Anyone knowledgeable about the 50's Flat Six motors in Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth vehicles? Any performance parts or stock interchange "upgrades" out there?
there are a few guys on here doing flathead six Mopars. Mine is internally stock right now, has an Offy dual intake with Carter B&B's, and a split exhaust. I have a custom grind cam for it, and an Edgy finned aluminum head. I missed two auctions a week or so ago on Ebay for drop in dual point conversions. try www.inliners.org as well.
This is for a friend's truck with the stock 230. He wants to keep the stock motor but with some solid upgrades to add power and reliability...just curious what's out there.
Jeremy...Good post as I MAY keep the six in that '48 I've got in Austin. I might stop in this week on my way back from Houston.
Here's mine... A '50 Plymouth 218 converted to a 230 with NOS 230 crank and rods, bored .030" over, for a total of 235 cu in's. 3/4 cam, mini GM HEI ignition, Edmunds dual intake with a pair of Holly/Webber carbs, Langdon tube headers, Edgy finned head with 9:1 compression. I put 3500 miles on it this summer, and I still can't believe how good it runs. Click the link in my sig for more pics and info, sound clips, driving clips, etc. Check out the suppliers page on my site for where I found the speed stuff. Pete
Tom has headers, intakes, carbs and HEI dists for the 218, 230 flatheads: www.stoveboltengineco.com E bay has aluminum heads occ***ionally.
Best thing you can do from a reliability standpoint is have the crank crossdrilled. Often, becaus ethe pump is in the middle, the first and last rods can starve for oil, and when you do spin a bearing, it is usually one of these two. I know I spun the #6 rod bearing. This is especially important when the RPMs climb up. Grinding valve reliefs in the block like you would on a Ford is absolutly worthless on a Mopar, so don't worry about that. For a stock appearing head, the '59 car head is the best performer. The chamber is shifted slightly unshrouding the valves a bit. There is also a way to convert from a byp*** filter to a full flow filter, but I don't remember the specifics. I know tractor pullers still use them, and they tell me they respond very well to turbocharging. Thats the plan for mine when I have the time and money. They are very durable motors. The motor I got for the crank was still running with 1/3 of a piston missing. Be careful if you need to have a crank turned. they tend to go soft between .020 and .030, and its not consistant from crank to crank.
I have a '50 Dodge PU that I'm planning on pulling the stock motor out of. It was running when parked. It has a fluid drive standard trans that I'll be gettin' rid of too. There are some misc. engine parts too......all cheap