25" Spitfire Head

[Charles Furman]

I have just acquired a 25" Spitfire head and would like to know if anybody has any idea what these are worth?

Also, I have the opportunity to buy a complete L-head Spitfire motor.....Should I consider buying it to put in my 1949 Dodge B1B in place of the 218 cu in L-Head motor, and at what price? What about the associated Fluid Drive transmission? Yes/No Price?

Thanks,

Charles

[james curl]

I think your bell housing and flywheel will both fit on the big Chrysler six. I do not know how much room you have in front of your engine between the fan and the radiator but the big six is two inches longer than the smaller engine.

[dynaflash_8]

spitfire heads arnt worth much. I went through the same thing. All the bit chryslers had Spitfire on the 6s

[Merle Coggins]

I believe you'll have to move your radiator forward and do some fabricating for the front mount to make the bigger engine fit. Reg will know for sure as I recall he has a 25" motor in Ol' Yeller.

Merle

[Reg Evans]

Well, the 49 Truck 218 was rated at 95 hp while the 251's from 46-52 were rated anywhere between 114-116 hp depending on the year so you would gain better than 20% in hp. Milling some off the head will increase the hp even more.

I did install a 50 Chrysler 251 in Ol Yeller about 13 years ago. It was a relatively simple and only required a few modifications to accomplish. First I just welded some flat steel tabs to the bottom feet of the front motor mount that reached back the 2" for the mounting holes. I cut off some of the rear edge of the front cross member to clear the sump on the oil pan and then I used a radiator out of ....if I remember correctly....a 1.5 ton truck ( DCPD # 1393352) The mounting flange on the bigger truck was in a different location so I had to actually put some spacers in to bring the radiator closer to the fan blade on the 251. Maybe someone here can id the radiator by that part number.

As to worth of these parts. That would depend on condition and what you are willing to pay for more hp's I guess.

You can see the motor mount in this photo.

Front cross member. Should have dressed this up better with a grinder.

Radiator and 1/2" copper pipe coupler spacers

Any day now I'm going to install these factory parts from a big truck for even more HP !

Edited August 30, 2010 by Reg Evans

[Merle Coggins]

  Reg Evans said:

In my parts manual P/N 1393353 is listed for B-4-F, G, H, HH, HM, & HHM trucks

[Reg Evans]

Thanks Merle. So it is from a big truck then. It made taking care of the longer engine vs. stock radiator problem easy.

[58Regent]

What makes the Spitfire head different from the original? I do like the looks of it and would mind putting one of them on my 251 as well as a factory dual carb, split manifold. If anyone has these parts and wants to part with them let me know.

Thanks

Todd

[Reg Evans]

Nothing is really different than one without the raised SpitFire lettering. But you can raise the compression ratio by having some milled off.