Found my camshaft! - Pulling motor on 1948 Dodge.

[Bryan]

Going to pull my 1948 Dodge's motor (1949 Plymouth replacement) to either get it overhauled or  overhaul another Dodge motor that I have (car's in the woods).   Using discussions from the forum to keep me from screwing stuff up. Learned about sliding the hood halves forward from the middle section, and that the front hood mount is taller than the rear.   Bagging and labeling all the bolts and screws. Got to take the passenger fender off..probably will do both and clean up everything.  Has original interior.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Bryan
too many "anothers"

[Doug&Deb]

That interior is awesome. I’m in the process of tearing down an engine and rebuilding it myself. Like you I’ll lean on the expertise on this forum.

[Sniper]

Oh the snowball will roll.  You'll want to clean up those rusty headlight buckets and paint them, then you see something else that needs taken care of "while you are there" and on and on, lol.  I am there too.

 

 

[knuckleharley]

I am loving the hell out of that interior!

[Dodgeb4ya]

The original 1948 Dodge engine is a 230 ci compared to the smaller 1949 218 ci. Plymouth engine...

Your 1949 Pymouth engine must have a eight bolt crankshaft for the Dodge Fluid Drive coupling which needs a eight bolt crankshaft.

....so most likely your Plymouth engine is already the longer stroke 230!

A  stock 1949 Plymouth 218 engine has four bolt crankshaft flange and a 4-3/8" stroke crank.

Plymouth's don't have the FD coupling, just a four bolt flywheel and 3 speed trans. The Dodge uses the FD coupling and 3 speed trans.

The Dodge 230 engine has a 4-5/8" stroke and eight bolt flange.

When you rebuild the engine this info is good to know.?

[keithb7]

Wow that interior is fantastic. 

 

Great expertise  @Dodgeb4ya. Thanks for keeping us all straightened out. 
 

Just last night I started preliminary steps to reassemble my engine. I chased all threads. Mounted flange on new camshaft. Scrubbed down the top deck.  Started rounding up parts that I ordered all last winter & spring. Pleasantly surprised to find everything is new, and already here in my stash.  Getting old is wonderful. We can rediscover things we forgot we did! Lol. 
 

I am learning about rebuilding flatheads as I go along too. I plan to post my progress on my You Tube channel, if anyone wants to follow along. Maybe I’ll start a thread here too. I’ll certainly have some questions. 
 

I’m not planning to share every step of my engine reassembly on YT. Others before me have done so, many times. I was thinking of discussing other interesting little technical details, and my own perspective along the way. 
 

My engine is a 25” length  block. 3 1/4” stroke. We necked them down to 3 3/8” bore up here in Canada. Netting 228 ci. I had it bored over to 3 7/16”, standard bore. Now netting me a stock sized Desoto 237 ci engine. 

There are tons of helpful people here. You’ve got a silent army in waiting to answer your every question. No matter how trivial. 
 

I too will be asking many questions. 
 

Good luck no matter what you decide is the right path for your engine. 

[Dodgeb4ya]

Just remember though..I know nothing of Canadian manufacture...?

[Art Bailey]

Let me be the 4th or 5th person to say...holy wow, that interior! The seats in my '48 Desoto are a decent reupholstery job, probably dating from the late 50s, judging by the gold and brown burlap, but I really lust after the original pinstripe broadcloth. Congrats, man. The woodgrain looks amazing, too. 

 

This place is a fantastic resource, I've been bailed out of trouble many times by the good folks here. Looking forward to seeing your progress, keep us updated!

 

Not that you won't be getting this thing knocked out in record time, but be aware that masking tape has a tendency to dry out and crumble over time. Certain ballpoint inks fade pretty badly, too. I scrawl all my important info on scraps of paper with a Sharpie, and stick them in the bag. 

[Norax1955]

LOL, let me be about the 100th person to say that interior is AMAZING! You have got yourself a wonderful piece of history ?

[Bryan]

The only bad places on the interior are a few scattered moth holes which I stopped 10 years ago by keeping a bag of mothballs on the floor, and the drivers armrest.  Also the paint on the driver door trim is bad.   Some damages to dash knobs which I'm replacing.. guy left his grandson in the car in the 60s with the standard cigarette lighter..see the steering wheel emblem.

[Bryan]

Underneath isn't terrible but still needs derusting..

[Bryan]

My pictures broke up the text. Isn't terrible underneath, but while I'm waiting for overhaul will work on the rust, then install new tank (already bought), fuel lines, brakes & lines, etc.   This will be a driver and not a show car, so remove rust and rust reformer underneath. Will keep original where possible..cloth covered wires.

[Art Bailey]

OK, now you're really rubbing it in with that steering wheel ? Mine is cracked, missing hunks and smells like vomit.

 

I'm on the fence about cloth covered wiring. So much of it isn't even visible, and even under the hood, most of it is wrapped in some kind of vinyl tape--it's original, but just looks like someone went nuts with a roll of Scotch electrical tape. It'd be a lot quicker to just get one of those Painless wire looms, and hit the road. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by ratbailey

[later]

Many years ago I purchased a packet on body info that may help. You can (with help) remove both fenders and grill as one unit to ease access to the motor bay. Hope this helps.

Front clip removal and install.pdf

[Bryan]

Can anyone recommend a good YouTube video for removing the engine?   Seems enough videos for rebuilding a flathead.  Also getting to feel like the shop manual I have  doesn't have enough detail and pictures.    

[Bryan]

More work today...found the  hidden large studs that hold the rear of the fender on.  Someone at factory left a large scribble. And yep, inside of fenders are gray, bottom of pan is green.  Confused why wheels are so dark a green, rest of car is lighter.  Going to need fender rubber strips and motor mounts..

[tom'sB2B]

I would have advised to pull the front clip, but it looks like you're headed that way. Much easier to pull the engine that way. I also dropped the tranny and removed the seat and front floor panel to access clutch and trans linkage.

[Dodgeb4ya]

I have always left the clip on and just used a good old school Bluebird engine hoist with a tilt bar on all the 30's 40's 50's MoPars...fast and easy.

[tom'sB2B]

I agree. Not necessary. I ended up pulling the front clip to clean-up the frame, etc. ..Snowball. Makes it easier going in.

[Bryan]

Hate to sound dumb but I don't know what a front clip is.  Two things are driving me to take all the fenders, pans, small parts etc. off. One is I could only get the engine hoist to the side of the car, and had to take one fender off to reach the center above engine. Other is that there's a lot of rusty parts up front and I might as well derust and paint..side panels, cowl, horns, pan, everything while the engine is being overhauled.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Seems now days engine hoists are 2/3 the size of the older hoists.

Probably sized for Honda/Toyota engines.

That might be the reason for having to disassemble the dog house.

[Bryan]

Another thing is I've never done this before. Figured with all the parts off if I drop the motor will be less damage.

[Bryan]

Here it is...harbor freight 2 ton in too short of a garage.

[LazyK]

14 minutes ago, Bryan said:

Hate to sound dumb but I don't know what a front clip is.  Two things are driving me to take all the fenders, pans, small parts etc. off.

Front clip / dog house is the front fenders, inner fenders, hood, all the body parts in front of the firewall/windshield

[knuckleharley]

1 hour ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

Seems now days engine hoists are 2/3 the size of the older hoists.

Probably sized for Honda/Toyota engines.

That might be the reason for having to disassemble the dog house.

Go to your local Harbor Freight store and look over their selection. Last time I was in one,they had several different sizes,and all were priced reasonably.