captden29

just curious as to what purpose the bulls eye serves on the headlite. i am surprised that nobody reproduces them today as they are popular and expensive. they came with my car, but i would not pay the exorbitant ebay prices to own them. dennis

wasn,t shriver a politician? if you do anything to your timbers you should shivver them., capt den

i googled it and tim and eric are correct. both cement, but a different aggregate so the cinder blocks are lighter and not as strong. i remember my grandfather built a bar b que in the early fifties in his yard and it was a different type of block, bluish in color. now i know they were cinder blocks. we can still learn something new everyday and this forum is certainly good for that. so many really smart people and people with great life experiences. dennis

i was unaware that cinder blocks were different from cement blocks. i will google them to find out, but i was using the term cinder to mean cement. the more i thought about it i finally realized that all the years i worked at marinas we used cement blocks to support 25 ton boats with no problems. the only time the blocks cracked was when you tossed them and they bounced off each other and cracked in half. the way bob is using his to hold up his vert is incorrect as the holes should face up for maximum strength. however, in his defense he has the block, the bumper jack and the floor jack at work so his car is safe. i always use some wood blocking on top of the block so the car never rests directly on the block. anyway, if they are good enough for 25 ton boats they should be good for a 2 ton car. dennis

cinder blocks seems to have gotten a negative response. i have been using them for years but will have to re-think them. i almost was killed years ago when i was about to crawl under a car supported by only a bumper jack and it fell forward and hit the ground hard. dennis

i know there are alot of smarter people on this forum than me, but to me this is a no brainer. i always jack up by the frame one side at a time and would never do it on center under the radiator except in some unusual or emergency situation. if i will be crawling under to do some heavy work i set the car up with cinder blocks and blocking so it is very stable and safe. a good set of jack stands properly placed on a good surface will do the job. a good shaking and shoving is a must before crawling under. do whatever extra you want to assure your safety. if it is a convertible like mine do not jack up all 4 wheels at the same time as the car will flex and damage can occur. just my 2 cents, but i hope it helps. dennis

i like them alot on any car, flush mount better. did they ever make them for my 54 windsor? if so, are they available anywhere? because of the splash/stone guards they need to be flush mount. dennis:mad:

shel, the engine # is on a flat flange on the driver side of block at th front where the block meets the head. i believe the windsors are a c62 although mine is a convertible if that matters. i just assumed the 054 was the year designation. dennis

good day, maybe someone can shed some light on this for me. i have a 54 windsor with what i believe is the 265 original engine [ blocvk # is [054 21427]. currently the plug is a champion RJ12C which i put in when i bought the car by cross referencing whatever plug was in there at the time.i hear alot, even on this forum that autolites are the best for these engines so i went and got the autolites and the store says # 66 is the right one. trouble is the plugs in the car are short reach and the autolite 66 are long reach. he claims the wrong plugs are in the car and all his books call for the long reach plug. he ordered me autolite # 308 which are the short reach plugs. my question is, is he right? what difference do short or long reach plugs mean? the car runs fine as is but will it run better on a long reach versus a short reach? what is the proper plug # for this engine? does the engine # give me info on what engine i have? i assume the 054 means a 1954 engine. thanks for any forthcoming advice. dennis:eek: i

i am in the bus business and it is illegal to use re-caps or re-grooved tires on the front of any bus anywhere in the country.front tire tread must be a minimum of 4/32". i believe the same is true for tractor trailers but not 100% sure.a bus cannot have a loose or missing lug nut but trucks can have 1 or 2 missing. dennis

mine have always had copper on both sides and i was told not to use sealant. i was told to use copper spray which i did and no problems.i have always cleaned up my original head bolts and re-used them but most discussions on this site say to use new. if i were to do another one i would get new headbolts. also i never cleaned out the threads in the block with a tap and i hear that is a good idea for best torquing. dennis

pat, looks like a 51. i had the 4 door version that i bouight in sandiego in 1970 for $75 and i rebuilt the straight 8 and drove it home to long island, NY. kept it till 1995 aand sold it. great car. mine was a stick shift. i may still have a few parts for it so post again if you buy it and i will look in the garage. dennis

i put wetter water in my 54 windsor last week and after driving around all weekend i can say that it did help with my temp. problem. i am about 15 degrees cooler in all traffic situations. the out side temp was only in the low eighties. i used distilled water as they suggest that for best results. dennis

i put water wetter in my 54 windsor today, and even used distilled water with it as suggested in the directions. drove the car as usual and it is definitely running about 15 degrees cooler. i am not afraid of new technology and i am not a big fan of additives either. this one does do some good and i don't believe it will do any harm. some additives do nothing or they create worse problems so one must be careful. this product does warn against using any block sealer with it and it will not help unless you use it with about 20% antifreeze. i still want to flush out my block but until i can lay the car up to do that this will help. dennis

put a mopar decal above the word grease and it will work fine.i tend to use company products sometimes but not married to the idea. i haven't found mopar air for my tires yet. dennis

i have the same question about my heat riser as without looking in the manifold how do you know if it is open or closed. since mine will turn but with great difficulty i just put it in the half way position until i can get the manifold off and either get it working right or just eliminate it. i think eliminating it is the best idea. it worked fine last year but after sitting several months over the winter it froze up. it appears to have been replaced at one time as it has a nice shiny clean shaft, but rust gets in on the side you cannot get to with penetrating oil. i always despised these damn things anyway and when i had the chance to eliminate it on my 53 imperial i did not hesitate to do so and there were no problems at all after i cut it out of the car. dennis

resistor plugs eliminate static to your radio. no radio, you don't need resistor plugs but it doesn't matter if you use them. spark plug manufacturer seems to be a personal preference among car owners. some people will swear by certain plugs and curse others. i have used champions without problems in my 54 windsors, one of which i recently drove to north carolina from NY. i wouldn't hesitate to use other brands if they were the only ones available at the time. if you have good compression and don't have an oil fouling problem most plugs will do a good job. perhaps some are better for the aforementioned problems, and the more expert people on this list may be of more help there. dennis

take off the last zero and i have that as pocket change. i like foose designs,but this may be a little overpriced. however, you probably could not build it yourself for that money, so it could be a good value if it is your hearts desire to own something like this. dennis

greg, i would have to pull the fuel pump off to measure the cam lever and i would rather not do that right now, but thanks for the offer. dennis

when i was younger i was a boat nut owning 3 or 4 boats at the same time. i finally learned one good one is enough. now that i am into old cars[ i still have a boat] i am trying to control myself, but i do have 2 when one should be enough.i suppose we are toy nuts rather than just old car nuts, a little compulsive, but we are good for the economy and it keeps us out of most trouble. dennis

i heard you can soak it in water, let it dry and re-use it. never tried it myself as these head gaskets are always available. a freind of mine owns an auto parts store and he had 2 of them laying around. he gave them to me so i am well stocked. dennis

greg, do you know if the fuel pump with the glass bowl will work on my 265 in a 54 windsor. if so, i am interested. i have some old plymouth parts, what kind of car do you have? dennis

metal shavings will be in the bottom of the pan. you can pull that and clean it, easy to do on the stand. not necessary to get carried away otherwise. change oil a few times like norm says, happy motoring. dennis

i never heard of the candlewax thing. what is that all about? dennis

my convertible is called spongebob just because it is yellow and i like the cartoon.we have a stuffed toy of all the characters except sandy, mr krabs and plankton. haven't found those yet, but still looking. my 4 door is called ascot because the paint chip chart lists the color as ascot grey.they are bothe 54 windsors. actually my old cars are the only ones i name. i never even named my boat. dennis