Could I swap out a 230 flathead for a slant six? the car is a 1958 plymouth with a powerflite tranny. would I need to modify anything or would it bolt right up to the car and tranny? thanks for your help in advance

Bassman

The Powerflite won't work with the slant six because the bell housing bolt patterns are different. I don't know what to do about the push button two speed shifter that your car has now. Was the early cast iron torqueflite an option in the '58 Plymouth? If so, maybe you can make a '58 Torqueflite push button shifter work with an early 904? I think the motor mounts of the \6 and the flathead are different, I believe you'll have to fabricate those.

The late '50s 230s have about the same power output as a 225 slant six (on paper). If you're planning on using a stock slant six you might consider keeping the 230. It's much easier to increase the power output of the \6. You can hop up the 230 with reasonable performance increases.
It's probably easier to find mounts to swap a V8 in that car.

I like the styling of '58 Plymouth, it's not often that I see those in decent shape. They're a good looking car. Good luck with your project.

The good news is that the 58 has such a large engine bay that just about any engine combo can be installed by fabricating the needed mounts.

The trick here is to find a good running "donor car", hopefully something with low miles, been in a wreck kind of deal. Pay attention to oil pan sup location, exhaust manifold "dump-outs" and radiator outlet side.

Pluck-out a complete engine and trans assembly, including all accessories, wiring etc. Then stick the assembly into the 58. Fab-up the mounts and splice-up the connections as needed. It is not that hard to do, just mark the crankshaft centerline on the chassis before you pull the flathead, line-up the new engine's centerline to your marks.
DD

If you haven't already posted here you might give it a try :

http://www.forwardlook.net/