Need help identifying whats in my 53 B-4-B

[texas275]

Now that I have it home and have had a chance to clean it up some, I need some help figuring out exactly what I have. I am waiting on my book to get here, so any help would be greatly appreciated. I have attached some pics of the engine tag, trans, and rear end. I'm still in the process of blasting the years of oil and dirt off of it but I figured some of you pros could tell what I have by looking. Thanks, Tom

[B1B Keven]

On the motor. Above the generator, where the block and head meet, there's a flat 'boss' with some numbers stamped into it. Can you read them? If so, plug them in here for more info.

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

Here's one for the VIN#:

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

[Merle Coggins]

Is that tag on the engine? It looks like a rebuilders tag, but I can't make out the numbers from the picture.

Merle

[Dan Babb]

Definitely looks like some type of rebuilder's tag. The top left says "Job Number" and the top right says Stock Number. The writing in the middle says "Refer to the job number when ordering parts".

Trans & Rear look like the stock units I pulled out of my truck.

[JBNeal]

if ya wanna attack some of that caked on oil+dirt, maybe poke at it with a screwdriver or gasket scraper. I spent about an hour scraping crud off of the rear axle on the 1 ton when I finally found what was left of the fill plug, and another hour on the transmission housing that resembled a Tootsie-Pop cuz it was so caked over. I ended up scraping enough crud off of those items that I when I scooped it off of the shop floor, I nearly filled a 5-gallon bucket. Afterwards, pressure washing was quick & effective.

If I'm looking at the engine pic correctly, that rebuild tag is below the boss where the original engine number was stamped. Don't be too surprised if ya got a Plymouth flathead in that truck; my '48 B-1-B has a '53 Plymouth 218, and a spare motor I removed from a '57 1/2 ton is a '55 Plymouth 230. The transmission is a 3spd, and the rear axle ratio will be somewhere near the fill plug.

[texas275]

I just checked the number on the engine and it's a 218 that does belong in a 53 B-4-B. I guess I'll never know if it is the original or not. The VIN/Serial # also shows it to be a 53 built in Detroit. Thanks for the links.

As far as the transmission goes, can anyone tell if its a fluid drive or not. I have never seen one so I dont know what to look for. I'm on my way out there armed with a can of oven cleaner to attack the caked on oil, grease, dirt and whetever else is on there.

[texas275]

By the way what is a "rebuilders tag"?

[Plymouthy Adams]

child's running game of escape and evasion where if a re builder is chasing you and taps you with his hand..you got a re builder's tag and thus you are now it..

large professional engine rebuild shops that rebuilt and sold re-manufactured engines had their own "tag" they installed on the block identifying who did the job and the build number of model will refer to a certain set of specs the engine was built to..Jasper is one of the older such companies and usually had a green tag they installed just above the block/pan dividing line...

[wallytoo]

As far as the transmission goes, can anyone tell if its a fluid drive or not.

doesn't appear to be. just a 3-speed shift on the column without fluid drive.

[Rusty O'Toole]

As far as the transmission goes, can anyone tell if its a fluid drive or not. I have never seen one so I dont know what to look for. I'm on my way out there armed with a can of oven cleaner to attack the caked on oil, grease, dirt and whetever else is on there.

Look under the truck, if it has a standard 3 speed you will know it. If it seems to have a double size bellhousing it is fluid drive. On fluid drive models, there was a fluid drive unit like a torque converter behind the engine then a clutch and 3 speed. So the bellhousing area was kind of bulky.

Or, if you can start the engine shift into gear release the clutch and just sit there with the brakes on not moving, without stalling then you have fluid drive. Or your clutch is burned out. If you take your foot off the brake, step on the gas and the truck moves you have fluid drive.

[texas275]

It dont run. I'm afraid I'm a long way from that point. Through the foot panel I found a metal plug at 12:00. I popes out and it looked like I was looking at the back of the pressure plate. I can't get to move into 3rd or 4th gear. 1st and rev seem fine. But it doesn't look like the clutch is working. I'll keep digging and see what I come up with.

[pflaming]

If you could get that up on a fork life and put in about two hours of steam cleaning, you would appreciate it as you dismantle. I pulled the engine first. In hind sight I would take off the dog house, remove the engine, then the bed and that baby is well exposed.

Good luck. We'll be watching.

[Merle Coggins]

Based on the picture of the clutch and brake pedal mounts you have a standard clutch setup. The Fluid Drive bell housing has a link rod between the clutch pedal and the actual throwout shaft. You pedal is mounted directly to the throwout shaft.

Also, this forum has a name for the crud that you are trying to remove from the undercarraige of your truck. It is affectionately known as Undercoatney. I'll let others explain where the name came from.

Merle

[texas275]

Well the oven cleaner did the trick. Most of the gunk is off of the transmission. The trans moves freely in neutral, and I got it to shift into all of the gears. The rear end moves but I still have one rear wheel that is locked up. I'm hoping it is just the brake locked up on it.

The bad news is the motor is locked up. I pulled the spark plugs and some of the holes in the head dont have threads anymore, and some of the plugs were missing their threads as well. I put some penetrating oil in the cylinders and am going to let that sit, and we'll see what happens. Can the plug holes be re-tapped?

I dont know if yall remember but the grill on this old girl is off of what looks like a 50 model. I did some more poking arond and the paint (under the rust) on the front fenders did not match the cab. Also found some accident damage to the cab on the passenger side just behind the fender. It looks like both fenders and grill were replaced. I know the grill is not from a 53, how can I tell if the fenders are?

Thanks in advance, Tom

[B1B Keven]

Well the oven cleaner did the trick. Most of the gunk is off of the transmission. The trans moves freely in neutral, and I got it to shift into all of the gears. The rear end moves but I still have one rear wheel that is locked up. I'm hoping it is just the brake locked up on it.

The bad news is the motor is locked up. I pulled the spark plugs and some of the holes in the head dont have threads anymore, and some of the plugs were missing their threads as well. I put some penetrating oil in the cylinders and am going to let that sit, and we'll see what happens. Can the plug holes be re-tapped?

I dont know if yall remember but the grill on this old girl is off of what looks like a 50 model. I did some more poking arond and the paint (under the rust) on the front fenders did not match the cab. Also found some accident damage to the cab on the passenger side just behind the fender. It looks like both fenders and grill were replaced. I know the grill is not from a 53, how can I tell if the fenders are?

Thanks in advance, Tom

I'm pretty sure the fenders are the same.

I've got an extra head if you need it. Make ya a good deal on it but the shipping might be a bit much.

[Reg Evans]

Since the head will need to be removed to be repaired or replaced I would remove it now. With the head removed you'll be able to inspect the valves and cylinders and know weather or not you're beating a dead horse.

[texas275]

Thats what I was thinking. With the motor locked up, I was contemplating my options. I could either go with a more modern motor/trans/rear or try and salvage this one. If I'm going to have to drop a ton on money into the drive train, I think I would like to get me some more horses under the hood. I'm just going to have to do some shopping arond and see whats out there.

Any one know how big of a job it would be to swap drive trains with say a 318ish set up?

[Dave72dt]

Big job! All drive train swaps are big jobs. Nothing just bolts in. Quite a few different combinations have been posted. 318 family engines will usually mean some firewall rework. Volare clips, Dakota frame swaps, some Chevy powered, a Corvette suspended and powered pickup, Hemi transplant, some BBs, T-5 trans swaps, rear diff swaps. Eastwood Company is doing a S-10 frame swap.

Some posts on some performance items for the factory 6 cyl. All have been done and a search will take you to a lot of them. All doable, all require some welding and fabrication skills or access to them.

I've got a 318, 727 trans and Ford 8" rear in a modified factory frame, M II suspension with rack and pinion. If you want to go the route I did, I can give you more specifics on what I did, bearing in mind there are other ways to get to the same place.

[Dan Babb]

I can confirm that it's a lot of work to do an engine swap.

You wind up losing that cross-member that the trans mounts too (and look where your pedals and master cylinder are now mounted), so you not only have to fabricate new engine mounts, but you need to come up with a new solution for your pedals and brake system.

I had to move my radiator forward (since I didn't want to cut the firewall), so that took some figuring out too.

If you want a good driver, you can boost the power by shaving the head a bit to bump up the compression and looking into a dual carb / dual exhaust setup on your stock 6 cylinder.

I honestly think it would have been easier for me to figure out how to run a turbo setup on the Dodge straight 6 (and putting in a stronger transmission) instead of doing the Hemi swap.

[Young Ed]

How about going with something like this? This is the engine for my project 40 plymouth pickup with a T5 5spd with OD attached. Sadly this is as far as I've gotten so far though.