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Just installed a Red Crown Gasoline light in our carport to go with the truck. I am pretty happy with the results.

My Great Grandfather, and guessing my Great Grandmother with the '55 Dodge (I'll be inheriting this summer) and what I believe is a '55 DeSoto. The truck was my Great Grandfather's then my Uncle's, and then my Parent's, and soon to be mine. My Dad just told me that he is getting too old to work on too many toys, and he is giving it to me. It is in a little worse shape than here, but pretty much original. I'll post pictures of it's current state, in the correct area, when I get it out of the barn, but from what I recall it definitely will need a gas tank and fuel pump, amongst other things.

Also had them flip the flywheel starter ring.

I have an admittedly tight focus on the KT Keller cars, so that's what I research and play with. It's all about having fun after all and those are the ones I like. I am a huge fan of Overdrive transmissions because they don't really change the charm of the cars and actually add to it. When you put one in your car your speedo will be off at all speeds because the speedometer pinion gear was selected for a 4.1 ring and pinion. The good news is you can swap out the pinion from your old three speed to the O.D. and all will be back to normal ( assuming your speedometer doesn't need service ). But what if you changed the rear end ratio or the tire size? I don't advocate changing rear axles because I don't see much to be gained there. You can easily change the differential carrier ( aka 3rd member ) in a Plymouth if you want another ratio. Where I live there's lots of open road with highway speeds of 55 to 70 so optional ratios, tires and O.D. go well with my Plymouth. My P17 Coupe came with 6.40-15 tires ( modern equivalent 195/75/15 ) and a 3.73 final drive ratio so the speedometer pinion would be a 17 tooth gear ( p/n 652-848 ) for an example. Chrysler designed the pinions to use the same 6 tooth gear on the output shaft so you only need to change one gear to correct the speedometer. One thing you find out right away is selecting speedo gears is not an exact science. You can get close and you might hit it right on the button but you more likely will be over or under by 2 or 3 mph. That's why the Highway Patrol has an enforcement tolerance. So let's look at tires first 6.40 15 = 195/75/15 standard tire for a P17 6.70 15 = 205/75/15 standard tire for a P18 7.60 15 = 225/75/15 an optional size tire Final drive ratios 3.90 very common on long wheelbase cars 3.73 standard ratio on many optional on all 3.54 optional Chart of ratios & tires vs speedometer pinions 3.90 6.70 15 17 tooth pinion 3.73 6.40 15 17 tooth pinion 3.73 6.70 15 16 tooth pinion 3.54 6.70 15 16 tooth pinion All 7.60 15 16 tooth pinion So you can see you're not going to get an exact reading but you can get close enough to avoid a ticket. The part number for the 16 tooth pinion is 652-846. I have found that if you have the number for an obscure part the parts house will look to find it in their inventory but they are likely to blow you off if you just say "I need a 16 tooth speedometer gear." Happy hunting!

Yup, between 65 and 70. When I had earplugs in, I tended to go faster, haha....

Another vote for making your own. It’s like a puzzle to solve. You screw a few up. You learn. You get better. Building and shaping your first ever 3 ft line across the left rear axle housing? Order two 25 ft rolls of 3/16” brake line tube. 😄

preformed and then curve and bent to fit a box for shipping, you better off making your own tailor fit set.......

with all due respect, items needed to exact this repair is common at any hardware store or big box building supply, TSC etc that one can walk in, get the item, pay and immediately got to work repairing. While mail order from many companies and sites are MOST BENEFICAL when you dealing/needing bulk quantity, I have to state IN MY OPINION this is not the best option for this particular thread. Heck if it boils right down to it, one can find where a person may park a chevy/gm product and find where these have fallen off and free for picking up. Ok so the last part is a joke...maybe real at times, but still intended as a jab/joke.

SURVIVOR: saw this Dodge between Lake Graham and Newcastle

Likely not a "factory" accesory, more likely a mass produced catalog or dealer option, these aren't listed in the Accesories section of the manuals.

Just use a torch to get the plug red hot....that oughta bust the rust loose................. 😲 🤣

John-T-53, thanks for all the pictures. I’m sure a lot of us would like to make the tailgate and BBQ. Just not practical for most. However, your pictures really let those of us who can’t make it live vicariously through your pictures. The most and best of the bunch! I would love to bring this old girl to the BBQ but it involves border crossing (not a problem with a passport) and a three, four, or possibly five day drive depending on weather and lack of problems. It doesn’t have a tailgate but does have the next best thing…..a big butt trunk.

you may be onto something Sniper, I am going to say a rolling wheel gathers no red paint.....

See now a song comes to mind I see a black wheel and I want to paint it red Apologies to The Rolling Stones

I use the in my opinion a lot because most of my unsolicited comments are just that, an opinion and in no manner saying good bad or indifferent....but just as I see it. The fact I will then state the whys and wherefores of my opinion is to say that it is not just a whim or silly notion and give some background, color and size ratio etc...technically I could care less one way or the other what anyone chooses to do as it is not my car no more than if a person likes or dislikes what I do with mine. Big hobby folks, I will admit at one time it would rankle me see what some folks may do...but hard lesson to learn is JUST NOT MY BUSINESS....the red wheels, there is NO WAIVER here......lol

•pinched tube on intake manifold appears to be the vacuum source for the vacuum windshield wiper motor •intake manifold appears to have a partial PCV setup •spark plug wires appear a little on the long side...universal sets with 90° boots can be sourced

I dunno, call me a snob but I's rather spend my tool money on real quality tools. Like Starret or Mitutoyo. Yeah, they cost a bit more but are definitely quality tools.

Here's a possibility. I wonder if the Dodge rod bolts have threads that are cut, while the Pontiac rod bolts have rolled threads. Rolled threads are formed by dies that displace (smash) the material into the shape of threads, without removing any material. This results in threads that have larger outside diameter than the adjacent shank section of the bolt. On the other hand, cut threads are just that - they are made by cutting material away to achieve the thread shape, so the threaded section diameter will not be any larger than the diameter of the adjacent shank. It's kind of hard to tell from your photo, but it looks like that might be the situation. If so, then accordingly, the Dodge rod might be made with smaller bolt holes to snugly fit its cut-thread bolts, but the Pontiac bolts, with their rolled threads are too large to fit. I have a couple of Dodge 230 flathead rods at home, along with their bolts, and I can tell you that the threads in those bolts have the appearance of being cut, which surprised me, since I have seen other Dodge flatheads that have the appearance of having rolled threads. I have no reason to think that those are not the original bolts, and perhaps they were early rods that used cut-thread bolts. I could take some measurements and photos of those rods and bolts some time in the next few days and we can see if they match the dimensions of your bolts. We can also see how thin my other rods are (the ones that used rolled-thread bolts) in the wall between the bolt holes and the bearing saddles. I remember them being pretty thin. We might find that you have room to ream out the bolt holes in your rods to accommodate the slightly larger Pontiac bolts, or some aftermarket bolts, such as those from ARP. From the strength and durability (fatigue) standpoint, the bolts containing rolled threads are very much preferred. I believe virtually every manufacturer uses those types of rod bolts nowadays and have for many, many decades. I remember seeing early rod bolts from other engine makes that used cut-thread bolts, but I think most everyone moved away from that type of design long ago.

VINTAGEPIC: saw this Dodge on the FB

SURVIVOR: saw this Dodge between Lake Graham and Newcastle

Sorry for the off-topic, but this reminds me of the add I saw on Craigslist: 🤣

I think I’m a year with the electric 6V boost pump in Chrysler. No complaints. It will push through vapor lock. I have done so with it. I do like it spliced into ignition switch (wire to fuel gage). Then I cannot leave it on when I park the car. I have left the heater blower and AM radio on by accident. They were wired to direct non-switched power sourced. Dead battery the next morning. A sure way to ensure premature death of an otherwise good 6V battery.

Hopefully this post skirts the rules...i have been unsuccessful finding arm rests. My last hope is that someone can send me one for templating and I can ship it back. A friend suggested making them out of wood. But the shape is fairly complex and I'm not a good woodworker. If anyone has any other suggestions, my ears are open. Attached is a pic i found online. Thanks, Andrew

Never saw the points firing a plug when turning the key 🙄 Is this a stock setup, besides the ignition? Are you running an electric fuel pump or any other things connected to the ignition switch?

Same here. If you decide to delete the mechanical pump you might consider modifying the fuel line inside the engine compartment to get it away from the exhaust manifold. Here is how I ran the line across the upper firewall and over to the carb.

well, .008 is within factory specs..just at the upper end..you can ride as is..and monitor this and address should it change...or go the added step to reduce this now while you are working this issue. The problem with many values and ideas expressed here is they do not reflect the values and standards of the engineers and it was well known, Chrysler aligned the company with the best engineers out there. Some folks just like to yell out, close enough and throw in the towel as it may be labor intensive.

SURVIVOR: saw this Dodge between Lake Graham and Newcastle

Pro tip. If you have a bunch of transmissions and go hunting through them for the proper gear to match the 3.73 you swapped into your coupe make sure you reinstall all the wrong ones correctly. Otherwise later on when Dad goes to install one of those in place of the OD he's not selling with the 50 Plymouth bad things will happen to the new owner. Like the tail housing exploding....

we made the license plate holder. thank you for your help.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER Thanks for tip Los. I pulled the sender and measured the gas level, it was at 2 1/2" in an 8" deep tank, which matches the fuel gage reading of about 1/4 tank of gas. Looking in the tank from the sender hole I couldn't see any water, but it was probably back by the tank drain, and the drain plug is stuck and I can't remove it. The one thing I didn't do last fill up was to put Stabil in the tank. It keeps the gas good and also helps with condensate. When I measured the gas level, I stirred the gas in the tank then I smelled the gas. It didn't smell bad, but it smelled weak. The strong smell wasn't there. It smelled lite, like half of the normal gas smell. I have new fuel filters on the way to replace the one before the prime pump at the tank and the one before the carb and when I change them, I'll take another crack at removing the drain plug and hopefully know for sure about the water in the tank. So tune in next week for another exciting episode of "As the Wheel Turns". Joe Lee

When I stopped developing my AoK clone intake, it wasn't because I thought it was a bad idea. In fact I also stopped working on an adapter plate for the 833 transmission. I did that because I found out from Tim Kingsbury, that George Asche might have some plates still available. He did, so I bought one. He actually did a new run of them so I got one that was just finished. In talking with Robert, one of his sons, about the plate I tossed out a question I thought I knew the answer to...were there any AoK intakes still available? I was shocked when he told me they might have one I could buy. I sent them a check the very next day In all it's glory, here is where I am with it. I'm just getting started mocking up the linkage. George will do that for you, and it would most likely be better. I'm using my Carter WA-1's though and George prefers the B&B. Besides the fact that I like to do my own tinkering. I drilled the tabs for the linkage rod a bit over and epoxied 5/16 oilite bronze bushing in place. I used the rod as a jig to get them in the right alignment, using my digital angle finder and some wire to pull the rods until is was as close to perfect as I can get it. I still need to add a threaded hole to locate the bell crank, which I'll take off my stock manifold. The right carb is just lightly bolted back together for the photo. I am taking it into work tomorrow to use one of our mills to drill for the custom bushings I'm making for the throttle shaft. The machine shop manager (We are an electronics company in simple terms) is helping me plan. I'm going to redo the bushings from some oilite bronze they have at .375 dia. I don't think the cast iron base has the wall thickness to go that far, so we will take a look and go with something that has more like a .020 wall thickness. We make cryogenic equipment (physics instruments) primarily, although I work on our SEM/AFM fusionscope project team. Anyway, I have liquid nitrogen I can use to freeze the bushings and after we heat the cast iron the plan is to have about a .0005 interference fit. Pretty tight sounding, but our guy's do tighter than that. I'll hone the bushings to size from my initial .3105 reamer. Should be fun. You never find cool things, if you don't ask. I don't know if there are any more intakes available or not. The truth is, if you don't have to pay for anything but the raw materials (machine yourself, welding is free) you can do a pretty good job of imitation using the design I started. But it won't have George Asche Jr's name on it. Miles of smiles here.

I used rust cure formula 3000 on the inside of the car, once I was refreshing the interior. Apparently, there were some studies performed by Canadian DOT, or something like that, indicating that liquid rust proofing really works if applied frequently. Some of our Canadian members might know better. I am planning to use it on the outside, as well, but just did not get around to it, yet. However, I would not be able to test it since the car is not driven in adverse weather conditions. Thus far, the only thing I can say is that it really does not drip and spreads very well

We always get at least one or two orphan makes at this event each year. Jim's brother's silver Kaiser showed up again, and below is Charlie's '55 Nash, with body design by Pininfarina of Torino. I really enjoyed this car. AMC's thrifty 195-6. Note: no intake manifold. The exhaust "manifold" is just a steel pipe with cutouts bolted to the block. "Brendt" strikes a pose. Best of show award Really hope to see this COE on the road next year! The aftermath of Joe's Motorhome debacle on Sunday.... photo credit: @48Dodger

Hunkering down around the fire whilst a cell passes overhead.... and opinions being expressed over which (wet) wood pieces to burn...lol

There is a youtube channel I watch sometimes ..... guy is a pretty fair mechanic and has interesting content. What he uses is bar oil for chainsaws. He thins it down with paint thinner then uses a pump up garden sprayer to apply it. The paint thinner evaporates leaving the sticky oil. Then he drives the vehicle down a dirt or gravel road and coats the fresh oil with a layer of dust ..... just helps give the oil a protective layer to keep it in place. This is what he does to his daily drivers, not sure he would do it to a classic car ... that he would not drive in the winter. I like the idea because it is cheap, easy to do, and it is not permanent. He says he needs to repeat the process after about 3 years .... If he needs to work on it he has a lift and can just raise it up, pressure wash it to clean it and when finished just apply more. Compared to spraying undercoating on that is permanent and a pita to get rid of .... I would choose this method if I needed it .... Texas I do not need it.

Dan: Sealed beam headlights were first introduced in 1940 and mandated by the Govt. There were a few exception that still used bulbs. For MoPar from 1940-48 the cars and truck all used the 4030 Sealed beam bulb that did not have the aiming tips. From 1949-56 still 6 volt they used the Autolite Bullseye bulb and still no aiming tip. In 1956 the 6v 6006 sealed beam was first produced and these had the aiming tips so that the BEAR headlight machine could be used to adjust the light instead of aiming the lights against a wall and manually adjusting the light. More of a true system to get everyone's lights in sync. The 6006 6v bulb is now used as the primary headlight bulb for cars and truck from 1940 to around 1956 for cars that had 6volt system.s Rich Hartung

@keithb7 Sounds good. I'll get that micrometer and wait for a good day weather-wise to do it.

Oh sure, just as he finally got it properly broken in you went and got a new one. Gonna take lots of work to break in the new one, lol.

That pipe could be for wipers or other vacuum operated equipment? To determine what is and what's not original, it is best to find some vintage illustrations, such as from the owners' or repair manuals. Here are some of the things I see on the pictures: bed is likely not original or modified, rear view mirrors do not look period correct. Obvious - turn signals, side markers, etc. Interior appears to have been redone. Under the hood: is that a DIY PCV setup? You might want to check the original fuel bowl next to the pump, it needs to be cleaner. The heater outlet has been welded shut I see the vacuum advance next to the ignition distributor but do not see a vacuum line going to it, is it still there? Also, is this engine original to the truck (does the number match the frame)? The red color seems a bit unusual. Also, either your brake or clutch pedal is out of alignment, they should be the same height.

Ray, where is your original post? This one? Just reply to it with all your updates.

Ivan: Thanks for the input. I was thinking of moving the big lights outward to have them between the regular headlights and the bumperettes so that the gril would be more visible and to improve the esthetics of the front of the car. More like the small light that you see when looking at the car on the right and then will have to reposition the Pa tag. Rich Hartung

Andy's brackets look like the ones on my car as well (and similar to what's available on eBay for $20).

Hmm, looking at Andy's post I see something that might work Yeah, it's listed as a fog light bracket, but it looks like it would clamp to those bumper brackets and a piece of angle iron bolted to the top would let you mount a plate? No, I wasn't looking for anything like this, I was looking for add on fog lights, lol.

That is a great calf hauler! love the scenery…… cool find

Here is another small thing to brag about: I installed a leather cover onto the steering wheel The original objective was to protect the old plastic. It is still in very good condition (only minor cracks) but the perimeter is obviously worn. I wanted to cover the whole wheel (including spokes and horn button) with thin ivory leather. My wheel is brown, but I like the ivory color instead. However, I've quickly realized that I have no idea where to get the proper matching color leather, etc., to do this right. So I decided to experiment with just the universal cover strip, first. Bought this one. Size XL1, according to the provided chart. The leather is soft and stretchy, but way more thicker than I expected. The color turned-out to be not quite as I expected either, and the original holes were too far apart. I was planning to do a hidden seam, first, but with this kind of leather it was not technically feasible so I did a cross stitch instead. I punched more holes, trimmed the sides, and put it on. The stitching took a very long time. I am not sure whether or not I like it, at this point, but given the amount of time spent, I am definitely keeping it for a while 😂

My turn was when I was a dumb 21 year old kid .... I was moving a 10' x 60' mobile home to a piece of property I leased .... It was sitting in a park for many years and had to dig it out to get wheels on it. .... plan was to tighten them while in the air, pull it out of the hole then tighten all lug bolts .... I forgot. Driving down the freeway at 35-40 mph and watched the trailer tire pass me up, cross the medium and 3 lanes of oncoming traffic .... it was a adventure chasing it down. I'm no longer a dumb 21 year old kid, I'm 62 this year

I remember doing the exact same thing (finger tightening lug nuts) on my first car. Got out of the driveway and the tail gave a little wiggle, which I thought was odd. made it another 300 yards and the rear gunner side of the car suddenly dropped. I softly applied the breaks while looking over my shoulder twords the trouble area to see my right rear tire bounce passed me, over q guardrail and into a blackberry bush. After an adventure extracting the tire. I could find nothing broken and realized I had not tightened the lug nuts. I ended up buying a new set of lug nuts to replace the ones that fell off. So dont feel like you have a monopoly on dumb mistakes. We all do it!

I had taken the tires and rims off my 39 Desoto to do some checking under the car. I also have the lug bolts and are all right hand treaded. Did my checkout put the rims and tires back on the car used the t-wrench to tighten the bolts and both rear wheels. Thought they were on tight enough took the car for a ride around the block and then heard the wheel noise. stop the car in my neighborhood saw the bolts were loose. walked home got my t-wrench and tighten them up. So we all have had some issues with not tightening the lug bolts. So now when I put the car back on the ground I retighten all the bolts for all the wheels that had been removed. Lesson learned once but never twice for this issue again. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com

So I am watching Roadkill and they are in Darlington. In the museum, Freiburger points out his favorite exhibit, the winner of the first 500 mile race. A 1950 Plymouth.