Bob Riding

I suppose you could hook up a 1 gal backpack sprayer to get a similar result?

In a recent thread @keithb7 suggested packing the oil pump with #105 motor assembly grease in lieu of dunking it in engine oil. Thoughts?

The '54 Chrysler hemi-equipped cars had the same setup- it must have been a BIG deal - look at the horn button! (my '54 4dr)

I know it came out of a '54 Chrysler 4dr. I'll ask the PO if he know, but what @Dodgeb4ya said makes sense. When I first saw the oil fill pipe, I thought it had been crushed! I'm used to the Plymouth/Dodge sixes!

@Los_Controlmakes excellent points. If it is indeed a P15 motor, the service manual states that a compression ratio of 6.8 to 1 should yield 105 lbs per cylinder with no more than a 10lb variance. That is true up to the P24 in 1954. In '55 and '56, the P26 and P28s C/R increased to 7.4/ 7.6 to 1, respectively, and 120-150 lbs per cylinder.

Uh, because I used poor math skills! I used their ring set price - $85 - as a single price, which I multiplied x 6 Here's the new prices, and we've established that they are all aluminum alloy... Summit Racing New $325 Roberts Motor Parts NOS? $325 Kanter New $306 ? Andy Bernbaum Auto Parts NOS? $295 Vintage Power Wagons New $279 Egge New $450 Good catch Marc!

I stand corrected! Proof from a 1941 owner's "How To Fully Enjoy Your Beautiful New Plymouth booklet. It states: "Among the many features that make the Plymouth engine outstanding are...aluminum alloy pistons" scan1.pdf scan2.pdf

Luck favors the persistant!

Good news from the machine shop - the 230 cid motor that I pulled from the '56 Suburban passes muster for the block, rods, crank, cam, valves, valve seats, springs and head. Unfortunately, there was enough vertical scoring on the pistons that they needed to be bored over 0.040, which means I need to buy new pistons. I did some research between our favorite vendors based on price, but then I wondered if there were any significant quality difference between them on pistons and rings. I tend to think that "Made in the USA" get's you a superior part. NOS is, of course, cast iron- new are typically aluminum alloys. Not sure where each vendor sources their parts but I'm assuming that Roberts and Bernbaum are using NOS, while Egge makes their own in the US, or used to. Here's what I found on price for pistons+rings: Summit Racing New $325 Aluminum Roberts Motor Parts NOS? $675 Cast Iron Kanter New $717 ? Andy Bernbaum Auto Parts NOS? $720 Cast Iron Vintage Power Wagons New $774 Cast Iron Egge New $932 Aluminum Small piston in photo is Summit Racing's offering, which looks different from the others.

Another satisfied @keithb7 viewer!

hey keith- Where was the dipstick location on your '53 motor? I can't seem to zero in on where they put it!

UPDATE: Pleasant surprises yesterday- I pulled the pan after removing the oil drain plug. Nothing came out, but there was enough residual oil in the bottom of the pan that when I rotated it on the engine stand I had drips of what looked like brand new engine oil. It took a while to get the pan off, as the cork gasket and whatever sealant they used in 2003 was tough to scrape off. There were little bits of cork gasket in and around the inside of the motor, so I rigged up a shop vac with a small hose and got it all out (at least what I could see). I pulled off the main caps and then the rod caps, but checked them with the torque wrench first to see what they were torqued to from the rebuild. Chrysler calls for 85 ft lbs for the mains and 40-45 ft lbs for the con rod nuts. Both checked out. The residual lube that was present was gray colored, and no sign of wear -it was still slippery. I cleaned the bearing surfaces and added red assembly lube (tops only as I didn't pull the pistons), and re-torqued them to specs. Inside the engine was clean, no rust. Valve springs and tappets looked new, as did the underside of the pistons and bearing surfaces. Top of the pistons as seen through the sparkplug hole were silver. The cylinder walls had good hatch marks. Sparkplugs looked like they had never been fired. I slowly rotated the engine (sparkplugs removed) and there was significant resistance, but it was smooth. Startup may be in a few months, but I want to get the motor ready ahead of time. Questions: Should I still put Marvel MO or engine oil, in the cylinders? How can I make sure I got all of the little cork bits out of the crankcase (or does it matter)? How do I lubricate the piston-side of the bearings, or is that a non-issue? I don't want to pull the pistons unless I have to. Are the AC Delco R45 sparkplugs a good choice, or is there something better? Anything I need to do to the water pump? No zerc fitting present, but it is 20 yrs old. Thanks!

Great, thanks!

Excellent. I bought one too. How did you wire it? Did you leave your old voltage regulator in place and bypass it?

Nice pictures and trip description! That is also a great looking Plymouth- and to think that you did it all on 6 volts! What brand of alternator did you buy originally? I want to avoid it