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Loren

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Loren last won the day on March 19

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About Loren

  • Birthday 10/11/1951

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    Gold Beach, Oregon
  • Interests
    All things Internal Combustion
  • My Project Cars
    1952 Plymouth Suburban, 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe

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  • Location
    Dayton, NV
  • Interests
    Antique Cars & Motorcycles

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  • Occupation
    Retired

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  1. From my view point it's a Hudson Hornet with twin H-Power intake manifold and two Graham/Kaiser centrifugal superchargers. Not sure how the carburetors work in the blow through configuration ( The Graham/Kaiser supercharger was made for suck through carbs mounted on the blower itself ). In the Graham/Kaiser they used the Continental 225 6 cylinder that could be found in forklifts ( and other cars ) that didn't have Chrysler engines. I am guessing the blower was driven from the camshaft side using the gear driven cam where the hydraulic pump was in a forklift. Here's a photo showing the Chrysler version of the cam drive. Of course that requires a reverse rotation cam and a different oil pump gear. Back in the early 1960s you could buy those blowers at swap meets for $5. lol But then that was a lot of money.
  2. All ready to re-install. I bought this one on eBay for $400 delivered. When I changed the Counter Shaft Gear ( aka Cluster gear ) I didn't like the countershaft so I replaced it with a good used one. The reverse lock out switch was open so I replaced that as well. Other than those items it was in very good shape. If you are going to go through one of these, the service manual and a parts book will help. There's a couple of little secrets you have to know about. Example: the lockout arm must be retracted to take the back housing off and there is this tiny tapered pin you have to drive out with a pin punch to do that. If the transmission is covered in grease you may not find it. I got all my parts super clean and checked the movement and function at each stage of assembly. I did not however install the governor as the book says to do. When I rolled the transmission over on the bench the pawl slid into place and things wouldn't turn as expected. I took it apart once more and figured out what had happened. Not a bad thing as I am now really good at assembly and disassembly for the experience. lol Of course it happened again and I simply turned it over and the pawl slid back into its rest position. Since my Suburban has Back Up Lights I wanted to see if I could add the switch with the Overdrive. It does fit and it does work! The beauty of the B-W R10 G1 Overdrive is all the MoPar replacement parts fit. Most of the wear parts in the Overdrive unit are standard B-W parts common to the other makes that used it. The reverse lock out switch is different however. When you see them on eBay most sellers call them a "Neutral safety switch" because that is what they look like. If p/n 1370-462 ever becomes hard to find at a decent price an adaptor could be made to fit a "real" neutral safety switch. ( another note: there's a short little round part that relays the movement of the reverse shift shaft to the switch. If you remove the switch under the car it will fall out and you could lose it. Best to check it before you install the transmission )
  3. I just finished putting my Overdrive back together. So this is fresh in my mind. 1) The Best Gasket Company gasket sets do not include the seal washers for the bolts on the main shaft bearing retainer ( where the throw out bearing is mounted ) 2) That same part sometimes requires more than one gasket to seal. ( because of variations in the bearings ) 3) There’s plug that fits in the end of the 2nd & high shift shaft. ( but not the first & reverse and I can’t tell you why ) 4) The counter shaft could be a source of leakage. I used some low strength Locktite for pre-assembled parts on it, then a dab of Permatex Right Stuff gasket sealer. ( the idea of using a penny as a plug is one I will investigate before installation ) 5) There’s gasket between the bell housing and the transmission. So there’s some ideas as a source of leaks.
  4. Thank you for the charts! I have had a couple of vehicles with Overdrives in them. I personally think the flathead Plymouth benefits the most from them. There is a certain charm about a flathead Plymouth and the Overdrive transmission only adds to it. The governor does exactly what it’s name implies, its in control. The only gear that is really locked out is reverse. You can’t use Overdrive in first gear because you can’t windup the engine far enough to trigger the governor. Second gear isn’t that easy to trigger either. I’ve done it but its not easy and you’d probably select high gear anyway rather than bother. The governor measures drive shaft speed and not road speed and most of us are not going back to a 4.30 final drive ratio like the factory supplied in Overdrive cars. So in truth you’d likely never use 2nd gear Overdrive. The drive shaft speed vs road speed will vary with the final drive ratio you have of course, so the governor trigger speed is going to be higher with a 3.73 vs 4.30 final drive ratio. When you consider the weight of a flathead Plymouth and the fact that its being pushed along with around 100 hp, they do pretty good! I read a road test of one and it managed a quarter mile in 22 seconds, about the same as a Porsche 924! So they are in good company ( even if there are more flathead Plymouths running around now than Porsche 924s lol )
  5. The benefits of a diaphragm pressure plate are reduced pedal pressure and increased gripping strength. An added bonus is when it reaches its end of life, the pedal pressure goes up noticeably. However you might need two similarly equipped vehicles to detect the change because it takes place over such a long time. When you see a lot of cars with diaphragm clutches you can tell the one that needs a clutch with one press on the pedal. Just as with a spring clutch they will slip if you don’t adjust them as they wear.
  6. Here’s my two cents: 1) The Chinese throw out bearings from AB are noisy. 2) Get that flywheel machined ( you were probably going to do that anyway ) 3) Have your pressure plate, clutch disc and flywheel rebuilt by a local “Friction Materials” shop and get an American T.O. Bearing from them Anything that does not require a core is Chinese made. Suppliers love not dealing with cores and buying at low prices. I am not saying you can’t get really high quality Chinese stuff, but not many outfits sell it and you will have to pay more for it. ( remember they have the bomb so they know how to make high quality stuff ) I think you will find rebuilders that can save you some money and give you great quality. 4) Lastly if you want to you can put a 10 inch clutch in your car. That’s what the Taxis had.
  7. There's an old joke told by Rodney Dangerfield about dinner at his house. "You don't brush your teeth after dinner, you count them!" Well, I am going through an Overdrive transmission and I decide to try the only optional gear set for the 1940-54 transmission. At the same time I am building a 1939 Ford V8 transmission and a Studebaker R10 Overdrive ( very old school, mounted in the middle of the torque tube ) to replace the hated T5 in my Model A. My Dad said he had a set of Lincoln Zephyr gears and I thought I try them at the same time. Well a Lincoln Zephyr gear set is 3 gears and if you want a NOS set they are astronomical in price! ( there's a set like I thought I had for $2,895 on eBay ) Turns out what I had was two of the correct gears and a cluster for a 1955-56 Ford with a 272 V8. When I looked at a gear chart from Van Pelt Sales and counted the teeth nothing made sense. Hence the Rodney Dangerfield joke. It took a phone call to Mac Van Pelt to identify what I had. Back to the Plymouth: At the time my cars were built ( 1949 & 52 ) the speed limit was 55 mph and the closest thing to a freeway in Los Angeles was the Arroyo Seco Parkway ( aka Pasadena Freeway ). Which is kind of laughable as a "Freeway". Anyway that's why the old cars had 3.90 rear ends and 3 speed transmissions. When Chrysler went to column shift ( largely so a 5 passenger car could suddenly become a 6 passenger car ) They tried the one year only second gear ratio and thought better of it for 1941. Turns out that 1940 second gear ratio was highly regarded with the "Boy Racers", it making the mopar gear box more close ratio. Not only were there lots of factory gears sold as replacement parts, the after market made them too. There's plenty of them for sale on eBay for less than $300! That seemed to me like a cheap experiment. So here we go counting teeth again. The 1940 Cluster Gear ( aka Transmission Countershaft Gear ) is part number 853-885 and has the tooth count of 32-25-19-14 Whereas the 1941-54 tooth count is 32-23-19-14. Second gear is the only different ratio and thus you only have to change two gears. The 1940 second gear is part number 692-687 and it's tooth count is 23. The 1941-54 second gear tooth count is 25. Enter the Overdrive: The Plymouth R10-G1 Overdrive will shift into 2nd Overdrive plus the top gear overdrive making it actually a 5 speed. When new, the cars were delivered with 4.30 rear end gears giving them lively acceleration....to 55 mph. Now days as the song says "I can't drive 55!" My 49 came with a 3.73 rear end and with Overdrive that car is really happy at 55 mph and 70 sounds like 55 used to. When I installed the Overdrive I swapped the speedo gear from my old transmission which has 17 teeth and the speedo is close ( p/n 652-848 ). With a tire size change and I would change to a 16 tooth speedo gear P/N 652-846 which is also useful with a 3.54 rear end ratio ( there being no other smaller tooth count speedo gears ). One fly in the ointment: Between the loose needles used in the cluster gear and the thrust washers it's a challenge to assemble the countershaft. Chrysler had a solution for the dealer mechanics, the Miller Special Tools C-578. It is a short rod slightly smaller in diameter than the countershaft and only as long as the cluster gear with the thrust washers. You assemble the cluster gear with grease ( to hold the needles and washers ) with the tool inside. After all the other parts are installed you invert the case and the cluster falls into place. Then you push the counter shaft in and the tool keeps everything aligned until the counter shaft is in place. The same method is used by locksmiths changing the pin combinations. Only one problem, try and find one! SO...I am going to make some from plastic rod stock which will work even better than the metal one did. If you enjoy using your brain and working little issues out, the old car hobby is the best! Have fun!
  8. I have a 49 Business Coupe and I retained the vacuum wipers but added a dual chamber fuel pump. The top section produces vacuum at the moment you need it when pressing down on the gas pedal. Most electric wipers require 12 volts and have two speeds. The vacuum wipers have infinite speeds. Since I plan to keep the 6 volt system this was my old time solution.
  9. The story of the VW dates back to 1925 when Dr Porsche had an idea for a "people's car". The early version had a 2 stroke engine in it as I recall and it might have been air cooled. When Hitler started building the Autobahn system it was felt the 2 stroke wasn't up to the job so they hunted around for another engine. Tatra had a flat four air cooled engine that was well proven so the Germans arranged for a license. I have actually seen a Tatra flat four and it looks like a VW on steroids! Much bigger and stronger in every way. However, the war got in the way and Volkswagen never paid Tatra. After the Soviet Union fell and Eastern Europe no longer had to deal with the Iron Curtain, Tatra sued VW for royalties on it's contract and won. VW at the time was expanding by acquiring smaller auto makers and Tatra became one of them. I have no more information than that and I would only be guessing as to this car's identity.
  10. As I said before I have two Delta Mark Tens on my 6 volt cars. They work as expected. But they are very very rare and if you find a negative ground version you have to have it changed to positive ground. I wasn’t sure if it would work but I put an Overdrive transmission in my Business Coupe and it worked just fine. The ignition interrupt works imperceptibly. If someone can’t find a part you are talking about, why even mention it? So when I discovered the Winterburn CDI, I thought I would share. I have not yet received it from Fred but I am excited about it.
  11. Hi Rich, point taken on replacement parts. I used use a lot of Mallory Ignition parts, however they have fallen off and certain things you just can’t get anymore. At one time ( when they were in Carson City ) I used to get them to make custom distributors for me, those days are long gone. I bought a Dyna-Flyte dual point breaker plate for my Plymouth because it uses a more common Mopar V8 point set. So I have been thinking ahead. One of the main complaints I have about electronics is they are voltage sensitive. Drop the voltage too much and it either fries the electronics or they just don’t work. If you’re committed to 6 volt, you don’t have very far to fall when it comes to voltage drops . lol Fred Winterburn’s CDI will fire the plugs at full power with voltage as low as 3.5 volts. Also he makes one unit and it doesn’t care if the power is positive or negative. I have no idea how he does it but I like it.
  12. Years ago I drove a 2 stroke SAAB 93f to work everyday. The oil was mixed with the fuel and being a 2 cycle it fired the spark plugs twice as often as a 4 cycle engine. So anything that promised better plug and point life was worth investigating. At the time there was several CD ignition boxes on the market, with the Delta Mark Ten being the most successful. At their high point they employed 500 people in Grand Junction, CO. Of course later on with emission controls their market dried up and the owner retired. Delta made their boxes fully assembled or as a kit and sold them under the Archer and Heathkit brands besides their own name. I got the full story from a fellow who had built many of them and now repairs them. There are two models the one with a switch to convert the system back to the Kettering ignition without changing wires was called the “B” model and only came in 12 volt. My Plymouths are 6 volt and I have never seen a compelling need to change them to 12 volt. Well maintained a 6 volt system works just fine for me. Your mileage may vary of course. So because nos point sets are running out, I decided I wanted a Delta Mark Ten to lengthen the life of my plugs and points. Just try and find one in 6 volt! If you do find one it might not be Positive ground, so that means you need my guy to switch it over. Well I did in fact come up with two for my cars and I can tell you it was an adventure! Since Delta Products went out of business decades ago, the technology in them has not progressed at all. It seems there are other people making CDI boxes for racing and specialty applications. I kept hearing about a fellow in Canada whose Dad had patented the first CDI. He makes them as a cottage industry for the collector car guys ( 4 cylinder Porsche guys love them ) and he has never stopped improving them. Fred Winterburn is his name and he seems to be a really nice guy. According to him the 6 volt version just got the latest improvements. One thing I like about them is the switch which is 3 position CD-on, off, Kettering-on. No wire changes. Fred’s research found that by limiting the voltage sent to the coil he could get all the current to jump the spark plug gap instead of spilling out everywhere else. I am no engineer so I have to take his word for it. Anyway after reading what the Porsche guys had to say and a few others plus his website I bit the bullet and ordered two of them. He’s building them right now and will ship them at the end of the month. I have one of Langdon’s Stove Bolt ignitions but I’m not going to convert my cars to 12 volts to use it. I understand they are not being made anymore. HEI maybe very good but I think the Winterburn system has some better features, such as the voltage limiting circuitry and the fact you don’t have to re-engineer the car around the ignition. Of course in a post-apocalyptic world after an electro-magnetic pulse the HEIs will be toast along with the alternators powering them. My tube radio, generator, 6 volt Plymouth will likely run fine. lol More to come.
  13. I have a 1949 P17 ( 3 passenger business coupe ) it came stock with a 3.73. I found a 3rd member from a 1956 Dodge V8 with 3.54 gears that I plan to install right after I do some rust prevention. Previously I installed an R 10 Overdrive and that really made a difference! The 56 Spider gears fit the axles I have so I don’t think you’ll have any problems there.
  14. Ford ditched cast iron pistons with the Model T last built in 1927. The Model As all had aluminum pistons. Chevrolet kept them until 1953 or 4 as I recall. General Motors sold the tooling to Toyota and that engine came back to America in the Land Cruiser. Chrysler had engineers who were wise to the problems of reciprocating weight and had moved to aluminum pistons early. The issue is really about long vs short stroke. The fuels that were available during each automotive era had a lot to do with the design of the engines. The war changed the thinking about compression ratios and fuel octane. High torque slow speed engines were desirable before the war and high horse power high speed engines became possible afterwards. The metric that limits long stroke engines to low rpm is piston speed. During the travel of the piston up and down, it has to speed up from a dead stop at the bottom and the top of the stroke to a peak speed in the middle, slowing back down to zero. That peak speed in the middle of the stroke is what limits the engine's rpm. A long stroke engine will have a higher piston speed than a short stroke engine of the same displacement at a lower rpm. Thus the advantage of Over Head Valves is better breathing at higher rpm and higher compression, all made possible with better fuel. A short stroke ( smaller than the bore ) went along with it. There was a time when engine data pages included piston speed as a specification. Now days most engines are short stroke and piston speed isn't even mentioned anymore.
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