Thread: motor options for my 47 Plymouth Coupe

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Good evening all, I am building my very first street rod after building many rock crawlers and muscle cars, so bear with some of my questions!!! I have a 47 Plymouth Special Deluxe Coupe, how can I tell if it is a business coupe, or regular coupe? Also, the 217 six fills that engine bay, I have a 341 Hemi I would really like to put in there, but there is now way it will fit. How do you all do it? WHat am I missin here!!! Thanks again all, have a great night, and this is probably just the tip of the iceberg!!!!!

Buck

Welcome to CHR, Buck. Sounds like you might need a really big shoe horn !!! Are the frame rails the problem, or just the fenderwells??? Firewall will probably need a bit of notching to make it fit, buy hey !!! It's gotta have the Hemi !!!!

Go for the HEMI it's got the knock em dead looks

With a Sawzall, a cutting torch, a MIG and a good hand grinder, you can make a 341 hemi fit anything. Start choppin'.

A business coupe has a very short roof and only a front seat, The regular coupe has a pretty standard roof line and both front and rear seats.

As Richard basically said you can make anything fit. Plan on spending a pretty fair amount of time test fitting though.

The late 40s/early 50's Mopars had pretty narrow engine compartments towards the front. The first thing I would do is figure out the front suspendion your going to run so you can determine what clearance issues you will have with the oil pan. Short of a custom pan, the 2 options you will have are the 57 center sump pan and the earlier rear sump.

Next I would remove the front sheetmetal and start test fitting (with the tranny your going to use attached). I would suspend the engine and tranny with a chain hoist rather than a cherry picker so the frony fenders can be set back on to check for clearance issues. The critical issue will be crankshaft center line and leveling the engine.

If the vlave covers sit under the top of the fender (you can always remove or time the inner fender wells) great. If not the engine can be set back to the wider part of the engine compartment which may require modifying the firewall. If you don't want to do that then you may have to notch the tops of the front fenders for valve cover clearance and either notch the hood or the run without one.

Or you could wimp out and put a SBC in it

Remember if it was easy anyone could do it

If the Hemi does not fit, look at a 360. That should go it with out a lot of "fire wrench". I think You can get a Mustang II for the front of those as well. I have that on mine.

If you can, post a photo of that coupe. my fathers first car was a 47 plymonth coupe with choped front springs, we lost the photo years ago.As far as motor fit go perhaps you could find a simlar motored car to see how much you'll have to do.

Wow, great reply's thanks! I read the reply about the 241 Red Ram, and I have one, well, two of those as well, so that is an option, however, both need rebuilt and the 341 is almost new and runs great. You all are right, it will have a hemi, sb mopar, or even a forcefed slant 6, but never a sbc!!!!

I'll run down a bit of my plans and info on the car. First, it runs, drives, and is complete except for the speedo, (anybody got one!??!) the chrome is great, glass is good, all the window cranks and ashtray, and heater works, it was quite the find! Not a spot of rust, and the little 217 purs away like a, well, old kitten... Since it has independent in the front already, I was gonna yank the springs and shocks, go back in the stock setup with an airbag spring coilover, and a disk brake kit for the original spindles I found in a street rod mag, 9" and fourlink the rear with the same airbag setup. With the sheetmetal so clean, I would really rather not chop it up, save for firewall or inner fenders or unseen stuff like that. Except for welding the fender seems, the lines will stay the same. Paint scheme is mucho caliente too, but we'll wait for you all to see that! I will post some photo's tomorrow of it in in current state.

Any input and criticizm of my current plan is welcomed, like I said, my first street rod and I am excited about all the replies already! And by the way, I'm a pretty good hand at fabrication and have an equipped shop with a lift here at the house, so lets hash out what needs to be done, and I'll get off this thing and on the welder! Thanks again everyone!!!!! Good Night!

Mike P is the man on the fitting the Hemi in the car stuff!! His pickup is one of the nicest fitment jobs I've seen in a long time. Personally, I just WISH I had a hemi to put in something!!!! Guess my old nailhead will have to do for now.

I checked out his truck as best I could, and gathered that, he is also very willing to share his skills, "let me buy you a beer sir...."!!!!!!!!

Hey Bud, I am also building a 47 plymouth special deluxe as my first rod. I think the Hemi is a sweet idea and look forward to seeing your progress.
I have always been a big block mopar guy and have purchased a 440 with a 727 trans to " SQUEEZE " into the 'ol coupe. I will also be adding a 8 3/4" sure grip with 3.55 gears just like the pretty coloured beasts from the bad 60's and early 70's.
As far as the front end, I have a mustang II but after reading your posts, wonder if it's better to work with the stock setup......any suggestions from anybody would be greatly appreciated.
I will also be chopping the top 3"-5" while the body is off.

I have another question that may sound stupid but I've never built a rod before so I'll fire it out there at the risk of looking foolish.....When I bought the car it had no inner fender walls and was wondering if you can build a car with some custom bracing instead. With the 440, I'd imagine they wouldn't stay anyway. Any ideas from experienced builders?

Thanks in advance and good luck with your ride Bud, it's good to know someone else out there has the same taste as me.

Remember.. if it was born a Mopar, it should die a Mopar!!!!!!

47mopar,
My plan for the 48 is to swap the spindles. It should give about a 4 inch drop. Theres a forum going in the suspension area about spindle swapping. check it out.

Go with the Hemi.Just for the shock value when you open the hood.It's alot of work and more money than the average motor but it is soooo worth it in the long run.I used to own SBC's but now I hunt for Hemi's.

Thanks Oz, I'll check it out, maybe I'll sell the Mustang II and use the dough for upgrading my stock front end.

Hey buck! you got any pics? I'm building a 48 spcl dlx, you can check out my pics and renderings in the "to chop or not to chop" forum under shop talk. Good luck.
Oz