Unidentified Engine... Anyone Know What This Is?

A better question would be, is it worth having? I believe it is in a Plymouth if I recall correctly...

 

Chrysler Poly head. Nice find

 

Got a couple of Ford flathead V8s laying around I'll probably end up buying for God-knows-what, too. Not to mention the engines in the two 41 Chevys and the flatheads in the half-dozen or more Plymouths. I think I'm becoming an engine hoarder...

 

I know NOTHING about it. Worth snatching? I'd probably just clean it up and try to find it a home.

 

If the Mopar engineers hadn't done the hemispheric heads on those blocks first, the polyspheric heads would be like the '50s Cad/Olds - yer grandparents Mopar rod engines - decent performers, forgotten for years, but making a nostalgia comeback today.

jack vines

 

they are defiantly worth having, the aftermarket support is starting to come around for them.. fun oddball engines...

 

I have one. A 55 Plymouth 259 inch engine. Nothing wrong with being an engine hoarder. In fact it makes me feel good.

 

Mopar polys are a direct result of Hemi's being to expensive to build for the more common chyrsler brands. The heads, and dual rocker shaft set up was costly. So the Polyspheric heads were an out growth of the accounting office slapping the engineers wrists. The engineers had the last laugh as the Polys were nearly as powerffull as their more expensive borthers. Infact some of the poly blocks will accept Hemi heads as a bolt on.

Everything you might need to know about Polys

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/poly.html

 

looks like a 318 wedge ...

 

hemi block with poly heads. Spitfire by name. 301"

 

OHHhhh!! I know that feeling too.

 

It's in a car.

 

Good thread. I wondered what the Poly head engine was. I slipped over to Google to learn more.

 

You don't want that nasty old mopar, where abouts is that ?

 

I love my fellow H.A.M.B.ers, but I can't give away all my little secret spots, now can I? LOL

 

I have family in statesville

 

Ahhhh, my neighbors to the north.

 

Dont know if this is true or not but i recall reading somewhere that a 318 poly motor is basically an LA style 318 block with weird rockers and intake setup. Stuff like water pump, starter, distributor etc all interchange. Can anybody confirm any of that?

 

Be a hoarder. I would drag home every Chevy stovebolt 6 I find if I had a place to keep them...

 

Ah no it is not
First off the Poly "A" series engines came first - 1956 to about 1967.
Then came the "LA" series engines starting in 1964 I think with the 273ci engine and then the 318 340 and finally the 360 ci engines through the late 60's 70's and into the 80's when they morfed into the Magnum engine
There are some parts that interchange like engine bearings, cam bearings some oil pumps however this has been dealt with elsewhere on the HAMB

 

Its a dodge or chrysler poly engine, the Plymouth polys are different.

 

Thats not true. In '55 Plymouth used the same block as Dodge. But at 259 CID. A 241 bored .125.

 

What did the DeSotos use? Chrysler, since DeSoto was the other "senior" marque?

 

OK, how 'bout this... It currently resides beneath the hood of a 46-48 Plymouth. Please take note that I said "currently"... That does not mean it began its life there. But that is where it sits now, and I'd give it at least a 50/50 chance that it began its life there as well. I can tell you that it is a 46-48 Plymouth because I've also got half the stainless from the grille bars. A Google image search confirmed the year and make of the car it sits in. It actually makes sense, since it is surrounded by at least a half dozen (probably more) other 46-48 MOPARs.

 

I told the wife I was thinking about buying a couple more engines. She said I have too many as it is, and that as it stands I need to get rid of the engines I have that aren't in cars. Where the hell am I gonna park all the cars I've gotta buy now?

 

All real DeSoto engines were hemis. No 46 - 48 Ply had a V8. First Plymouth V8 was the 55 which you may well have. Or a 270 Dodge or some other of the Hemi-Poly cross over engines.

 

Its a Chrysler Poly.

Depending on the year, it could be anything from a 301 to a 354. Check the use code on the front rail of the block, between the valley cover and the water pump. If its a Chrysler poly, it should start out with one of the following codes WE55, WE56, WE57, LE57, 58W, or 58S.

The Chrysler poly's had 3 valve cover bolts (just like the picture). The Dodge/Plymouth poly's only had 2. Plus that thing is waaaaay too wide to be a Dodge poly.

The scallop design on the covers also identify it as a Chrysler poly, the later "A" block 318 poly's had more of a sawtooth pattern.

As far as worth having, absolutely! It's no slouch of an engine as a poly, and if you're so inclined you can bolt Chrysler hemi heads to it and make it a hemi. The block is identical to the 331/354 hemi blocks, the only thing being that it could also be a 301 (bore 3.625").

 

Pictures of the various valve covers.

Chrysler 301/331/354 poly



Dodge (also 55/56 plymouth) 241/270/315/325



Poly 318

 

301 331 354

 

MoPar Monkey wins it for me. Good eye.