Engine Parts Question

[Dodgefran]

I'm stuck. I have a 1938 DeSoto 228 L6 that was altered at birth into a 218 ci in my Dodge RC truck. The truck came without a head, pistons, connecting rods, or appropriate bearings.

My question is..... after i've had my crank index ground, how do I determine the new bering size (and where to get them) and rod length with the piston. Where a 218 crank was subed for a 228 crank, this could get confusing. My manuals have some stats, but where do I go from here "coach"? Please point me and push me.

The machinest who indexed my crank gave me an .030for the rods, and .020 for the main bearings. Thanks

[greg g]

I would call the friendly fellow at terrill Machine in texas. the phone number is in the vendors list on the main page of the host site, he should be able to talk you through what you need without too much trouble. If its a 218 crank telling him that will be a good start with the information the machine shop gave you. Do you know what year the DeS engine? You can look at the Carnut website and look and the specs for the sotck engines by year. It looks like unlike plymouth and dodge where the crank and rods determined the displacement, DeS had some changes in piston bore. while its apart why not consider making it as big as you can? As long and you need Pistons and rings, bore that thing out. Also these engines really enjoy a boost in compression. So as long as you are looking for a head and will likely need it to have it trued, might as well mill it abit also. .040 to .050 is probably safe. There is a thread with a good shot of the inside of what looks like a stock head showig the shape of the combustion chamber. So you can make a comparison of what you find and decide accordingly. but the early engines had 6/7 to one compression ratio and laters ones went to 8.5 to one, so there is a ways to go. It makes a deal of difference.