Thought I'd jump in for a few moments here when you guys started talking about the "oddball varieties" of flathead MoPar 6;
It's my understanding that in the European Countries, such as England & continental Europe, vehicles are/were taxed on Horsepower or Displacement, thus the Chrysler export models such as the Kew and the Wimbledon, as well as various "Plodges" and "Plysotos" seen farther East had tiny engines such as the 170 cid flat-head, and the cars bearing the Chrysler nameplate were really re-badges of the smaller Plymouth & Dodge.
I also recall reading (don't recall where) that when the "new generation" of engines were designed at Chrylser, around 1932 or '33, there was a goal to share as many internal parts as possible, such as common pistons, bearing shells, etc.
I don't have my shop manuals handy, but I believe the 323.5 straight 8 ('34 to'50) and the comparable 6 of '33-'34 had the same 3 1/4" inch bore, and had the same rod bearings, cam profile, etc.
It also seems that as the engines "increased" in size at the top (Chrysler), the previous displacements were "handed down" to the lower priced lines;
the Chrysler 241 was de-stroked to become the Chrysler Royal & De Soto 228, then bored to become the De Soto 236; then De Soto inherited the 250 from Chrysler when Chrysler went to 265.
Similarly, Plymouth "inherited" displacements from Dodge as Dodge got bigger engines: 230>217>201.
As far as I know, all of the "small"(170) export engines were based off of the 201 Plymouth engine.
It's kind of interesing how certain displacements have a way of "coming back"; the first Chrysler of 1924, the B-70 had a 201 ci. six, as did the Plymouth 6 of the late '30s (entirely different engine), and the 170 ci diplacement returned in the Valiant in the early '60's, in slanted form.
I suppose this isn't terribly helpful in terms of performance talk... more of a historical rambling gleaned from the foggy recesses of a sometimes faulty memory...
at any rate, I'm quite interested in this topic, and would like to learn what can be done with (or to) the larger Chrysler and De Soto sixes and possibly the 323.5 Straight 8, to get more from them.
I just loathe the thought of having to put a later model V-8 w/AT in my '41 DeSoto just to be able to "cruise in the left lane".
(and, if it comes to that, you can be assured it will be a MoPar engine)
So I'll sit back now for another while and learn some more...
My '41 De Soto has the original 228 six, and manual trans (no fluid-drive!)and 4.11 rear, and at 88,000 miles, it's tired! It is also not happy about being pushed beyond 45-50mph.
So, with an engine rebuild in my future, I'd like to know how to get the most out of my old girl.
Regards,
Frank McMullen
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