I have a lead on a '59 Dodge car, what engine could be in this car? Is there a digit in the vin that could tell me? Are there good websites for Dodge info for this year? Thanks!
Body tag (not the VIN tag) will tell you if it's 6 or 8, the MD1 is 6, MD2 and MD3 are V8. Engines were 230 flathead 6, 326 poly V8 (distributor in rear), 361 or 383 "big block" V8 (distributor in front). (note: this is for American built cars, I dont' know if they had different stuff available in Canada) forwardlook.net is a good starting point
poly is the opposite of hemi, sort of. Polysphere, not hemisphere. Polysphere just means "weird shaped". They tried to put a fancy name on a (relatively) ****py design, it's the low cost way to make an engine using some parts that are used in the hemi engine, such as the block.
What is a Poly? I'm the webmaster at the Polyspherical Engine ***ociation. http://www.geocities.com/polyman64 There's a bunch of info there. Feel free to ask around in the Poly Yahoo Group http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/318poly/ or the Poly Forum http://www.diamondbackengines.com/forums/index.php/board,6.0.html There's also a list of hard-to-find parts and their vendors on the ***ociation's site. Yeah, it could have a Red Ram, or maybe a 383, but as it was the 1st year that they started stuffing EVERYTHING with a 318 Poly, it's likely one of those. Hell, it became their bread & ****er, go-to V8 until '66. ~Jason
The VIN looks like this: And it's located on the left front door hinge. Here's how to decode it: http://www.maxwedge.com/years/1959dodge.html Here's a page on the '58 model year: http://www.allpar.com/old/coronet.html
The Jalopy Journal
