66340SEDAN
FABO Member #3649
Chrysler’s Trenton Engine plant
Hot Testing Slant Six Engines
- Thread starter 66340SEDAN
- Start date
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slantsixdan
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Every time I look at this pic, I have some trouble with the rightmost engine (behind the guy with the blurred head). One of these things is not like the others!
It's a flathead!
So that had to be really early in the slant 6 production if that flatty is there. Musta been a 230 if this was in the US or for US production.
Charrlie_S
Well-Known Member
Good catch. I agree.
Dartnut
Don't hate me because i'm beautiful
Am I missing something?
It doesn't look that hot in there to me....
It doesn't look that hot in there to me....
66340SEDAN
FABO Member #3649
Yes, it’s in the USA at the Trenton engine plant
pishta
I know I'm right....
Yeah, I though it was a Ford 300 but its pushrod covers are on the wrong side, Chevy 250 also. Find a 6 with the pushrod covers on the port side of the block!
You're lookin at the starboard side of that flatty.
pishta
I know I'm right....
AMC 258? still no covers but the bell housing ears look close...?
geminimotors
Well-Known Member
Could that make it a Crown marine unit?
No. I told you what it is. Dork.
Col_Steve
Well-Known Member
Good eye! What is that...? It is certainly nothing I've popped a hood on.
Col_Steve
Well-Known Member
Well, I might have to take that last statement back. In 1976 the Michigan DNR bought 3 new special order light duty fire trucks from the Dodge dealer I worked at. They were designated M3 and were sprung for about 2 ton, they had old timy body style with narrow hood that opened from the sides, and big fenders and tall "army" style wheels and tires, duals on the back, with running boards connecting the front and rear fenders, and they were 4 speed trans + 4wd. The fenders, grilles and running boards were reinforced with riveted on angle iron as was the box and tailgate. After we prepped them they went somewhere else to have the water tank and PTO driven pumps and hose reels installed. The fender tag called out 230CI. Gear ratios were 4.56! Had brass nomenclature plate riveted to the dash explaining how to shift and indicated top speed was 45 MPH. I'd only read about the 230 in the old motor's books, still haven't had an opportunity to work on one. The DNR uses those three trucks to this day as first responders to the jackpine burns that happen all to often.
Lol,.....
slantsixdan
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That's really interesting. It's a WM300 you're describing (sounds like they abbreviated "M3" on the type plate)
Officially, that old-style T137 Power Wagon truck family was sold domestically through 1968, and as an export-only model through '78, complete with flathead-6 engine—the 230 from '46 to '60, then the 251 from '61 til the end.
Must have been some really cool magic tricks and string-pulls to get Chrysler to agree to sell—even to a state government agency—trucks unavailable in this market that didn't come close to meeting applicable federal emissions and safety standards, and with an engine they'd stopped using 16 years before. I wonder what it was the DNR figured those old-type Power Wagons could do (or do better) than the numerous options, from Chrysler and other makers, in newer truck designs.
Col_Steve
Well-Known Member
You pose excellent questions. And I have no good answers. But I will flesh the event out a bit. I was 26 at the time and quite frankly had become somewhat accustomed to the odd combinations of options Chrysler would build upon request. But those 3 trucks were the most 'out of the box' vehicles I'd seen till then or since. The dealership involved was a one car showroom outfit located in a town of 2000, so selling 100 cars a year was probably optimistic, and half of those were pickups. I was one of 3 mechanics, there was a wash boy, and the boss was the only salesman who doubled as his own secretary/treasurer. It was about 10:30 am when the semi pulled up front with those 3 "antique" trucks. The bodies and fenders were painted a pastel green and the hood panels, fender edge reinforcement angle iron and other trim bits were a much darker green. Tires looked to be Korean war tread design, duals in the rear, big leaf springs. The front drive axles had a felt wiped ball socket affair at the spindles that housed a multi 2 piece multi-fingered bronze oil filled coupling that did the duty of a U-Joint on steroids. At the time our town had a DNR field station and in the next county there is a USFS station. 2 counties away is a military base as well as a now defunct SAC base. We are located on the southern edge of the Huron National Forest. Maybe the USFS pulled the strings since both agencies work closely together when the Jackpines (gasoline on a stick) light up and burn at 35 miles an hour. At any rate after we checked them in and prepped them for delivery they disappeared for a few weeks and reappeared with 2 pto driven 2" hose reels behind the cab on each side and I'm guessing a 500 or 750 gallon water tank. There were rings everywhere for a bunch of fire extinguishers and shovels etc. Pintle hitches and 6 ton PTO driven winches on both ends. The whole truck was so way more heavily built than say your typical fuel oil delivery truck yet smaller and lower. Like I said earlier they still use them in the same role of first responders and they still look really good. I wonder if the 230 was better at running low rpm PTO's? Or did they need the toughness of the body metal design to plow through the brush and small trees while getting to a fire site? A normal 3 ton truck would have its fenders bashed off on the first fire run. We wondered about the exhaust valve seats in the antique engine since all there was was no lead gas, but none of the 3 ever came back with compression problems so I guess Chrysler had installed either hard steel inserts or perhaps beryllium inserts. Fact is in the 5 years I was exposed to them all they ever came in for was LOF every 100 hours and the odd electrical problem, they seemed bullet proof otherwise. Changing the oil in those front axle universal joint assemblies every 16000 miles always brought a smile as it was such an odd bit of service. The book called for whale oil in them which by that time was either in short supply or never to be seen again. If we found them to be uncontaminated we put the original whale oil back in as there wasn't a viable substitute for it at the time. If it was watered we were forced to use 80-90. I left for greener pastures in 1980 and don't know if the 80-90 caused any problems.
slantsixdan
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Please understand I'm not calling you out or challenging your recall. You were there and I'm sure the trucks were as you describe. But they sure are weirdo items!
Maybe Chrysler put in hard seats, but I'd guess they wouldn't be needed on such a low-stress engine design with low compression and small valves running in a giant heat sink (cast iron block). The valves and seats would have a very hard time reaching the critical temperature; they'd live a long and happy life without any lead.
Whale oil…jeeziz. That's some olde-tyme shіt, right there!
You ain't kiddin. The Ford dealer where I was apprentice was still using it in the late 70s and early 80s. You could smell it clear from one end of the shop to the other when somebody was using it.
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