I have a '37 Cadillac with the stock engine and really like it so I would not mind having a hot rod with a flat Cad motor. A while ago I picked up a '42 block with crank, rods, pistons and cam But it has nothing else in it. Also #1 rod spun a bearing and the camshaft is wiped, but the block looks good. Now I'm looking at a '39 322 LaSalle motor and what I'm thinking is to use the 346 block, and pistons with the 322 crank, cam, lifters, valves etc... I have a parts book and have been looking at parts numbers, everything looks good but there are different numbers for the crankshaft, rods and lifters. The lifters I think will interchange, I understand they just redesigned them a couple of times and as long as you use the complete****y, you are good. The rods look like they just use a different bolt for the cap as the book lists the bolt for the '39 322 as 7/16" and the bolt for the '42 346 as 15/32" so the 346 bolt is just 1/32" larger... I'm thinking it is just a little larger shank to line up the cap and rod. Thoughts. Both rods take the same bearings on both ends. This brings me to the crankshaft, The bearings are the same for both, so I'm thinking they made some changes to the rear seal area. Do you know anything about this? Any other things that would prevent me from swaping all the 322 parts into the 346 block using the 346 pistons? Also I will be short a water pump and the dist tower and the dist drive shaft that runs in that tower. any leads on those parts would be a big help. Thanks for any input,
You will need to do more research but IIRC, the main diff is the bore. And the Caddy used a harmonic damper while the LaSalle just used a front pulley. Watching!
Bird man, thanks for the input. I have also found that the damper is even different depending on if the car had a Hydromatic or manual trans, I guess for balance, vibration reduction. And believe it or not, the wrist pins are different on Hydro equipped cars, they are thicker so heavier, also I guess for some type of balance. These things would probably be ok as long as all the parts used are the same. But the main thing I have run into is the rods and pistons, Motor Manual says the wrist pins for '42 are hand push in, while the ones up to '41 you have to heat the pistons to remove/ install the pins. The parts book says the pistons, pins and rods are different for '42. Different even for the 346 motors up to '41. But the pin bushings in the rods are the same part umber. And while my '42 motor has a spun rod bearing, I will need a '42 rod. Or use all 8 of the 322 motor rods.
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