Jack Bennett

My advance apologies for doing this but 2018 was a few years ago, and when added to the 73 years an engine has been in use……well……most questions about it should have been answered.

That is what I said before. The number on the pad begins with a “J”, and I am being told over and over that this isn’t a number used with these engines. This sort of reminds me of someone asking what color hair a blond headed boy has, since it isn’t on the dye box, with the blond haired boy standing inches from their feet. I have the engine, and I am posting photos of it……..the engine is what it is, regardless of what number is on the tag, and every Silver Dome engine, ever manufactured, which has the same manifolds, carburetor, placement of the distributor and water pump, location of the starter and generator, oil reservoir and crankcase filler tube/filter, and a lot of other identifying features is the same brand of engine regardless of a difference in numbers.

The eBay ads only muddy the waters for those people looking for valid information on these vehicles. Some of these pamphlets give the impression that the “Silverdome” was “A” engine. Actually it was several engines, both four and six cylinder, made between (I think) 1924 and 1976, and put in many makes of cars and trucks, Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Fargo and Maxwell, to name a few.. I am seeing loads of stuff telling me what engine this ISN’T, but I am totally awestruck that I have the only Silver Dome engine, which is 73 years old, but not one single person can tell me what it IS. Jack

Hi Hans. You are on target for my next move. At present I am trying to get the tags on the starter, generator and distributor in a condition I can read the numbers. The tags are in really bad shape and about all I can read on them are the large letters saying Delco Remy. I have talked to Roger (Dodger) Hartley, tech advisor for the DB Club, and we are getting together to go through his 50 year collection of Dodge Brothers material to review and, hopefully, find some answers.

I need a transmission and drive shaft, as well as some brake lines and tires for a 1928 Fargo Express, 1/2 ton panel delivery. The truck has a straight six cylinder engine which has a number beginning with “J”. I know this number does not appear on the numerous lists of Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler, Fargo and DeSoto vehicles, and I REALLY don’t know why. It says “SILVERDOME” on the head, so I must assume it is a Chrysler Corp engine. Any help with a transmission and drive shaft, or even a educated guess at what other Chrysler vehicles used this engine will be appreciated. Jack

I just bought a 1928, 1/2 ton panel truck. It has no transmission or drive shaft. I believe the oddball manufacture of the truck causes people to shy away from identifying the engine, even though I believe it was used in many other Chrysler Corp vehicles. The engine is a flat head, six cylinder engine with Delco electrics. It has a updraft carburetor and the water pump is integrated into the front of the engine block. What is this engine called and what vehicles might I look at as donors for a transmission and drive shaft?

I am rebuilding a 1928 Fargo Express Panel, and I am looking for a transmission and a drive shaft. The engine you have shown is similar to mine and I wonder if the bell housing would fit. Seems as though you have some good stuff, and I need lots of good stuff for my panel. Would you measure the distance between the holes in the bell housing which mates with the rear of the engine and PM me to see if it fits. I am in Lakewood,Washington, but, if the transmission fits, and the price is right, I’ll make the trip to Oregon to pick it up. Thanks…… Jack

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, “If the value of a project vehicle is determined by the amount of “stuff” that needs to be done, the Fargo Express must be worth more than King Tut was. I procrastinated, I debated and I hesitated because I did not want to pull the head to check and see if a bad bore was seizing the engine. Common sense won out, I did pull the head, and the value of my Fargo just leaped into Dow Jones Industrial portfolios. One cylinder had a spark plug installed, and the cylinder is clean and the valves look good. But the spark plug was a 22mm plug, rusted down to about 17mm, and frozen in its hole. A second spark plug hole appeared to be for a 17mm plug, but there was no plug in the hole. Actually, it was the metal base of a 22mm plug which was broken off, and the porcelain was missing. The other four spark plugs were missing, and their holes nearly rusted closed. I found five of the 6 cylinder bores and their valves covered by an inch or more of rust and really fine dirt. Amazingly, the head came off clean and the gasket looks good enough to reuse.

I brought the 1928 Fargo Express Panel truck home from Chehalis the other day. Without even looking at the 1950 Oregon plates on the truck, it is apparent it has sat idle since that time. The fact that the engine is extremely rusty, and it is obvious it was stored outside with five of the six spark plugs removed, I was inclined to fill the stuck cylinders with ATF and acetone, and wait for a few days and crank it over. I watch the YouTube videos in which a couple of guys finds a sixty, seventy, eighty year old car sitting in a open field. And, they put some gas in it, throw in a battery, and it starts just like they had driven it there that day. Well, they say mix a bit of ATF and some acetone and dump some into the cylinder each day. After a few days the stuck engine loosens up, starts right up, and the price of the junker rises from $500.00 to $30,000.00 and change. Instead I followed my better judgement and pulled the head off the panel. The gratitude literally gushed forth when I saw tha the pistons were topped by an inch or more of rust and dirt. Had I tried cranking the engine, and most certainly, had I tried pulling the truck to start it, I would be looking for a replacement engine. Instead, since the cylinder which had the spark installed has a near perfect bore, and the valves look good. But, the bores and valves in the other five cylinders may be OK with a good honing and cleaning. I am afraid though that the five cylinder bores which were repeatedly filled with water and dirt over the last seventy years may need reboring and more service than just a good cleaning.

Hi again 30DodgePanel. I borrowed these photos from the page of the forum specifically dedicated to old Plymouth, Dodge, Graham-Paige trucks. These are trucks similar to packet panel which have been restored to be pickup trucks, rather than express delivery panels. Were I 50 years younger, had financial resources and time I now have, and planned on keeping them for another 50 years, these are vehicles which sets a worthy goal for someone wishing to restore one. I find it quite reasonable though, that I will forgo the niceties of the shiny chrome and furniture finished woodwork, and keep mine as close to stock as possible.

Hi ArticiferTom………Over the past week I have busied myself at the task of clearing out the lengthy, and sometimes redundant, posts on the forums to which I subscribe. That was said as a way of saying that I often talk to the point of tedium, and not everyone has the time and/or patience to endure my lengthy spiels and rants. So, just be assured that I do appreciate your response, I sincerely appreciate the information, and I am only being so curt in my reply in a profound attempt to adhere to my new “brevity” policy.

Hi 30DodgePanel…..Yesterday I was outside getting things rearranged to accommodate my new boarder…..the 1928 Fargo Express Panel. I am not tolerant of peddlers, either of politics, religion, services or products, and when the two youngish, mid 20’s, guys approached me and asked who maintained my house and grounds, I just brushed them off with a finger, index, not middle, point to the street. One of the guys said “OK! They would leave, but, could he ask about my old cars”? The garage doors was open so that my 51 Plymouth and 23 Dodge Roadster was clearly visible, my 27 Willys Knight had been relocated to the driveway while I situated the Fargo behind where it sits under the car port, was sitting in the driveway nearby. This put me in a weakened defensive position considering that, even if it was Satan himself, asking about my old cars, I’d have no choice but to answer. Over the next hour we talked about the sleeve valve engine in the Willys, the Skinner vacuum tank and gravity fed fuel systems in the Dodge and Willys and some about the shoe box design of the 51 Plymouth. And, it was only when the van, driven by a person I supposed to be their boss, pulled up on the street at my driveway’s end, began to shout, honk the horn and bang on the door with his palm, did they apologetically leave. With that I returned to the task I’d previously started, and returned to making the Fargo comfortable in its new home. But, my thoughts were changed from those I had before the guys interrupted me, which were focused on the amount of work it would take to even get the Fargo ambulatory, even with a tug, to “how very fortunate I was to have such interesting friends, and how very fortunate I was that they provided as much pleasure to simply look at them as it was to actually drive them. The Fargo Express is a greatly challenged machine, and it may never move again under its own power…..considering that…..if it takes me the same 10 years to get it running as you’ve worked on your panel, I’ll be 90 years old, and possibly unable to drive it. That said, I most probably will reconstruct it as a panel because that’s what it seems to like being, and I think having a 100 year old Fargo Express van, in 2028, will make for some pleasant viewing and well shared stories.

Good morning from Lakewood, Washington. Yesterday my buddy and I went down to Chehalis and brought home a 1928 Fargo Express panel which has sat for 73 years. The truck is a goldmine for a guy like me who dotes on “stuff” to do, and now that it is home, I need to decide what direction that “stuff” will take. The truck does not have a single scrap of wood which will not need replacing. The engine has sat open for, probably, over seven decades, and looks to have the cylinders, which have been stored with the spark plugs removed, were filled With dirty water.The engine is locked up tight and the transmission was removed and stored in the bed. The wooden spokes of the wheels are questionable at best and may be too cracked and rotted to restore. The wheels are heavily rust pitted, and reusing them is also questionable. The truck is missing its drive shaft and, what looks like, the rear of the transmission. OK…..if you have the picture, my question is….. Should I go ahead and remove the covering of the bed, which is literally falling apart, and work the project as a Fargo Express pickup truck? Or, should I rebuild the upper bed cover as it was originally, and reconstruct the vehicle as a Fargo Express “Packet” panel truck? No suggestion will be looked upon as being “un-do-able, and every one will be appreciated.

I’m thinking you have a bad battery, and that may have been the problem you assumed to be the generator-regulator. A new battery is not necessarily a good battery as they get damaged in storage, during shipping, and any other damage, such as freezing, after purchase. A one wire alternator has a built in regulator, and, unless it is bad the charge output should match the drain on the battery. Of course, bad wiring, bad grounding and a improper ammeter will affect the charging, automotive circuitry, also.

More curious than concerned. That all said, I am curious about the ethanol damage you have had in the past, and what was done to remedy it and prevent future damage of this sort. Jack