Originally posted by Ray Bell:
4-bolt... not 8-bolt?
Is that an easy identifier? I don't think I've ever seen anything other than an 8-bolt...
Ray- The pic I posted is the 218 crank that came out of my '50 Plymouth. As far as I know, all the 218 motors except fluid drive cars had four bolt cranks. The 230 and larger engines all had eight bolt cranks, and the bolts go in from the flywheel side, nuts and lock washers go on the engine side.
There is also a difference in the thickness of the flange on the crank between the 218 and 230. The 230 crank has a 3/16" thicker flange, and the flywheel has a matching recess to accept the difference so that the starter aligns the same for both. Don Coatney used a 218 flywheel on his 251, and had to machine a 3/16" recess to mount his starter due to the flywheel being set back by that amount since the 218 flywheel doesn't have the recess where it fits to the crank.
Pete
