Hello this is Dana Robinson. After removing my 1946 Dodge 230 from my 1935 Plymouth PJ coupe, we have found that broken rings and gouged cylinder walls. I have an extra engine. A factory replacement 1947 Plymouth 218. It has no numbers on the block. Just a metal tag that is riveted to the block that says, "For parts specify MODEL 219" I have it partly apart, and the pistons have a letter stamped in the top. Three pistons have the letter A, two pistons have B, and one piston has the letter C. Does anyone know what the letters mean? Thanks Dana Robinson
I suspect that you have a remanufactured engine and that the letters on the pistons indicate the cylinder bore. In the old days they didn't always overbore all the cylinders to the same amount, just enough on each cylinder to clean it up. So they may have had mixed sizes of pistons.
Since you have cylinder walls that are gouged you will need to have the block cleaned up at a machine shop. The shop should be able to determine how much oversize they will need to go the get rid of the gouges and fix any taper. That will then determine the oversize you need for the pistons.
Thanks Tod, That makes sense. I knew it was a factory replacement engine, but never thought it was rebuilt from some other car. This engine with the different letters, a 218, has nice cylinder walls, but sat in a junkyard and has had water in it and the inside looks like the oil was never changed.
The engine with the gouged cylinder walls is a 230 Dodge that came out of my car that used to run. The guy that took it apart said the gouges are quite deep and didn't know if boring could fix it. I see on Rock Auto I can buy cylinder sleeves for the 230, that might be an option.
I a going to talk to the machine shop on Thursday, and try to figure out what is the best way to go and which engine would be the best to rebuild.
Thanks again, the information is much appreciated. Dana Robinson