The Mysterious International Harvester-built Dodge/Plymo 318 engine , to blow your mind

[msgjd]

I have yet to see one in the M880/890's, but I bet this obscure fact blows a lot of minds out there ..

Call me crazy but there are some things you cannot un-see once you see it .. Since 1983 I have owned a 1977 plymouth trailduster some friends called "The Beast"... I plowed, mountain-climbed, mudded, and hauled everything imaginable in it and yanked a 6T beavertail equipment trailer.. It's in a sad state now but remains an occasional donor so others can live .. It's original 318 engine had "IH" cast on it... A couple years later I scrapped the engine (and evidence) after it suffered a seized and subsequent busted wrist pin.. It made me do a double and triple-take when I first saw the IH marks.. ( I have a pic of them but who knows where pics are now). It was the only "IH-318" I ever saw or heard of, until today ..

The backstory I had assumed all these years, as to why this engine : Chrysler was apparently stressed by the M880/890 contract and it was causing delays on the civilian side 1975-77.. I recall a dealership owner (right before I enlisted) explain to a buyer why his new 1976 truck was taking so long to arrive, and he also used it as an excuse why parts for my '71 had not showed up yet.. As we know, the 318 was the spec'd engine for the M880/890 ... In recent years it has been said Chrysler contracted to have IH make 318 blocks during the time period of the contract ... I think my old heads had "IH" on them too, but don't recall without the pics.. I still have those heads somewhere.. Maybe IH assembled the whole engine for Chrysler Corp as well ? ..

I have not run across an "IH-318" in any M880/890's (yet).. So, those of you out in M880 land, it appears as an "IH" within a small raised circle on the lower side of the block by a frost plug, and at the back of the block (hidden inside the bell housing).. Today I did a websearch and found just a few mentions of the IH-318.. A fellow said he had one in a '77 dodge demon, and another person discovered a 1977 IH-318 stuffed in his car as well.. Another commented on how his machinist had come across these "IH" motors from the mid-late 1970's and "hated their high nickel content" , and another confirmed it by claiming to have worked in the IH foundry during the time.. And of course, I had one in my '77 4x4 Trail Duster.. Attached is a borrowed online pic of evidence, yet another 1977 "IH-318" engine. ... Well, I guess I was not seeing things after all !!!


pic credited to "junior340" in idaho

 

[NDT]

Even as we speak, Navistar is casting 6.5 blocks for AM General for HMMWV engines so looks like the IH foundry has always been looking for side hustles. Makes sense, gotta pour steel around the clock, not like you heat up a blast furnace every morning.

 

[msgjd]

Even as we speak, Navistar is casting 6.5 blocks for AM General for HMMWV engines so looks like the IH foundry has always been looking for side hustles. Makes sense, gotta pour steel around the clock, not like you heat up a blast furnace every morning.

There had been talk some years ago that around the same years the M880/890's were being built, IH had developed a 450-something cubic inch V8 for Chrysler-framed RV's because the infamous 440 was being phased out.. Chrysler fell through and did not buy any.. This motor was retooled into a diesel that soon saw use in Ford and IH products .. It's the engine that eventually evolved into the power-stroke series

 

[swbradley1]

Even as we speak, Navistar is casting 6.5 blocks for AM General for HMMWV engines so looks like the IH foundry has always been looking for side hustles. Makes sense, gotta pour steel around the clock, not like you heat up a blast furnace every morning.

At my last job my first assignment was to work for a week at General Motors PowerTrain division in Defiance, OH. They were casting 10,000 engine blocks per day plus heads and steering arms for lots of different companies. They poured 'round the clock 7 days a week. The molds for the casting sand had to be re-machined every coupld of days. The earth and building shook when they moved the big equipment to pour.

After a week I was blowing blood out my nose from the dust in the air.

Good times

 

[chucky]

At my last job my first assignment was to work for a week at General Motors PowerTrain division in Defiance, OH. They were casting 10,000 engine blocks per day plus heads and steering arms for lots of different companies. They poured 'round the clock 7 days a week. The molds for the casting sand had to be re-machined every coupld of days. The earth and building shook when they moved the big equipment to pour.

After a week I was blowing blood out my nose from the dust in the air.

Good times

Was that job some kind of work release program your lawyer worked out with the D.A. ??????

 

[chucky]

When i was a kid i would haul bituminous coal into a John Deere foundry in east moline il. in a pneumatic tanker and when i would get tank unloaded i would have to go inside to get my bills signed and it was like walking into the sun it was so hot so my hats off to anyone that hammers that out every day !

 

[msgjd]

.... it was like walking into the sun it was so hot so my hats off to anyone that hammers that out every day !

i used to haul dump trailers of LaFarge quarried New York limestone right out of the pit to a Holcim cement plant blast furnace in whitehall PA .. Brought heavy clinker back from there and dumped it at a LaFarge cement plant in upstate NY where there was yet another blast furnace.. I agree, hats off to those under continuous fire

 

[chucky]

i used to haul dump trailers of quarry limestone down to and clinker back from a cement plant blast furnace in whitehall PA .. So i agree, hats off to the guys under continuous fire

Yea for sure and i had some friends that worked at the ford glass plant for years they all said that glass comes out of the ovens at 1500 degrees glowing red another gig too hot for me

 

[WillWagner]

Another fun fact about IHC/Navistar casting. Navistar has been casting blocks and heads for the B 4.5, 5.9 and 6.7 for years now. The way to tell if it is a Navistar cast component is the presence of the Navistar "diamond" and a funky patch on blocks that are just a bunch of raised dots. I was told that the dots were part of a vibratory process to eliminate air bubbles in the casting process