Distributor is a Mallory dual point with tach drive for a Chevy small block. I turned the gears off the end, and shortened the gear section up until the drive tang stuck out about 5/16". I made the adapter tube similar to a hot heads one I borrowed from Jeremy. Mine is just about 1/2" shorter and a tighter fit on the distributor housing. I didn't want to have to use a collar to keep the cam drive gear from walking up and down.
Dude what the hell this build thread is a rollercoaster and I love it. Hemi’s coming out of left field, Jeep parts flying around. It might be low buck to ya, but the game plan behind it is on POINT dude. Killer killer killer work. By the way, those small front tires look perfect.
Thanks @suede55bowtie It's a little helper skelter but that has to do with my "what can I find cheap to make this work" mentality.
My buddy Jeremy dubbed this "Frankenstein pan" the name fits. Rails and front are Desoto, rear sump section is 318 dodge truck , and the baffles are 230 Plymouth flathead. Holds 8 quarts and I have a small baffle to go in front of the pick up.
Well it looks like I need another flywheel. This one had some weird machining done to it and the friction face has been cut out to clear something in the middle by the bolt heads. You can see the line where my finger is where the original friction face ended. Where it is now puts about 3/8" per side of the clutch face in the air. Being that I live on an island I imagine this was a mod for boat shit with a hemi in it. Frigging boats!
Anyone on Vancouver island got a flathead dodge or plymouth flywheel? I had about six of them and gave them all away...... now I need one.
I thought about that Fred. I don't have access to big machines anymore so it will be. A lot harder. I had a sneak peak at your interior the other day. Looks wicked! Love the way your truck looks!
Thank you! I’m pretty stoked about having a finished interior for the first time. I’m going for the 1960s show car feel. How much swing do you need for your flywheel? I have 14x40 gap bed
I did bodywork on my pickups old 48 backing plates when I put the scoops on. Was that perverse? Doesn’t matter now, sold’m to go 2” and self adjusting. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It's all done and painted. I need to find a good rattle can hi-build primer if such a thing exists. Today is set initial timing, install oil pump and pan.
Installed the Frankenstein pan today. FYI jeep dana 30 diff cover bolts are perfect for oil pan bolts. Self locking and integrated washer. But I hit a snag, look like the 354/392 pump shaft is shorter than the Desoto one. So I need to either cut the intermediate shaft down or cut down the oil pump shaft.
I think I am going to cut the Desoto pump shaft down to fit the intermediate shaft. Going to do the play dough length check first, like I should have done first time....
go to Rondex in Nanaimo and pick up some Axalta Spray bomb primer surfacer. I like to say anything in a rattle can is shit but it’s probably the best there is and works good for little jobs.
Getting really tired of playing with engines. Had a few set backs. Most are cleared up. Going to look at a melling m50 pump as my drive tang is a little short on engagement. Did get a really nice set of firedome plug wire covers though! Traded them for a pair of finned air cleaners I made for the plymouth six.
The engine stand is bending under the weight of this beast. So I stuck the jack under the balancer to give it a bit of help. Last thing I need is my engine to go crashing to the floor.
Hemi is in the frame and clearances are pretty good! Even the generator belt will clear the rad hose. Need to make up a 3/8 spacer to move the trans back but that is easy to do.
Thanks @Tim ! It's exciting to put stuff together with the intent of making it run, rather than knowing you are going to have to tear it all apart again.
Yeah I day dream about putting the chassis together for the “final” time. I love photos of a complete chassis waiting for the body to get dropped on. excited to see this inching closer to the road
Ya pretty happy about it. Spent some time this evening making a 1/4" thick spacer to push the trans back from the adapter plate. As it is I don't have any clutch free play, but I still need to do some reshaping on the clutch fork.
So if anyone says cutting down a set of cheap Chinese Chrysler headers to fit a Desoto should be easy you have my permission to kick them in the nuts. 8 hours of die grinding, heating,pie cutting, welding , swearing and beating later I have one header that fits and looks like dog shit. The pics don't do it's horribleness justice. I need to spend a bunch of time cleaning up the weld spatter and polishing. What ever Chinezium alloy these tubes are made of is super hard to grind after it's welded.
The Jalopy Journal
