heads use smaller valves, 1.787 in (45.4 mm) intake and 1.406 in (35.7 mm) exhaust, in order to prevent problems with the small bore. The 343 and the AMX 390 use the same larger valve heads, 2.025 in (51.4 mm) intake and 1.625 in (41.3 mm) exhaust.
caption: Engine bay of a 1969 AMC AMX with a bare V8 block
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