keithb7

Tonight my son and I rolled out in my ‘38 Chrysler. We met a mixed bag of car enthusiasts on the top floor of a parkade. We chatted with 20 year olds in boosted tuners. 30-somethings in lowered supercharged 2000 and up Mustangs. One 40-ish guy in a nice clean Buick Grand National. I guess being as I turned 50 this year, I solely officially represented the old-timers age demographic. My ‘38 was quite a hit among all age groups, as I too took interest in all their cars. It was a great evening out with my son. He had as much fun as I did. Some of his old highschool contacts were there also. Lots of questions like, “Flathead what? 6V Positive who? Why in the old days were big displacement engine so low on HP? Really, no first gear synchro? What make is your car? Made in Canada! Wow!” My old ‘38 doesn’t have cruise control or navigation. Yet it seems to take us to an ice cream stop every night we go out. My son and I hopefully will be doing several more cruises together this summer. Is there anything better?

4 ⅞” bore...Thats some wonderful torque!

Nor can I answer 100%. Yet my gut tells me, pull the tranny. Ensure crankshaft ends are same on both engines. If so... Pull the blown engine. Remove bell housing off spent engine.Install on replacement engine. Check other differences. Swap over any other parts necessary. I’d wager the blocks are the same. If not time to think about a plan B. I have no experience with that exact combination/scenario above. I bet that with our combined knowledge here, we can confirm it can be done. Or not.

The difference between a 251 and a 265 is ¼” of piston travel. Also known as stroke. They share the same bore and pistons. Crank throw and connecting rod length is different. As mentioned by Dodgeb4ya. Pull the pipe plug over #6. Rotate then engine and measure stroke. A 251 engine is 4 ½” stroke. 265 engine is 4 ¾” stroke.

Today I measured 85 psi in #2. Getting better! This is fantastic news. I have been adding MMO to the fuel. Wonder if its helping or is it just improving from regular use ? Will measure again in the fall and report back.

I'd like also to confirm if all these 25" long engines are drilled at the rear for the same bolt pattern? So in reality any bell housing for almost any flat 6 Mopar application could bolt up to the block? Adaptor plates (various bell housings) for a basic 3 speed manual, powerflite, fluid drive, fluid torque drive trannys etc...Could all bolt up to the rear of the various bore/stroke blocks. The main difference I have heard about is crankshaft rear flange. Various numbers of bolt holes and possible flange widths. Depending if you are bolting up a fluid drive or not. I have seen folks in this group have mentioned in various threads. Here's how I take it....A 25" motor, 3 ⅜ or 3 7/16 bore, can be bored over quite a bit. For example a 3 ⅜ can be bored 0.060 over, then you have a stock standard bore 3 7/16 bore engine. Then a stock 3 7/16 bore can be bored yet another 0.060 over. Is this correct? These are big old blocks from the heyday of Detroit iron. It's very easy to find a rebuildable core. Ask the seller if you can take the head and oil pan off. Then go see it. Take a snap T gauge that covers upto 3 ½", and a digital vernier caliper. Pick a couple of cylinders where the pistons are down. Measure the bore in the upper, middle and near the bottom of the cylinder. Side to side and front to back direction. Mark it all down on a piece of paper for each cylinder you choose to measure. If there is a ridge at the top, measure it too. If there is no ridge, great. All the better. If there is a ridge present, it will generally tell you what the last bore was. 3 7/16 = 3.43750". Add up from there. For example an engine that has been bored 0.030 over will measure 3.46750 at very top of the cylinder. Look for cylinder wall scoring. Consider how far it's been bored over already. Is there enough iron left bore out the scoring? A 0.060 over engine? Likely not. Remove the oil pan. Pull a main and rod cap. Knowing what looks bad will reveal most all you need to know. Scored crank journal bearing surfaces? Everything rusted up? Look up under bottom sides of pistons at cylinder walls. All rusted up? Not great. I walk through these topics here: Ignore my math calculation. I had done the math on calculator with only 2 decimal places so the 3 digit rounded up. The measuring process here is the topic. How to learn more about the used engine you found.

Worn internal distributor parts maybe? Unable to get the spark timed up to where you want? What if you removed all or any bolts or plates that lock down the distributor and prevent further twisting movement? Could you then turn the distributor shaft far enough, that you could get it to fire at the precise time you need?

I have about 6 or so spare fuel pumps that span over a few decades and mopar vehicle models. Some have sediment bowls. Some do not. When putting together a fuel pump I found parts to be interchangeable. I like sediment bowls. I see the fuel. I can see the sediment that they trap. They work well. My plymouth has the lever type foot starter. My same year Chrysler does not. It has the electric actuated bendix starter gear. Both do the job well. I’m not convinced the electric actuator is an upgrade. The manual foot lever is just fine, and simple.

I bought one of these old cars, just to have an antique car. I knew nothing about 6V or positive ground systems. I had a total lack of knowledge and had done no research done before buying. Its been an awesome journey. I rely on friends and people here who are helpful. I’ve learned a ton. I’m still a hack. Its sure been a fun journey. If i did my research in advance, would I have ever bought an old Mopar? I don’t know. I’m sure glad I just dove in.

High performance in what area? Traction control? Weight capacity? Steering and handling? Long life?

Keep your eyes peeled for spare old crusty distributors and carbs. All the little screws, nuts, washers, ground isolating parts and more can be salvaged and reused. I have 4 or so distributors and carbs that are discarded by most folks. They’ve been great for spare parts. Yep on the micro wrenches. Good to have. Another tip is pull the distributor and repair it on the bench. Much easier when you are trying to deal with micro fasteners.

Positive and negative battery cable posts are different sizes. So are the related mounting clamps. Generic clamps may not be, however will be after they’ve been torqued tight. Check the sizing. Match each to the cable going to ground and to the starter. Reinstall new battery so they are matched properly.

Good opportunity here to remind folks to blow out dirt or any other objects out of the recessed area in the head, around the spark plugs before removing them. 1 in a million chance something sizable could drop down in the spark plug hole. It happened to me. A small screw. Previous owner never found a screw when it fell. When I was new to the car I pulled the spark plugs. It dropped in. There is very little space between the head and valves. Another 1 in a million chance, the screw wedged itself between the valve and the head. The valve bent. You wanna talk about rough running? A compression test proved it. Off came the manifolds and head. Followedby a full new set of valves, a grind and lap. All good after that! Lol. Surely not your problem sir. Just a friendly little reminder. A 15 min job is only precious moment from a near catastrophe. Want to see? ?

Slow steady progress is perfect. Keep it up, you’re doing well. Taking time to study and understand each system you troubleshoot is very rewarding. I found several interesting things to address in my carb and ignition system. Each one was like finding a little treasure. Slowly, surely things improved. It was so much fun. You’ll have a big warm grin when you proudly drive your car around town.

Sorry to hear of your friend’s death. Terrible. I just live life each day as I feel. There is no stuff I “should” get done incase I die. What I tend to think about doing, is having my affairs set up in the untimely event of my death. Life insurance. A will. My financials are set up so my wife would never have to worry about money, if I expire. I make a diligent effort not to horde stuff. So my sons don’t have too much of my crap to deal with. Its a all crap. My rule is if I’m not using it, nor ever see myself wanting it again, off it goes. There’s been many an argument with my wife about saving items. Our kids old toys. Old clothes. Sporting gear. Whatever. Its junk. Let it go. I have very little sentimental ties to items. I do have ample opportunity to horde backups of spare Mopar parts. I could readily obtain plenty. I resist the temptation. Especially large parts. I accept mortality. I try a little each passing year to deal with it. I make a conscious effort to be sure I don’t leave a massive overwhelming mess for my kin to deal with. I don’t have a list of stuff I need to “get around to” just in case I expire. Everybody is different. We deal with things differently. I understand that. Do your thing in the way that you are comfortable doing.

Someone over here having similar issues. See comments there. https://forums.aaca.org/topic/365147-need-helpadvice-1949-plymouth-special-deluxe/?tab=comments#comment-2241406

A vintage car swap meet, any size at all around here would sure be nice. I miss them.

A cool pic of the storm last night here in my backyard. Multiple strikes over a 10 min or so period.

Our crazy high temps have cooled down this week. Seeing mid 80's to mid 90's F now and our house cools off at night. The sky is still smokey as many fires still burn around us. So far there as been 810 wild fires in BC this summer. New ones keep starting every day. We continue to see lightning almost daily. Below is radar map from this evening. Each red dot represents a lightning strike within the past 15 mins. So far things are ok here at home. Things may get a little exciting when the storm arrives here in town tonight.

That's the best camo wrap I've ever seen.

To clarify my statement above: "My ‘38 Chrysler with OD cruises along nicely at 60-65. It’ll probably go faster too. Yet for whatever reason, I have no desire to do so." That does not imply that I am driving at 45-50 mph on the interstate. I have yet to drive my '38 on multi-lane high speed, hi-ways. I drive it in town and on single lane country roads. I have no desire to drive it on interstate roads or be in anyone's way. My car offers great feel and road feedback at up to 50 mph. Beyond that, it starts to feel a little less stable. Getting progressively worse as speed increases. Having about an 8" square contact patch between the tire and the road likely contributes to that. Sure it'll go faster. Higher rates of speed is not exciting to me. Nor is the sudden stop if a crash occurs. So I stay away from dangerous driving conditions with my stock car. I drive it how it was engineered to be driven. I stay out of the way of others and happily cruise up to 55 or so MPH whenever I am comfortable. If I wanted something that travelled better at higher speeds and stopped on a dime, I'd have considered a different car than my '38 Chrysler.

Are we turning on each other? A song lyric comes to mind. Live and let die.

My ‘38 Chysler with OD cruises along nicely at 60-65. It’ll probably go faster too. Yet for whatever reason, I have no desire to do so. I many cases as the miles pass, you have a lot more in the rear view mirror. Things you have passed. It alters your perspective about what you want to see coming at you thru the windshield.

This one here looks like a good option to me: https://www.brakelighter.com/brakelighter-6v-antique-car-3rd-light-p/tl-6.htm I keep trying to order one and have it shipped to Canada. Seems they have no interest. They must be flat out trying to keep up with orders within the USA alone.

A 1940 Desoto is a very cool car. I can't image the engineers ever had any intentions of it seeing Dallas Hi-way speeds in 2021. I am not sure what you are working with there now. Thinking about Dallas freeway travel: Have you thought about brakes? Suspension? Steering? The need to keep your body in one piece when travelling at 70+ MPH? These are not things the engineers had in mind when the car was designed. It can be done. It won't be cheap. My advice is to consider all the areas that need improvment. Not just engine power and speed. Maybe tell us a little more about the current state of the car . Good luck, whatever you decide to do.