RobertKB

Last Monday I had the great pleasure of meeting Dave Pollock (dpollo). Dave has helped me with lots of phone advice and hard to find parts for my ‘53 Plymouth and especially my ‘51 Dodge D39 business coupe. I live in Alberta and he lives on Vancouver Island, BC, so we are about 800 miles apart. I was visiting siblings on Vancouver Island and arranged to meet Dave who is about 15 minutes away. Dave has an amazing collection of old Mopars ranging from the ‘20s through the early ‘50s, all flatheads of course. My personal favourite was a ‘40 Plymouth business coupe but an extremely close second is the pictured ‘51 Plymouth convertible. Dave was kind enough to take my brother and me for a good half hour cruise in the ‘51 with a stop for coffee on the way. What an incredibly sweet running car! Dave is a great forum member and has helped many people on this forum besides me. Thanks Dave! It was great to finally meet you in person.

This keeps the residual pressure up. I try to pump my brakes several times about every two weeks when a vehicle is unused for a while.

I don’t have a truck one, but shop manuals tell you exactly how to install glass.

I don’t think most people have any idea how much CO2 humans pump into the air. The amount of CO2 produced by the eruption of Mount St. Helens (1980) produced the equivalent to what humans produce in eight or nine hours. Don’t believe me, look it up in Scientific American of NOAA, both pretty reputable. There is no simple answer but thinking there are simple answers is not the solution. I probably sound a bit political but this thread has now gone that route.

Congratulations! As they say…..fuel, spark, correct timing makes any engine run. ? Oil and coolant necessary if you want it to keep running. ?

These are the correct screws. Not sure when they changed. I had a ‘38 Chrysler with slotted screws but a ‘40 Dodge I owned had the Phillips. 1940 might have been the first year for them.

Same here. It was either that or hit the semi that turned in front of me!

More than a spring start up. This is a rebuilt engine with about 2000 miles. I’ve had it for years as a spare. It had not run in at least 20 years. Figured it was time to run it again. Checked points and they looked good. Hooked up battery and power to the coil. Bit of gas down the carb. It literally turned over twice and fired. Ran a line from a gas container to the fuel pump. Ran for a minute because I didn’t want to overheat. Next, connect radiator and run for a while. Hard to kill an old flathead. Always stored inside but even so…………pretty good!

My son won the city-wide KUBKAR races in 1989 when he was 11. We called his car “The Silver Bullet”. Most important thing I found was to get the axles and wheels aligned and turning extremely easily.

The province of Alberta in Canada allows YOM plates. This plate is on my 1951 Dodge D39 business coupe. Lots of people mistake it for a ‘52 plate but for some reason way back when, Alberta put the expiry date on the plate so the 1951 plate expired on 31.3.52 or 31st of March 1952. Canadian dates often put the day before the month which to me makes sense. incidentally, 8 is my favourite number so I loved this plate when I found it at a swap meet.

Yes, you are a little crazy but it’s a fun crazy. ? Congratulations on the new addition! ?

Apparently he died last December according to the POC (Plymouth Owners Club).

Glad you got what you wanted. I personally like a green lawn and enjoy mowing it. Grass cutting to me means it’s decent weather instead of winter.

Plymouth Doctor, too, for the car guys. I think, whether car or truck guys, if you have a future project, start ordering now. The future for future projects may be now.

I live in Lethbridge, Alberta, about 60 miles from the US border. Never had trouble going either way. If you have appropriate ID should not be a problem. I personally always use a passport because they just scan it and it’s so easy. Most custom agents are more interested in your antique car than you.

Certainly frustrating! Mopar ones can be a bear also if so inclined. One of the greatest automotive advances was when master cylinders were moved to car firewalls! Good luck with the project and keep us posted on your progress.

Nice save! Enjoy the car!

My first thought, too.

Pictures always help.

I have owned my ‘53 Plymouth since 1975 when it had 68,000+ miles. In all those years it has never left me stranded. I have replaced a few things like fuel pump, water pump, repaired radiator, etc. but the basic mechanicals are original. Transmission and differential have had seals but that’s it. I sometimes think it has quit running when it idles because the engine is so smooth and quiet. As is wise…………I will say “touch wood” to all the above. At some point it will be time to part ways but I would like to own it 50 years which is only two years away.

That sounds great! ?

My 1953 Canadian Plymouth Belvedere (25” engine, 228 CID) has just over 102,000 miles. It is the original engine with very little work done. In 1977, at 72,000+ miles, I did replace a burnt valve with a good used one and all valves were lapped. As it was kind of apart, I did put new rings in after honing the cylinders. Bearings were plastigauged and were within factory specs so therefore reinstalled. 30,000 miles later the engine still runs great and uses virtually no oil. Serviced and maintained regularly. It just goes to show these old Mopar flatheads run a long time if treated reasonably. So, original pistons, bearings, valves, etc. Only new non-original parts are rings, one valve, and head gasket. P.S. - Paint is original too.

You’ll love the concrete floor!? Your best helper is learning young but they grow up so fast that he’ll be driving the COE before you know it!?‍?

When you select the pictures you want to choose your phone should say Show Selected. Hit that and it should then say Actual Size. Hit that and it then brings up size options. Choose one less than 3MB. That’s how my I-Phone works anyway and I almost always use it to post on the forum. Picture below was originally 4.5MB, well above the 3MB allowed, but posted at 664KB.

Both my ‘53 Plymouth and ‘51 Canadian Dodge have the Detroit joints. The ones in the ‘53 have worked flawlessly for decades although I have replaced the rubber boots with leather. The ones in my ‘51 Dodge have given nothing but trouble. I have a spare driveshaft from a ‘48 Dodge D25 parts car with spicer joints. I also have the appropriate yokes for the transmission and differential. Shaft will need lengthening slightly. Got new u-joints and set to go this spring replacing the ‘51 driveshaft. I don’t mean to hijack this interesting thread but the last few posts might be better in the car forum.