Hey guys… I just picked up a complete 1935 Plymouth flathead 6 and 3 spd trans. This will be going into my boat-tail speedster. Some quick measurements looks like it should just fit. Is anyone running one of these motors in their roadsters? Looks like double the horsepower of a stock model a motor and close to the same weight. Any pros and cons?
I don't know, the whole thing looks like a lot of trouble. I'll come around and haul it away so you don't have to deal with all the headache and heartbreak.
Over here in New Zealand, back in the 60 & 70's, those flat 6's were used a lot in boats and speedway ''stock cars''.
The Chrysler corp used basically the same flathead 6 (in two different length block formations) in their cars and trucks in nearly all of their divisions, from the early 30s up through the late 50s. Then the motors showed up in several farm and industrial applications for years after that. The motors are very solid and repair or rebuild parts are still easy to find. Newer versions have higher compression, larger bores, and a few oiling improvements over the older versions. It would look right at home in that boat tail speedster.
Cool build. I have a 23” 201 in my “new” ‘40 Plymouth and have only heard good things about these engines.
What's the history on the speedster? Looks like it was very well built at one time, was it burned, or just stored for decades?
Unfortunately it was in a garage fire a few years ago… then stored outside. It’s a mess but I’m going to save her.
The only issue might be engine length. You have to have room for those two extra cylinders. Plus you need at least the front half of the driveshaft to be able to match up with the U joint.
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