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I am the proud owner of an 52 m37. I am doing my best to keep it as stock as possible. I still run 24 volt electronics and such things like that. In my expierences with the 230 flathead I acn say that it is very underpowered. My truck has just over 8000 miles on it and it runs great for what it is. I did convert it to electronic ignition and I am very satisfied with the kit. Now I am on a quest to get the most power possible out of my engine possible. I was talking to my machinest the other day and sugested rebuild the engine and in the process make some power. He said we can shave .060 off of the head for compression. Of course we will put hardned valve seats in and the works. My question is has anyone used the aftermarket cam offered by VPW? It claims to have more lift and duration. My next questions are was it worth it and is there anywhere else I can get it from?

I think "more power" is a misnomer. An M37 engine has plenty of power. I think what most people want is more "top end" power. In stock form, an M37 will "pull a barn off the foundation" in 1st gear and 4-wheel-low. Low-end torque on the T245 is great. What it lacks is the ability to maintain modern highway speeds. In other words, the power band is not where you would like it to be. I won't be using mine on the Interstate, and I outgrew the "need for speed" at least 30 years ago, so the stock engine/driveline will be just fine with me once my truck is up and running. Like the old Yamaha commercials said..."different strokes for different folks!"

The M37 engine already has hardened exhaust seats but still not a bad idea to have new ones installed since your going for a rebuild ( I also installed stainless steel exhaust valves on my 230 ). Try the below link for the cam ( and other flathead parts) however VPW was the only ones I knew to carry the 230 econo/performance cam.

http://www.egge.com/

mattveeder wrote:I am the proud owner of an 52 m37. I am doing my best to keep it as stock as possible. I still run 24 volt electronics and such things like that. In my expierences with the 230 flathead I acn say that it is very underpowered. My truck has just over 8000 miles on it and it runs great for what it is. I did convert it to electronic ignition and I am very satisfied with the kit. Now I am on a quest to get the most power possible out of my engine possible. I was talking to my machinest the other day and sugested rebuild the engine and in the process make some power. He said we can shave .060 off of the head for compression. Of course we will put hardned valve seats in and the works. My question is has anyone used the aftermarket cam offered by VPW? It claims to have more lift and duration. My next questions are was it worth it and is there anywhere else I can get it from?

Matt,
other than the mods you have listed, I don't think there's much else you can do AND still keep it stock. I think I saw somewhere that you can take as much as .090" off the head, but don't quote me on that!
Eventually I am doing to build a custom header and triple carb setup for my 230. You can follow the discussions here if you are interested:
http://www.powerwagonadvertiser.com/for ... php?t=7405
http://www.powerwagonadvertiser.com/for ... php?t=7706

I used a Isky racing cam in mine about ten years ago, don't know if they are still available. Grind # is 44 3/4.

Wasn't the 230 a really common Mopar engine in cars and trucks? If so I wonder where you could find performance parts. Someone in years past must have built a hotrod or something?