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1949 plymouth bellhousing mount questions


nick1951ratdodge

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My 51 dodge two door originally came with a 230..thinking it was bad I replaced with a 49 Plymouth 218...now piecing it back together I find the bellhousing doesn't reach the cross member!! Do I need a 230 bellhousing ??? ..are they different??

Screenshot_2017-05-18-00-30-09.png

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You could find a Plymouth cross member  ,,, install the motor and attach the CM so you will know where the install the CM.. you may also need the Plymouth linkage because the motor is going to be setting closer in than the dodge . This all could effect your drive shaft .    or you could make an adapter to go from the Dodge CM to the Plymouth bell housing but you will still have to deal with the shift linkage .the pictures show the adapters that were made by someone on this site ?? . you could also use a 230 bell housing and it would bolt right in  but you would need a longer input shaft for the transmission and a longer throw out bearing shaft also . i think a 56 Plymouth had a setup like that with a longer input shaft  so they could use a standard or automatic transmission with the same setup. someone on this site did that but i can`t remember who .

cross member fix 2.jpg

cross member fix.jpg

Edited by wayfarerstranger
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Sounds to me like a big can of worms to make the 218 work.  Maybe spending the money on the 230 might be the better way to go.

Plus the 230 has 6 more horses than the 97hp 218.

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Plymouth will take a 230 with minimum mods and the 218 is a bolt in.

Dodge will not take a 218 as the fluid drive trans and bell housing are longer then the 218 trans and bell.  Driveshaft lengths vary too.  There are other differences, but those are the biggies.  A stick shift Dodge is gonna cost $$'s as I'm pretty sure there were no factory stick Dodges from that era '46 and up made.  Maybe in Canada they had some, but I'm not sure of that.  Good luck!

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218 and 230 isn't the problem. its fluid drive vs standard. the fluid drive bell housing is longer so the rear mounts are further back. if you want to use that standard bellhousing you'll have to move the mount or make an adaptor. Another option is using the fluid drive bellhousing with the fluid drive setup and a standard 3spd with a longer input shaft to work with the fluid drive. 

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8 hours ago, wayfarerstranger said:

But wouldn`t the 4 bolt crank be a problem ?

Yes if the 218 has a 4 bolt crank the fluid drive would be another issue. 

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Moral of the story don`t try and put a 217 in a fluid drive  Dodge ,  repair or replace the 230 , also anytime you do anything research , research , research and then research some more .

Edited by wayfarerstranger
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4 minutes ago, nick1951ratdodge said:

Well since I don't have the money to replace the 230..and have to much money in the 218...I guess I'll just make some in mounts and trial and error

You should also be able to drill the cross member rivets out and move it forward to match the other bell housing depth

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Just remember the mounting holes on your Plymouth bell housing are closer together  than the holes on the Dodge cross member , and you are right moving the original CM  forward will effect the MC ., Let us know how you figure out the install .

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