My buddy picked up a 1937 Dodge.....our first car this old.
He's thinking about a small block to put in it. I've seen examples of these at different car shows and its look like a major custom job.
It looks like a /6 is almost a bolt in.
If we go with a /6 we can retain the original steering and frontend.
Looks like a smal block we would need a mustangII frontend for the rack unit and all kinds of hard work and welding and all kinds of things.
So what does everyone think?
A /6 is almost a bolt in?

That's a really nice car you have there. My first old car was a 39 plymouth, and it was a great car. What are you trying to do with it? If you are building a street rod, at least put a Mopar engine in it, and not a SBC. If you are building a driver, this car has good technology. If it is like my Plymouth, it has hydraulic brakes, roll up windows, electric winshield wipers, syncro tranny, and tubular shocks. For this reason, you could rebuild the stock engine and have a good car. That flat head was used by Mopar until 1959, and has buckets of torque. I would think seriously about rebuilding the flat head in there.

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69 Dart Swinger, 230 ci slant, t-5 five speed, intercooled turbo, 4 wheel disk brakes, tubular upper control arms.

I measured up a '39 once. It was real tight for a V-8. IIRC, the problem with a Slant was distributor/oil filter clearance on the frame on that side. That would be relatively easy stuff to work around though.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Your right the distributor/oil filter clearance might be a problem.
What about a straight 6 jeep motor thats a Mopar.
Or a 2.2 2.5 drivetrain from a Dakato?

Wouldn't higher motor mounts fix that problem?

Didn't those old cars have like 410 gears in them? TRhats where the so called torqe came from.

That and the fact that the flatheads had a bunch of torque below 3000 RPM. Trust me, it will break the tires loose.

A 2.2 or 2.5 is not a very wise choice. 0-60 in 4 days.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

I had a friend with a '59 Plymouth station wagon with the last flat head six in it when I was in high school. I don;t know what gears were in it, but they were highway friendly, and yet he could load that sucker down with junk and still go quite slowly in third gear without the car bucking. It beat the hell out of my '37 Ford flat head v-8. I know, ----I said my Plymouth was my first old car, but I had both at the same time. The Plymouth was superior to the Ford in every way except sound. That flat head sounded sweet. An inline jeep engine would be a good compromise if you can get it to fit. Actually anything you want to do would be cool if you do a good job. Stand and stare at the car and see what vibes you get. Try to imagine it with all kinds of alternatives. Just remember, "anything you believe you can achieve".

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69 Dart Swinger, 230 ci slant, t-5 five speed, intercooled turbo, 4 wheel disk brakes, tubular upper control arms.

Some of the last flatheads that they made had 8.1 compression and tons of torque. They also got very respectable gas mileage. They put them in trucks and I think they were 258 ci.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

The point of my original post was the easiest swap possable.......

I'm leaning towards the /6 for the most inexpensive swap.

I belive the 2.2 2.5 would be the eaisiest phyically buit would cost more if the drivetrain needed rebuilding.

Obviously I don't want a tire burner but a good dependable driver.

Go with the slant....UNLESS you can round up an Aussie 265 hemi. That one is upright, and would probably work better.

Beween the oil pump/distributor clearance problems, and working out an oil pan, I would think those will be your biggest worries.

Roger

Take another look at the flathead... unless it's grenaded you can probably nurse it back to health in less time, with less money, and without any fab work. Think of all the time and money you will spend on linkages, radiator, hoses, driveshaft, mounting, ironing out bugs, etc.

And flatheads are cool!

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

And flatheads are just as tough and reliable as slants. Allpar.com has a good flathead section.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

As much as I love the /6 AND mopar smallblocks, by far my first pick for a car like that would be a Mopar flathead 6. Have fun with it- put in one of the later engines with more displacement (cars had them through 59, Power Wagons kept getting them through about '68!) and dig up some old "retro" hot rodding stuff for it, like a finned head, twin-carb setup, etc.

Flathead Mopars are *awsome* engines- torque to match a sl6, smooth as butter, tough as nails.

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I'm glad to hear from several other flat head devotees out there. If your goal is the easiest, and you are not building a tire burner, go exactly as 440 said, and make the "ROD" part of it upgrading brakes, suspension, heater, maybe AC, interior, etc. Now if you really want to go out on the skinny branches, how about putting a low boost super charger on a flat head. That takes original thinking, and careful planing. Your biggest challenge might be forged pistons.

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69 Dart Swinger, 230 ci slant, t-5 five speed, intercooled turbo, 4 wheel disk brakes, tubular upper control arms.