Bo, The 53 Chrysler is a 265 which has the 4.75 stroke so it would have the 7.75" rods. As the stroke gets longer the rods get shorter, as the piston compression height is the same on all the Mopar flatheads, even the small motors. Also, above you mentioned you weren't familiar with the 228, it came before the 236 in the DeSoto and the corresponding Chrysler was a 241. They both had a 3.375 bore. One thing to watch for as I haven't been able to examine one first hand is the back of the crank where the pilot bushing would go. The old Motor manual I have shows the '52 to '54 Chrysler to have a different oiling system for the fluid drive. I shows a big hole all the way through the rear main journal to feed oil to the fluid drive instead of it being self contained as in '51 and earlier versions. If this is so it would cause a BIG oil leak when using it in a stick shift application. A custom made plug/pilot bearing could be made and pressed in I suppose. On the use of the 194 Chevy pistons I forgot to mention they have a 3.56 standard bore which would put you at .125 o/s, but they are a flat top without any useless valve reliefs. If they are like most any other oldie they should be able to take that much overbore. Should be quite a bit lighter, too I would think.
[This message has been edited by DEL (edited 10-18-2001).]
