218ci rebuild pistons

[Mike c]

Hello

 

Im rebuilding my 1949 Plymouth special deluxe 218 where’s the best place to get the parts? dose anyone know what the biggest piston I can put in it? And dose anyone know of a supercharger for sale that would go on it? And any idea if I have to put in a decomp plate? 

 

Thanks 

[Plymouthy Adams]

number of sources for parts. Terrill Machine shop, some use  VPW, sources on the e-bay if you know what you need up front size wise....as for  biggest  you can go...for the minor increase in going closest smallest bore to finish the cylinder to max bore is not worth the waste of the metal against any future rebuild should you suffer a broken ring or sort down the road.   It is false economy just to go max because one can.

[Andydodge]

The biggest standard overbore I've seen is 60 thou.............better to get the engine measured up to see what it actually needs.........as far as superchargers go there are quite a few being put on factory engines now, maybe try some of the small Japanese buzz boxes for something that maybe suitable.......as for a decompression plate, as our mopars had a maximium of 8:1 in the late 50's and I think the 1949 engine was about 6.5:1 I wouldn't think there would be a problem nor a need for a decompression plate.........the main thing I'd be doing was ensuring that the oil pump was up to specs, as well as a an upgraded ignition and while you have the engine being torn down getting it balanced.................but there are some nice looking engines with a finned head, twin carbs and spilt exhaust/headers.......search on here for John Edges' wagon .......a blower would be nice but might be a bit fiddly to instal due to the belt/s needed...........regards from Oz............andyd  

[JOHN EDGE]

[Mike c]

Thank you everyone for your advice i took the engine apart yesterday and found a lot wrong in the bottom end. John is that the engine in your looks very nice have you put an oil cooler on it to? 

[Mike c]

[Andydodge]

Mike.........normal?.........err.......no.............lol...........tho' your cars engine maybe one of the special Nascar versions that came with pistons without skirts and a special way to view the little end & gudgeon pin........lol...........or maybe not.............lol..........I've seen piston/ring sets on ebay pretty regularly...........first off tho, whats the rest of the engine like? .....has that piston scored the bore, any lip at the top of the bore?.........best to pull the engine apart and measure everything up, ideally if it needs a hone/bore then maybe get the machine shop to source the pistons & rings to suit.........how are the bearings, timing chain, lifters & cam?...........when I was collecting parts for the 230 engine I was going to install in the 41 Coupe I had I found that due to these engines being used over a wide time frame, ie late 30's thru to 1959 in cars and later still in industrial applications, that it was worthwhile when checking ebay to search over different years as sometimes things were listed that would fit my engine which although was a 230 was from an airport tug, BUT was essentially the same as a car 230 so I chased up lifters, bearings, oil pump, timing gears & chain from various places world wide, including the USA and believe it or not........Turkey as there had been a Chrysler Distribution Centre there and a large number of genuine Mopar parts were being listed by guys there at less than half the US prices and were NOS in original boxes........anyway I hope the rest of the engine is in better shape than that pic........lol........BTW..this was a mock up of the engine I was building, ended up selling the car & engine before finished like a dope......lol......regards, Andy Douglas