Andydodge

Dunno if this helps at all but here in Oz the Oz Valiant used the exact same bushings that fitted around a spherical ball end on the Oz Valiant clutch linkage but were made of white nylon, the exact same size & shape of the original 1/2 spherical diecast bushings used in my original 1940 Dodge........they maybe the same as that used on USA Valiants & other mopars............andyd

You called?..........lol............as mentioned my 1940 Oz Dodge is 1940 plymouth based and used the 4 bolt upper A arm which I swapped for the 1941-54 Moog style cast steel upper A arm which uses the 4 bolt inner pin & bushing.........I used the original 1940 vertical spindle with the 1941-54 Upper Outer pin & bush which allowed the spindle to line up with the Moog upper A arm...........the 1940 spindle attaches to the 1940 Lower A arm using the stock style 1940 lower outer pin & bush.............now ......the 1941 -54 stock stamped steel AND the aftermarket MOOG cast steel upper A Arms are HANDED, ie, they must be used on the correct side as their shape is slightly offset front to back.....see the shape of the "X", see how its different on each side? ................have you attached them on the wrong side...............with the inner pins and bushes installed on the upper A arm the pins CAN actually be installed onto the chassis on the wrong side.................see the attached pics which show the non symmetrical shape of the upper A arm........even tho' mine are the cast steel type they are the same as the stock Plymouth stamped steel versions and use the same inner & outer bushes and interchange with the stock parts..............does this help?................Andy Douglas

Original brakes would have been drums all around........not sure about the number of studs or bolts into the drums......some mopars used studs, like a "normal" late model car that stick out from the brake drum and attach the wheel with nuts...........others had threaded holes in the brake drum and used a bolt with a taper under the head to attach the wheel.........generally the bolt pattern from the mid 30's onwards was the same as that used by Ford from 1949.....same as Chrysler Royals, Dodge Phoenix and other full size mopars but NOT possibly not Oz Valiant...........thread/wheel bolt is 1/2" UNF, and should be right hand thread but Mopar did use Left hand threads also...............lol..........got any more pics of the overall vehicle?............andyd

Nigel...........it is confusing but here goes.......Mopar introduced the 277/303/313/318 in 1957 as the A series small block V8..the 318cube and a 325cube version were used until 1966/67 and as the A series engine they always had the "poly" heads with the saw tooth rocker covers.........however in 1964 Mopar introduced a "cheaper" small block V8 which was called the LA or "Late A" series engine in 273 cubes initially.....this LA engine was available from 1968 with 318, yes 318 capacity and from 1969(?) as a 340 and subsequently a 360 and even a 400 cube version with various changes..........BUT those head casting numbers that you say are to suit an LA series engine is NOT correct...........if it says its for an A series engine then yes, o/k but those heads cannot be from an LA series engine.........all LA series engines had straight sided rocker covers and no single long rocker shaft.........all Valiant V8's used LA series V8s both in the USA and here in Australia from 1964 when the Oz AP6 Valiant came out with the 273 V8 till the last 1980/81 CM series with the 318 Lean Burn version, in between we here in Oz also had the 340 and 360 in some Valiants......... ...........the 313/318 polys were used here till 1962 in the Chrysler Royal, from 1960 to 1966 in the Oz Dodge Phoenix....all were two barrel single exhaust grocery getter cars and the Poly was used in Dodge heavy 2-3 ton & larger trucks from the early 60's thru to the late 60's(I'm not a truck expert) but am pretty sure the Poly V8 was NOT available in the small 1/2 ton size pickup trucks and if they were available in 1960/61 it certainly would NOT have been with that engine gearbox as that gearbox is from 1963/64 and cannot fit to the earlier 1960/61 engine without changing the crankshaft as the crank flange is different up to 1962 then from 1963 it changes to what you have.........I said it was confusing...............one more question.........does your pickup have handbrake/parking brake cables going into the rear brake drums?........andyd

Nigel......looks like its missing the flexplate which bolts onto those 4 threaded blocks and is attached to a flange on the end of the crankshaft.......I can't help re those numbers you have quoted as I think they are casting numbers, and will actually relate to when the block and/or heads were cast by the foundry in the USA and could be anytime from 1957 onwards, the casting numbers can also be used to indicate whether its a special performance engine or what ever ...........BUT........... as it has a 2 barrel carby, a BBD Carter carby, I think its more than likely just a basic grocery getter 313 or maybe 318 which is all we got here in oz, NO oz Poly V8 came with anything other than that standard 2 barrel carby and a single exhaust pipe...........the STAMPED numbers on that machined boss it the front of the drivers side row of bores would be more helpful and may help identify where the engine first lived..............I just went and checked a spare 313/318 Poly I have had for 30 yrs, it was removed from a 1955/56 Packard of all things, the Packard engine went kapput and this Chrysler Royal/Dodge Phoenix V8 was installed, this was in the 1960's in Sydney....the Packard rusted out and was parted out in the late 1980's......I obtained the complete engine as a spare......its STAMPED engine number is PV20911C and I also checked the engine number on my 1940 Dodge rego papers and its PV26154C ...........my understanding is that the PV stood for "Plymouth Vehicle".............the engine in my Dodge I removed from a running, complete 1962 Oz Chrysler Royal AP3-4VCA.........which equates to a 1961/62 Chrysler Royal V8 Torqueflite Auto and was a 313 but I had it bored out 80thou to 325 cubes which its been since 1975...........anyway the stamped numbers might help................andyd.

Nigel.........the pic of the heads answers the question as to what the engine is.....that "saw toothed" shape to the rocker cover with a single long rocker shaft and rocker arms on either side for intake and exhaust is a Poly V8......used by Plymouth from 1955 thru to 1967, with that specific style from 1957 to 1967 in 277/303/313/318 & 325 cubic capacities..here in Oz its more than likely either 313 or 318 judging by the use of the alloy gearbox as well...........you asked what a torque converter is.........at the front of the gearbox, inside that large bell shaped housing there should be a stamped steel plate with the starter ring gear around its circumferance and a large cylindrical "thing" that bolts to the stamped steel plate, this large round thing is the torque converter................which also then bolts to the rear of the engine crankshaft and is driven by it ............there should be a STAMPED number on the machined boss shown on the first of your most recent pics..it should be that shown above where the fuel pump bolts ont....its on the front of the Oz drivers side of the block top.......this number may start with some letters also which may give a hint as to what the engine is from..........I doubt that this engine & trans is originally from this pickup but I could be wrong..............I'd be squirting some oil or wipe some grease on all the bearing surfaces, ring surfaces and wiping the bores also........won't remove the rust but may stop it getting any worse........the rust on the block & intake manifold outsides won't harm them tho'.......if you have exhaust manifolds take care of them as they can break easily and are hard to fine and expensive............and finally I have had one of these engines in my 1940 Dodge since 1973, see pic...............Andy Douglas

Well.........Ve have good & Ve have bad news...........first ze bad news..........lol.........that gearbox is NOT original to your car/pickup/ute.....its an Alloy Chrysler/Valiant Torqueflite which as it appears to have BOTH shifter cables, ie the forward one is from the push buttons that is used to select the gears, the rear cable is as far as I know the "Park" cable which is a separate lever that is pushed down to lock the gearbox in "Park"..........there were two versions of this torqueflite alloy gearbox used, a small one called the 904 used behind the slant 6 and low hp 273/318's and a large one the, 727 used behind high performance 318'360', and larger mopar V8's.........these alloy gearboxes were introduced in 1963 and were used in Oz Valiants and Dodge Phoenix..................If your ute had an auto it would have been whats known as a Cast Iron Torqueflite, which has an alloy bellhousing, cast iron gearbox and alloy tailpiece, all bolted together.......and the cast iron torqueflite only had one cable going into them from their push buttons......they did NOt have "Park" in them.........so the good news is that the gearbox pictured is definately worth keeping........someone will want it.........btw ...does it have the torque converter?...........andyd

I have always understood that the "dot" on piston rings indicates that the "dot" faces the top of the bore or piston.........I'm no expert but that what I know the dot to mean..............andyd

The sheet metal is from a 1941 plymouth and by the looks of the chromed parts etc this would have to be a car show or trade display piece........just the thing to have in my lounge room...........lol.........a pity its not in colour as it would be interesting to see the shades that the factory would have picked..........my guess would be shades of red, green & yellow with maybe a pale blue somewhere.........lol......great pics either way.........andyd

Nigel..........I just checked my Gavin Farmer "Great Ideas In Motion" book where he states that the last of the Pilothouse series of trucks came in April 1960 with a new egg crate grille and quad headlighted front panel.....the 313 poly V8 was also available instead of the 303 version.....................this book states that it could have been either a AT-2 or an AT-3 series ...........can you gently clean the data plate?..............do you have a picture of the engine bay.....especially the chassis/frame areas where mounts would have been......if it had the side valve six it would have had a solid mounted pressed steel upside down style of mount that bolted solidly to a frame crossmember right near where the radiator may have been.........if a V8, which would have been the 303 or 313 Poly V8 then the V8 engine mounts are about 8-10" back from where the radiator rear is located and are more or less in line with the first V8 cylinder on each side ..............does it have a gearbox still?............as for an engine....unless you really want a side valve six which if used would have been a "Kew" version, ie a 25" DeSoto/Chrysler based engine, NOT the 23" Plymouth /Dodge version then I'd be inclined to use a Valiant/Mopar 318/340/360 Wedge which although are a later LA series rather than the original A series Poly are easier to get parts for........or even a Valiant sourced Hemi 6 could work also..........BTW....where are you?..........I'm in South Grafton, NSW am happy to talk if you want to call also.......02 6642 5963 anytime.......I have had a 318 Poly in my 1940 Dodge since 1973..........regards, Andy Douglas

Well, I stand corrected........good to learn something new...........those "steering insulators" were not used here in Oz as far as I know as our Mopars, ie, Plymouth/Dodge & DeSoto were all based on the Plymouth chassis, steering & suspension so that part was not used, nor seen.......andyd

Whilst I haven't any experience in putting a big block in an early mopar I have installed a 318 poly in my 1940 Dodge and have had a remote oil filter and separate oil cooler so I'd definately use a remote oil filter setup and even look at using an electric fuel pump to give some extra clearance on the passenger side as well.........does a remote oil filter setup still use the original filter mount or does it replace that with a part that bolts onto the actual oil pump?...............andyd

Tom........dunno if its much help but I sold a set of four or five 15" Mopar rims to one of the Glen Innes Townsend boys at the Lismore Swap Meet about 4 or 5 years ago.........can't remember which Townsend it was...David,John, Chubb......they all look the same....lol.........I'd had them sandblasted and from memory they were in red primer........no idea what they were going to do with them........they were a nice tidy set tho', still had the hubcap lugs etc.................Andyd

The triangular things with the 3 holes are "Steering Isolators" as far as I know........as far as a NASCAR blend I think JD was possibly being a little humorous.........lol.........andyd

Good Morning Tom........with all us Aussies on here we'll soon be able to take over.....lol............regards from South Grafton..........andyd

When I went hunting for rebuild parts for my car , this was around 1973 I found a place that had a large supply of these cast steel upper a arms as well as the stock 1940 arms.......both types the 1940 and 1941 onwards cast steel replacement arms had the inner pivots & bushes installed and I could easily compare the two types...........as both used the inner pin with the 4 attachment bolts I could tell that the 1941 onwards cast steel arms( or the stock stamped steel upper A arms for that matter using the 4 bolt upper inner pins) would bolt onto my 1940 frame and with the "X" shape appeared to offer a stronger upper outer point.............I had to obtain the 1941-54 style upper outer pin and bush but as this spare parts place had these as well and I was also able to compare the 1940 style spindle and 1941 on style spindle I could tell that the actual bushing areas were the same although the later, 1942 or 1946 on spindles use a different style of sway bar attachment point, ie, not using the lower shock mount pin but attaching via bracketry on the lower A arm edge........... ..............to be honest, here in Oz the stub axles I used were from an Oz only 1962 Chrysler Royal a model that was made from 1957 to 1962 but as you can tell by the body shell shape was essentially a 1954 Plymouth body & frame with 55/56 fenders and 313 Poly ....I used one of these to provide the engine/gearbox, rear axle and initially the front brakes which is why I had the 1941 onwards style stub axles available, tho' I replaced the front drums with the vented Oz PBR discs around 1975 and at that time alos installed 1970 Oz Valiant front rotors on the rear tapered axle hubs to provide rear 11" vented discs with Oz Ford rear disc calipers......I had this 1962 Chrysler diff with disc brakes till about 15 years ago when I swapped the complete rear axle for a 1990's Oz Ford Falcon wagon disc braked rear axle which has worked fine..........have attached a pic of a 1962 Oz only Chrysler Royal..............I trust this is of interest..........lol........I do rave on a bit.........Andyd

Basically its 2" extra in the USA Dodge wheelbase over the USA Plymouth, the extra 2" is in the front fender length from the wheel opening to the rear of the fender.......my car is a D15 model which was a USA export Dodge, D15's were also made in Canada, my understanding is that no D15's were sold in the USA.....the main differences between the Plymouth based Dodges and the USA D14/D17's apart from the hard to tell extra 2" wheelbase length is the US D14 & D17's used the headlight surrounds like your car, a short(cowl to radiator length) hood, triple horizontal stampings in the front & rear fenders, squarish shaped taillights and squared off top of the rear number plate light/trunk handle, front bumper with a pronounced "dip" in the centre and possibly taller, more slender front bumper overiders..............also the US sourced grille apparently was available in both a diecast and stamped steel(?) version and attaches to the surrounding sheet metal via small screws inserted from the front........not sure about the Canadian one BUT my Dodge grille is stamped, soldered and chromed brass and attaches from the REAR, ie, the grille is held against the surrounding sheetmetal and due to the long Plymouth based hood access is available in front of the radiator to attach the small screws into captive nuts on the back of the grille...................lots of little differences.............lol.......... ..............and finally the Dodge and Plymouth suspensions are essentially the same, ie, same upper, lower A arms and bushes and pins, spindles, stub axles & king pins, front sway bar and will swap from 1940 to 1954 apart from different sway bar mounts................. ................my car uses 1940 lower A arms & bushes/pins, 1941-54 Moog aftermarket cast steel upper A arms & bushes/pins, 1940 Spindles, 1942-56 style stub axles, 1939-56 king pins, a 1" thick front sway bar custom made in the original 1940 shape but with adjustable Heim jointed links, relocated upper shock mounts, 11" vented Oz PBR discs and a narrowed 9' Austin 1800 rack & pinion..............lol.......... ...andyd

Marc.........you are certainly right re that being a sweet pic..just got to work out how I can print it, then take it and do a comparission with my 1940 Oz Dodge..........I certainly recognise most if not all of these, tho' I have never taken the body off the chassis............thanks, andyd

Gearhead.......I thought that you must have some new chrome as the front(?) bumper was still paper wrapped.......interesting to see the various differences between mine & your car......headlight surrounds, fenders, bumpers, hood, taillights are all things that here in Oz, T J Richards the Oz body builders swapped for Plymouth parts, in fact they used these Plymouth parts on all four Mopar brands here in 1940 as well as using the Plymouth chassis & suspension.........your car looks to be quite solid body wise so it will be a good base to work on.............regards from Oz......andyd

Ash.....just read this thread, hope you get the heat sorted out BUT........you mention getting the front crossmember replaced(!)...............whats the reason for that?........andyd

Gearhead.......Welcome Aboard from Oztralia.........a 1940 Dodge you say?...........lol...........I happen to be quite partial to 1940 Dodges myself.having owned this 1940 Oz Dodge 4dr Sedan coming up for 50 yrs next week.........318 Polysphere/auto,4 wheel discs, rack & pinion etc......your cars grille looks fairly straight, even looks like it has the crank hole cover.....it took me 47 yrs to get one of those little covers so don't loose it........heres a couple of pics of my car......and yep, my steering wheel is on the other side, lol.........anyway great to see another 1940 Dodge, again , Welcome aboard.....Andy Douglas

Marc........have you spoken to Bernbaums?.......I'd give them a call, I'd be surprised if they didn't have the body mounts at least.........andyd

Have you tried Andy Bernbaums? for both the body mounts and the firewall grommets.............generally the same body mount rubbers and things like the firewall grommets were pretty much a standardised part used on the various mopar brands within the same year.........have you checked whether other Mopars use the similar/same parts?.........andyd

LazyK's pic reminded me that I too have a helmet like his.............I must admit this was taken in one of my sillier moods.......andyd

Welcome Aboard from Oztralia..........thats a nice looking car, appears to have the Nascar or Bonneville engine and roofline............lol.........its all good, main thing is its being used, I mean the Chev could be made liveable but a late Hemi sounds even better...........as for the VIN........the 46-48 Plymouths were "P15" models however there were some carry over into 1949 of P15's apparently and its technically possible apparently to have what appears to be a 1946-48 car licenced or recognised as a 1949 model but parts etc are the same as the 46-48 cars........I mention all this as the VIN you quote starts with "15"........which may or may not be just a coincidence............lol............dunno if this helps or confuses the issue.......lol............regards from Oz.........Andy Douglas