Cooper40

@joecoozie I have some of those swivel sockets but they wouldn't fit. I think I'll do what @Sniper is suggesting take the floor pan out. Seems like the only way. I'll remove the driverside panel and see if I can get access.

Hey guys, So I am removing the transmission first before pulling the engine and I am having a hard time getting to the top left bolt. I know it seems like an easy task, removing four bolts. There are four bolts that I'm aware of bolted to the bell housing. I could easily get three of them but the top one on the lefthand side is proving to be difficult. I have a 49 Plymouth. I don't think the floorboard is removable, otherwise I would get it from the top. I cant fit a wrench or a socket up and around the bolt. It's very close but doesn't fit. Anything I'm missing? Or do i simply need to just keep trying haha.

@Doug&Deb You know I keep going back and forth on rebuilding it myself. That's what I was thinking originally. I think it spun a rod bearing. The crank is damaged and needs to be ground down. Some of the cylinders are pitted from rust and they all have big ridges on the tops from high mileage. I did have it running last year but not for long. Bearings need to be replaced. It does seem like a good project and I would learn a ton Definitely something I'm still thinking about as I haven't really decided what to do yet.

Thanks guys for educating me lol. I didn't realize that only ford made a flathead v8. Definitely won't be doing that haha. I'll definitely be looking for flathead 6s. I don't want to put in a newer v8 because I want to keep this more or less in the time period of the car. I'll keep looking around my area. I have seen some pop up on here too.

I'm wondering if it's possible to swap a flathead v8 into a 1949 Plymouth with a flathead 6 in it? I don't know much about whether the motor mounts are different or the transmissions are different or any other things like that. Enlighten me! If it's too hard, I'll just swap a flat 6 into it. Anything I need to be aware of with swapping another flat 6 in? Would the transmissions be the same? And the motor mounts?

@keithb7 That all makes a lot of sense. I still haven't fully decided what to do yet. In the long it probably would be cheaper to just get a different engine and put it in. I'll keep checking marketplace. I wish it were easier too lol. Guess that's just the price you pay with buying these old cars.

@Sniper Yeah I don't know. I thought if it looked like the first digit had moved then it's been rolled over but I'm just guessing. This is what the odometer looks like.

@kencombs Yeah I'm probably going to pull the engine dig into it a little more. Bring the crank to a machine shop and do like valve lapping and flushing the block at home. Can't afford to bring the whole thing to a machine shop. For now I do want to keep this engine and pick away at it gradually.

@Ivan_B Yeah I'm just guessing on the mileage. When looking at the odometer it looked like it had rolled over and the pedals were very worn. I don't know for sure though. I paid 2k for it. Looking back on it it does seem a little pricey for this considering the engine was locked up and the floors are bad. The body is in good shape though.

@keithb72.0613 I believe. I measured but forgot to write it down. That's below spec though...

Bad news guys. I was measuring each journal and I got to #2 and I think the bearing is spun. I think the tab is broken. The crank has two score lines going around it and they get pretty deep on the top of the journal. The crank is toast it seems. Pics below. So I could either drop the crank and maybe get it machined, although my measurements were on the low side of normal so idk if any more can be ground off? Or, put a new engine in. I don't have a hoist or engine stand and I'm doing this in my back yard. The car is on plywood but other than that it's just grass so it would be hard to move anything lol. That's the news. I'm not surprised honestly. The engine seemed pretty worn out. Big ring ridges at the top of the cylinders and it probably has close to 200k miles on it.

@Matt Wilson Ok thank you that's a good idea.

@Ivan_B I removed one of the rod caps to determine which piston was stuck and that's when I noticed the bearing that looked bad. I decided to put it back together and it get it running briefly and then put new ones in in the spring (now). Probably if it wasn't stuck, I would've got it running and never even thought about the bearings. I'm just doing what I thought I should do since I've seen the condition of the bearings....but maybe you're right, I could put it back together and it might run fine.

@vintage6t Thank you, I've seen this done before. The pictures are very helpful!

@Los_Control The crank looks pretty good except for the ridge I felt with my fingernail. I found some sandpaper on amazon that I'll get. Know where I could get rod and main bearings? I've seen rod bearings on ebay. Of course I need to finish measuring to ensure I get the right size, i was just curious if you knew of a good source.

Ivan, I definitely get what you're saying. It's kind of fun to me to try and save this engine. I know, it's not the most practical. I have entertained the idea of swapping...For now I'm going to keep trying to save this one and think of it as a learning experience. It did run and have oil pressure... Again, totally understand where you're coming from...I like a challenge!

@keithb7 I think I'll plan on getting all new bearings and measure with plasti-gauge and hope that the clearances are within spec. When we got it running last year, it had oil pressure up to 40lbs. We weren't exactly idling it though. Couldn't I technically polish the crank under the car with really fine grit sandpaper. Don't get me wrong I know this is not how you're supposed to do it lol!

Thank you all for your assessments. Keith, I could catch my fingernail on the crank unfortunately 🙁. I rrrreally don't want to have to drop the crank..... I'll measure more and see what I get. I'll also drop a main bearing and check it out.

The second pic was part of the first pic. I was showing that the 5 was lining up for the 2.0625.

@kencombs I can catch my fingernail in both bearings. They seem pretty bad to me but these are the first bearings I've ever seen lol.

@keithb7 Just pulled out the #1 rod bearings. Here's some pictures. Looking pretty bad 😬 We are trying to measure the crank with the micrometer and we aren't sure how to make sure it's in the center of the journal. It's really hard to see if it's centered properly. I want to be as accurate as possible. We got some measurements, one being 2.0625 I think?? Here are pictures of the measurement. Thoughts on how to measure it more accurately while under the car? Lol We think the crank might have a taper (thicker in the center than on the edges).

@keithb7 Sounds good. I'll get that micrometer and wait for a good day weather-wise to do it.

@keithb7 Thanks Keith for the in depth response! I've been watching some of your videos. Very informative. Also what you just wrote really clears it up for me. I will definitely take my time and go slow throughout the whole process. When i have time (and the weather is good lol) I will go out and measure the bearing journal's and see what measurement I get. I'll paint mark the caps first. They have numbers stamped on them but I'll still paint mark them. For the micrometer, would something like this work? It's within the 2-3" range. It says it's accuracy is 0.001. Not sure if that's good enough? What do you think? https://www.amazon.com/Fowler-Micrometer-52-240-003-1-Measuring-Graduation/dp/B00B5HET36/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=1WSH043D7EHX9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uKgulDy-BlaOFuK4TdIfHJl6t4veDc6LtI9yM0EyghYXQFmi1zQ5g2PxWHm1hogDSeFHsBUxLlI_-E_ekLgQZTsxz58AkCmpEnc-LWm6oX2zD5SIMhEGMZorb3UEm_OnNqUMjLOKGaA7qpBExputn4ixX8s0OJCON7xeLXmN95rQcHegnvCoE3pcu54B1rCUONNHCfxcxAoI9BQnzpTjQg.VEJzohbgH-029rCeJ8QjS5O2t6dF5xuf44G7rIg9BUg&dib_tag=se&keywords=fowler+micrometer&qid=1712922190&sprefix=fowler+mic%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1 Thank you again for the informative response!

So let me get this straight. In order to find out what size bearings I need, do I need to measure the diameter of the crank journal with the micrometer or are there other ways to find out the size? I knew I needed to get a micrometer but I'm not sure what to measure with it ha! Totally new at this I want whatever micrometer I get to be good but I'll probably only be using it for this one measurement, put the bearings in and that will be it for now. Also, doesn't it say the size of the bearings on the back of them or no?

I'm looking for calipers to buy. Found these on Amazon. What do you guys think. They're super cheap but the reviews seem good. https://www.amazon.com/Kynup-Caliper-Digital-Measuring-Tool/dp/B0CP5WVNJB#aw-udpv3-customer-reviews_feature_div