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'50 Coronet engine cracked.


librado65

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I recently had my carburetor rebuilt and I installed it back on this weekend.  Well last night as I driving my '50 Coronet home...I heard a loud screech and then a loud boom as smoke started fuming from under the hood. I quickly pulled over as the car was loosing engine power. I got out checked what happened. It was really dark but saw my oil filler tube had exploded off the engine block. The oil filler tube was tangling at the bottom of the engine and the side of my engine was cracked or busted open. 

 

Obviously the 230 engine is not rebuildable. I want to keep the car still original as is. Still 6 volt. Which other engines would be my other options without having to change gyromatic transmission and without having to change rear axle? 

 

Sorry this is my first time blowing up an engine.

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If it were me,I might be wanting to have some words with whoever it was that rebuilt your carb.

 

Sounds to me like there is a POSSIBILITY that whoever rebuild your carb didn't set the float level correctly,and this allowed the base to fill full of gas,possibly causing the explosion that vented your block.

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I was thinking the same as @knuckleharley At very minimum double check that carb before installing on next engine.

 

I had a old beater 1961 dodge sweptline with a slant 6. It's main duty was to collect garbage and drive it to the dump 2 or 3 times a month.

Then later started driving it more since one of the other cars was down.

 

One day wife was driving it down the freeway and heard a explosion ... pulled over thinking she blew a tire .... it was running fine so she took off again.

Later on I looked at it to see what I could find. I had to stand on the fender to pull out the dipstick to check the oil. It literally was 1" shorter and curled up ... I had to straiten it as I pulled it out. It was a crank case explosion from a leaky carb.

 

As a 25 year old kid with a family, I put on a junk yard carb, changed the oil and replaced the dip stick ... drove it a couple more years.

I suspect you had the same thing happen, except yours destroyed the engine.

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6 minutes ago, Sniper said:

French Lake Auto shows two 1950 Dodge 230's for sale, $200 each as rebuildable cores.

 

http://www.frenchlakeautoparts.com/search.htm

 

I bought a 52 Dodge 230 from them for my hot rod engine, it cost me $500 delivered.

 

 

200 bucks for a rebuildable core sounds like a DEAL to me. It ain't like there are that many of them left floating around to buy anymore,thanks to zoning laws and crushing for cash.

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6 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

I was thinking the same as @knuckleharley At very minimum double check that carb before installing on next engine.

 

I had a old beater 1961 dodge sweptline with a slant 6. It's main duty was to collect garbage and drive it to the dump 2 or 3 times a month.

Then later started driving it more since one of the other cars was down.

 

One day wife was driving it down the freeway and heard a explosion ... pulled over thinking she blew a tire .... it was running fine so she took off again.

Later on I looked at it to see what I could find. I had to stand on the fender to pull out the dipstick to check the oil. It literally was 1" shorter and curled up ... I had to straiten it as I pulled it out. It was a crank case explosion from a leaky carb.

 

As a 25 year old kid with a family, I put on a junk yard carb, changed the oil and replaced the dip stick ... drove it a couple more years.

I suspect you had the same thing happen, except yours destroyed the engine.

There just ain't no beathing the old Mopar slant 6's. If there has EVER been a more reliable gasoline engine,I have never heard of it.

I have always thought that if there had ever been a Mopar slant 6 diesel engine,it would have taken dynamite to kill it.

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Or maybe the faulty carb overflowed draining fuel into the crankcase until the oil was diluted enough to cause a rod bearing to seize and the remains of the connecting rod ventilated the case. In any case, a very unfortunate demise of a running engine.

Edited by Sam Buchanan
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20 minutes ago, Sam Buchanan said:

Or maybe the faulty carb overflowed draining fuel into the crankcase until the oil was diluted enough to cause a rod bearing to seize and the remains of the connecting rod ventilated the case. In any case, a very unfortunate demise of a running engine.

'

That sounds more reasonable.  I noticed that the oil filler cap is still on the tube.  VERY unlikely that there was a crankcase explosion that didn't blow that off yet damaged the cast iron block.  Much more likely that a rod became a hammer due to another failure.

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That would be a pretty serious leak to get into the crankcase, the liquid gasoline would have to travel up the intake port.  More likely it hydrolocked the piston than wiped the bearings but bad news nonetheless. 

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Even possible it was the carb causing the issue before it was rebuilt .... Now it is fine.

Did @librado65 change the oil while getting the carb rebuilt?

 

Why I am not so quick to jump on the re-builder of the carb. I certainly suggest to inspect it closely.

I think this is a learning experience in life. Lucky I learned on a old truck worth $200 at the time.

Loss of the engine on a old classic like this sucks. And not cheap.

 

@Sniper may be correct here. 

Another example just 2 days ago. I wanted to use my new pressure washer, worked fine last time I put it away. Now wont start, either makes no difference so I think it is spark issue ... it sounds clunky. I check the spark plug and just saturated.I pull the cord to turn it over and liquid sprays out of the plug hole.   I pull the dip stick and the crank case oil just pours out all over the driveway.

I simply forgot to turn off the fuel supply on the gravity feed tank and filled the engine with gas.

I finally got it started yesterday and used it a few times, it seems to be ok.  Was a real job to get it started again.

 

Some people may have never ran into this issue before. Sometimes is easy to point fingers, when you may actually be the blame yourself.

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Sniper said:

French Lake Auto shows two 1950 Dodge 230's for sale, $200 each as rebuildable cores.

 

http://www.frenchlakeautoparts.com/search.htm

 

I bought a 52 Dodge 230 from them for my hot rod engine, it cost me $500 delivered.

 

 

I clicked on the website and searched and it they don't appear in results. 

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When I was looking for a 230 for my Plymouth I found one in a Dodge that had been sitting in a rural wrecking yard for 30 years.  Bought it and took it home, expecting a fairly original motor.  Got a big surprise when it turned out to be a very worn out .060" over motor.  I had to jump through some hoops to come up with a workable piston setup, I eventually had some forged pistons custom made with a modern ring set from a Toyota.  As far as I know it's still running, even though it was built about 15 years ago. 

 

So it might be a good idea to find out what size and condition the bore is on any core.

 

Marty

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2 hours ago, martybose said:

When I was looking for a 230 for my Plymouth I found one in a Dodge that had been sitting in a rural wrecking yard for 30 years.  Bought it and took it home, expecting a fairly original motor.  Got a big surprise when it turned out to be a very worn out .060" over motor.  I had to jump through some hoops to come up with a workable piston setup, I eventually had some forged pistons custom made with a modern ring set from a Toyota.  As far as I know it's still running, even though it was built about 15 years ago. 

 

So it might be a good idea to find out what size and condition the bore is on any core.

 

Marty

 

this is what an old friend was telling me this evening...buying a motor as a novice especially one that is not currently running and not having a clue what youre doing (myself).  yikes

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Does anybody know if the 230 engine of all years would be interchangable with my gyromatic tranmission? Sorry for novice question, Im just trying to figure out how to keep car as stock as possible. A friend is saying to throw a small block mopar but I dont want to go opening a whole new can of worms that I dont have the experience for and I just want to drive this back up again before the end of the year. Ive learned my lesson with project cars in the past...you start changing things and it becomes a never ending process.

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11 minutes ago, librado65 said:

Does anybody know if the 230 engine of all years would be interchangable with my gyromatic tranmission? Sorry for novice question, Im just trying to figure out how to keep car as stock as possible. A friend is saying to throw a small block mopar but I dont want to go opening a whole new can of worms that I dont have the experience for and I just want to drive this back up again before the end of the year. Ive learned my lesson with project cars in the past...you start changing things and it becomes a never ending process.

I believe any 218 or 230 block will work.  There are two heads for external or internal coolant thermostat bypass, but either will work with its matching block.  The crankshaft for the fluid drive units use 8 bolts.  Not all are drilled for all 8 so you will need to check that.  I'll dig into my old Hollander and if I find more info I'll post a followup.

 

I'm using a '56 Plymouth 230 in my 56 Dodge PU and the Plymouth has an 8 bolt crank flange, so they are not exclusive to fluid drives. BTW, my truck currently has a 50 plymouth 218, so the interchange is very broad.

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Any 8 bolt crankshaft 230 from 1946- 54 should work fine.

Accessories, oil pan and manifolds possibly might need swapping.

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Weren't there some of the flatheads that had oil passages cast into the block, which exited the rear of the block and connected to oil passages that were cast into the front of the transmission, or something like that?  I seem to remember someone bringing up something like this.  I just want to mention this, in case the original poster has to get this kind of block.  Not trying to add confusion to the situation, but just trying to make sure it's not overlooked - if it's even relevant.

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1953/54 dodge had the optional Gyro Torque optional torque converter with the M-6 transmission.

Yes there are a couple oil passage ways that need to be plugged with pipe plugs for use with out the optional torque converter.

Std Fluid Drive coupling and the M-6 

Would require the plugs.

Gyro Torque Drive on a Dodge six is not real common to see.

 

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There's a guy about 3hrs away from me here in Florida who messaged me some pictures of an engine he has laying around in his shop. He doesn't know much about it other than its the 25" style flathead he says...I asked him to get the engine number so I'll wait and see. Anybody have any clue or some sort of an idea on his engine and if it will work in my setup?

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Looks identical to the 251 cubic inch 1951 DeSoto engine I have sitting on the floor of my shop. I bought it to put in my 41 Dodge coupe.

Edited by knuckleharley
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26 minutes ago, kencombs said:

If one can believe the head and block are a matched pair, it is a 251 out of a Chrysler.  Year unimportant.

Correct head or not,it's a 25 inch 251 engine.

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