Brian's Power Giant Garage

Brian's Power Giant Garage

The above picture includes part of my garage and part of my early chrysler product collection. My favorite Power Giants are the Town Panels and my favorite engine is the 354 truck Hemi. I would love to build a W500 with a 354, an NP540, and HUUUGE tires.

Here's some fine examples of "Ram Tough" trucks at the ATHS nationals in Syracuse N.Y. To the left is a Bighorn and above is an early 58 D500. Below is another rare Bighorn. These trucks are impressive with thier huge front area, but the cabs are similar to the 58-60 pickups.

My dad still enjoys going to the shows and bringing back the memories. Every truck has as many stories as it has miles.

The nasty blob above left is an L8-C7 354 power giant motor from a '58 700 series truck. The motor on the right is not the same L8-C7 when I get through with it!! I am willing to bet that I am the third person to rebuild that short block and it still has another rebuild left in it. These engines had excellent castings, the cranks were forged, and they were governed to reduce overspeeding the engine. The valves on this one were sodium filled and the heads had minor cracking so I did have to make a "couple modifications" upon reassembly. This engine is currently in a 1968 barracuda, but it should eventually make it to my 1966 Town Panel minus the dual quads.

This 58 D200 was unique in that it had the D300 one ton axles and springs. This truck belonged to my dad and was originally a telephone company truck. It had the 4 speed, flat six, and occasionally brakes. I can remember several adventures riding in this truck fully loaded. It must of had 4.88 gears because it literally pulled tree stumps. My dad hated the six lug duals on this truck. This picture was taken in 1974.

If you want to talk trucks or early Hemis contact me at Erlihemi@aol.com. My philosophy is that if it was good enough back then, it can be better now. I do try to keep Mopar stuff all Mopar, and ford engines do belong in fords, etc.

If everything stayed the same we wouldn't need history class.

This is the 230 six that went in my 58 D100. It has an 833 aluminum case overdrive 4 speed from an '84 slant six.

The pictures above show how to put a later 833 overdrive behind the flat six. These overdrives were installed in 1978-1984 D150 trucks with the slant sixes. Some were also put in the volares and a few were behind 318's. They key to this swap is using the aluminum case with a 5 1/8" front bearing register. This makes it the same as an NP420 or 3 speed register and the pilot depth is compatible on most crankshafts. The throwout bearing collar is the same as your borg&beck in the old dodges, so to do this swap use the Borg & Beck pressure plate and throwout bearing that fits your current flywheel and clutch forks with a later 23 spline disc. You lose the emergency brake on the tranny so you must upgrade the rear brakes to the later style. I used the backing plates off the same truck I got the tranny out of. Just grind a flat spot on the top of the axle flange and put proper length 30 spline axles from an 8 3/4 rear in your 1/2 ton axles. The 833 has better ratios than the light 3 speed, but can't compare to the NP420 for strength. To fit it to the bellhousing find a good TIG welder buddy. Make two 5/8" aluminum plates to fit the profile of the case and mock up the pieces on your bell. Obviously this is an out of truck task. The case should be empty and very clean. I preheat the aluminum case in an oven just prior to welding. I had my holes drilled and the plates bolted to the bell, and then set the case in place and clamped it down to keep it flat. Then we tacked, stitched, and finally filled the v groove. Finally a rear mount is fabricated from mild square tubing across the frame rails and a rubber (not stiff) mount installed. The advantage of this swap is that you can keep your clutch and brake pedal assembly through the floor (pre 59) and your rear engine mounts intact. Of course cruising down the highway with a flat six and a straight axle at 65 mph is an experience all its own. This swap will also work behind most 50's cars with manual three speeds and some of the 60's light trucks. I plan to do this one behind a 270 dodge truck hemi eventually. The aluminum tranny is tough enough for a light truck with a mild 318, but I wouldn't try it behind a stout 360 in a 3/4 ton.

Above is a 230 bored .060" and sleeved in one cylinder. Apparently the piston pin retainer failed and wore a hole in the cylinder wall. It was misdiagnosed as a head failure, reassembled and of course it didn't work, so the truck sat behind someones garage forever and then I found it. I originally planned to drop a hemi in it, but I saved it and I am resurrecting it in stages as I get the time. I bumped up the compression slightly with TRW forged pistons and have a Holley single barrel carb from a slant six on it now. It purrs like a kitten and will idle down around 450 rpm. You drive these old flat sixes for a different reason than a Hemi. I'm never in a hurry and time just don't matter when I'm puttin' down the road in my 58 dodge truck. I had to put a seat from a 73 Dart in it to get enough adjustment for my wife to reach the pedals and then she had to have seat belts to hold her in when she cranks on that old manual steering, but she likes it.

Below is what the flat six looked like when I got it.

If your lucky enough to find a V8 Power Giant you may want to swap a later automatic behind that 315 Dodge or 354 chrysler. To the right is a Wilcap tranny adapter for the 727 torqueflite. This adapter should also work for the A518 overdrive and may work for the old poly 318 with the extended crank flange. The one in this picture is hanging off a 354 truck block. I like the wilcap adapter for trucks due to the placement of the cast "ears" that approximately line up with the existing rear bellhousing mounts on the crossmember. There is a large variety of bellhousings in the truck world and matching the tranny, flywheel, and clutch linkage can sometimes get more complex than anticipated. The 727 dodge transmission has proven itself in over 40 years of service and the newer overdrive versions let you keep those 4.88 stump pulling gears in the truck. If you happen to have a truck with the cast iron torqueflite you may want to keep it original due to the rarity of that option.

UPDATE!!

Wilcap is now producing an adapter for the Flat six to accept the chevy bellhousing and is working on a pattern for the torqueflite. You can now put an overdrive automatic with a lockup converter or a 5 speed manual behind the Flat six.

Contact Patrick McGuire for more info.

My '66 Town Panel and '58 D100 made it to NY from VA.

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