Newbie to old mopars- pics and questions.

[v8valiant]

Hi all!! I thought i should introduce myself before i get rude and start firing off questions . This year i bought my wife a 55 Dodge Kingsway custom that i looked at and drove 1000miles home. I nearly made it but got stopped slightly short by a rusty fuel tank gummin everything up.

This is only about half what was in the tank not counting how much was trapped in numerous filters on the trip home.

The car is basically the same as a 54 Dodge coronet from what i can tell(i'm no expert) . The serial number starts with D49 so is that the model? The car was totally restored about 10years ago and i got a REALLY clean car that i'm really impressed with. I have been looking here a while so i've clued in on some things but not others.

The engine number is P2o star I85823 star. This may read p26 star I85823 star but i'm fairly sure its o not 6. Are the intake and exhausts the same on the different motors around the time? I would like to fabricate a new intake and exhaust manifold for it and have another block i'd like to use to dummy it up. But the other block is a Kew motor, number 2A15342. Are the intakes the same or different lengths?

this is the motor,

And a pic of the car

I've also already done a disc conversion using local Valiant parts.

Next up is Air con for the wife as she'll be driving it every day.

Thanx guys, you have one of the best sites around!!

[greg g]

In canada that would be a Plodge. Dodge Sheet front metal on a Plymouth body. Stateside that is a 54 Plymouth body and 54 dodge front. In canada it was known as a Mayfair. I believe you folks got the body dies a couple years late in the model year scheme.

Measure the length of the cylinder heads, if they are both 25 inch engines the exterior parts should interchange without problems. Here A P26 engine prefix would be a Plymouth 54/5, not 100% sure. Wonder why your primary battery cable takes the great circle rout from the battery to the starter rely to the starter? Does it connect to a main distribution point on the firewall then go to the starter relay?

Here is a pic of a very nice 54 Mayfair that if from my neck of the woods. A Canadian car imported to the states. This one has a hemi.

Welcome and good luck with your project.

Edited December 10, 2009 by greg g

[v8valiant]

Thanx for the reply, we did have plymouths here as well, i think the rear sheetmetal may be different i'll have to check. From what i see my 55 is a US 54? The cable goes to an underdash main switch/ distribution block on the firewall.

[Andydodge]

Damn!!!!........not another Australian!!........why don't you Aussies stick to Holdens!..........oops.........wrong website........eerr gidday maaatttee...........welcome to the absolute best website to do with mopar six's and whatever they live in.....btw I'm in Sth Grafton NSW, about 3-4 hrs below you.......have attached a pic of my 40 Dodge and 41 Plymouth....the Dodge is an Oz built car, I've rodded & have had since 1971, the Plymouth is a RHD Sth African car.....if you need some info whatever these guys here are the best bet anywhere, but if you want I don't mind a phone call.....am awake till 11pm NSW time on 02-66-425963 or call me at the shop www.scaleautomobilia.com.au ...........nice Plymouth btw......if its a Kew engine it should be 25" long, which is basically the US DeSoto/Chrysler engine but with some english/Oz tweeks.........lol......regards, Andy Douglas

[Andydodge]

Ooops........err Dodge I meant.......lol........andyd

[v8valiant]

Ha ha, thats cool. Really love the Plym btw. Not many of them in Oz eh? Thanxfor the offer of advice, hope to catch up with you someday. Do you ever come up for events? I do get to a few rod events at times. Cheers, Ben

[Andydodge]

Ben, the only 41 Plymouths sold here were a few sedans and the odd ute, coupes were last made in 1940 in Oz and were a unique Oz short roof/long boot coupe made from a sedan........most Oz mopars from the late 40's used the 25" long engine, very few 23" genuine Plymouth engines seem to have been used, which I suppose is similar to what happened in Canada.........the Dodge runs a 330 cube Poly, auto,4 wheel discs, etc the Plymouth will get a 230/finned head,twin carbs,T5 5 speed, discs, etc ......I know of a couple of people who can help you re the Kew intake/exhaust manifolds....the Plymouth has the short 23" 201 engine ...I usually come up to bananaland a couple of times a yr, May and August for some model shows, I've been involved in hot rodding since 1969, used to go to the various nationals etc but mainly just the local runs around here, Yamba, Valla, Armidale, Coffs etc.......have attached a couple more pics.......andyd

[v8valiant]

The kew motor seems to measure more like 26 inches, but it doesn't have a head to measure. I don't actually need the Kew manifolds, i just want to use the block to dummy up manifolds for the dodge. Why do the aftermarket exhausts split in 2? Is it just what suits these motors? Just seems a bit more difficult than having one set of extractors.

[randroid]

v8valiant,

The idea behind split exhausts is a smoother flow, which makes for greater efficiency, that's all. That's why dragsters have an individual pipe for each cylinder and all those pipes are the same length. With a one-pipe system for six cylinders there will be undo turbulence due to too much exhaust gas making too many sharp turns, which will lower the efficiency. Greater efficiency translates into more power, better fuel economy, that sort of thing, and it's always a nice idea.

Before I forget, welcome to the forum.

-Randy

[B-Watson]

Chrysler of Australia used the 1953-54 body through 1956. For 1957 the Plymouth, Dodge and DeSoto models based on the 1953 Plymouth were all replaced by the Chrysler Royal, itself the 1953-54 Plymouth updated with 1956 front and rear fenders.

Chassis with powertrains were imported from both Detroit and Windsor, although some models used engines from the plant at Kew, Great Britain. Chassis from Windsor had serial numbers that started with "9" while Detroit started with "1". Australian-built chassis had numbers less than 100000.

The 1954 Dodges :

D49-2 : Kingsway Custom : engines D49-2-1965C & up, 98072031 & up

D49-3 : Kingsway Crusader : engines KEW-2P-1017 & up, 13683741 & up

1955 Dodge :

D49-2 : Kingsway Custom : engines DP25-418054 & up, 13796981 & up

D49-3 : Kingsway Crusader : engines KEW-2P-1569 & up, 13772594 & up

D49-4 : Kingsway Coronet : KEW-2P-585 & up, 13743766 & up

1956 Dodge :

D49-2 : Kingsway Custom : engines P26-428765 & up, 2973 & up

D49-3 : Kingsway Crusader : engines KEW-2P-2943 & up, 706 & up

D49-4 : Kingsway Coronet : KEW-2PF-2966 & up, 967 & up

The 1953 DeSotos :

SP24-2 : Diplomat Custom : engines SP24-2-1034C & up, 96067133 & up

1954 DeSoto :

SP25-2 : Diplomat Custom : engines SP25-2-1002C & up, 96077276 & up

SP25-3 : Diplomat Regent : engines KEW-2P-1063 & up, 13683776 & up

1955 DeSoto :

SP25-2 : Diplomat Custom : engines SP25-406415 & up, 13796883 & up

SP25-3 : Diplomat Regent : engines KEW-2P-1569 & up, 13772594 & up

SP25-4 : Diplomat Plaza : engines KEW-2PF-564 & up, 13772670 & up

1956 DeSoto :

SP25-2 : Diplomat Custom : engines P26-316706 & up, 1427 & up

SP25-3 : Diplomat Regent : engines KEW-2P-3034 & up, 486 & up

SP25-4 : Diplomat Plaza : engines KEW-2PF-2835 & up, 558 & up

The 1953 Plymouths :

P24-2 : Cranbrook : engines P24-2-9612C & up, 96067031 & up

1954 Plymouth :

P25-2 : Cranbrook : engines P25-453846 & up, 13798161 & up

P25-3 : Savoy : engines KEW-2P-1037 & up, 13683707 & up

1955 Plymouth :

P25-2 : Cranbrook : engines P25-453846 & up, 13798161 & up

P25-3 : Savoy : engines KEW-2P-1569 & up, 13772594 & up

P25-4 : Belvedere : engines KEW-2PF-600 & up, 13743652 & up

1956 Plymouth :

P25-2 : Cranbrook : engines P25-328761 & up, 2911 & up

P25-3 : Savoy : engines KEW-2P-3062 & up, 795 & up

P25-4 : Belvedere : engines KEW-2PF-2662 & up, 801 & up

All these models used the same body - differences were in the front clip and side trim. Canadian market Dodges were Crusader, Regent and Mayfair, to match up with Plymouth's Plaza, Savoy and Belvedere.

In 1953 it was Crusader and Regent with the Mayfair hardtop until April, 1953. At that point the Canadian Plymouth and Dodge introduced Hy-Drive and increased the engine size from 218-cid to 228-cid. As well, new "-3" series were introduced in sedan and hardtop - Belvedere and Mayfair. The old hardtops were dropped.

Bill

Vancouver, BC

[v8valiant]

Thanks Randy, I was thinking about doing a hot rod header style manifold. Something like this but withouth the coneshaped main pipe.

[Andydodge]

Ben, call me at the shop..........ideally early, say 7.30-8am YOUR time.......I talk better than I type.Andyd

[Tony WestOZ]

Nice car Ben.Good to see another aussie on the site.

At 26" its a Kew 250.6" long block. Commonly refered to as the 25" longblock.

You need to measure the engine in the car. The P26 engine code did not start in Australia until 55. Also it was a 23", 230 cu" US short block.

The P24 and P25 code engines where 228 cu", 25" longblocks.

The manifolds will not interchange between short and longblocks.

Edited December 12, 2009 by Tony WestOZ

[v8valiant]

Damn!! the motor in the car is only the 230. thats a real bugger. dunno what to do now, guess i'll leave it standard rather than muck around with the smaller motor. Did many Dodge sedans have a kew motor in them? Thanx for the help Tony!

[v8valiant]

Wow, thankyou for a very informative list, that just answered a lot of questions for me. Guess i should try and get hold of some short manifolds then.

[Andydodge]

Ben.......best thing is to measure your engines head length, tape measure from the front to back......if it's 23" then its the plymouth, if its 25" then its the Kew/Chrysler variation........in Oz its easier to find hot up stuff for the long engine, but overall there is more for the short engine in the USA..........call me if you can..........andyd

[v8valiant]

yep it is the 23". Thanks andy will try and call one morning this week!

[old rat 49]

More info pictures of master cyl and disc swap. ? 2: Would that swap fit my 48 ?

[v8valiant]

The theory for yours would be the same but as i'm in Australia, the bits n pieces i used are from here as well. You can get get a similar kit from Scarebird on Ebay or theer is someone on here as well( sorry i forget the name). Here is a link to a full thread i did on the conversion elsewhere

http://www.hemi6pack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29249&page=2

[Andydodge]

What year valo bits are in the disc brake conversion......I tried to register on the other site that has the info but got stuffed around...........did you do the conversion?.......what bolt pattern are the discs...........more info......please........how did you go getting an intake?......andyd

[v8valiant]

Basically its a copy of an old Hadfield kit. My engineer up here has the patterns in his computer and i can get em made up for around 300 bucks. It uses falcon rotors, XB-Xe, Valiant later model calipers, which would be VJ-CM and hq bearings. My Valiant Brake hoses screwed right on no probs.As for the intake, i'm gunna make my own but prob not till later in the year.

[Andydodge]

An old Oz trick was to use Holden Grey intakes on the 23' engine and Holden Red intakes on the 25 or kew engine.......the only hassle was that as the Holden intakes is from the opposite side of the block the carby angle is backwards but I have seen small plates made up to correct the carby angle and the intakes seemed to work, this applies to stock/twin/triple carby Holden intakes for what I have been told.........andyd

[v8valiant]

Really? wow, does it take much modification? Seems like an easier way, though prob not cheaper....

[Andydodge]

Ben, I heard about using the Holden intakes yrs ago, probably when I was 1st playing with the dodge in about 1971, but never did it myself, stuck the 318Poly in and when that way, but I have seen a couple over the yrs that used the aftermarket holden intakes as up till the internet arrived we in Oz never really had the general access to the range of US intakes etc that were available.......from memory you have to fiddle with the way the Holden intake sits against the block, the "ears" that stick out beside the intake manifold where it touches the block have to be modified/have some extra washers etc used to aligne with the exhaust manifold and as I mentioned the carby angle is no go unless you have the carby mounting flange on the intake surfaced to the new angle or build up with weld or plates made.........but with the net, intakes are more accessable etc so by the time you stuff about it maybe easier to just get an Offy intake.......mine cost me about $300.00 Oz by the time it landed here but that was at least 2yrs ago with a shitty Oz dollar.........anywa trust this helps........andyd

[rockerbillykat]

Hi there and welcome v8 valiant.

I was a proud owner of a 1954 Dodge Kingsway many years ago!

That car was fitted with a 318 and 727 with a valiant rear end.

Man did that old girl lift her skirts!

Its nice to see another Aussie here on the forum and a nice car too!