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Posted by Paul Cook in Kempner, TX on Friday, January 23, 2009 at 15:16:55 :
Quick Note: Some of you know my son Steve. Yesterday afternoon he returned from his second tour in Iraq - this one 15 months.
Back to Power Wagons...
I doubt that many of you started playing with the fantastic Chrysler Corporation flat head six cylinder engines before I did.
In 1958, when it became clear that we would never see 19 cents a gallon gasoline prices again, I replaced my flat head, straight eight 1949 Chrysler New Yorker with a 1950 Plymouth. It had the 218 cubic inch displacement engine that was "stroked" to 230 cubic inches for the Dodges.
To help it along, I added a split exhaust manifold and a Mallory dual point distributor. I also bought a dual carb intake manifold and a pair of "matched" Stromberg 97's. I was in the middle of installing the new set up when I discovered the manifod was for a 251 cubic inch flat head six. That was the day I learned about the Desoto - Chrysler six.
Al Gore had not invented the internet yet so I had no luck finding a suitable intake manifold. I did get my money out of the manifold and carbs by selling that set up to a local stock car racer. Hudson wasn't the only in line six that turned left real fast.
My old 218 would not beat any of the new OHV V-8's, but it could get away from most of the local kids who were "foxing" (ask your dad about "foxing").
And the 218 went through a clutch or two. The fix was to rebuild the clutch using the optional taxi cab disc and pressure plate - the only MOPAR performance part available for a Plymouth back then.
Here's the repair ticket for the clutch rebuild with the taxi cab clutch.
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