Hello all! Newer member here, first time posting. I recently picked up a 41 Plymouth Deluxe and am searching for some advice on how to proceed. It has the 201 flathead 6 in it now and while i might be able to get that running without too much trouble i am worried that it might not be enough for my needs. I have a 225 slant 6 and 833OD transmission that i am considering putting in. I havent had much luck finding anyone that has done this though. Does anyone out there have any experience with this? Oh and included are some pics of the plymouth to whet everyones appe***e. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
In my opinion your getting ahead of yourself. Get it running. Make sure the brakes are up to snuff. Drive it, work the bugs out. Go from there. Welcome.
The slanty would be a cool power plant for that car if you can't get the flatty working. I would try to stay kinda original if it were mine.
Yeah, I'm going to give the flathead a shot first. But I also want to have a backup plan. As far as the brakes go I am hoping to bolt up a jeep xj rear that I have and convert the front to disc's. Everything I've read said that the brakes ****ed on the best of days. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
nice Plymouth! Just my .02c,but I'd go with the other guys. Those mopar flat 6's ain't bad engines & there's still plenty of parts for them. They were still getting used in industrial stuff into the 70's. I love slant 6 too but I'd get out the tape measure first I think there's some fanagling to do. Do a search there's lots of good info. If it's a cruiser, you may like that flatty. give it a chance.
Don't know any details but I have a buddy with a 41 Plymouth 2 door. He installed a 225 slant 6 and drives it occasionally.
I would swap in a larger flathead (218/230ci) before swapping in a slant six if you cant get the 201 running. The flathead will drop right in as opposed to the slant six which will be a pain in the *** to fit in that car for very little gain in power. The slant 6 is a bit longer than the original flatty and will require the firewall to be cut, a v8 would most likely be easier to fit vs a slant 6.
I put a slant six in my '35 Plymouth, didn't have to do any cutting or anything else. Set it 3/4 inch from firewall and left about 3 inches between fan and original radiator, centered it up with drive shaft tunnel and fabricated some mounts. also it does have more power than original 6. Its a great swap imho.
Get those brakes sorted out and do a search regarding disc brake options for the front and back. Explorer brakes, as I recall, seem to be a good option, and the parts are everywhere.
Disc conversion, shock top mount relocation. If you decide you want to go faster a rear sump 318 drops in w/o a lot of difficulty
Just as an FYI...the factory brakes are incredible. They have either huge single wheel cylinders or dual wheel cylinders up front. Either set up is leaps and bounds over Chevy or Ford up through the advent of disc brakes. A disc set up would probably be best for your situation but understand that the Mopar drum brake systems are top notch. I put a solid 37,000 miles on my '51 Plymouth, 20,000 on my '54 DeSoto, 8,000 on my '34 Plymouth all with factory systems. I recently purchased a '41 Plymouth Coupe that has disc brakes installed. I plan to remove them and replace them with drums. I may be a strange one but I have always been pleased with their performance. Just my $.02 Best of luck on your build. Oh, one more thing, all of those have flat 6's except the '41 which has a Cadillac 472 and will soon be swapped out for a flatty. 201, 218 and 251. My '51 218 got 26-28 MPGs with an OD. The '34 I installed an A833 and I absolutely love the 201s performance. ******Knuckles
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