knuckleharley

Flat track racing on a quarter mile dirt track was the most exciting thing I ever did in my life,and that includes running recon missions in VN,Laos,and Cambodia. You ain't lived until you are in a two wheel drift around a 180 degree corner,throwing up a rooster tail of dirt behind you as you shift gears and get lined up for the straight away. OOOH MY!

YIKES! Ducati's are fast bikes! i used to flat track race a 250 Ducati on a 1/4 mile track. That's how I got my brain concussion. There is just something truly addictive about 2 wheel drifts around a 180 degree corner and popping a wheelie to straighten out before you hit the wall that gets ya where ya live!

I am probably wrong,but I just don't trust engine stands with inline 6's when it comes to starting and running them. I would try to keep it simple by using a couple of long wooden blocks with angle iron bolted to them using BIG wood screws. I am talking screws with a diameter of a half inch or so. Use the angle iron to connect the ends with the runners and keep the base pan as close to the floor as possible. Use something like the gas tank from a push mower to start and run the engine that you can bolt to the stand so if the stand moves around,the gas tank moves with it. IF possible start the engine in the driveway,and ALWAYS have a fire extinguisher handy. I

Chances are the DeSoto springs are the same springs used by the smaller Chrysler cars.

Face it,all old-car freaks are pack rats. We pretty much have to be,and it can eventually grow to the point where you can wonder if you are buying parts for your car,or buying cars to justify buying some of the parts you bought. Not ME,of course. I am totally immune to that sort of thing. Honest. Would I lie to you,a good friend of mine who may just possibly have some parts I might need?

That guy was lucky to bag a beauty like that one!

Some people like to run an electric fuel pump for easy starts,and then flip a switch under the dash to shut off the electric pump,and run off the manual fuel pump. If you run off an electric fuel pump all the time it is a VERY good idea to install one of those "accident automatic shutoff switches" (I obviously can't remember the real name) so that in case of an accident you don't have gasoline pumping all over the place even after the engine has stopped running. That is the only negative thing I can find to say about electric fuel pumps as long as your fuel pump is matched to the fuel requirements of your car. With an antique car,you obviously want one of the low pressure inline pumps,NOT one made for modern fuel injection engines. Being more than a little anal,even then I like the sense of peace that manually shutting off an electric fuel pump gives me. Just a little bit of careful is more valuable than all the sorry in the world.

If you plan on retaining the original engine,I am GUESSING it would be one of the 2 speed automatics from the 50's Mopars. IF you can find one,it should be dirt cheap because there seems to be close to zero demand for them. BTW,I plan on using the original 2 speed auto out of the 56 DeSoto that is providing the 330 hemi for my 33 Plymouth coupe. It will just be a driver,not a race car,so I see no reason why it won't work fine for my purposes,and I already have it. Sure would love to find an adaptor to bolt a 4 speed hydro trans to it,though. I already have a B&M Hydro valve body submerged in a can full of ATF.

That truck has no business going anywhere near a crusher. If you can't get a title from the guy,apply for a title based on unpaid storage fees.

Well,you know what they say,"Different strokes for different folks!" I have cast iron headers for the 251 that is going into my 42 Dodge coupe,and another set for the 230 that I have for my 33 Dodge sedan. I have the original engine for the 33,but pretty much everything in it is worn out. Going to keep it so that whoever buys the 33 sedan from my estate can rebuild and install it if they want.

Loving the HELL out of those exhaust notes! What are you running?

I would start with dropping the driveshaft,draining the oil from the rear and looking through it VERY closely before dumping it. I can't remember if that rear has a cover plate or not,but if it does,pull the cover plate,put the rear wheels up on blocks,and then have a friend turn a tire back and forth while you look for slack and clashing. IF the teeth all look to be in pretty good shape,you might be able to get away with adding some shims to take up the slack. Frankly,if there is a lot of wear you would probably be better off just bolting a more modern rear in it with better brakes. Probably be cheaper and quicker than tracking down NOS rear gear parts,buying them,and installing them,too. Especially if you don't have a dial indicator or know how to use one to set backlash. I am sure some of the guys here can pipe right in and tell you which modern rears are an exact fit and what to look for,but I ain't one of them. Hell,go ahead and keep your old rear instead of scrapping it. You might see new replacement parts to fix it for cheap on ebay or somewhere else,and then want to fix it and sell it to a restorer. Or even put it back in your car. BTW,I obviously got mixed up,but the same basic things apply to your transmission. There really ain't no easy fix. You are going to have to take it out to find out what is wrong and to repair it. Don't have the first clue as to parts abailibity,but I am sure someone here does. Chances are someone here might even have a good trans to sell you cheaper than you can fix yours.

I suspect the discussion died down because everyone interested made their suggestions and have no more to say about it. Sometimes threads just die natural deaths.

Ahhhh,there is nothing quite as satisfactory as reduncy! No such critter as too much of a good thing.

Or maybe try a big truck repair garage or a tractor dealership.

You can always find brass hardware at boat dealerships.

Nuts from a bra???? RUN! RUN RIGHT NOW,AND DON'T LOOK BACK!

That is one FINE looking 38 Royale. You almost never see the coupes,and even the 4drs seem to be rare. My first car was a 38 Royale 4dr that I bought from the family of the original ower when I was 14. Paid 20 bucks for it,and NO,it did NOT look that nice. No dents or rust out,but lots of surface rust from being parked outside.

It ain't a Mopar,but it is a old truck. My all-original 1939 IHC pu,which used to be a semi-daily driver and my choice for trash runs to the dump. Finally got tired of pouring oil into it and had the head milled to stop the leaks. It was so warped oil was running down the sides of the engine. Took .125 off to get it flat enough to seal,and it had an amazing amount of power on the drive home. Until the top tank on the radiator basically blew off,that is. Cheapest estimate I could get on a new radiator was a grand,and that was with me mailing my radiator to them so they would have a pattern. Hate like hell to do it because I wanted to keep it all original (even have the original 2 piece radio!),but I am going to eventually end up just finding something that fits behind the grille shell,and running that. Bought it on impulse from a guy in NK that I went to buy a 1937 Dodge 2 ton truck from to get body parts. Saw the IHC parked in his yard and asked him if it was for sale,how well it ran,and did he have a title to it,and how much he wanted for it. He said "yes" to it all and gave me what I considered to be a good price,so he got it started and drove it up on my trailer. I ended up removing the front axle and fenders from the Dodge,sliding into the bed of my 3/4 ton diesel GMC,and then cutting the chassis off short enough to put the tailgate up. Drove it all over locally for about 2 years before the raditor blew. Tech tip for all of you. Do NOT buy an antique IHC pu unless you are in love with it. Parts are insanely high,and rare. I never drive anything on the road before doing a complete brake job,and using IHC parts numbers the cheapest wheel cylinders I would find were 75 bucks each from an IHC specialist,and who knows how many years they had been sitting on a shelf? So I pulled a front and rear drum,took the numbers off the wheel cylinders,and did a search on Amazon using the parts numbers. Come to find out the old IHC used the same wheel cylinders as 53-55 Corvettes,and I managed to buy 4 new wheel cylinders from ebay for $4.95 each,plus shipping. Forgot where I found the new Master Cylinder,but it was cheap,too. BTW,yes,the windshield DOES crank out. That seems to fascinate the hell out of people under 60 years old.

Check your timing and look for a crack in your exhaust manifold. Remember any loud backfires?

I don't need to look. I won't be able to afford anything I want. Caviar desires and beans and franks budgets.

Why would it? I am guessing the heat would vaporize any fumes,and any it didn't would be so miniscule it would never be noticed.

They were pretty common in the 50's and 60's. IIRC,the one we had came from Western Auto,and was in a tin container identical to the one you used to buy propane torches and bottles in. Ours also had a solid rubber hose. I THINK it came from Western Auto. Anybody else remember Western Auto?

Back when I was a kid and my family were beach fishing with nets,we used to have a device we could screw into the head of our truck in place of a spark plug,and then then start the truck and pump up the tires after coming off the beach. Had a long rubber hose with connectins on both ends that would screw into the device in the head and the tube.

LUV them turbo entabulator's! I understand once you get one of them tuned right,they are good for an extra 100 hp! They had to quit making and installing them in the 50's because they were breaking axles on takeoff and gear shifts.