Engine ........ The Mohawk Chief
Well we could of modified the 46 to take a 251, but didn't want to butcher up the frame. So instead we started to search instead for a 230. Why is it that every $250.00 engine in mint condition is located halfway across the country?
Anyway thanks to the internet we found Eric and his M-37 near Albany, New York. What's the big deal about a 500 mile round trip to hear an engine run if you need it for your truck. The 230 sounded so good we instantly bought it and arranged for a return trip to tear it out and haul it home.
What a coincidence! When we got off I-87 to go to Eric's, guess what town we were at. Central Bridge, New York. That's the same town the "Mohawk Chief" came from. We decided to call this engine the "Little Chief".
Eric's M-37 was previously owned by the NY highway dept. This was lettered on the tailgate of the truck when he got it. Eric is repowerering the M-37 with a late 70's Dodge 360.
Linda's got to start all over again with another engine to clean.
I've improved the 56 with a high capacity 6 gallon boat tank .
We decided to go with more traditional colors for the engine. The exhaust manifold was cracked almost in half in the center. I had a friend braze it for me. Several studs were twisted off and had to be removed. One was already drilled off center and wouldn't budge. Since it was drilled off center I could only put a small easy-out into it. Ended up taking a small grinding burr, putting it in my electric drill and ground out as much of the stud as I could, without getting into the threads. Then I was able to get a tap started and tap out the remaining portion of the stud.
Eric kept the alternator he had on the engine so I made this bracket out of 1/4" plate. There are 2 vertical flats welded to the 1/4" plate to stiffen it and also provide place for the mounting bolt through the alternator.
Oh yeah, I was curious as to whether or not I was going to be able to paint this truck myself. I've never used a paint sprayer before. So I decided to jump ahead and do some work on just the radiator shell. This is Ford tractor blue.