Leaderboard

Finally got some goodies back... whatcha think?

Make certain you slip the fitting on the line BEFORE you make the flare !! And I mention that simply because I made a few flares before realizing I DIDN'T slip the fitting on, and had to start over!! I guess I needed the extra practice ! Wayne

I was hired by the ME Department during my extended senior year to finish a design project that we ran out of time working on, with the design centering on a GMC Sierra 2500 that was donated to the school (long story). After several months of unsupervised work, I was nearing the completion of the project, then I was informed that there was a delay in my paychecks 3 weeks in a row, with some sort of bureaucratic mumbo jumbo that came as explanation. The department secretary informed me on the back steps during her smoke break that if I was not paid in full by a certain date, the university did not have to pay me at all; also, they could only pay me so much per week, not one lump sum...I quickly did the math and realized that if I didn't start getting paid in a few days, I was gonna get stiffed out of some big $$$ to a starving college student. So I made my move the next day...2 days later, the department heads involved with administering projects were cussing me out in the hallway between classes, in front of other students, threatening to have me thrown in jail for theft of university property, cuz that GMC had "disappeared" ...I smiled and told them that I was just so weak from not eating, cuz I hadn't gotten paid in almost a month, that I was having trouble remembering things; this brought snickers from innocent observers and smoke coming out of the ears of the aggressors...the paychecks started being delivered as required a few days later, and when the last one cleared the bank, I paid a visit to the department head's top floor office, walking past the department secretary and giving her a wink as I dangled the GMC's keys (did I mention that she was drop dead gorgeous?). He cursed me out some more, told me how unethical I was being (hello kettle, you're black), and demanded to know where the blankety blank truck was...I pointed over his shoulder out the window to the university motor pool parking lot 500 feet away, where that red truck was parked in clear view of his window, and since that lot was secured, it had never left the university property and the keys had been with the motor pool office the whole time, where I had checked it in under my name with the ME department... which was right next door to the university police station... he cursed me one more time as I walked out the door, and I patted the department secretary on the head as she was covering her mouth and turning beet red, trying not to laugh...later, I ran into her on her smoke break, and she high-fived me for my accomplishment, and relayed to me the aftermath of that whole incident as it unfolded in the department corridors, as egos had been bruised for the fact that some lowly undergrad had bested several distinguished PhDs at a game of chicken...it was a good thing

Earlier in the day (Friday Aug. 4) we took the Meadowbrook to Winona so my son and I could get haircuts. My barber had been wanting to see my car so it was a good visit telling him the car's history. After the barber we stopped at the liquor store for wine and the clerk commented on the car. Later in the evening I adjusted the carb a bit and cleaned the bugs out of the oil bath. Then wifey, doggies and I went out for a cruise. Been having beautiful cool weather in the 70s lately. Once again all riders were lulled by the engine and slight vibration of the car. Also, for the first time, on the Interstate today I let 'er rip and drove it 70mph for about 7 miles (to our exit). It didn't fluctuate in temperature and it surprisingly ran very smooth and didn't feel like the engine was screaming. My original owner's manual says the car can be run at that speed...well I ran it and it did just fine!

It's all installed! The front axle is in and I even drove it around the block once before my fuel pump died! It felt much tighter and drove straight despite a rough one man driveway toe setting. I thought it'd raise the front more than it did so I'm happy!

Heads are officially done. All new valves, guides, seals, hardened seats, milling etc. Also added the Hot Hemi Heads spark plug tube inserts which help keep oil out of the cylinders when changing spark plugs. Waiting on the rest of the rotating assembly to be finished and pick up parts from the powder coater and chrome shop. More updates coming soon.

A few pics from this evening's cruise. These darn cars make me eat so much ice cream. I wonder how many cones have been eaten in this car over the past 64 years? I was experimenting with my iPhone tonight taking some pics. You can get some groovy distorted looking images. Lots of fanatical waves and thumbs up tonight during my cruise route. I stopped for gas and a guy approached and said he loved the car. Could he take a few pictures? Of course, I replied. Thank you. I took her up several good hills tonight. Testing her for speed and watching the temp gauge. I hit my local hill in 3rd, pulled hard, shifted into 4th and pushed on up, hitting 50 MH. Speed limit was 30 MPH so I did not go any faster. She ran great. Great cars these old Chryslers.

I have used the Mity-Vac myself, but not the same way as you are. I open the bleeder, pump the Mity-Vac until I get a clear stream without bubbles, close the bleeder and move on to the next wheel.

double

Thanks I never knew the D25 had diff bumpers etc

Enjoying the thread. I'll offer info on the Mity-Vac. I have one and use it for one person brake bleeding. It has has a little container that attaches. You hook up a vacuum line at the brake bleeder nipple. Make sure the reservoir is full of brake fluid. Go down to the wheel. Hand pump unit with one hand and create a vacuum. Crack bleeder with other hand and draw out fluid. Closing bleeder again. Pump mity-vac again and repeat. Keep going as needed. Be sure to get up and top up the reservoir as you draw out fluid at wheel. Clear lines work great for flushing out old brown-ish fluid with new. You can visually see the fluid turn clear as the new fluid gets pulled through by the Mity-Vac. I think I have the 8,000 model. With a gauge on it, it also works great for testing vacuum pots. Such as distributor vacuum advance. http://www.mityvac.com/pages/products_hvpk.asp Speaking of young people under cars, sweating in the heat. I find myself in this situation often. I kind of wish I was 17 again, sometimes. Yet then other times not. As at 17 I'd be broke. Have scant tools and tend to break a lot of parts. Trying to take things apart impatiently and ramming them back together. Lol. We probably all had that in common early in our years.

I saw this a while back on a episode of Classic Tractor Fever. I noticed it was on again so I took a pic . Please excuse the picture quality. I paused the show then took the pics with my phone. John

$39.99 per month, Yikes! Way cheaper to get your own ISP account.

D25 gravel pans are smooth and the bumpers wrap around further than on the P15. The bumper irons are different too... If you look closely, you'll see an extra pair of bumper bolts visible at the front. As the blue car is in Canada, perhaps the bumpers were swapped at some time, using parts that were available locally? For reference, here are a couple of pictures of a D25 coupe, here in the UK...

Your choice . Some think that a 160 doesn't let the engine get warm enough . If you drive in a lot of colder weather a 180 will also get you more heat to the inside of your cab from your heater faster . I run a 160 .

Paul seems to be switching brands

Should be a little higher in the rear also. Considering the rear springs were bent the wrong way. Actually, the rear springs were handle-bar mustache shape.

Our ofc.mgr lamented the lack of snow in TX as she grew up in Nebraska, so me and another engineer conspired to collect the chads from several hole punches in the building, then positioned the chads in the vent over her desk in little mounds in the duct...and for weeks afterward, whenever the heat kicked on, a few more chads would fall from the vent, which was located directly over her keyboard...so she'd either yelp from the surprise snow, or cuss at the chads that appeared on her keyboard while she was away from her desk...good times

Don - Mopars in general at least through the 80's it seems are oil leakers - wouldn't you agree? I had a Duster with slant six that leaked significantly and have had several K-Cars and early Minivans with 4 cylinder engines (2.2 and 2.5) and all of them were leakers after 40-50K. I have 81K on my 2014 Town and Country with the 3.6 and it doesn't leak a drop (or burn even half a quart between changes either). I have about 2,500 miles on the rebuild. The shop that reassembled the engine did not do a good job with gaskets. I replaced the valve cover gasket (under the exhaust manifold) because of obvious leakage and it looks like the oil pan gasket leaks too. I can't tell how much of the leakage is from the rear main seal but am sure that is part of it too and harder to address. I suppose I could do a compression test but since the engine runs smoothly and has so much more power since the rebuild I haven't bothered to.

Sometimes you can use a drill bit for measuring .

I really love the way your truck is turning out.

Woot woot. We have a working system. It is not technically done as I want to replace the brake lines to the rear wheels, but I need to source the rubber hose from the brake light switch to the tee on the axle. I also think I need to bleed the front lines again. It was too easy the first time and the pedal is soft. But we have driven the car around the neighborhood and then up the road a couple miles to a road I never see cars on to test the proportioning valve. Solved the wheel rubbing problem by using the 1/8" aluminum spacers and rotating wheels. My front passenger wheel was slightly bent. My son wanted to swap it with the spare tire (still has the stickers on it) because he thought that would be less work. Unfortunately, that rim was even more bent. I've done that before -- made the bent rim the spare. I'll have to find someone in town to straighten them. I've had it done in North Carolina on for modern cars with great results before. I'll update this thread again after we replace the rear lines and bleed a second (or third) time. Stickers on my spare tire -- Sears and Roebuck

40-47 trucks and probably some power wagons

I installed the glass on the hose that comes from the heater and goes to the water pump, easy to see the coolant.....

hi, I found a machine workshop nearby and the guy reamed the bushings with a adjustable reamer at the right size. I mounted the pins and put the first layer off paint on.

Bad news from the machine shop.. the short rod was from a previous repair with an insert and some locktite in the wrist pin bore. Now I need to hunt up a connecting rod. EDIT: Found a NOS one one eBay!

When I first moved to NC I went to the local Ace Hardware and asked where the lag bolts were. The man said aisle 6. I went done aisle 6 and was surrounded by laht bulbs.

Since you have a truck engine try Vintage Power Wagons http://www.vintagepowerwagons.com/ for distributor parts

How many miles do you have on the rebuilt engine? Are the new rings fully seated? Oil leaks on these engines are common. If a poll were taken my guess is that most folks like myself keep a hunk of cardboard on there garage floor underneath the engine.

Good news is that these parts are easy to find here. You'be got plenty of options, eBay is always a first check for me, and then there are two great vendors here in Massachusetts. Oldmoparts.com and Robertsmotorparts.com there is a company here in mass that will rebuild your fuel pump, but I'd just order a replacement as they are not expensive and will get you up and running quicker. The complete breaker plate is also with points will be found at oldmoparts, but you will need to call them as I don't believe they have them listed on their website. the condenser and points will need to be bought separate from the plate. Remember to check the small red wire in the photo for damage as these are known to fray over time and give headaches. need help collecting parts drop me a call as I am 30 minutes from both vendors. mark d

I stacked two gaskets to cure the leaking on my strombergs and also my carter

I have had this exact project in mind for years. By the time I get to it I hope I can remember how to find this thread. By the way I didn't see your fingers in any of the pictures. Could you share a picture of him under the car sweating in the heat, just to make me feel better about only having one daughter and a grandson too young to send under the car.

Where did you get those pins? Are they re-pops sourced from Asia? If so, they are too big. It has been a problem recently. Yes, the new bushings pressed into the knuckle does need to be reamed to size but you should not have to resize the upright support! Sounds like the pins are too large in diameter. Find new old stock pins or maybe use your old ones if they are not galled. That is what I had to do.

I'm going to enter in my first real car show tomorrow. I asked my wife if she could throw together a sign on her laser at work. This is what she came back with...Blew me away.

Tonight a local parking lot was the place for an impromptu classic car meeting. This was my first time attending a local gathering. I met some great folks and we talked about cars for a couple hours over Rootbeer floats. My '53 gathered a lot of admirers. Lots of questions were asked. I learned more about my car that I never knew. I taught a lot of people about my car too. Someone asked if it was a manual transmission unit at one time. Why did it have a clutch and L & D on the gear selector? I had a blast talking about my car and meeting folks with similar interests. I asked everyone I could if they had ever seen another old Chrylser like mine in town. Nobody could recall seeing one. I was really hoping to see an other L6 Mopar car, but no luck tonight. The burt orange Plymouth is a modified 1949 I believe the owner told me. It has a newer V8, hopped up engine in it, and new drivetrain. He did tell me it was stock when he bought it many years ago. A neat little 2 door 52 green Chevy parked right beside me. I think he said it was some Skyline Deluxe or other? A straight 6 overhead valve/pushrod engine. I laughed when he said that he thought his car was a boat. Until he parked right next to mine. I must say the two looked pretty fine together. I like the sunvisor. I think I want one for the Windsor. We'll see. Here are a few pics:

The calipers don't care what the wheel bolt pattern is. The discs do.

Parts are starting to roll in while waiting on the machine work. Picked up this awesome LA distributor to replace the old dual points unit. Not much more than a Pertronix unit and this uses standard Chrysler replacement parts and will not need rebuilt.

Gary, As soon as I get the cam bearings installed and the bores checked for size, I will be giving you a call to order new pistons and have my cam reground. Looking for something over 9:1 to get the HP up to around the D500 specs or better.

now I have 2 reasons to see the movie! Dogs AND trucks!

If you are watching "The Dogs Purpose" you will see both my trucks in the movie .We where asked to be extra's in the movie but I think the trucks got more screen time , I had to put the factory rims back on the 59 and I wasn't allowed to wash or wax it .

Remind me to never go on vacation with you. You and I clearly have different ideas about what is enjoyable.

my trunk has room for about 9 dead bodies.

Simple enough to bend them up from piano wire. Piano wire is strong, inexpensive and you can bend it cold.....makes great springs for guns for years and years....would work just fine for holding the sleeve to the forks. Just measure the diameter and google a supplier or order from Brownells or another gunsmith parts house. Nothing magical about the clips and no need to search high and low for originals when you can make it up in a couple minutes.

I bought replacement gas caps at NAPA that were supposed to be vented, they were not. You'll get a little gas on your lips, but remove the cap and blow on the little hole in the brass looking part of the cap. If no air passes, it's not vented. My solution was to drill the guts out of the gas cap. Worked for me.

I put the headliner into my coupe some years back. It came out OK, but is no where close to as good as a professional job. If I were to do it again I would take it a professional trimmer. It seems to be the kind of job that takes practice and experience; like installing drywall. The first wall of drywall I put up and finished looked like s..t. By the time I worked my way around the room the fourth wall looked pretty good. Maybe you should volunteer to put headliners in three friends cars, then go back and do yours.