dpollo

I put a military 251 (which came in a crate ready to be field installed) into my 52 Fargo. All the civilian gear fit. No issues with the distributor or voltage. I kept the military PCV ( Donaldson Valve ) but removed the manual shut off and put a regular cap on the oil filler. I also used a civilian (SPITFIRE) head since the military engines had lower compression.

Check starter and spacing of ring gear if you are changing from a 4 bolt crankshaft to an eight bolt. M37s mostly had 230 s but you are so close to Canada a 251 may have gotten into the gene pool.

The 23 inch engine was the first of its type to appear in 33 , modified with full water jacketing in 35 and used in Plymouth and Dodge through 59 , 60 in trucks and 72 in Power Wagons . The crankshaft was much improved for the 218 . The last 201 was phased out in 41. The 230 was the largest of this series and all things considered, it was a very successful design and in sheer numbers dominated the field. Some speed equipment was available for the 25 inch engine . Edmonds being the most common. Many companies including Fenton and Tattersfield made equipment for the 23 incher. The 25 inch in engine appeared in '37-8 to replace an over heavy design which was used in the Chrysler , It took its engineering cues from the 23 incher and for the most part, shared timing gears, front covers, fuel and oil pumps, bell housings and flywheels. An engine plant was opened in Canada in 38 and the 25 inch blocks were used in all cars made in Windsor. All displacements of this design on both sides of the border shared gaskets, camshaft bearings and crankshaft bearings. Bores were 3 3/8 and 3 7/16 and strokes - 3 3/4. 4 1/16 ,4 1/4, 4 1/2 and 4 3/4. They were last used in passenger cars in 59, trucks in 60 and power wagons up to 72. They were popular as industrial engines as well. If you really want to know how Chrysler's engines evolved, especially in the early 30s and again in the early V8 era, I recommend you read Willem L Weertman's book Chrysler Engines 1922-1998 published by SAE ISBN# 978-0 7680-1642-0

If you like books with an authentic technical flavor I would like to recommend a book which in many ways influenced what I chose to do. (or perhaps how I did it) It is Nevil Shute's last novel , Trustee from the Toolroom Shute was in fact an aeronautical engineer so whenever his novels lean toward things mechanical, there is not much room for criticism. No Highway is another which deals with defective airframe design.

You will find that it is very difficult to install the earlier transmission (pictured) into your car. It looks like a '38 It needs the bell housing which you also have but the engine mounts are different. It is also much shorter than your car's original trans so the driveshaft will need to be extended so much, you will have to go for a 2 piece shaft. If a car such as yours were to be converted to a three speed without fluid drive pieces were available to make this possible retaining the original bell housing. These pieces were the flywheel, an extra long transmission input shaft, throwout bearing collar and bearing (the sliding part) These parts are very rare here in North America so you would be very lucky to find them. Unless you have a very experienced mechanic, or are one yourself I think it would be better to enjoy the Fluid Drive and whichever transmission is behind it. ( either a manual shift 3 speed or the semi automatic ) Both work well and are easy to drive.

This is a good question. Presumably there was, but I cannot ever recall seeing one and my observations cover more years than I care to admit.

It is a good bet that the bearing shown is .010 undersize and I would say it has significant wear. I would be inclined to install two new rear main shells and check the clearance with plastigage. 002 would be ideal. It is an old trick to put 001 or 002 shim stock behind the lower shell to take up clearance BUT if you do only the rear main, you will be creating a misalignment problem which will work itself out by pounding the bearing harder than it may be able to survive. If you do not want to spend any money on this engine just put it back together. The bearing shell you show is worn but shows no signs of impending failure. I would also check #2 and #3 mains as they can take a beating. #1 is lightly loaded and is more difficult to access because of the arch that forms the front pan rail. When plastigaging a crankshaft in the car, you must support its weight or you will get a false reading.

To the best of my knowledge all Dodge Desoto Plymouth & Chrysler blocks since the mid 30s had stellite exhaust seats to give longer valve life. I have a T designated 251 block here now with inserts on the intakes as well. Unless your block's seats are cracked or pitted beyond service, just have them reground. This is a service operation that your machine shop is familiar with. Ford V-8 blocks had two levels of hardness for their seats. One hard, the other very much softer. This may be what your machinist is thinking. Long service on unleaded gas has caused no problems on any of the engines I have been involved with, including one which has now logged 80 000 miles since it was rebuilt.

Your block already has hardened exhaust valve seats . save your money unless one is cracked or beyond specs.

The top hose on trucks of the 40s was quite large compared to passenger cars.

The rod you indicate with your thumb operates the fast idle cam when the choke is in use. The hole is for the vacuum advance. Looks to me like the link for the accelerator pump is missing on the front under the bowl.

If you can live with a little extra pedal resistance, you will never miss the over center spring.

On my first 50 Plymouth ( ten by two) I had some problems with fade but at that time I was inclined to drive too fast . I had bought a 54 Plymouth which had been a police car and it had eleven inch brakes. I put these on the 50. No more problems. I could have obtained the same eleven inch equipment from a "big" Dodge or Desoto or Chrysler Royal. Today, (50 years later) I find the original ten by twos to be adequate as long as the lining is not too hard. In changing the front brakes it is necessary to use the matching spindle which, since the steering arm is moved downward, a toe in adjustment is needed.

I think Pontiac had rifled rods in their later flatheads .

Close but no cigar ! 1400242 is a rod for the 264 found in 53-54 Chryslers 1400245 is a con rod bolt. Maybe this is the con rod for an industrial 264 That is the result of a search through 4 parts manuals.

Looks Good. Since my transmission has a back up light switch I have included a wire in the overdrive harness so I can install a light like yours. Great location.

Most interesting thread! I only recently saw a 36 with the OD and rear wheel parking brake. In all my years of messing with Chrysler's products of this era , I have never seen another. I have a 39 overdrive which originally had the column shift lid. It has a solenoid which I believe operates a kick down function which was previously centrifugal only. I paid $35 for this unit at Feuher Brothers yard in Springfield Illinois and shipped it west at a cost significantly more than what I paid for it. Not sure that I will ever use it but one never knows.

Here are some less obvious signs of a block's vintage. By the late 40s, the oil pressure regulator used an 11/16 square headed plug rather than the earlier hex. Blocks after 1953 had an extra gusset cast in to support the Powerflite This has an extra bolt hole facing out from the pan rail about 8 inches from the back of the engine. These engines also had casting bosses which may be drilled for Hydrive and Powerflite engine fed torque converters 53-4. From 51 onwards except for some Spitfire (Chrysler 251) blocks there is an extra water passage at the front of the head. This is an internal bypass to eliminate plumbing between the water pump and thermostat housing. On Canadian enginess, heads after '51 have the DPCD logo in a circle near the firing order. Canadian blocks did not have the date below the distributor. Often, when blocks went through a factory rebuilder like those supplied by "Chrysler Method" shops, the year the block was cast was not important as long as it had the features required for its intended use.

The black car pictured above is indeed a D24 but the blue one is a D25. Notice it is smaller and that the fender lines do not extend into the door. D25s were not available with Fluid Drive.

The 230s I have seen have 8 bolt crankshafts but the 4 hole flywheel will fit. again, check the starter/ ring gear location. Earlier oil pans will fit but be sure to retain the pick up. An original 40 engine would have had the oil pickup fastened to #3 main cap you will need the one that hinges from a pipe screwed directly to the block. All very do-able if you have enough parts. The later IAT distributors (small cap- non counterweighted rotor used from mid 1950 up) seem to improve performance likely due to a different advance curve. The 2 barrel carbs were very rare , found on some 55 to 59s. I have one on the '51 218 in my 35 Plymouth but I am not sure that it really improves things that much.

I have tracked the performance of an engine I rebuilt through two owners and 80 000 miles. It still runs well and the entiredistance was run on unleaded regular. As mentioned above the hardened seats do the job. I have had no trouble with any of my own cars either.

That was a feature which was rarely acknowledged and having driven these cars for over 50 years, it is one which is greatly appreciated by me. Should you ever disassemble a window regulator you will find a counterbalancing spring of some significance but if you look further and open the case that has the small gear, there is a friction brake in there which prevents the weight of the glass from opening the window on its own. The 53 and 54 models were the best with only 1 1/2 turns required to raise and lower the window.

The 201 has smaller main bearings so it is not possible to use either a 218 or a 230 crankshaft. A 201 can be bored +.125 and use 3 1/4 pistons but its crankshaft would be the Achilles heel. There are lots of options for your engine swap but a later 230 will be your simplest and likely most satisfying.

If you want to keep this simple, put in a 230 from a later model Dodge and use your 218 head to increase compression. Check flywheel and starter ring gear offsets. All will be bolt in modifications .

.050 is not a common bore size however, if your bores are good at -050 and if you need only two pistons, it is possible to have a machine shop cam grind .060 pistons down to 050. Away back pistons were often provided semi finished and the machine shop would finish grind them to size. However, as mentioned above it is probably cheaper to bore or hone to .060.