knuckleharley

Don,it looks like a mixture of Mopars to me,so there must be a DeSoto on there somewhere. If not,I will graciously accept a Dodge 2dr ht if he drops one off at my house. Never let it be said that I'm not flexible if that's what it takes to get along.

Ok,I admit to being a little strange,but I can't be the only one here lusting after that cabover Dodge car hauler in the first photo instead of any of the cars. It would take a REALLY big garage to park that baby and the matching trailer inside,though. And as long as we are wishing,I will take a DeSoto 2dr ht from trailer number 3,please!

upright is comfortable with me and my back. The front seat backs not folding forward does suck,though.

You talk about replacing those seats. WHY?

Two words describe that problem,"Chinese Lockwashers".

There may not be any large engine builders/machinists in your area that you know who can be relied on,but I can guarantee you that there some small shops doing machine work for drag racers,circle track racers,etc,etc,etc. IMHO,THOSE are the type of machinists you should search out,anyhow. None of the guys working at those shops is just punching a time card to pay rent and buy groceries while trying to do the minimum they can do without getting fired. They are auto enthusiasts,and there is a better than even chance many would jump at a chance to work on an obsolete piece of automotive history like your engine,and that's the kind of machinist you want because those are the guys that are into perfection. If they weren't,they wouldn't keep their jobs. You can get away with a lot of crap when slapping together a engine for a grocery getter,but you can't get away with anything when putting something together that might see north of 10,000 rpms on a regular basis. Go to some of the local races and talk to the guys that seem to be winning or running at the head of the packs,and ask them where they get their engine work done.

You can count me as interested in hearing how they come out and the prices.

Thanks for verifying that for me.

Seems to me at a bare minimum that you are going to have to drop your oil pan to check the bearings and to check/clean/replace the oil pump. You might also try to blow compressed air through the oil galleries on the side of the block to see if there are any blockages. BTW,if you drop the oil pump to clean/check/rebuild/replace it,make sure you pack the area where the gears are with something like wheel bearing grease before you button things up under there. Don't worry about it interacting with the oil. No problem.

If all else is equal,go for the 58 engine. It is the peak of the 230 evolution,and makes more power and is arguably more durable than the early ones. Plus it is a 230,and the one out of the truck is probably a 218.

Why do you say that? What is it doing,making noises? What kind of noises? Have you verified the oil pump is pumping? Enquiring minds,and all dat.

You have to be one of the luckiest critters on the planet to find a car that rare that was complete and that nice to start with. I am guessing almost all the other survivors worth having are either in Museums or private collections,and never seen on the road. In fact,I have never seen one. Only photos.

Thanks,Reg.

Thanks,Reg. I see they also have them for the 25 inch blocks.

That you for that photo. That is a sight I had never seen before. Is that actual pressure-formed wood paneling? I can't even begin to imagine what it would cost to recreate that for a restoration.

Are the Langdon's headers still being manufactured?

Is that what the passenger car 251 engine and the Chrysler 265 engine use,too? Or is it a unique truck thing?

CHRYSLER CLUB! CHRYSLER CLUB! CHRYSLER CLUB! CHRYSLER CLUB! CHRYSLER CLUB! Do NOT scrap that car!

Thanks,Don. I didn't keep or drive that one very long,so I really didn't pay much attention to it. It was so rusty I ended up parting it out. The transmission went to a guy in Oregon,and the 292 engine is now sitting under the hood of a 39 Ford coupe in Berlin,Germany. Here is a video of it running in the 39 the very first time he started it up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmetuTfFZXY&list=FLLb6P6AQcE3lZv6RPWLY2Ww&index=127 You can see it drag racing on a former Soviet airstrip in eastern Germany in this video. The guy was new to drag racing,and he was being careful. You can see it going through the tech sign up at 6:35,and making a run at 9:42. The Germans don't seem to understand the concept of classes,and you see a lot of cars that are so slow you could take a nap while waiting for them to cross the finish line,but nobody seems to really care. They are all having fun with their cars,and that's all they care about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcmLMKJLTsg&list=FLLb6P6AQcE3lZv6RPWLY2Ww&index=129

I haven't done this since I was a kid several years (decades) ago,but I seem to remember using a "loaner" battery from something else to start the car,and then taping the battery cable ends so they wouldn't ground out,and driving it across the yard with no battery at all in because I didn't have a battery that would fit in the battery box.

Sometimes it really seems like getting started is the hardest part of the job,doesn't it?

The most money can be made by parting it out. Which would mean you might end up spending the next couple of years removing parts to sell to people in other states,and you end up selling the car for 25 to 100 bucks at a time and the money just disappears a LOT quicker than the car does. I don't get a sense of you wanting to do all that,or even having the tools to do all that. Haul it to a scrap yard and you MIGHT get $180 for it. Last I heard a month or so ago scrap cars are bringing around $4.50 per hundred lbs of weight here. If you have to rent a trailer to haul it to the scrap yard,you might clear 75-100 bucks,and that's not much money for all the time and work. Put it up for sale on places like this site,your local Craig's List,and on ebay,and I'd be shocked if you didn't get at least 750 bucks out of it within a week. Maybe/Probably even more if you can get a clean NC title for it in your name that has numbers that match the numbers on the car. A clean title in your name that you can sign that has numbers that match the ones on the car can bring an additional 500 bucks when you sell it to someone who wants to put it back on the road. If nothing else it practically guarantees you will sell the car if the asking price is reasonable. Put it on ebay and let the market set the price, My suggestion is to get a clear title,clean all the trash and crap out of the car so potential buyers can get a good look at it,get a friend that knows something about mechanicals to see if he can get the engine unstuck and spinning freely,and THEN take the photos and put it up for sale. If you have any spare parts that go with the car,display them on a plastic tarp or blanket on the ground so they can be seen in the photo. I don't particularly want the car because I already have more project cars than I have time left to live,but I live in eastern NC,and if you decide you want to just get rid of it by scraping it,let me know and I will pay you 50 bucks more than the scrap guy and come and get it. Maybe I can find someone that will want to buy it. I HATE the idea of restorable cars going to the crusher.

I was thinking the 61 unibody I used to own had twin I-Beam axles under it,but the more I think of it the less sure I am. You may well be right. I definitely remember seeing the "Twin I-Beam" tag on the fenders of that body style pu a relative had,but his truck could have been a 65 or 66. 67 was the year they went to the new body style.

Which is what you had to do to end up with the finished project of your dream. We all have different dreams and different requirements. Some people do frame clips to get what they want. Others swap whole frames,sometimes to a perfect original,and sometimes to something like a Dakota or S-10,and some people just want a simple "Fix" that will allow them to safely drive their cars without worry or having to spend a ton of money and time. There is no one "best" way for everyone. Or even for every car any of us has. My P-15 coupe has a Camaro frame clip and rear. My 33 rust-bucket coupe is getting a 6 carb DeSoto hemi,push-button 727,and 8-3/4 rear. Nothing on or in that car will be newer than 1961. Not because it's better,faster,trendier or anything else,but because that's what pleases me and it is my car and I will be doing the work. I will be modifying my 42 Dodge coupe,but I don't want to modify anything that can't easily be changed back to original by the next owner after I die,if that is what they want. What original parts I remove,like the intake and exhaust manifolds and the Fluid Drive transmissions will be saved so the next owner can re-install them if he wants. Not everything has to be hot-rodded or customized,and not everything has to be restored. Times change and people change. 20 years ago nothing less than 400+ hp would have satisfied me. Now the 95 hp flat 6 in my 51 coupe does everything I need or want it to do,so I see no reason to pull it and install a V-8. As I get older,I want to spend more time driving my cars than I do working on them. Time is the one thing none of us will ever have any more of. I want to spend mine doing things the simple and quick way if is possible to do that and end up with the result I want. I see no reason to make anything any harder than it has to be. Cutting and installing a good section from a scrap parts car is a hell of a lot quicker and easier than any other method if having the end result look like original is your goal.

If I misunderstood you,I apologize,but you also misunderstood me,and seem to STILL be misunderstanding me as I have CLEARLY stated I want the finished product to look like a original front cross member instead of a repaired crossmember. And I make no apologies for suggesting to anyone they do it the easy and quick way.