Dartgame

Did you try reversing the leads on the gauge ? If you have a multi meter check the wiring for continuity from the tank to the gauge - might be grounded or something like that. You can also test the sender with an ohm meter to see what the resistance is depending on the arm position...

Tim - in what way ? the crank throw determines the stroke not the rod nor the piston.

Something to remember about “strokers”. The only thing that controls the stroke is the crank throw. Longer rods just move the piston up closer to the deck, the stroke does not change. I’m not saying its bad to move the piston up just that if you use 218 rods (which are longer than 230’s) and a 230 crank the piston travel is the same as a 230 and you gain no increase in displacement. You do potentially gain compression ratio. 218 and 230 pistons are the same and can interchange ....

I dug around and put a 10 inch in my car. I had a lot of trouble finding the 10 inch disc. The clutch cover was the easy part. Just remember unless these are completely destroyed they (both disc and cover) can be rebuilt. I think the 10 discs were tossed out over the years and have become rarer to find over the years as a result.

If you have saggy rear springs - I’d replace them. These overload springs are as you know a band aid and as others said here - will over stress the shock mountings on the rear. But its your car/truck do what you feel best.

Try plymouth doctor he makes some for different years and positions on the frame, but not all.

This bearing is the same one used by chrysler into the muscle car era and beyond. If it had a manual and v8 it probably had the same pilot. Later they adapted a roller bearing retrofit for the older cars which was actually oe on newer vehicles.

George Asche is the guy in Venus PA. Search the site for him and you will find his contact info, phone #. He does nothing with the internet - super nice man in his 80’s. As to wading into unknown water - don’t be afraid. It’s very similar to any other engine except the valves are in the block. A good service manual is a huge plus in working on these.

All good feedback thanks. If the factory did not apply this, then it probably is not needed. I will wait and see how it behaves before doing anything more. I’d rather not add this stuff if it isn’t needed. extra cost and mess.

Okay painted it is...

Are the strikers and latches supposed to be painted body color or are they natural plated. I am thinking without a coating (natural plated).

Have decided to go without any extra coating underside of the hood. It’s going to be body color. If it shows some issue with flutter or vibration, will address it afterwards. Lizard skin said their stuff would work and is paintable. But after thinking about this and reading more it appears that lizard skin has conflicting positions about paintability. The coating underside of the hood beneath the undercoating was a greenish color, single layer primer like coating probably similar to Plymouthy’s description.. The trunk area is a kind of blue gray color. will keep that part the same.

I am under the impression that the heavy undercoating was applied by the factory to stiffen and dampen hood vibration. If someone has a 52 without this stuff can you tell me if the hood is stable or needs something ? The material was the same stuff sprayed all over the underside of the car in the fender wells etc. I have the original bill of sale and description of the car as sold. No where does it specify under coating nor is it listed as a dealer add on. This stuff was incredibly tough to remove. My thought is why did the factory apply this stuff ? The rear and front braces are present, so that part is good to go. There is no rust on the hood anywhere, nor around the hinges etc. This car is 99% rust free, with a little in the interior foot wells, but no perforation - so this is not a rust proofing drill. Ive used 3M body shutz before, but with the underhood temps I am concerned it will soften and drop off on to the engine. Lizard skin talks about it being used underside of hoods and 500F resistance..I’ll give them a call and report back. Plymouthy the color you are describing - is it the grayish blue color ?

Hi All - Is an under side of the hood anti flutter dampening material needed for a 52 plymouth ? My car is at the paint shop. They wanted to remove that horribly tough oem undercoating that was sprayed all over it. So I brought it home and stripped it myself. What a huge mess that was. But I saved around 20 labor hours, which is big $ when you are working with a paint shop. The question is what to use on the underside of the hood, or if even something is needed. I had posted a similar question on this site before, and some folks said it was optional as to whether the factory applied undercoating or just paint. My thought is the hood on a 52 is pretty flexible and does not have much bracing - and may drone or flutter while driving if something extra is not applied to the engine side of the hood. I am considering truck bed liner (spray on polyurea), and am also thinking about lizard skin. Anyone have some thoughts about this or experience to relate ?

Yeah I think most of the 218’s had 4 bolt flywheel mountings, although Ive got an 8 bolt 218 crank I thought was a 230 . Date castings are kind of sketchy - I’ve seen some engines that don’t. Casting numbers sometimes can help determine age, but that’s a crap shoot as well.

Been using DOT5 in my hobby cars for 20 years. The only issue with DOT 5 is it will tend to weep around imperfect seals, like copper washered banjo nuts - when you first assemble and bleed the system. Once you get fasteners tight enough, I’ve found the weeping fades and stops. An advantage to using DOT 3 or 4 in this case is that it picks moisture up at these imperfections and corrodes the sealing surfaces in place. If you don’t mind flushing the system periodically then DOT 3 or 4 is good. I choose not to, so DOT 5 for me. DOT 5 is also silicone oil which is hydrophobic (does not absorb moisture) and will not damage paint unlike DOT 3 or 4.

I’d get a 53 manual since you have the older one. However, I doubt there is much different from one year to another. Maybe torque specs on fasteners. Generally speaking ring gaps are .004” for every inch of piston diameter - so for a 4.00 inch bore = .016” minimum up to something like .020 or .024 my depending on the piston and engine. Bearing clearances are .001” to .0025” as well, middle of the range is usually the target.

Just curious - I think you can get repopped gas tanks - any reason you rolled your own ?

How do these work ?

You might get away with re-ring and crank polishing. But you will need to check dimensions before knowing what the next steps are. Dial bore gauge is best for the cylinders. Although kind of cheesy, plastic gauge is what I use on crank bearing clearances...valves and guides are a little tougher service manual has some side clearance specs if I recall correctly. Back yard mechanic method for bent valves: check the valves by rolling the stems on a flat surface and watch for wobbling, any wobble = bad. If you have the guts from a 230 you can throw the crank and rods in your block and make a 218 into a 230 as well, no piston change. Cost is the same if you have to re-machine any of that stuff. I’d do that anyway, but that’s just me.

Pretty gunked up for sure. Glad the water tube came out in one piece...Will be interesting to find out what caused the coolant leak. Does not look like it is leaking now...maybe it was the gasket.

Bebee how did you raise your comp ratio with the piston ? Custom pistons ?

By the way - its a Plodge (Canadian dodge). Which is pretty cool since it will have the 25 inch 218 or 230 motor....and will probably be fitted for true full flow oil filtering. I looked at one of these when I was seeking a car and was disappointed to find the rust monster was living in good health under the shiny paint...I like the grill of the dodge better on the back of the plymouth body...but sometimes you gotta make a choice.

I talked with Restoration specialities about these rivets. The tech guy knew immediately what I was talking about. Their size is actually a little smaller - their part # riv 1. Something like a .089 stainless diameter rivet. My guess is the rivet crushes and spreads into the hole when set, because the hole appears to be about 1/8 inch. I asked them how to best set these - Flat tipped punch and a cone shaped punch - just like I described above. I went on to ask them about the L shape rubber check rail - theirs has no metal core on the rubber L shape, and neither does Steele’s they both said to glue it on. Hmmmm. I seriously doubt glue will hold. My check rails are actually serviceable - just need some revitalizing. I’ve resurrected old rubber parts like these using waterless hand cleaner. Gonna try that.

You might need to pull and give her a twist, a little back and forth as well if the engine has a lot of gunk on the pump gears it might hang up. Be mindful that the pump inserts at an angle of about 45 degrees or something like that. Might help to yank the dizzy as well.