Kevin Purcell’s Toys

[hrpearce]

Kevin lives down the road from me and I drive through his property to get to work. I stop at his shed when I have a spare minute on my way home to photograph his progress on restorations. At the moment he has a Dodge and a Reo in the shed. The Dodge is the one being worked on at the moment, I've been a bit slow starting this thread and have a years worth of photos to share starting with how it looked on arival.

[hrpearce]

The tear down.......

[Mike K]

Robert,

Does he still have that dead straight WW2 Jeep trailer

Mike

[hrpearce]

More on the counting of how many parts make up a Dodge.

[hrpearce]

The engine is from a car so the carby needed replaceing with a govened one.
The clean up and priming began.

[hrpearce]

More priming and painting

[hrpearce]

Starting to put it back together

[Mike K]

Robert,

Can you take a few pics of his compressor setup for the blasting cabinet

MIKE

[hrpearce]

Will do Mike.
More painting and parts being bolted back on...

[hrpearce]

More pictures

[hrpearce]

This post catches up to the present.
The engine is finally back from the machiene shop.
They told Kevin the crank would have to be ground at least .040" and more likely .050" so he bought bearings to suit both posibalities, it came back ground to .030" so he is ordering more bearings now.

[Keith Webb]

Thanks for sharing these Robert.

I'm really enjoying them. Nothing like an unfolding story I reckon.

Should be doing more of this myself except my hands are usually too greasy and filthy to pick up a camera.

[Max Hedges]

Should be doing more of this myself except my hands are usually too greasy and filthy to pick up a camera.

I'm a bit of bugger at this too Keith, I should be putting up photos of the engines that I have pulled down (6 of them) to find a good one and the progress of reasembly, I have one back together and finally found one v8 block that I could use the 40 thou piston set as you know Keith I usually wait for your to come to take a heap of photos for me.

[hrpearce]

Keith on my way home from work I'm more likely to be covered in cow s*** than grease. When I was working on my blitz I had the camera wraped in a rag so I could take progress photos.

[hrpearce]

The block and crank wemt back for another grind brcause the crank locked when the bearings were installed
Mike Kevins compressor is 17CFM.

[hrpearce]

Finally the engine is back again, the head was shaved 0.010" as well.
Some other small parts have been fitted and new muffler brackets made.

[hrpearce]

I had time to call in again today and real progress has been made
Ross the front shaft has been reversed

[Lynn Eades]

I have just read this thread, as I have a Dodge. The crankshaft is not the correct crankshaft. It only has four bolts to hold the flywheel on, and should have eight. The eight bolt crank is the T214/ T223 truck crank, with the counterweights to suit the sustained high revs. the four bolt crank is a car crank, and may not even be the right stroke.To perform well the truck needs the right crank.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, at this late stage.

[hrpearce]

Hi Lynn,Thank you for your interest. we found out early on that the engine is a 1938 car one so for now Kevin has just sourced parts like the govened carby etc. to make it as authentic looking as possible.

[hrpearce]

The wiring harness is almost in place and the engine has been running but there are some teathing problems. Kevin and a mechanic are going to work on it this weekend. I'll let you know what happens after I talk to Kevin again.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by hrpearce

The wiring harness is almost in place and the engine has been running but there are some teathing problems. Kevin and a mechanic are going to work on it this weekend. I'll let you know what happens after I talk to Kevin again.

Wish I was there to help out ... but its a bit too far to drive for a day trip

[George McKenzie]

Chysler made two engines like this .One is longer by about 2" .The power wagons are shorter . In canada most of our engines are the longer ones except for the # 26 Massey Harris combines .The US used the shorter ones If anyone needs a motor the 26 MH is a good source .I have a WC motor for parts If anyone needs one . George

[hrpearce]

The engine is back out the block is warped and the head won't seal
Another engine has been bought and the work begins again

[hrpearce]

The trailer was recovered today, Kevin is the proud new owner
boy the trailer was heavy to lift over it's end to drop it onto the trailer.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Robert

Can you elaborate on the "block is warped"...... was it just the head/deck surface area or the whole block.....? you had problem whenyou first installed the crankshaft..... binding when bearing thightened...... was the block line bored when at the machine shop..?

What size engine are you working on...... 230 cubic inches...? or the 251..?

The ideal engine for you would be a donor from the Dodge M 37..... usually a 230 in US models.

Good luck on the project.....I do enjoy watching your progress.

Bob

[Lynn Eades]

Your new motor looks outwardly correct.(Ball and Ball carb on early T214) Engine number should be T214. a T223 (6x6) or a T215 (1/2 ton) are good options. Just make sure you use a crank with 8 bolt holes to locate the flywheel.

[hrpearce]

Yes Lynn the new engine starts with T214.
Bob the block was line bored the bearing bind was caused by the machiene shop not grinding to the bearing size they were told to.The warp was on the top of the block and was only evident when a straight edge and fealer gauges were used. As far as I know the engine is 230 cu inch.

[hrpearce]

Does the engine number give any clues to the year of manufacture?

[Mike K]

There were sets of the aussie made pistons for these floating around . Hughes at Coburg had them ..POLSON brand I think... this was years ago though...

Dealers in the US seem to have plenty of NOS stock parts for these motors .... the Power Wagon forum and web site might help ...

There was a place in Adelaide too... but again, years ago... And Col Conyard in NSW is long dead.. he had heaps of this stuff.

MIKE

[Bob Carriere]

....Dodge engines and parts are just readily available here in Canada or the US.... they were used in agricultural equipment, air compressors, Bombardier snow machine, welders, concrete mixers, etc....... the rare ones to find are the 265 Industrial on MF combines in the sixties....

Best place in the states both for parts availability and knowledgeable staff is Vintage Power Wagon..... even the online catalogue is filled with priceless information.

Bob