Vintage Mopar Flathead Engines...Exploring The Bottom End

[@johnmaki3046]

I grew up with the MoPar "flathead 6"! The car that brought me home from the hospital (at birth) was a '41 Plymouth with this motor. My dad traded this (badly) for a '50 Nash Statesman! After a LONG three years with "The Bathtub of Nightmares", he bought a GREAT '50 DeSoto Custom! This car ran for over 20 years! My first car was a '51 Dodge Coronet with the same GREAT MOTOR! The "ol' Flathead may never have been a "ground burner", but it ALWAYS WORKED!

[@dennisdaly907]

Great tutorial! I'm a current caretaker (owner/mechanic/bodyman/painter) for two "Yank" '54 Belvedere 4 door sedans .One is the (early) 217.8 cu in with (soon to be) 3 speed with overdrive. The other, a later-year model with the 230 cu in engine with "Powerflite" automatic. Good luck with yours! Cheers-

[@tombob671]

Thanks for the teaching session. Good call on the hot tank to clean up the block. I have ultimate respect for these old mopar flat sixes. Ultra reliable, made all the torque at low revs. Perfect street engine B/4 the superhighway age. The doggone things always started if you kept them up. Even to -20F .

[@frankdavidson9675]

i read that rpm was around 1600 ---they were used in compressors -welders pumps- you can still find most all the parts today put new rings in my m37 4 yrs ago this an easy to tell if you need rings ---check comp. add small spoon of oil plug hole spin eng now read comp again if comp is higher you need rings if oil does not help you may have valve problem

[@jku72]

I had heard from elders that Dodge flatheads had issues with casting sand left in the blocks right from new. Purely anecdotal but your findings here could support such.

[@perfectworldpat7053]

Hey thanks a ton for these vids. Learned mechanics in early 2000's but never seen a flat head. I just inherited my Great grandfathers 1949 Kaiser special, all original with 26K miles. It has a 226 inline six. The poor thing did 0-80 in 126 seconds brand new, so i am would love to make it fast enough to keep up with commuter traffic. If you know where i could find some manifolds i could update or a way to install over drive, that would be awesome. Thanks again for the great vids!!!

[@martinflanagan2506]

Enjoy your videos, my grandfather was lifelong car enthusiast , he bought a 39 Plymouth new , drove it for 10 years said it was the best car he ever owned. I remember a few 39 Plymouths still daily driven in the early 1970's around Victoria ,they are amazing cars and for what they cost new under $1000 even more remarkable. If you any sort of ridge in the cylinders I would suggest boring oversize and new pistons. A cylinder with a ridge is an out of round cylinder. That is where you were seeing oil smoke on deceleration and big vacuum being created.

[@keithsgarage5831]

Thanks Martin. My '38 Plymouth was sold new in Victoria, BC. It lived its whole life on the island until I brought it to the interior in May 2019...I am planning to bore over.

[@danyawood589]

I removed all plugs including the one on the rear and water pump. I stood it up on end a washed it out. It was amazing how much rust/ dirt was in it…

[@tysongonsorowski8574]

I am going to be rocking my 37 plymouth this next spring. Watching this video kinda makes me wonder what my block is like internally. It also ran good last summer when I bought it. My cars engine is original to the car( original owners wrote down serial number in the owners manual). It's got 83k on it and really judging by dirtiness of block can tell motor has never been apart. I'm really curious how many miles I'll get out of it before something goes. I'll get some videos posted next summer

[@keithsgarage5831]

I look forward to seeing your videos. Good chance you too have lots of rust down low in your block. If the engine isn’t overheating it shouldn’t be the main reason to pull it. I had multiple reasons. Rear crank seal was getting pretty bad. It was burning some oil. Leaking expansion plug. Glad I did pull it as I found a broken piston ring.

[@michaelsweet8327]

Great info! Got a question, I am trying to remove the crank from my 1950 Plymouth P19, but cant figure how to get to the front 2 crank cap bolts. They seem to be partially hidden under the front seal or cover. Any thoughts? Thanks

[@davidkeen5909]

Very good information, where can new parts be purchased? I have 59 Plymouth Savoy, and need a cam shaft, everything else is still available.

[@keithsgarage5831]

I found a my camshaft, brand new NOS original Mopar, on Ebay. Try looking up Vintage Power Wagons wed site. Try them.

[@explorer8888]

Subscribed!

[@jimstrict-998]

The kind of engines that REALLY needed overdrive.

[@LeonardCoviello]

that debris in the block is casting sand. take all the plugs out and hot pressure wash.

[@a075923]

Thanks for the video, I'm looking at a running 49 Plymouth and a non-running 50 Chrysler 8 (only buying one car :) )

[@johnlaforce4421]

Some of it could be casting sand.

[@joseluisramirez4176]

Saludos desde Monterrey nuevo León México

[@keithsgarage5831]

Hola. Gracias.

[@finncampeau4922]

At 10:03 it almost looks like your crank shaft is cracked!

[@keithsgarage5831]

I saw that too and my heart skipped a beat. Upon further inspection it looks like a casting fold. All will be checked properly for cracks. It looks ok so far, to me. We'll see.

[@finncampeau4922]

@@keithsgarage5831 I was shocked too and couldn’t figure it out. But that makes sense.