Leaderboard

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

By turning the ignition on and then off you did the same thing the points do when opening and closing, letting the coil fire a plug, and if a gas mixture is in that cylinder when it fires it'll rock the engine. That's my guess.

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

I like aluminum paint, it dries without any buildup. Check the inside of the tires for any tags, that could eventually rub a pin hole in the tube. I wiped the inside of the tires and the tubes with corn starch with a cloth. It doesn’t need a lot. I paint the bead of tire with rubber lube, so the bead slides easily on the wheel as it sets, you can put the lube on the wheel seat to ensure a soft seating of the bead. The flap doesn’t need any lube. Set the opening of the lock ring opposite the valve stem. I have a special hammer/mallet with a duck bill on the other side. I use the rubber part to tap the lock ring into place as I fill the tire slowly by adjusting the pressure on my regulator. This assumes that your rings are clean and no cracks, they have been painted and the notch in the wheel where they lock is perfectly clean. I’ve trashed wheels and rings that had been beaten with metal hammers. The lock ring ends should be almost touching when done correctly. Any questions, ask, it is a risky job even if you’ve done it before. These are 16” wheels, but the same design as the 20” wheels that I have. Once the bead is set and the lock ring is secured properly, I let the air out and refill with the valve core installed to eliminate any tube wrinkles. After you get it to pressure, you can bend the valve stem for access when the wheels are on the truck. If there is anything you don’t understand, ask. Rick D.

I haven't posted in a while, but there is at least one other thread about this car. I have owned it since December 1989. It is my first car, got it when I was 17. Two years ago I had a fire under the hood. Not big enough to cause a lot of problems, but enough that I decided it was finally time to do a mostly full "restoration." I disassembled everything, stripped most of it, then took it to a good paint shop. Picked it up last December, and now have it mostly put back together. I have driven it around the block, and hoped to drive to my local glass shop to have the windshield and rear window installed professionally. When I talked to him about doing the job, he seemed enthusiastic, and knowledgeable. I dropped off all the parts(windshields, weatherstripping, and stainless) yesterday waiting for a call telling me to bring the car. Went by the shop this morning and he told me he wasn't sure how to do it and afraid to try. I've got the manual and instructions, and have read everything about it, and now have the weatherstrip installed on each of the glasses. Question for anyone who has done this on a 53-54 car. Do I need to put the stainless on before I rope the windshield(or rear window) per the manual? I've built a stand to hold the window vertical, which makes it a bit easier, but it's still quite difficult to get the stainless in place. How hard is it to install the stainless after the windows are in place? Thanks for any info.

What is Petronix saying about this when ya ask'm about this prob?

I would check how far away they move the shock from the frame. i do like that mounting surface. I been thinking about my 1948 Desoto.

The engine pictures are current, but it's not done under the hood. Planning on using a fuel block and hard lines. I set that up before I was able to find the right fittings to use on the hard lines. The filter is in a temporary position. As an update, I have been able to put some of the stainless on the strips that are on the glass. Slow going and hard on the hands.

And when you turn the key back off, the current flow is interrupted

Interesting question.......those mount on a flat surface which may or may not work where the chassis upper shock spot is on the 1940-48 mopars, also the lower mopar mount is basically pointing to the rear of the car....these mounts when attached to the chassis have the "pin" pointing more or less at 90 degrees to the frame........but usually the upper & lower shock eyes can be turned at 90 degrees to each other...........I'm curious whether they may work.........andyd

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 consider points a switc0h. Open, close, on, off. Ignition switch on, ign switch off. Logic tells me my previous post is a possible scenario and every electrical circuit in the truck is available when the key is on.. I don't know whether or not Pertronix would or could respond similarly. How repeatable is this condition? Now that it's sat for a while will it do it before starting the engine or does it have to be run for a while. Will it do it after sitting for ten minutes or a half hour? Will it do it a second time, turning the key on and off immediately after it does it?

I went to Tractor Supply this past weekend, for the second time in my life. That is all, carry on ship's work.

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?

Last year redid the wood bed of my truck. Some of the carriage bolts and nuts I was able to reuse by just a quick brush and repainted them (the heads only) with the POR15 Black Glossy Paint. I used it on my bed strips as well and all these parts were steel. I looked online for hardware, E-bay, Ace, Grainger to name a few after taking inventory on what I needed that was not salvageable for hardware. I found the best prices for what I needed at Menards online. Based on prices everywhere I decided to go with hot zinc dipped hardware and added the sizes for carriage bolts, washers and nuts to my online cart. Menards will pull your order and have it waiting for you at the pick-up counter but they charge extra for that, so I printed my online cart list and went down and grabbed them myself.

Here is a photo of the brush guard, IF the computer photo gods allow...

Thanks for the pics @John-T-53

Been a few years since I replaced the glass in my '48 P15 front door but I'm pretty sure I recall that piece slips off the stud. Most likely yours is rusted to the stud, may need some solvent and persuasion....maybe some heat?

Mark does an excellent job explaining the inner working of the doors. Check it out. 1941 Plymouth Restoration (#13) The other videos in his series are also very well done. You can tell he was an educator.

I like the mounting on the rear of the bumper. It looks slicker than the factory mount on our car.

Weren't the new motors stamped right after they bolted them to the frame (so that you have the matching numbers on the motor and the frame)?

That number doesn't come up in my 51 Mopar parts book so it looks like your 49-50 only is right. I just inherited a bunch of Dads books I'll see if he has a 50 Plymouth parts book

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 would go for the smaller ones myself. Looks like they weren't really offered from the dealer? Accessories as aftermarket? My grandfather (William Riding) sold Plymouths and Desotos in central California in the late 30's , early 40s. Maybe yours???

"OD" as he's known, about to head out in his '93 Cummins, back to Escalon. There was also a similar or equal year truck that showed up, a dualie (no photo, unfortunately). The two owners connected, and an exchange of parts is planned in the near future. Heading back down the 101 for the return trip.... F the 5.

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.

For several years I was hounded about getting a dog. Pun intended. Didn't want to do it. Not because I don't like dogs but because I do like dogs. I get too attached. I finally relented and on a Saturday morning and we took off on a two hour ride - one way - to pick up a basset hound puppy. That was eight years ago. Daisy is my buddy now. She hurt her back a few days ago and it was after hours. And the vet we usually use was going to be out of town for the Easter weekend and wouldn't be back until Monday. So I found an alternate local vet and took her in yesterday. OK I'm almost to the point of this post. I expected it to be a thousand dollars when I went back to pick her up. But I'll pay that - I don't skimp on medical stuff when it comes to people or pets. That's just one of the things that has to be done. BUT the bill was only 500 dollars - still not cheep. Now being of the old car mind set that means that I have 500 dollars left over to get some parts for the 47 P15. Not sure I'll get away with that😂 PS: I expected spinal problems in an old dog. But turns out it's only a pulled muscle. Really good news.

this is in line to big aux lights go better with big standard lamps.....you have the opportunity to make a fellow hobbyist happy, line your pockets and do your car justice at the same time...but again...just my opinion.....this guy needs to lose the whore red wheels and go with body color either primary or secondary color will look better than this stark red.....again my opinion.....nothing says you cannot paint a car ugly....lol

Thanks sniper and DJK for digging up info. And here's my two cents about electric pumps. First off, I love 'em! And here's why: When one of my vehicles has been sitting for a long time, I don't have to waste precious battery capacity cranking the motor to get fuel up to and in the carb. I also put a electric switch in the supply line to the pump so that, in Autumn when I'm putting cars to sleep, I can turn off the switch and keep running the motor until it dies. This does a good job of draining the carb, reducing varnish build-up. Yes, I could use a gas additive (and I often do), but with lots of cars and equipment, and full gas tanks in each, that's lots of Stabil! And, in regards to leaving the mechanical pump in the line, I've done that numerous times, but one thing to consider is this: if you do that and the rubber diaphram of the mechanical pump fails, you'll get raw gas going into your crankcase and diluting your oil... and not know it!

The decline of the Champion Spark Plug and the death of a company. The Champion electrode was made from mainly tungsten powder at a company called Fansteel in North Chicago. They mixed, pressed, sintered, burnished and then brazed it to the copper sparkplug core before shipping them out to Champion for assembly. The company also made many other items like the Lynx golf club casting, High end tungsten darts (Black Widows & Diamond Backs) as well as supporting WW1 & WW2 military needs, they downsized in the late 80s and were dismantled early in the 90s along with VR Wesson a sister company that made carbide cutting tools. Fansteel Inc.docx

SURVIVOR: spotted this '52 in Jacksboro...it's had some work done but this was the only time I saw it at the old fillin station that I've motored past several times in the last 6 months

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 😂

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

How many times do you want to pull the transmission? Once with a good throwout bearing twice or maybe more with the noisy one?

Your P15 must have the up to 1948 bell housing with the four round hole vents. This 1942-1948 housing has two drilled 5/16" X 18 tpi threaded holes to mount the clutch torque shaft pivot bracket. 1949 and later bell housings with the top big rectangular vent don't have those two left side drilled/tapped holes. This is because the pivot shaft bracket is mounted to the underside of the bell housing via a plate bracket on the 1949 and later Plymouth bell housings. I think Hollander and the parts books are wrong on saying all 1942 thru 53 housings are interchangable. You can use a 1942-48 "early style" bell housing on 1949 and up Plymouths but you cannot use a 1949 and later bell housing on a 1942 thru 48 plymouth.