kridgleyud

@40plyguy the interchange shows the uorihhtd have the same PN. Andy has done it and I'll confirm for sure once my assembly happens, post painting.

No performance advantage I could imagine ... I decided to do this just for parts availability. The service kits for the 39-40 uppers are harder to find and while its off, wanted to think forward. I found a pair of these uppers for $50 off a 48 Plymouth, they are a drop in replacement so it was easy insurance moving forward ... also, since those arms are more prevalent, the service kits are much easier to find, I was able to snag 2 sets of upper arm service packages (inner and outer) for only 25. SO all in on the upper control arms I'm at 75 ... that's the cost of one 39-40 service kit.

here is where i ended last night. I'm in the groove now and we have some nice weather ahead. I've got a lot parts stocking up ... king pins, new uppers, all new rubber (bumpers, stops, seals), new pins and shafts, springs, tie rod ends ... been a rough week on the wallet Got a flamethrower coil, new fuel pump (prior owner was going electric) and some cheap gauges to hook up to the motor as I time/test/tune it out of the car. motor still needs to be oil primed, start researching that next.

Now that the motor has jumped me forward a bit ... time to tackle the front end to get this ready to go in. Have to scrape away years of crud, oil, crud, repeated on the frame and suspension. @Andydodge pointed me to replacing the upper control arms to the more prevalent 41-52 style versus the '39-40 on mine now. It's been slow progress on this front only working at night, under lights, without power tools in consideration of me sleeping kids and neighbors. Last night, I finaly hit a milestone ... the suspension is off, next I'll remove steering arms and start cleaning the area for paint.

My plan was to rebuild the 218 into a 230, with all the nice pep parts ... headers, dual carb intake, hotter cam, etc. So I priced all this, plus the machine work my motor would need during this rebuild, and then this fell into my lap ... a fellow selling a rebuilt 218 from a 53 truck. 40 over on the pistons, hotter cam, langdons headers, offenhauser intake, new water and oil pumps, converted distributor from slant 6 with pertronix ignitor, mopar internally regulated alternator ... nice motor, for the price of buying the parts to rebuild mine. I'll use this with my stock 3-speed.

Now ... this is where the story turns sad ... this project stalled until just a couple of months ago. No one reason why, just life kept putting this on the back-burner. With kids and working full time, wife working nights at the hospital, it was hard to get on the car. Fast forward 2 years ... we're picking up again and I'm on this full-throttle ... between dance class, soccer, work, school ... blah blah. But the real change here was my wife started days, this allows me to give 2-4 hours a night after the family settles down ... let's do this! Over this time, I've always thought about how I would build up the motor, how to rebuild the car ... I consider this a resto-mod as I'm not looking to 100% factory, but I'm also not looking to do a hot rod either. So ... lets get this motor out:

For how old the car is and the condition along with the price we paid ... it was worth pushing forward. So, I started pulling the front apart to tackle the engine and removed the interior to address the floor rust. Overall, there's not much rust here.

So now, we're still in 2015 and the car is home ... I start to really poke around and figure out what I want to do with this. When we bought it, it was not running ... the seller gave me a box of main bearings and caps and said, I think they're in order ... of which one was bad, split in two. I knew it would need a rebuild and the foot brakes did not work, but the hand brake did.

Hello everyone. I wanted to start a one-place thread to update the group on this build. I have a couple little threads out there, but this one will tell the story (comedy or tragedy, we'll see) on the breathing new life into my 1940 Dodge D14. To tell the story, we have to rewind to 2008 ... that is when I sold my 1973 Stingray. The wife and I then got a boat ... and you know what they say about those. Fast forward through 7 years or so of nagging her until she finally caved and agreed to get another car ... her only requirement, it needed to have 4 doors ... done. I knew I wanted to get a prewar car and I started this adventure in 2015 looking to get a 1937 Desoto. The deal fell through the day I was going to pick it up - the seller decided not to sell it/ or sold it to someone else, I'll never know now. A few weeks went by and I found this 1940 gem for sale in Pennsylvania ... called the guy and went right out to take a look. Here are the photos when we looked at it/brought it home back in 2015. Cutting it close on the prewar era and some say it;s not ... but it was made by the US in the US and we were still technically not IN the war until 41 ... that's my story!

I knew Don would know that I wasn't right LOL! But really, not sure what they're for, potentially these brackets were added post-1940 or they may have been provisions for longer block cars? If i find out, I'll post.

As far as I've been able to gather this is original. Although now it's been so long I can't recall what these forward 2 holes were for ... Here is a pic before I starting tearing things too far out. Motor mounts were on back set that are on a piece of metal bolted to the frame. Maybe they're for radiator? The rears are on the correct place. Time to start digging some more.

Yes Jim ... 12v, electronic ignition, bored up a bit, dual headers, offenhauser intake, dual carbs and hotter cam.

Hey all ... been a LOOONG time since I've updated the group on the status of the old D14. After stalling for a bit (nearly 2 years ...), I've got the motor out and front end ready to be rebuilt. I'm going to start diving into the suspension revival. All the rubber is deteriorated and it was under about a half inch of crud and build-up ... there's actually metal under there!!. Added some pics because we all like pics ... engine out, crub scrapped and fresh rebuilt motor sitting along-side the original I just pulled out. Next, I've got to tear into the suspension, frame/firewall paint, re-assembly and putting new motor in ... more pics to follow.

Thanks for the tips guys! I got my hands on a borescope to borrow and I have an extra gasket set sitting in the garage I'll bring. I like what dpollo suggested with pulling the head and reinstalling if no deal. Off to see it this Sunday, if all goes well and I like it, I'll post pics of the find. This will accelerate the time on my resto project. Now I have to decide which trans route to take ... original 3 spd, later 4 spd and convert to floor shift ... or hold out for an R10 trans on the interwebs. I love these cars!

Hey folks. Im headed off to look at a rebuilt 1952 218 to replace my old 1940 218 this weekend. Engine is out of car on custom crate. What are some easy items to check while onsite before handing over the money to get a little assurance in the sale? Of course turning motor by hand, but what else? Would I be able to feel compression from carb? Is opening it up too much to ask ... pulling oil pan off or valve covers? What would you check? Thanks everyone. -Kev

Thanks guys. I'm going to do it all. Sounds like its the easiest way to go while sheet metal is off. The only reason I asked is because from searching .... people typically pull the trans then the motor ... but as said previous - sheet metal is off so why not.

I'm pulling the old 218 out of my 40 sedan and as this is my first non-SBC motor pull (I'll have help from my pop) and I'm at work thinking about this cause well ... it beats workin'. Right now, car has no brakes, just an operational hand brake that we use when moving it around. Front clip is off and motor bolt-ons removed. Going to be moving this out of the garage to pull motor, then tow the body and frame down to pops shop for welding. Looked at the service manual and it says to remove the engine with trans but think it would be A LOT easier to unbolt and drop the trans prior. Quick question: Should I go with removing the motor at the bell housing and leaving trans and driveshaft and parking brake in car ... or drop drive shaft, and drop trans from the bell housing .. or just pull everything out (engine w trans)? I would prefer to leave the trans alone ... Is it possible to remove like this: Our would trans need to be dropped to do that?

Thanks Andy! I've seen your stuff a lot on here, you know you're stuff! You have a great car as well. Here are more pics of the car. https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B0z-RxZxKrDWfmpwWW16TENPZE5felBQNUdwdnJpX21SQXptX1FmMng3Y0pBc1RlUTVmZE0/edit

Hello all, I recently started a 1940 dodge restoration. I was searching for a good/build-able flathead and came across a fellow selling his from a 53 plymouth. Both were 218s. Well, as part of the deal with the '53 218, was 2 transmissions. One is considerably longer than the other but both appear to have the same splines. Wondering is any of you folks could ID them based on an image? Are there any numbers I could look for to help me tell what they are? Shorter one has # 1139152-8 Longer one has # 1138238-2 Thanks Kev.

I assumed common as I've heard from a few people and read across multiple forums. Maybe by circumstance it came across common. There are tons of resources I've read through here, they are great. Also, I have the D14/D17 1940 Service manual, parts book and interchange book for reference in the garage. Casper ... been taking photos like crazy.

Dave, Thanks! Someone will know those other two numbers. Don, Thanks! Just added my location. Greg, Thanks! This car was titled in PA before me, and TX before that. Prior to that I have no idea, but since TX it has been the engine number on title. Already asked my local DMV what would happen if engine removed, they said to just stamp a VIN plate and rivet to firewall when original motor comes out. My goal however, is to rebuilt this one, previous owner spun a bearing which seems a common occurrence on these flatties. I'll be sure to keep you all posted with progress - this week has just involved removing brightwork, trim, interior, etc and tagging and picture logging everything.

Hello all, Want to introduce myself as I'll be posting and reading a lot on these forums. My name's Kevin from northern DE. Just picked up a 1940 Dodge De Luxe, 4 door. Needs a lot of work buts in overall good shape for 75 years old. Plans are to either rebuild the 218 or swap in a late 50s 230. Not 100% on the trans, OD will be nice. I found that the engine ID on the block and chassis match, and the body serial number is in pass door. But what are the other 3 numbers shown in the last image on firewall? Large tag looks like the dodge manufacturer tag ... small tag under that? Two stampings on firewall under these as well (above voltage reg.) ... 21678 and 1D under that. Looking forward to this project - was just at a local car show and there were way too many mustangs, corvettes and bel airs - nice to see something different on the roads. Also, one last thing ... I'm in Upper Delaware if there are any local or nearby forum members that would like to meet, it's always great having a local contact. -Kev