201 in a p15???

[mach0415]

I just looked at the serial # on the side of the engine block in my 47 P15 and it says D11 72738. This means its a 201 out of a 39 dodge, right? If so, I am pretty danged pissed. What does this mean for hop ups if I want to do any? Can I build this engine like a 218 can be hopped up?

[Don Coatney]

Follow this link.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=24666&highlight=project

[Young Ed]

Also here in the states you've got a little more access to hunt down either a 218 or even to step up to a 230. Heck you might even be able to use your current block and turn it into a 218 or 230.

[Reg Evans]

A 39 Dodge D11 is a 218 unless it was made for export. My 35 Dodge even came with a 218. Plymouth of that vintage had the 201.

[greg g]

Looks like Dodge used the 218 starting in 34 for domestic vehicles. So your not missing much. the Plymouth P15 engine was rated at 97 HP, and the D 11 was rated at 82/85.

Probably due to an increase in compression ratio through the years. The older cars may also have had a smaller carb, (throttle plate was smaller).

Engine swaps were very common with these vehicles as it was a pretty quick job, so lots of cars that had worn engines got something from the Junkyard instead of a more expensive and longer repair of a rebuild.

You can run a compression test to see what your readings suggest as far as compression is concerned. If you are going to do some engine work, milling the head is a quick and fairly inexpensive way of upping compression, assuming the rest of the engine is in decent mechanical order.

Or it might have been a block swap and the head manifolds and carb frm the later car may have been swapped over.

[TodFitch]

A 39 Dodge D11 is a 218 unless it was made for export. My 35 Dodge even came with a 218. Plymouth of that vintage had the 201.

Looks like Dodge used the 218 starting in 34 for domestic vehicles. So your not missing much. the Plymouth P15 engine was rated at 97 HP, and the D 11 was rated at 82/85. ...

Was the earlier Dodge 218 the same as the later Plymouth 218? I know that for Plymouth the change from 201 to 218 was accompanied by a change in the rod and crankshaft bearings. And I was under the impression that for any given year the Dodge car engine block used the same bearings as the Plymouth. So I would suspect/guess that the internals of a 1930s Dodge 218 might be different than the 1942-48 Plymouth 218.

[james curl]

I have a 41 Dodge engine in my 48 P-15 that I rebuilt in 2007. I ordered all of my parts from Terrell Machine. He lists the correct year Dodge and Plymouth parts together. All of the parts in mine work. I am using the 48 crankshaft in the engine as i missed up and put the number one main in upside down and the crank will need polishing before it can be used again. The 218 Dodge and the 218 Plymouth engines are identical as far as I can tell except for the stamped serial number. The Dodge crankshaft has eight flywheel mounting holes where the Plymouth only has four. But four of the holes in either crank line up with four holes in either flywheel. If you were to put a Plymouth engine in a fluid drive Dodge then you would have to have the crank drilled for the other four holes.

Edited August 22, 2011 by james curl
addition

[mach0415]

Thanks guys, I feel better about it now. Is there a link to engine serial numbers/translators?

[Reg Evans]

Here's one but it does not list the displacement for engines earlier than 1940.

http://www.t137.com/registry/help/otherengines/otherengines.php

[greg g]

http://www.carnut.com/specs/gen/dodge30.html

[steveplym]

Just a quick note here on my own experience with serial #'s on engines and what they mean.

Several years ago the engine in my car was a fresh rebuild and I ended up rolling a rod bearing on it. Pulled it out and knew I was in need of a crankshaft. Didn't have much money so I had a friend who said he had a '35 Plymouth he had just bought to make a street rod with. The engine was usable and it ran. I took that motor out and put it in my P-15. It ran really well, but smoked a ton.

The serial #'s on the engine showed to be a '35 Plymouth, but it had a casting date of 1945. Also had a tag on the side that stated "Use 218 parts only". Come to find out it was apparently a replacement engine put in that car. It was a 218 and when I saved up enough to rebuild the original flathead I pulled the crank out of that engine to put into the original one. To my surprise all those parts were in very good shape. The machine shop told me it had not been machined before and was in very good shape. Almost made me wish i would have rebuilt the other one, but oh well. There is always time in the future.

The point is just because the serial # says it is such and such doesn't necessarily mean that it is so.