Joe Flanagan

I had a noise like this that was coming from my pulley. It was bent and wobbled but there was nothing else visibly wrong with it. I was convinced that the problem was elsewhere. I replaced the pulley and the sound was gone. I believe you said you ran it without the fan belt connected and the noise was still there, but since it seems to come and go, you might want to look into it. Another thing to look at: I once had a dent in the bottom of the oil pan that was just enough to cause the flywheel teeth to clip it as they went by.

I will, Greg. I might be living in Florida by that time so it would be an even bigger trip.

Thanks, Pete. I'll be doing it again soon. That's what I got into this for. Whatever happens, happens (but I hope nothing does).

I was thinking the same thing. Just a couple of minor things like the engine and the rear axle. But thank God the chrome script on the front fender that says "Special Deluxe" was on nice and tight.

Tim, I went over everything yesterday and found a couple of things that were loose, namely the rear engine mounts and the nuts on the u-bolts for the leaf springs. Everything else was secure. Rich, thanks for the offer of the special tool. I think I will try to improvise something that will do the same thing. It shouldn't be too hard. What you see on the radiator hose is the remnant of some packing tape that was stuck to it at one time.

I don't know the answer to that question, Tim. I suspect it was a bone-headed move on my part back when I had just started the project and I knew very little. It might be one of those "I'll address that later" items. I've discovered a few of those.

I didn't take many pictures on my trip, but this is one I wanted to post. It was while the sun was coming up over the Pennsylvania countryside:

Yesterday I was greasing the Plymouth when I noticed that one of the upper control arm bushings is further out than it ought to be. I don't know if I installed it like this (it was about 13 years ago) or if it worked its way out. It's the bushing on the left as you look at the first photo. Can I just screw it back in or will that alter the dimensions of the control arm? I recall during the assembly that that was a particularly sensitive thing. I know that they are assembled off the car so that you can get all the measurements right and then installed as a piece. But since everything is bolted down now, could I just screw that one bushing back to where it's supposed to be? Here you can see how the bushing on the right is screwed all the way in but the one on the left is out: Closeup of the bushing in question:

These rims were pretty corroded. I cleaned them up and smoothed out the rough spots with JB Weld. It has worked very well except this particular tire.

Yes I have radials on the original rims. I was wondering if there was some dynamic at work while at highway speed that I was unaware of. The weight of the car alone will not cause the tire to leak. I plan to put it back on the car and check it with soapy water. I suppose the hubcap could have started moving again and bent the valve stem over but I have inserts (or whatever they are called) that normally prevent that from happening.

I have a tire that kept going flat if my car sat for long periods. I took it down to the tire shop and they repaired it, saying that it was leaking around the rim. It was fine for a few days but then it went flat on the highway on my recent trip to Massachusetts. I changed to the spare and reinflated the flat. It has kept pressure for over a week now while sitting in the trunk. Any ideas what's going on with it.?

All true. I sometimes start to doze off when on long trips in our modern car but that didn't happen on this trip. What really wore on me was the sound of cars roaring past me constantly, especially the semis. One of the things people who rode in the car tended to comment on is how smooth the ride was. That surprised me too when I first started driving the car. I guess that's the new springs, shocks, king pins, tie rod ends, steering gear box bearings, etc. I forget much of the stuff I did on this car. Anyway, I much prefer the back roads. I think it's just a nicer experience overall.

I don't know, Don. But one thing is for certain, it will not be on any interstate highways. That is no fun at all.

I have to say I feel a lot more comfortable with the car now, having put 900 miles on it during that trip, almost all of them on the highway. As I said in an earlier post, a lot of the trouble is just nerves and anticipating what might go wrong. By the way, Tim, I don't know if you recall but you called the problem exactly during all the back and forth on this thread.

I rented a U-Haul trailer and brought it as far as Edison. That put me within AAA's range for a free tow if anything went wrong.

My Plymouth made it the 200 miles from Edison, NJ to Alexandria, VA without a problem. I went 60-65 the whole way. It was hot and noisy. I had the windows open and everyone was going faster than me. I took I-95 because I wanted the most direct route. It handled beautifully. There was only one traffic backup and the engine temp got up to around 200 but never got any higher than that. Out on the open road it felt like I could have cruised at 70 but I didn't want to push it. The car has an R-10 overdrive transmission. Anyway, I'm really happy with how it performed (except for certain areas where the rain gets in but that's an ongoing project).

We will find out tomorrow. So far, so good.

I'm pretty much looking at the same trip: 200 miles, about four hours. Temps in the high 80s, low 90s, though temperature didn't seem to have any effect on my way up to Massachusetts. I clocked 470 miles before the tappet button started making noise. Oil pressure and engine temp were so steady I pretty much stopped checking at about 400 miles or so.

I just wanted to add a little more to this topic. When I ordered tappets from Vintage Power Wagons, I got 12 of them, each with its own adjuster button screwed into the top. So it appears I was given a mixed set. It's still unknown if I got one defective button/tappet or if one of the two styles I got isn't up to the task.

That's a good idea, Tod. What are the chances that there wouldn't be a single U-Haul place within a 200 mile radius that didn't have a truck and a car hauler available? That would be my only concern but it doesn't seem likely that I'd run into that problem. I'm mulling it over. The problem right now is mainly between my ears. I just don't want to go on a 10-12 hour grind listening to every single noise and braced for the worst. NJ to VA, I think I could do that. MA to VA is a real marathon, though.

It would be a good idea to have AAA premium because it's good for a 200 mile tow. I drove from Moose's place this morning back to my family's place, a little over an hour on the highway with no problems at all. Now I have to face the 500 mile trip back in a few days. What I'm going to do is rent a U-Haul truck and a car hauler and bring the car as far as New Jersey. From there I'm going to unload it and drive it the rest of the way because then I'll be within the free tow range under my AAA coverage.

All I can say is I hope that anyone who runs into trouble on the road is as lucky as I've been. I have to thank Greg G. because he's the one who pointed out to me that there was a forum member near me. Up until now all I knew about Moose was that he was a guy from Massachusetts who occasionally posted on the forum.

They are intermingled for sure. I don't recall noticing it back when I built the engine.

I met Moose at his place in Hanover, MA today. I can't tell you how great he's been, helping me out with this. By the time I got there, he had the head pulled and was working on getting the valve out. There is nothing visibly wrong with the tappet button in question but it definitely does not fit into the tappet like it should. It's now a very loose fit and you can turn it with your fingers. Also, I have to clarify why I said earlier that this particular tappet button was worn down to half the height of the others and that a few of the others looked like they had worn down, too. It turns out (as Moose pointed out to me) that I used two different styles of tappet button. They have slightly different dimensions but as I understand it are OK to use. I got them from Vintage Power Wagons, I think. There are a few that look short when you look at them, but that's just the way they're designed. Moose showed me an unused one from his stock that is identical. Others look taller because they're a different style of tappet button. I don't believe I noticed this when I built the engine. Anyway, Moose has an incredible setup at his house. I won't even begin to describe it, but it's an old barn with heavy wooden floors, a loft, and all the gadgets and stuff you could ever want. The new tappet button has gone in and has the proper interference fit. The engine is going back together now.

I will let you know as soon as I know something.