bhoward

Update: I have driven an additional 650 miles and it is starting to leak a little into the down draft tube. I had a half dollar size spot on the driveway. I still haven't got the rings to seat yet either. Mr. Asche told me it could take up to 4000 miles for them to seat. I picked up my overdrive transmission from him about 2 weeks ago. He is pretty quick on the turn around time. One week and it was done. Great man, and a wealth of information. His sons are great to talk to as well. If you are looking for old parts and can't find them give him a call. He is sure to have it. I went for a ride in his 1950 Plymouth. If you get a chance, take a ride in it with him. It's pretty fast. He said the roadster is faster. We were going to take that out as well, but the weather wouldn't cooperate.

I am having trouble with the rings seating since the rebuild. The oil was leaking out of the the tube on the driveway. I remembered seeing screens in breather caps on various engines without a PCV system, so I figured I would give it a try. The vent tube still "free flows" as it did before. I sandwiched about 4 of the screens together. I was able to blow through the tube without any effort. The oil should hit the screen and leak back down. I have put about 500 miles on it since then and haven't notice any oil or issues since I did it. I think it kind of acts like a baffle would on a more modern engine that uses a PCV valve to evacuate pressure and gases. Modern engines that have a PCV valve in the valve cover usually have a baffle built into the valve cover. My engine is still smoking due to the rings not seating yet but, at least it's not coming out of the tube now. I am not sure, but I am assuming I have more pressure build up from the rings not seating yet. I am new to building this type of engine, maybe someone with more knowledge than me could weigh in.

I recently rebuilt my 217 c.i. Plymouth and had the same problem. I took some Aluminum screen patches used for window screens and cut them to fit in the opening of the pipe where it bolts to the block. Mine was circular approx. 2" round. I drilled a hole in the center for the bolt to go through and put a little gasket RTV around the outer rim to keep the screen from moving. It stopped leaking oil out of the pipe, and I still have good air flow through the pipe.

That looks very nice. I had the pleasure of meeting him yesterday. I took my overdrive transmission to him to rebuild. He is such a wealth of knowledge. He showed me some of the linkages he has as well as the manifolds he had casted. He has some nice cars too. The roadster awesome. I also like the 50 4 dr.

Good morning all, I have not been on here in a while, sorry for that. I have not messed with my car in for a while. I spun a rod bearing in my 218 and haven't run it lately. I now have access to a 251 ci C38 series. My question is will the bell housing, flywheel, and 3 speed transmission 218 bolt to the 251. I am not sure if it has standard flywheel or an automatic flywheel yet. I haven't been able to gain access to it yet. I am also wondering if I should just rebuild the 218 so I don't have to get into fabricating motor mounts and trying to match the tranny and bell housing together. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I mounted the 235/75r/15 on the 7 inch rim. The tire fit like a glove. I have about an inch clearance between the fender and 1 3/4 in the rear. I believe the backspacing is 4 inches on that rim. I shook the car side to side to see how much deflection between the leaf springs rolling and the sidewall of the tire shifting. None of the movement caused it to rub. It fills up the fender opening nice. I will post pictures once I buy some tires and mount them. Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the chart 48ply. That will help. Thanks to everyone that replied. I was able to borrow a rim (15x7) Police Car rim from a friend of mine.. I will be mounting a 235/75r/15 on it tomorrow and mounting it on the car. I will let ya'll know how it fits.

Hi Keith, Not sure what I did here, but somehow I posted your car. Nice looking car. I to am looking forward to putting radials on my car so I my car does not follow the ruts in the roadway.

Hi Andydodge, I have a 48 Plymouth Business Coupe. I have it lowered 3 inches I was curious what the backspacing on your 7 inch rims were. I would also like to run 235's on the rear. Are they 235/75r/15s or 235/70r/15s. By the way, your car is awesome looking. I have a 70 nova that color. My 48 is still in primer. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

Just wanted to give an update on my starter issue. I purchased a new starter for 49-55 L6. The starter heads are the same. The only difference I found was the body of the starter motor itself. The body was a little shorter but much bigger around. It seem to fit fine once I adjusted the clearance on one of the oil lines. Thanks for the help.

Thank you both for the information, I will try that.

Hey Guys, I have a broken starter head on my 48 Plymouth business coupe.I found one for a 49 to 55 dodge and was wondering if it will fit my engine. I have the 217 ci and the starter I found fits a 236 ci or 239 I think. I have looked everywhere local I know to look. I have the starter at the local rebuild shop. He is going to check and see if he has one in his junk pile. I am trying to come up with plan B if I need to.I have also reached out o some of the online shops without any success. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hello to all, I am new on here. I have a 48 plymouth Business coupe. I have gotten it on the road and I am trying improve on the suspension. The vehicle has been lowered 4 inches and rides nice. I was wondering what the advantage was to relocating the shocks and where could I find the pieces needed to complete this. I am pretty good at fabricating parts if I need to. Thanks in advance.