austinsailor

I'm rebuilding a little 241 Hemi, which I mentioned in another thread that I can't seem to locate. I talked ot the guys at Hotheads, as suggested by others here and they strongly recommend using heads off a 315 or 325 Dodge hemi as they breath much better. My machinist told me the original 241 heads need enough work that I'd just as well get the newer heads as sink money in the inferior heads. I've located a pair for sale and I'm hoping someone can advise me as to whether they reasonable for this. He says they are part number 1630129, from a 315 truck motor and the same as a car head. Can anyone tell me if this is correct? Thanks much, Gene

That certainly looks like it has a lot of possibilities. I found some mopar parts search sites but nothing came up.

I know where there is a bellhousing supposedly for a hemi, pn 1533681. Can anyone tell me what it fits or how to figure this out? I'm hoping it will fit my 241 block. Gene

This is a new topic and if it shows up it'll be the first one I did with an I phone that worked on the new board. I posted many times on the old board with it. The rest on the new board were replies which never showed up. Anyone have a thought as to why I'm having this problem?

Speed limit of 45? Until the 50's there were no speed limits many places. The real limiter was the highway. Speed limits became common as the roads improved. In Missouri I think the set statewide speed limits in '55, maybe '56. When I crossed Nevada in Nov of 65 there was no limit. There was open range. I came across a guy who'd topped a hill at 100+ and met a herd of cows. What a mess. We gave him a ride to the next town.

I have 4 I'd sell. They are in central Missouri. Gene

I thought I asked this today using my I-Phone, but I must need more training on it and this new board - I can't find it! But, I'm trying to verify that the little Dodge hemi, 241 or 270, will bolt to the flathead 6 bell housing. I have a friend who has one that would like to put a little hemi in it. I told him it would bolt up and I'm hoping I didn't lead him astray. I found him a 49 3/4 ton last year, now I've located him a 270 hemi. I sure hope they'll bolt up. Thanks, Gene

When I said one cutter, I meant only one of the three gizmos on it had a cutter. But there are 3 pieces that ride against the cylinder wall, only one has a cutter. In the picture you see there is a cutter on the right one, just a blank on the left. They are held in place with a spring, I guess your spring is gone? I bought this one about 45 years ago, I suspect they are still the same. Gene

Monday I picked up the little 241 Red Ram Hemi Richard Taylor had for sale. Fair price, good core. Got it to the machine shop this morning. Crank is .010 under, looks good, slight chance it'll be ok with just a polish, but there is plenty of metal left for a grind. Surprisingly, the cylinders showed little wear and they were still standard. Lots of room there to clean it up. There is a good chance it was never torn down before, I have seen cranks that came from the factory .010 under, so it's likely it had few miles on it. It's biggest problem is a little rust and some seized rockers and valves, all fixable. I'll probably spend 10 times the purchase price on the rebuild before it's done. I've wanted one of these for a long time, passed on some I should have just jumped on, let one go to the crusher in another state because I thought I'd made to many trips just before that, and even owned one years ago that I never really used. I'm going to fix that. Not sure what it'll go in yet, but I have a lot of time to think about that. My wife found a T bucket on yesterday on Craigslist she liked a lot, even in January, so I guess the door is open to nearly anything. If the t had a hemi instead of that standard chevy crate motor, we might have gone to look.

I'll have to go dig mine out of the bottom f the box, but I don't recall it having but one cutter.

I just got my bumpers and bumper guards back from the chrome shop. Damn, they look nice. I don't know how they can take something that pitted, rusty and bent and make them look new, but they sure are pretty! I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow. My wife says I need to send the whole car to them! Now I need to find some bumper bolts. Gene

Most of the antique insurance companies do not cover towing of any sort, small or large. Hagerty and so on. I've talked to many of them. Hagety has the exclusion on your application, it asks if you are going to tow. If you say yes, you don't get insurance. If you say no, it's not mentioned in your policy, so if you decide 10 years later that you want to and read your policy, you won't see any mention of it. However, if you tow and have a problem, they consider the policy "Void from inception" (their words" as you lied on the application. Hagerty told me that if they saw a hitch in the pictures you submit they would not issue the coverage. There are at least 2 companies that will sell collector coverage that covers towing, but you must shop around. None of the big guys do, I've asked them all. I can tow with all of mine, but it took some searching to get there.

I bought one a couple years ago off craigslist for $300, like new, had a floor shift conversion on it. It was in the back seat of a 54 Chrysler the guy bought. He didn't want it.

There are several on this board who have restored far worse. If it was closer I'd be interested.

I agree with Ed. Unless you live out in a small town out in the middle of nowhere and he'll never go to a bigger town, there is no way I'd let him loose in that as a driver. I'm not sure who'd be more at risk - him or the car. I've driven in Boston and with 50 years driving experience in every manner of vehicles from clunkers to old good drivers to bigger trucks with trailers, I'd be pretty worried about driving that in the bigger cities. And, as much as I hate to admit it, the modern safety aspects far outweigh the heavy metal the older ones have. Having said that, buy that car! It would be a fantastic Sunday driver for you and your son to share. If you're lucky your son won't have any interest and you'll get it all to yourself! Gene

Before you take it apart go get some electronic contact cleaner. Use the little tube to spray inside. Drench it, then work the switch in and out over and over. Repeat a number of times. Chances are good it'll clean it up and fix it. It's worked for me several times and you'll only be out a few dollars even if it doesn't do the trick. Taking it apart is risky, you might break a tab, loose a part or it may not go back together for you. Be sure to check all the exterior connections, too. They could also be causing you problems.

If I've got it right now, all cylinders are over 100 now, I doubt aburnt valve is involved. Don may be right. I don't have any experience with a worn guide causing that, but I can see it's possible. It most certainly will cause smoke on deceleration with worn guides. Been there! A burned valve will smooth out at higher speeds if it's not too bad. I once had a Ford 289 with very worn guides. guide seals stopped most of the smoke, but at low speeds it ran real bad at low speeds. I had done a valve job on it myself, seats and valve faces were in excellent shape but I think they'd just seat at different angles and leak. Put some good junkyard heads on it and it ran real nice. But that was all 16, maybe one in real bad shape cause one cylinder to miss. You should be able to pull the valve cover and tell if it's that loose.

I guess we have it good here - a rebuild is about $1500 - $1600. Everything you say leans towards a pretty good motor and a bad valve. $10 or $15 for a valve and $35 or so for a head gasket should put you on the road. And an afternoon's labor, of course.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding - was the last compression test some time ago or after it started this miss? I read it to be some time ago. A burned valve should cause a substantially lower reading on that cylinder, particularly if it's failing the dollar bill test. Lower, as in a reading of zero to maybe 20 or so, and little change when you squirt oil into the cylinder and check it again wet. If you have one low, wet and dry, it's probably a valve. If 1 and 2, or 3 and 4, or 5 and 6 are low it's almost certainly a head gasket. If your head gasket is leaking somewhere besides the thin web between the above cylinders it'll most likely be loosing enough water you'll know long before you have to worry about tests.

Compression test should tell you everything. More conclusive than the dollar bill test.

Scrap prices make them move. They know they can get more then. I'm guessing they don't think much about selling them until they hear scrap prices are up and it gets them to thinking about it. The trick is to find them before that happens. A trick I've used is to put an ad in the Rural Electric Newspaper. Most places on REA or whatever they call it where you are have a newspaper that goes out monthly all over the state. Ads are cheap, they do get read. I've found some pretty desireable boats that way and some cars. The next problem is price. I've seen many deals not happen over a few dollars. $50, maybe $100. In the scheme of things the purchase price of the old car is probably the cheapest part. By the time you add mechanical parts, motor rebuild, paint, tires and so on, the original purchase is nothing. Just pay the guy and go have fun with it.

I have a 75 vette, pretty good shape. I put in a 200r4, new suspension, runs and drives nice. Wife (the vette lover, not me) got a 2002, so if I got the chance I'd trade for that Olds. In fact, if you were closer I'd try to find the guy!

Those look really nice. I had just the seat done a couple years ago in a similar fabric. I had bare springs, no stuffing or anything and it was $400. I thought a bit high, but the job was a real good one.

Some sort of pump, obviously. Reminds me of the fuel primer pump on a Mercedes diesel, but a bit more crude. What size are the threads on the end - spark plug hole size?