F-I-L just moved in with us, he brought his '55 Belvedere 4 dr. sedan. He owned a '55 Belvedere 2 dr. hardtop as his first new car. This one was bought a few years back, to remember his favorite ride. He no longer drives so I am his designated chauffeur and mechanic/caretaker.
I'm a Pontiac fanatic and have participated on a very active Pontiac forum for a long time. Hoping that there are Plymouth fans on this forum that are equally knowledgeable/helpful.
First order of business is to figure out what engine he has (it is mostly original although converted to 12V with an alternator). I saw a post from last August with the same question but nobody provided an answer. Hoping I'll have better luck today.
From the Service Manual, I've learned that there were 241 CID and 260 CID (actual 259 according to specs I found) 2 bbl V8s available in '55. Also a 4 bbl 260, but his is a 2 bbl.
The Service Manual says each used a different carb but I'm pretty sure the carb is a replacement so I don't think that will help determine the displacement. Short of pulling a cyl head and measuring the bore, is there any way to determine which V8 he has?
Did they use different cyl heads, is there a casting p/n that can identify the displacement? Or possibly different block castings since the 260 has a 1/8" larger bore dia.? Hard for me to imagine doing that with the same block casting although I am more familiar with later thin wall block castings.
All help is appreciated. Thanks
The serial number of the car may indirectly tell what motor was shipped in the car. And there should be a engine number that might tell but I am not sure where the engine number is on the V8 engines.
If you can find and post those numbers I might be able to find them in some of my documentation.