Rusty O'Toole

You might be able to stick a long bolt thru and put a nut on the end without taking it off the car.

I used to have a 1970 Fargo half ton, same as a Dodge, it had the same front axle as your truck with 12" drum brakes. Never had a problem stopping it. The big drums should work for you although I wouldn't blame you for putting discs on if it is possible. The stock front suspension on mine worked fine, it was not hard to steer and it rode decent on smooth roads. On rough roads you had to go slower than in an IFS truck. Recondition the springs, replace worn parts in the steering and king pins, install new shocks, and get an alignment.For easier more responsive steering have the caster cut down and install a steering damper to control shimmy. But that is icing on the cake. Steering on mine was not hard except when completely stopped. I had 7" wide wheels and 235 70 15 radials, pumped up to 32 PSI. If you went for a narrower more stock sized tire it would be better for steering. To rebuild the stock suspension is easier and cheaper than installing IFS and it will work just as well up to a point ( no power steering and rougher ride on bad roads). To this day lots of heavy trucks use leaf springs and beam axle.

If you mean what I think you mean, he will probably have to mount the doors on the cowl then line up the back of the body so the doors fit accurately. I don't think measurements taken off another body would be accurate enough. The bodies did vary and 2 bodies made in different plants could be different. They made the doors and fenders adjustable because the bodies were never perfect.

As for rarity... I have seen quite a few Pilot House pickups over the years but only 2 or 3 panel trucks. My guess is that there were at least ten pickups made for each panel truck.

Looks like a late model Packard getting the full treatment from Eddie Edmunds in the early fifties. His motto was "Modernize Your Motor". He specialized in hopping up cars for ordinary motorists to use as regular transportation, as opposed to racing which was the focus of most other speed parts manufacturers back then. You could bring your car into his shop and have his mechanics install the parts, anything from a tuneup to a full hop up job. This one looks like the full treatment, twin carb intake, Edmunds air filters, pressure regulators, fined aluminum head, chrome accessories and probably a reground camshaft and recurved ignition. This appears to be a posed picture, however the mechanic might have used the air wrench, set to low, to spin the nuts down then torqued them with a torque wrench. There are a lot of nuts holding that head down. The straight eight Packard was a fast car at the time although not quite as fast as a V8 Cadillac or Chrysler. But with the Edmunds treatment it would fly, top speed well over 100 MPH.

Pretty sure they all had forged crankshafts. I would worry about the pistons, they seem to be a weak point even in stock engines. A more modern piston from Ross would be a better bet than stock ones. The McCulloch VS57 was said by the manufacturer to be good for a 40% increase in rear wheel HP with 5 pounds boost. If you keep the boost down to 5 pounds or 7 at the most, and do not over rev the engine, no mods should be necessary. Other than the pistons.

You must line the door with plastic behind the interior panel. All cars come this way from the factory. Rain water always runs down the window, into the door, and out the bottom (if the drains are not clogged). The dampness will warp ANY door panel made of hardboard, pressed board, Masonite or wood panelling which is practically all of them. Take the door panel off any car, you will find a plastic sheet sealed to the door with mastic or calking. You must do the same if you want your upholstery job to last.

If I wanted to put in a newer 6 I would use the 3.9 V6 out of a pickup. Much easier, and an excellent engine, like a 318 with 2 less cylinders.

Have you measured the length of the engine vs engine compartment? The original engine is very short for its size, even shorter than a slant 6 which is not a long engine for a six. I suspect the Jeep engine is substantially longer, it probably will not fit without shoving it back into the firewall quite a piece.

DeSoto used the 237 cu in engine 1942 - 1950, possibly 1951 in Canada. If you asked for 1950 DeSoto parts, they might still be baffled but at least you would have an answer.

Do you distinguish a limousine with divider window from a 7 or 8 pass sedan without? I worked on one of the other ones. This was in Port Hope Ontario in 1987 or 88. A 1947 Dodge with jump seats but no divider window.

Broken pistons and rings seem to be a common failure point on Chrysler flathead engines. Does anyone know why? Is there a way to prevent this happening?

DeSoto and Chrysler limousines are well known, but they also made a Dodge limousine or 7 passenger sedan that used the same body with a Dodge engine and Dodge front sheet metal. I wouldn't believe it either but I saw one and worked on it in the late 80s. It was a local car that was used as a limousine for hire for 10 years then stored away for 30 years. There is no telling why they chose the Dodge (in Ireland) except that it would have been a few pounds cheaper, and the smaller engine would have meant less road tax. I don't believe they ever made a Plymouth limousine.

How is the oil pressure? How many miles on the engine? If the oil pressure is good chances are the crankshaft and bearings are good. In that case you can do a ring and valve job as Robertkb described. This used to be a standard overhaul procedure up to the mid fifties. Better oil, better filters and chrome rings made it obsolete. Take the head off, if the cylinders are not scored, nor worn over .007 at the top, and the rings and pistons are not broken then a ring and valve job is all you need.

This used to be a fairly common thing in drag racing and at Bonneville. It is not too hard to do at home if you have some mechanical savvy. You couple the engines together with a sprocket on each crankshaft then wrap a piece of double row chain around them. This makes a coupling with a slight degree of flex but very strong. To build the connecting bellhousing turn 2 bare blocks upside down and connect them by clamping a long pipe or bar in the main bearing saddles. Make 2 steel plates, one on the bellhousing side of the front engine, the other to the front of the rear engine. Weld them together, with plates in between, don't forget you will need a fan belt to drive the rear water pump, unless you can rig up an electric pump, or some other arrangement. When you put the whole thing together it is wise to put a spare fan belt around the crank, wrap it well and leave it sitting there in case the first fan belt breaks. Otherwise you have to split the engines to put a new one in.