41 Plymouth SB Mopar Engine Swap

It might.........but you may not have room for the radiator either. How do the blocks compare in total length. Is the water pump shorter? All of that has to be taken into consideration. The best way to know is to take the front clip off, position the engine in the frame as best you can with a cherry picker and put the radiator mounting frame in place. Then you can see.

Also, make sure the distributor clears and make sure you know how you are going to do your steering and how that will affect your exhaust, etc. etc. There is a lot to consider.

 

On my '47 with the regular LA 318 I just had to give the firewall a smack on a big pry bar with a 3 lb hammer for the slight dent needed with the engine almost in place. Moved the radiator forward with X bars bolted to the radiator & the panels on either side that funnel air into the radiator.

 

cool build thread, just gave it 5 stars! keep it up.

 

I used one of those plastic teardrop mallets to do mine. A friend who has done this for years was impressed with my final result.

 

...alot of us are impressed with the results you are showing!

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If you look closely at the passengers side you can see my firewall dimple Don"t even notice it when the engine is in place

 

I must have mine back a little further. My dimple is bigger than that. I wanted to make darn sure I could get the valve cover off, too.

 

Finally got back to work on the 41 this weekend. Got the electric locks installed last weekend. So, the doors are finished for now.

This weekend's big project was modding the old steering column to hook up to the R&P. I am really proud of how that worked out. I am saving the pics for the tech thread March 1.

Also bead blasted and installed the dash and the cowl vent and linkage. Next up is the windshield wipers. I've got to get everything under the dash installed so that I can measure for the air conditioning unit, order it and install it.

 

Great to see you're progressing well. Any pictures are always more than welcome.

 

Awesome thread... Subscribed...

 

I've been working on the steering column and the seats. You can't hardly do one without the other.

First, I discovered that people were a lot smaller back in 1941. The seat position did not accomodate my 6' 2" frame and there was plenty of room in the cockpit. So, I made a set of adapters that move the seats back 2 1/2". That's about perfect for me.

I made the adapters out of a piece of 4" X 1/4" flat bar that I cut out, drilled and tapped to fit. It's pretty straightforward. See pics.

I have a dilemma, however. I want to use the stock seats for the appearance but they sit like crap. I know the springs are worn out but they sink about 4" when I sit on them. This is about the correct seat height but not very comfortable. If I rebuild the seats with new coils, it will sit higher and be very expensive. Please give me some ideas on how to accomplish this. Can I buy some "no sag" springs and build a frame to fit within my frame? Anyone done this?

 

Also, I shortened my steering column and got it ready to mate up to the R&P. This was a challenge and I'm not done with mating it up yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me, as Borgeson is making a second shipment of parts. Hopefully, this attempt will work.

The steering column was pretty straighforward. I took a lot of pictures and am going to do a step by step thread for tech week. Here is the finished product. The final mountion point on the firewall has not been determined yet. That will be determined when I get the joints, now that I have the seat mounted.

 

looks good rock.

 

Rock on Rock! Keep inspiring me

 

No comments or suggestions on how to use my seat frames? Who makes a good bench seat that looks "old school"?

 

Got my frame from Bowens. It's not old school, but I'm sure it depends on what you cover it with in order to get the old look.......

 

Are your springs in your seats really worn out? Or are they just not tied together properly and a few broken, thus uncomfortable and saggy? I think you can repair the spring base of an older seat, I saw a detailed writeup one time on another site (webrodder? hotrodders?) of how to repair the springs. The springs all have to be tied together and work as a unit.

Failing that I'd try to find something like a back seat from a newer high-end small SUV and see how it is made, see if the guts would fit in your seats. But first I'd see about rehabbing yours.

 

Rock,
I spent several hours rebuilding the bottom spring base in my 39 Plymouth. Repaired or replaced all the broken coils, tied the whole deal together, covered it with a heavy fabric material to hold everything tight, put a 1" foam on top of that and recovered with a replacement seat cover. It looked great, but it was still springy. My butt settled down in it and it was soft and cushy, to match the original suspension on this era of car. The seat rode nice (even on long rides), but wasn't worth much for support.

Newer seats have heavier springs encased in shape molded foam. I'm thinking something in the late 70s to mid 80s big car (Caddy, big Olds, big Ford, Mercury, or Lincoln, or big Chrysler) are about the only thing that will come close to fitting in your bottom seat frame. Maybe you could go sofa hunting? I ended up putting a newer seat in my 39, and my 48 has a bench seat out of a Dakota in it that is almost perfect width. Gene

 

Thanks, Gene. You confirmed my suspicions on using the old spring frames. That is out for good, now.

 

over on the P/15 D/24 site a guy used a K car bench seat width was perfect,,and looked correct,,

 

I tried a k car seat in mine, didn't like the look and it was a tad too wide.
I'll probably end up building a seat frame and making a real "old school" looking seat. My car has a cage etc but I still like a certain look, and the seat is a big part of the interior.....

I want to see what you end up doing!

 

Check out this thread on P15-D24 as was mentioned above.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=24250&highlight=aries

 

I am looking at Wiseguys seats. They make a seat that looks pretty good for fat rendered cars. http://www.wiseguys-seats.com/catalog_home.html

 

Can you tell me what you used for front shocks? I have to modify my top bracket as you did.

 

Ok. I had some anxious moments this morning when I realized that my newest steering linkage was not going to work. So, I did what I've learned to do - I walked away from it for a while and worked on my seats. I'm working on a way to use the original frames and not use the spring base. I've about got all that worked out, happily,

Towards the end of the day, I took a couple more looks and finally figured out how to work out the details on my steering linkage. I will have to make my steering column a "shorty" type to make it all work out but I think that will work out fine. I'll post pics after I get it done.

Damn, I hope Borgeson accepts returns because I've got a bunch of stuff to return.

 

I posted a couple of column/ R&P pics on your column thread.. if you haven't seen them, have a look. My '38 Chrysler can't be that different.

 

Hey Rock, As far as your seats go, I used the stock base in my '48 and set a seat from a pre '97 Dodge Dakota in the original base. MUCH improvement! I have spent some damned long days in the saddle in that car driving across country, and with the original seat my aready beat to death back was junk after about 400 miles. And that was with the seat completely rebuilt and trimmed in white vinyl. It was nice... Since the Dakota swap, I have spent a couple 24 hour shifts driving in my car without issue.

The Dakota seat fits the base pretty easily with just a couple of brackets made to fit, and it looks pretty good. I have saved the backs from the originals and plan to joint them in the center and cover them to retain the original look.

 

Pictures?

 

Today, I worked out my steering problems.......I hope. I will have to shorten the steering column again after I get my seats situated. I want to make sure I've got the right length based on my sitting position.

I duplicated the original steering column angle and worked up all the mounts to make my steering column a "shorty" mount. I'm not in love with it but it's the only really decent way to accomplish this.

I made up a mount of 2" x 1/2" channel that extends from the dash to the firewall and a firewall mount. Then, I fabricated a drop from 3" X 1/8" flat bar and got that like I wanted it. Lastly, I welded on a piece of 1" X 1/4" flat bar to stiffen up the whole arrangement and tied it into the center dash support. It is very stiff. I'd have not problem pulling myself up by the steering wheel if I needed to.

I don't have a lot of clearance around the starter motor still. Which way does the engine rock when it's under torque?

This arrangement does not get in the way of my feet and I think it will not be very noticeable when you open the door and look at it from ride height.

 

Also, while I was cooling off on Saturday morning, I worked on my seats. I think I've come up with an arrangement that will work out well. I build a template out of 1/2" some cheap ass chinese plywood that I had lying around for the seat backs.

The seat backs have to clip onto some brackets that are welded to the top of the frame and then they have to be screwed down at the bottom, so they won't fall off. I took some 1" tubing and fabbed up some upper and lower mounts, then pop riveted the plywood to it. After I drill some holes in the plywood, the foam can then be glued to the plywood and upholstered.

I will also make a bottom base out of 3/4" plywood. I think this will work out well and still look like the original seat frames.