knuckleharley

This was the first thing that struck me about this site and made me bookmark it. Almost all the posters try to help other posters,instead of spending their time being snotty. There may be other forums on the web where everybody is open-minded and more focused on the cars than the egos,but I have never personally seen one.

Actually,the Ford 302 and 351 are both shorter and narrower than a SBC if you use the Ford SVO water pump. Be aware that the SVO pump has the water hose outlet on the "wrong" side for Fords,though. Which works in your favor if you have to buy a new radiator too,because aftermarket hot rod radiators for Chevy engines are cheaper than ones for Ford engines. Still,I personally prefer using a Mopar engine in a Mopar if possible. Your point about the Mopar engines being so long is a good one,though. I'm cheating on my 33 Plymouth coupe by using either a 55 or a 56 DeSoto hemi,and they are considerably shorter than the Chrysler or later Mopar V-8's. IIRC,the 55 291 is even a few pounds lighter than a SBC. Don't remember what the 56 weighs right at the moment.

Have you ever tried one of the new digital battery chargers that have a "desulfinate" setting? I bought this one from amazon.com last year,and it works like a charm to bring batteries back to life that won't take or hold a charge. It delulfinates and charges both 6v and 12 v batteries http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MYWBF0/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I've owned and been using a 12 volt one by Black and Decker for a couple of years now,and it has saved me enough from not having to buy new batteries that it has paid for itself a couple of times over. If you need a new charger,I can recommend this one

I call mine "practical". I'm not crazy about SBC engines in anything but Chevrolets,but my P-15 had a 305/250 combo in it with a 78 Camaro front clip and 10 bolt rear when I bought it,and now that both are junk I am replacing them with a balanced and blueprinted 412 SBC with a hot cam,big valve heads,Weiand,dual feed Holley,10 to 1 pistons,roller rockers,hot cam,etc,etc,etc and either a rebuilt turbo 350 with a shift kit,or more likely a 700 R4. I'm doing this because I already have the engine that I used to run in a Chevy van,and it's only got about 20k miles on it. Besides,it already has the GM frame clip,so no matter what else I do to it other than a chassis swap it's still going to be GM. I have other Mopars that are not polluted,and they will remain all Mopar. I see no reason to make the rebuilt of the P-15 any more expensive or difficult than it needs to be,so I am following the path of least resistance.

I don't hear any rude noises or see any clouds of smoke,so you really lucked out on the engine. You might want to give your starter a break by not spinning it so long at one time without letting it cool off,though.

That's just heartbreaking.

Really? When was this,and what was it used in?

I'm sure you know more about this than I do,but I would really hesitate to take any more off those calipers,and I'd hesitate to take any off the rims. Besides,even if you do manage to grind away enough from both that it no longer scrapes cold in your garage,what's going to happen out on the road when everything gets hot and expands?

No kidding. I get tired just reading about all the work he does.

>>I will of course have to explain this to the examiner here if he discovers that its not original..but what type of idiot would argue against safer brakes and steering ???<< One that works for the government. Don't do this until you know it's not going to cause you grief when you go to license it. Get permission or procedures first,and make a note of who gave them to you,the date,and the time. BTW,just in case you decide to get the flathead engine running and keep it in the car until it has passed all the inspections,be aware that this car is a 6 volt positive ground system.

You can probably get by with just heat and a socket and breaker bar. Or just completely knock the porcelain off the top of the plug and use a stuck bolt remover in the hole and a socket and ratchet. I've done this and then used the spark plug to make my own valve hold closed device by putting a air fitting in the hole.

Don't touch the crank nut yet or try to start it. BTW,did you have the starter off the engine when you hooked a battery to it. That's a little confusing to me. If it was still on the engine and it spun over,either the gear on the shaft is bad or missing,or the engine spun over. How to safely unstick a engine: 1: Remove the head and side plates that cover the valves. 2: Use the valve lifter adjustment nuts to back off completely to allow each valve to shut. Any valve that doesn't shut by itself needs some penetrating oil sprayed on the stem under the valve head,and then let it sit for a while. Once the penetrating oil has had some time to work it's magic,gently tap the valve face with a plastic hammer until it closes. 3a: Once all the valves are closed,use compressed air to blow any dust or or debris out of the cylinders and then take a really good look at the piston tops and the cylinder walls to see if there is any obvious damage. If everything looks ok,fill the cylinders with carb cleaner. 3b: If everything looks ok,bolt the head back on using the old gasket unless it is torn and tight it up to the correct torque specifications using the correct sequence to prevent warping the head. 4: Buy a tool used to hold valves shut in OHV engines so valve springs can be replaced,and screw it into the number 1 cylinder. Hook a hose from your air compressor to the valve device,remove the dip stick/crankcase breather so the oil pan can vent,and let 125-150 psi or more of air pressure work their magic. You will know you are successful when you hear "blub,blub,blub" noises coming from the oil filler/dipstick tube. Fill that cylinder with something like Marvel Mystery Oil or Automatic Transmission fluid mixed with brake fluid to thin it out. 5: Move on to cylinder number 2 and repeat. Keep repeating until you have air moving past the rings on all 6 cylinders and all 6 cylinders now have been filled with Marvel Mystery Oil or ATF/brake fluid. 6: Put the air pressure to cylinder number 1 and repeat until the air has pushed the oil past the rings in each cylinder. 7: Making sure there are no spark plugs in the head,put a socket on the pulley nut on the crankshaft,and turn the engine by hand with a ratchet or breaker bar. 8a: Once you have turned the engine over one full revolution by hand,drain all the old oil and the crap you just forced past the rings into a drain pan and replace with fresh 20 or 30 weight non-detergent oil and replace the oil filter,if it has one. 8b: Adjust your valves and put the covers back on. It's important to not forget to do this. Don't ask me how I know. 9: Spin the engine 10 seconds or so at a time using a 12 volt battery,and then pausing for maybe 30 seconds to avoid getting the starter too hot and then spinning it again for 10 seconds. Do this until you see oil pressure build up on the oil pressure gauge. Listen for knocks or other sounds of distress while the engine is turning over. 10: Once you have oil pressure and things seem to be ok,put the spark plugs back in the head,attach the plug wires,hook a new piece of rubber hose to the fuel inlet of the carb,stick the other end in a small container higher than the carb so gravity will feed it,and start your engine. 11: Remove your gas tank and have it boiled out and sealed,and replace your entire gas line with a new one making sure you put a new gas filter between the gas line and your fuel pump. Make sure you use the new rubber hose that is rated for modern fuel injection engines because today's gas will rot the hell out of rubber gas lines for old cars. 11b: Rebuild the fuel pump using modern parts,or buy a newly re manufactured fuel pump. Once again,modern gas will eat the diaphragm in old fuel pumps that aren't already dried out,cracked,and useless. You are now ready to move on to things like suspension and brakes.

86 Honda rebel 450 bobber still in progress: I like the 450 bobber. I built one up from a 450 Dream when I was on Okinawa in 1965. They were all 4-speed big tank-big fender bikes then. Used a peanut tank and bobbed the fenders. Ran drag pipes that sometimes had baffles in them. Custom seat. Everything that wasn't chromed or polished was deep black laquer or leather. I'd like to have one right now. Reliable as can be,ride good, and has plenty of power for two up freeway riding. What more do you need?

That's the original upholstery? WOW!

Good to see you have your little girl helping you. Just wait until you hook those horns to a 12 volt battery.

It's been a while since I took a look at the 55 DeSoto hemi I have sitting in my shop floor,but I THINK it's code is DS. I'll check it in a little while when I go out there to check on the shop cats.

I agree with you that the original drum brakes work perfectly for normal driving conditions if they are in good condition. The thing is I think it is now cheaper to just upgrade to new disc brakes that work better than it is to rebuild the original drum brakes. Especially if you have to buy drums. No doubt you would want drum brakes on a restored car so in that case the extra expense would be worth it to score show points,but I think most of the people here drive their cars fairly often. Even the restored ones.

That looks like a really nice and complete one. Does it run and drive?

Mattias,pre-middle 1950's Dodge series numbers start with a D designation,Plymouth with a P, DeSoto with a DS,and IIRC,Chrysler just has a C. When you go to buy or look for parts,look for ones to fit a D-24 and you will be golden. Mostly. The D-24 Club coupe has a back seat and windows in the roof behind the doors.

Since I have no heat in my workshop and have poor circulation,it has kept me in the house sitting on my fat butt and making it bigger. That and an infected leg that just refuses to heal. My shop has been up now for maybe 8-10 years,and this is the first year ever the water in the shop cats plastic water bowl has ever frozen. It's frozen 3 times this year,and once it wasn't just skim ice. It was ice maybe 3/8ths thick. These bowls set on a elevated 8 inch cement floor with plastic under the cement. Since I have electric heat in the house,it has also sent my electric bill so high I need oxygen to just look at it. And I'm so bored I just watched Game of Thrones re-runs for the 3rd time. Other than that,it wasn't bad. This is supposed to be the last week with daily highs in the 40's. Long range forecast has daily highs in the 50's and 60's for the 3 weeks after this week. Then again,it is 63F outside and sunny right now instead of the 45F they were calling for,so who really knows?

You are going to love those horns. Especially after you hook them up to a 12 battery. BTW,it really doesn't look that bad,other than the chrome pot metal,which always looks bad. Mopars were historically better engineered cars than GM or Fords,but they had the worse chrome and plastic in the world.

No.

You were running the high compression in a OHV engine designed for high compression,and were also getting a lot hotter spark. New cars get away with running 10 to 1 on regular gas because of computer controlled timing and engine design. It also helps them get really good gas mileage. I'm thinking a conversion to electronic ignition would be the first good step to make to get the most out of a higher CR.

I have one,but you probably aren't going to like it. I saw,"screw those ugly alternators. Go with a 12 volt generator."

WOW! You really scored on that one. Looks like it mostly needs driving.