Jump to content

51 Dodge Coronet Diplomat?


librado65

Recommended Posts

Its been more than 6 months since I bought the car. Been having a retired mechanic coming to do some work but its not been to progressive as I had thought. He said the valves were bad after he did a compression test on the cylinders. Before I drop more money into trying to get this original engine running would yall recommend another engine that would fit? I have a small block 283 chevy engine with the transmission in my backyard from a previous project but everyone online says it wont be a direct fit without a welding or an aftermarket kit. Is there maybe a newer "modern" mopar engine/trans combo that I could get to fit in without too much work? Also what rear end would I need to upgrade to? I'd like to run wide tires in the back without rubbing my fenders. I guess at this point Im just looking to get this babygirl started up and running again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing is going to fit easily into the engine bay unless it and the car were specifically designed for it.  Anything else is going to take some welding and fabrication.  That's the nature of any engine and/or driveline swap.  That includes finding a different rear axle.  Doing a valve job on the engine is probably going to be a lot less expensive than hiring labor to fab and install that SBC or any other combination you can find.  As far as the diff,  Jeep Cherokees seem to be one of the favored units, will still require some work to fit and some wise choices made on your part as far as wheels and offsets.  Get under the car with a tape measure, see what you have for room, measure where everything is and take that and your tape measure to the salvage yards and start looking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As other members have posted find a service manual. You can probably find a radiator and generator on ebay. They are probably the same as Plymouth parts and might be interchangable. The battery is the easy part to find. Go to a NAPA store they can get one for you. The one I use in my car is a heavy duty 6 volt battery. They also used them in commerial vehicles.

You should also look  for a parts manual that the dealers used to have for your car. It will list parts for Dodge, Plymouth and Desoto,  That way you can get part numbers. You will find that many mechanical parts are interchangeable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Terms of Use