Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/16/2017 in all areas

  1. I just turned 57. Drove my first truck when I was 5. A flatbed dodge. Keeping it in a straight line at idle, while my dad and his friend loaded hay bales by hand. My first car was a 1969 ford LTD, puke green with an 8 track player. The Lady didn't know if it ran or not because it had been sitting for a while. Paid her $50 bucks, put in a battery, 3 stomps on the pedal and it roared to life. Now say what you will about ford, chevys, and the like, but in 1969 there was no such thing as a lemon car. Every 69 I ever owned was ugly but bullet proof and ran till the tires fell off. My first mopar was a 1964 Plymouth Barracuda with the push button transmission. Fun car till I joined the Navy. I've owned a few cars in my time, but the best ones were from the '60s. The trouble with the new cars is you need a PhD and thousands of dollars in tools and equipment to work on them. That and the fact I'm 6'7", been spinning wrenches all my life, getting in and out of the newer cars is like putting on a space suit. Squat in butt first, rotate legs into the car. Curse because you forgot to put the seat back after you 5'1" wife drove it last. Then after working in a hot garage all day repeat and drive 45 minutes back home, have a crane standing by cause your back and legs cramped up from the bucket seat you can't move around in. Now I just like the simpler cars preferably Mopar. Easy to work on, if they break down it's usually something easy to fix. With this rush rush world now a days, I like simple. No drama, no fuss and as was mentioned earlier most kids/teen trouble makers can't steal them. I got my 48 Special Deluxe about 3 years ago. It didn't run but after about a week and $100 in parts she was cooking with Crisco.
    5 points
  2. I'm sneakin up on 80. Best part is sharing with Grandkids who were in town for the party. They all drove the car. First Mo-power was a Chrysler Hemi in my 35 Ford about 1958. First all Mopar Mopar is my P15 originally purchased about 1996. About "about",....I suffer from CRS but I can usually get the facts about right.
    4 points
  3. maybe it has something to do with speedometer adapter when using a 2spd rear axle...? see 21-86-5 in parts manual
    3 points
  4. If you need to pull the choke to half closed, you have a large vacuum leak down stream of the throttle plate. Much larger than could be accounted for by worn throttle bushings. I would be hooking up a vacuum gauge to see what it is pulling at idle then go from there. Check all the intake to block interfaces, the carb to manifold gasket to start with. Vacuum wipers or electric? Also if your vacuum advance diaphragm is ruptured that will cause a lean situation. You should be pulling 19 to 21 inches of vacuum with a steady needle all things being normal. Pulling the choke is artificially richening the mix by restricting the air portion of the ratio. Cutting half the air is more significant than worn bushings could be flowing.
    3 points
  5. 2 points
  6. Three of the head bolts go into the intake ports in line with the manifold. I serviced one engine that was drinking up its coolant but before tearing into it I put thread sealer on these three bolts and a can of stop leak in the rad. Re tightened the head bolts and sent it out. It still runs well and no more coolant loss. You have nothing to lose by trying this first.
    2 points
  7. Rislone is a very good product by Schaffer....it is the only product I would use or recommend. BUT one must be able to read and follow instructions on the product label. It is the best upper cylinder lubricant and about the only product that I know that will free up hydraulic lifters almost immediately on reaching operational temperatures. Many engines that are not often over the road or see extended highway use can benefit from this product as the odds of varnish or other sludge build up will cause lifter problems. Probably the only product I do not view as snakeoil. Again, as with any product common sense should prevail and not over dilute your lubrication system.
    2 points
  8. Not sure about hard to beat...may be a problem with the membership here but with the POC or the WPC crowd or even members within the AACA....there are 180254 chances one will pop up as produced prior to your number.....P18 first engine number was 1001
    2 points
  9. My cousin gave me a 52 Concord 2 door when I was 14, didn't run had lots of rust and the exhaust was rotted off from under the seat back. But it was all there, my next door friend and I got it running after a weeks wait to get money together to get a used battery from the junk yard down the street. Drove around the field, taught all the 12 and up kids in the area how to shift and drive, charged them 50 cents or two gallons of gas for a half hour behind the wheel. Even set up a spot with hay bales to practice parallel parking and three point turns which was part of the NY drivers liscence test. Every kid who practiced passed their tests first time. It was a killer way to meet girls, they came from surrounding towns to practice. Drove it for two summers on the lot, never used my own money for gas after the first week it was up and running. Put on a cherry bomb and a side exit tail pipe. Rebuilt the carb, fuel pump, the Genny,and rebushed the starter. Sold it to a neighbor for 50 bucks. Bought my 46 when I was 21 for 200 dollars in 1970 from the original owner. Done 80% of the work to put it in its current form. Drive it about 3000 miles a season, and endeavor to put one long road trip a year on it. Other than a fan belt and a couple of hot start problems it has never left us stranded. Plymouth builds Great Cars.
    2 points
  10. Sitting here and got a phone call, listed as the VA Outreach Center....as they are a legit facility as I have a brother who is 100% under VA care so against most all incoming call policy I answered this one. Guess what, the recording started with I see by our records you have stayed at our resort facility....blah blah blah. How stupid are these folks to think I will automatically be warm and friendly to a deceiving phone call. These folks are scum in my book...
    1 point
  11. I sure am loving this one! especially that sideview!
    1 point
  12. The young lady looks right at home behind the wheel.
    1 point
  13. Thank you soooo much I followed your directions and found a broken wire at the dimmer.It was close quarters but got it fixed. An amazing forum for problem solving.
    1 point
  14. Sure. For historical reasons to put in museums,if nothing else. It might be an exaggeration to say the K-Car saved Chrysler from bankruptcy,but not much of one. Although not as extreme,the same case can be made for the Taurus and Ford,although the Taurus was a MUCH nicer car than the K-Car. Seems like millions of them were made. At one time it seemed like at least 10 percent of the cars you saw on the road were Tauruses. Now,like the K-Car,they are as rare as rooster lips. There are no junkyards today like there used to be. The instant something is taken off the road it gets stripped,crushed,or both. I rode to the crusher once with a friend that has a tow service and spotted a virtually rust-free turquoise and white 1960 Chevy Impala 2dr ht parked there that was so complete it still had the hubcaps on it. Original paint with only traces of surface rust,and no dents at all. Had a 348 with Powerglide in it. It was a car you could have gotten running that was presentable enough as is to have been driven. Tried to buy it and the yard owner flat refused to sell it or a single part off of it. I don't know if it was true or not,but was told that he got an additional 700 bucks above scrap cost from the government for crushing a non-EPA compliant car or truck with a title,and once one entered his books it had to be crushed. He also had a nice 49 Dodge in there that had perfect taillights and housings on it,and I couldn't even get him to sell them to me for my 49 Dodge. At least this is what I was told by a guy that claimed to be the yard owner. For all I know he was just a AHole that managed the yard and liked to destroy things. Either way I wasn't going to be able to buy anything.
    1 point
  15. There sure are. Some of them are located at local community colleges,and teach basic auto maintenance at night. You can also take auto repair courses. Beyond that your best bet would be to check your yellow pages to see there are any "Chrysler,Dodge,DeSoto,or Plymouth" clubs listed in the phone book,and contact them about joining and learning. If you can't find anything that way,ask the guys behind the counter at the local auto parts stores if they know of anyone.
    1 point
  16. Were it me, I would use an upholstery cleaner from the house cleaning section of the grocery or hardware store.also buy a sift bristle brush, l like the largest fingernail brush I can find spray a small section, scrub with the brush, then use your wet vac to pull the soap and grim out. An old light colored rubbed over the area that you vacuumed will tell you whether you need to repeat the process. That is pretty light soiling I think no big stains should clean up well. Do a square foot at a time. Don't soak the area and use the vacuum right after you scrub a section, rinse the brush frequently as you move from section to section. Using the vacuum pulls the soil out so it doesn't get spread to the next grid. Spent three years cleaning up used cars at a dealership, seen much much worse than that.
    1 point
  17. Later in the evening at the parade I snapped a single photo of Rushford's oldest fire engine. Not even sure of the make or model, but I like it. The Meadowbrook ran superb, we whispered out of the parking lot after the car show as some onlookers gave us the thumbs up. I only talked to a few people about the car because we spent most of our time away from the car show. We visited the 1867 Rushford Depot which is the only 2 story original depot in MN still in its original location. Lots of good things to see and read there. We did check out all the other cars at the show beforehand. It was nice to see the cars even if none of them were Mopars.
    1 point
  18. Since you live in NC,basically,you are screwed if you dump any more money in this project. What will happen is when you register it with either title,the DMV will send out a DMV inspector to your house to search your chassis,and the car body for numbers that match those on the title. Once he sees what has been done,he will destroy any title you have on record related to that car,and refuse to issue you a title. I have a friend right now who dumped a few thousand in rebuilding a 48 Dodge truck I sold him that had a clear Va title and on that Virginia title there was a motor serial number matching the serial number on the actual engine. The DMV auto-theft inspector,who he knows personally because he has a commercial garage and does state inspections,told him the engine serial number came back from a different year,and refused to issue him a title and kept and destroyed the clear Va title that came with the truck. They do that so you can't take it out of state to sell it. Yeah,he got to drive the truck for a year before his license plates expired,but the DMV refused to renew his tags. The only way I know to get around this is to buy a rolling chassis with a body on it that has the body serial number and the chassis serial number matching those on the title. Have that car inspected by the DMV inspector and buy a set of tags for it. That way you have it on record that the car has been inspected for bad numbers,and has passed the inspection and have new tags and a new title on file. THEN you can start with the frame clips/frame replacements,etc,etc,etc. Make sure you keep your receipts for materials and parts,and call the DMV inspector to come and inspect it again. He will do it and either approve a new NC title for you with the a clear NC title as a 48 Dodge (for example),or a 48 Dodge with a unique NC DMV VIN number. MY 37 Dodge 1 ton pu is sitting on a modern 4x4 chassis with the modern engine and suspension,but is titled as a 1937 Dodge with a NC State VIN number. In this case,a decal put inside the pillar of the door. To get this done you MUST have a clear title for the donor car that gave up the chassis,as well as a clear title in your name for the 48 Dodge . Don't make the mistake of thinking you can win an argument with these guys. You can't. If you have all your ducks in a row you won't have any problems with them,but if just ONE thing is wrong,game over. You might also want to be wary of Alabama titles in NC. Seems like there was a lot of weird stuff going on with Alabama titles 10 years or so ago. Best thing for you to do is contact the guys in some hot rod club near you and get advise from them. They will know what is current and what can be done to make everything go through smoother.
    1 point
  19. I posted on another thread about this but as follows............re the upper outer bush, pin & seals the seals themselves you look at the pic of the shop manual are "tubes" that squash and do NOT have that HEX indent........the upper seals essentially can be replaced by large O rings which are much easier to install and in fact if you look closely at "Fig 2" above you'll see what appears to be "O" rings on either side of the bush.........btw lock bolt #20 in the shop manual pic will not allow a new bush to fit unless its removed first NOW, that rubber seal with the large HEX is ONLY for the lower fixed bush head that goes thru the hole in the lower spindle........there are sometimes found 2 different size hex heads on this part depending I think on the brand of part so make sure that you keep that hex indented rubber..........the other side of this metal bush uses a circular rubber with a round indent that fits over the protruding part of this bush when its fully screwed into the lower spindle......with both Hex and Round seals in place it is a tight fit into the lower outer A arms then screw the pin in the assemble it................... Does this all make sense?...........lol.........hope it helps........Andy Douglas
    1 point
  20. Spent a few hours with her today. ''Installed the battery the correct way,,, 'traced the interior lights to a bad B pillar switch. Traced the no brake lights to the brake light switch, mounted to the frame rail on the drivers side, and simply pushed the wire back into the socket... drove for a few hours. Amp meter goes into the positive now, not neg. i just barely push the starter button now and she starts up. Next project, fuel line heat shield. Is installing a new rigid fuel line from the fuel filter with it bent away from the manifold a good idea? thanks for everyone's help!
    1 point
  21. Those upper outer seals shown in Don Coatneys pic as above are a tube style and the original type, they are installed using a "U" shaped steel piece that fits either side of the bush and allows the seals to side in on either side..........however I have used a pair of large "O" rings that were about 1/4" thick and a tight fit around the pin...........I installed the O rings on either side of the bush, installed it inside the upper spindle hole then gently pushed it into the space between the outer A arms then screwed the threaded pin in........it was a bit fiddly but thinking about it now you could use a few small drops of super glue to hold the O rings onto either side of the bush which may help a bit...................dunno if this helps.........lol..........last time I did these was a few years ago and I teed up a mate who did wheel alignments to give it a proper one at his workshop and adjusted it myself by eyeball and measuring, then drove very slowly and carefully there..........lol............Andy Douglas
    1 point
  22. Satin would be good. Not glossy, same as the generator and starter. Breather pipes, too.
    1 point
  23. I would contact Nostalgia Sid's in Guthrie, OK. (405) 416-3080. I dropped off my axle with spindles still attached, and a new king pin set and $480 later it is painted and ready to pickup. The $480 included a 3" drop in the axle and the king pin setup reamed and installed. It is easier to save money somewhere else, I think.
    1 point
  24. 40's to 50's Plymouths and most others from that era will probably be almost free by then. Most of the rest of us will either be in a"Better Place" or worse yet a rest home. Except for me of course, I plan to do the same as I did at age 5, sit in the car and go "Vroom Vroom".
    1 point
  25. can you imagine a bumper jack along side a busy interstate with high speed semis passing by....the very height one has to reach to remove a rear tire makes the peg leg approach very unsafe in my book....I recommend using the stock bumper jack as a static display while hiding a nice safe trolley jack in a vintage suitcase along with a couple nice wheel chocks. These jacks are very low cost and highly effective with their stable base and the support pocket provided...
    1 point
  26. All right , all of you who were born in the first half of the last century : We may look at the world through the eyes (corrected vision) of a teenager but the world is not looking back at us with anything near the same enthusiasm. It was our duty as teenagers to find the weaknesses of our parent's generation of cars and we did our best. We know now that old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill and.... by golly..... weren't we lucky to have left home while we still knew everything?
    1 point
  27. M first car was a P15 that was originally purchased new by my grandfather. Sadly, that car is gone (I tried to find it, to no avail), but I found a sister to it back in 2006. After approximately 4 1/2 years, it was roadworthy. Yes, it has been modified quite a bit, but at first glance, it looks stock. Upgrades include a 350 Chevy engine, TH350 transmission, power rack & pinion steering, air conditioning, Road Runner rear end, new interior, and custom rewiring. It's fun to drive, dependable, and still brings back a lot of memories of that first P15. Oh...and I'm 68 years old.
    1 point
  28. Not yet. Busy work week. I noticed that the positive from the battery is going to the starte solinoid and negative to under the engine block. 'I think I need to switch the battery around has having the battery in backwards been hurting the system?
    1 point
  29. I'm turning 70 tomorrow and find myself in great company here. A wonderful neighbor gave me my very first car, a two tone green 1954 Dodge Coronet Red Ram 4 door in 1965. That was one tough machine. I gave it to a true friend and my first automotive mentor when I was drafted in 1966, and it ended up in a figure 8 race at Glen Este Speedway. My first "antique" car was a derelict $100.00 1948 Chevrolet sedan delivery purchased from a local AMC dealer, Harry and Carl Rambler, in 1969. They'd put it right out in front with bunting and flags as a joke, but the styling just blew me away. It was a tired old Grandin Hardware Store veteran, and with a Jasper rebuilt engine, an 8 volt battery and new tires, it became my daily driver for about three years. Next came a 1950 Plymouth Deluxe 2 door fastback, then a 1937 PT50 as a shop truck in the early 1980's, a 1936 Plymouth P2 coupe in 2009, and a 1935 Plymouth PJ coupe in 2011 which I sold to purchase my 1949 P18 Special Deluxe convertible this spring. Despite lots of other cars in between, I keep coming back to Plymouth flatheads.
    1 point
  30. Physically I'm 65. Mentally, 18-19 (my wife would agree). Been a carnut since grade school. Kept me out of trouble. Could've been worse.
    1 point
  31. My Plydo disc kit after 30-40 thousand miles.
    1 point
  32. Steve......whilst my disc adaption is an Oz setup you can see that the brake hose uses a banjo fitting same as the Scarebird setup but I have the hose going at the rear of the suspension, in fact it uses the original Dodge hose chassis bracket that is held onto the chassis with 2 bolts, I don't have them or it pictured but they are shown(the holes at least) in the post of yours just behind the upper shock mount...........by using this bracket my brake hose travels behind the spindle and shock absorber to this chassis mount bracket and does not come into contact with either the spindle or stub axle on hard lock...............btw it seems that the hoses you are using or recommended to use have specific shape at the banjo end that only allows the hose to fit one way....is this correct?...... and this is how they fit as per the 1979 Cadillac?........I'd be seeing if some other banjo hose can fit or if the locating edges on the caliper can be removed to allow a rear pointing banjo fitting and hose...................hope I'm not confusing all this.........lol........Andy Douglas.
    1 point
  33. Here is my '53 among the forest fires here in BC this week. I took this pic on Sunday evening. We have lots of hills, you just can't see them in the pic through all the smoke. You can also see the elevation gain I was talking about in my earlier post above. There is a river in the valley in this pic. Up and down that elevation every time I head out in the Windsor. My apologies for generalizing about Alberta drivers. I did say we have plenty of bad ones locally too. I get grumpy from too many trips down the hi-way doing the speed limit. Then being passed by someone at a much higher speed. Being local I know these roads very well. The rise in elevation, the drop in temperatures, the sudden hail, rain, and snow that can and does hit mountain passes every month of the year, is not understood by many. Carnage ensues all the time.
    1 point
  34. Nope im wrong it's 1st and 2nd and 3rd and 4th for high range by my manual
    1 point
  35. you may be kicking a can of worms that should be left to die in the hot sun.....check with some of the local old car owners first to see if this would be a wise choice, I have no first hand knowledge of Illinois DMV but some states would lead to confiscation and destruction of misrepresented vehicle...especially if a vehicle ID tag has been changed or altered.
    1 point
  36. A way to find out if it is the back wiring is the problem. At least this what I did. Find the wiring that is going to your front park lights and turn signals and see if they are working through them. I also had to ground them properly on the box of the truck. Getting almost to bare metal.
    1 point
  37. Sounds like you're off and running. But do continue to check the head torque occasionally; In my case it usually take 3 times before all of them stop moving with a new head gasket. for future reference, most people just spray the gasket off of the engine, so that you don't get a bunch of the coating on the pistons and valves. Marty
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Terms of Use