I am picking up the front half of a 21 Dodge Touring body and grille shell. I plan on building a low budget Lakes modified in the spirit of the Bo Jones car. I have 40' of 2x5 10 Ga Box tube to make the frame rails with. I Picked up a 39 Ford front axle and wishbone that I plan to split. I'm leaning towards Bendix brakes and 34 or 35 Ford Wire wheels. I have 3 options in mind for the engine as I want to keep it Dodge, A: I have a 218 Cu In Flathead 6 that needs a rebuild B: I can get (for free) a 1966 318 Poly head C: I can also get a 2.5L 4 cyl with a 5 Speed trans from a Dodge Dakota I am going to run an AX-15 5 speed trans no matter what engine I choose as I already have the needed trans and V6/8 Bellhousing to work with the poly or 218 adapter plate. The Poly head would be cool, but I don't think I'd be able to run hood sides as its soo wide. Rebuilding the 218 would eat a lot of the budget, and the 2.5 (The larger brother to the 2.2 K car motor) is obviously nowhere near traditional, but I can source a sweet dual weber DCOE sidedraft intake for it and the 4 intake horns would be pretty slick coming out the side of the hood. I know the trans is going to be non tradional nop matter what, but that won't be very easy to see lol. What is the HAMB's opinon on the engine choices?? The body I'm starting with:
You can often get a Mopar flathead cheap, running. People take them out to install newer 8's. What is wrong with your 218? They are tough motors and sometimes respond well to a backyard rebuild. That's rings, bearings, gaskets but no machining at all. Even when out of spec a bit, they seem to be tolerant enough to run well.
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