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1just4don

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Everything posted by 1just4don

  1. I started out driving the tractor and baler up and down the windrows of hay when I was 6 or 7. NOTHING more boring and hot and lonely than driving a baler. The 'bosses' were on the rack being pulled on the back stacking the bales. Only supposed to turn one way and always went to wrong windrow and getting yelled at constantly for doing something wrong,pull the torque put the torque forward, step on the clutch(Cabs were nonexistant then) AND when I choked it off OR sheared a pin from hitting too big of wad,,,oh boy did I hear about it!!! I say this is why I can sleep anywhere, any time,,,even in church,,,sitting too still. Fast forward to the next summer and 'bosses' were combining barley for somebody,,,my job was to drive the grain truck around and around the field following the combine so it could be unlooaded when full. I drove and steered, cousin did the pedals on the floor, cause legs werent long enough to reach and see over the wheel or even thru it!! Was just thinking about this the other day. Was herding cows down the road one time and remeber getting to drive. Break neck speed of about 2-4 mph,,,thats all the faster the cows walked and you didnt dare bump them!! I recall the car I did that with had a hand throttle but dont remember any car that had one of those. So must have either been grandpa's or some old beater we didnt have very long. My first school car was the old family 51 Plymouth 2 door sedan. That crappy puke,light green. The front end was soooo far out of line it squealed the rubber off going to town on the pavement. Squealed constantly driving in a straight line. "MY" job was to change tires weekly,sometimes more, because thats all the longer a 'bald', VERY bald tire lasted, always blew them out thru the plies threads,biased only back then. Had to use bumper jack to break bead,couple old lug wrenches,cause tire irons cost too much, to manuelly take them off the rim,,,Invarably I would 'pinch' the tube someplace putting them back on and find out when you pump on those old tire pumps for half an hour and it hadnt started up yet. NO air compressors then,,,too fancy!! Sometimes had to stop and fix the hand pump first cause it would quit pumping. Wore out alot of leathers that way!! Got tired of changing tires constantly and found my 'own' 4 door plymouth in a grove,scooped out about a foot of leaves,drug it around till it started, drove it home, and drove it for another year or two,,,even with a cracked frame that flexed badly when on country wash board roads,,,all were that way THEN!!!Spose that was why it was originally parked. This car cost me a whooping $25. I could barely afford it then!!! Eventually graduated up to a 'huge' Dodge 4 door(good for hunting) fluid drive sedan. Thought I died and went to heaven. What a ride,,,what a car. Had huge v-shaped mud grips on the back and 16 " wheels and tires on front,,,had an extra few inches clearance under it and 'needed' every bit of it. I remeber once was in a snowstorm blizzard and went thru this cut 10' tall walls of snow on each side,wind blew the middle back in. Dad was with me said "oh crap we are stuck". I said NOT YET WE ARENT! Floored it,broke snow drifts with the hood ornament all the way thru(like 100 yards) but kept on chugging thru. That car would and did go thru anywhere. Spring of year,zero maintance cow trails,hunting again,mud over a foot deep, chugged right thru for a whole mile up and down slick clay hills,,,dont think a four wheel drive could do that today!!! This car 'refused' to keep a muffler on it!! Course driving 'thru' tree groves and pastures all night hunting jackrabbits and racoons (and a few illegal species)didnt help!!! I remeber hanging out the passenger window, spotlight in one hand, shotgun in other,,,door swung open cause the latches in rough pastures didnt hold,,I was swinging out in no mans land trying to shoot this rabbit,when I shot the door swung back closed then open again on sharp left hand turns,,,"STOP, I yelled,let me back IN!!" while propped in the window sill. Response---no -no have to get this rabbit first,then you can get back in. Meanwhile I am looking down and the wheel center breaks out of my front wheel and the tire is sliding under the car like a skid,,stop stop the wheel broke off,,,not till we get this one. To say we had crazy(mostly younger unlicensed drivers back then) would be an understatement. IF only I didnt abuse this car and kept it in a garage(unthinkable back then)and had it NOW!!! All I have now is the memories. What was the 'deluxe' model of 50 or 51 Dodges?? Was that a coronet?? What ever it was, thats what this was. Had tons of bells and whistles,,,I even added a oogah horn on it and could call cows from half a mile away,,,sounded like a bull in heat!!! Sounded it by pulling a baling wire,under the dash!! I still DO have the horn!! Other kids thought that was the coolest thing!! Sorry for the length here,,,guess I got carried away!!!SOB if you wish!! Least they are Plymouth and Dodge memoreies!!! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!! -don--
  2. Thanks Mikey, Didnt think so either but at least I assertened that my size 13's still fit in my mouth!!! I always risk sounding stupid,,,for the outside chance!! Just need to find that dusty rusty barn with the tarp covering the treasure in the corner!!! THAXS fer the reply!!! -d-
  3. That talk show Clark Howard was on and this lady called up and was reciting a story that her son, who isnt the brightest bulb,(but TOTALLY innocent) sold something on Craigs list. Took the check (cashiers, I think,I forget)to the bank. Was quickly in handcuffs from the police and is now standing real serious charges of "possessing" a counterfeit bogus money instrument. And sounds like its going to stick. What a bummer a innocent seller of something gets arrested for doing what he thought was the right,ordinary thing to do. Seems their are laws that holds the banks harmless and the bearer is all to blame, no exceptions. They dont even go back to the real criminal who issued it,,,they arrest the first person they get their hands on!! There was MORE stories Just like this one,,,beware!!
  4. Course of being a fix and repair daily, dirt rearranger by trade I have about 10 different vehicles and half dozen other locations to arm at the same time. problem is with hammers,,,they are just like rabbits,,,they keep bunchin up on me. never can find one when I NEED one. I buy them 2-3#ers by the handsful whenever I get close to them,,,they are like 1/2 and 9/16 wrenches,,never find one when ya need it so buy plenty spares. Every wrench case I own has a double set of wrenches for the POPULAR sizes,,at least. Was at a friend of mines place(neighbor) and he needed to fix his old corn sheller. First thing I ask when we started taking out 1/4 inch bolts was if he had spares if he twisted one off(square heads if that indicates age). He said golly no,,,no spare 1/4 inch bolts there. Then I ask for another 7/16 wrench to hold the other end of the bolt since they were plum rusty. I dont OWN 2 7/16 wrenches,,,came the reply. I walked over to my mud buggy car and got my set of double wrenches and we proceeded to fix what was needed and got on with the shelling corn job at hand!!
  5. Does he have any 69 Camaro's out there??
  6. Its a 1950 3 window coupe, what number of P-_ is that?? I dont quite get the P and D numbers yet,,,being a newbie???
  7. I found a good 'original' ,,,nothing fancy,,,but good, 3 window Plymouth coupe, close by my home. How do you determine how much you pay for something as rare as this?? I dont see many if any 3 windows around these parts,,,mostly all family sedans, with the two seater rather than the just one!! Any body else 'know' how to price or value something like this?? Thanks for any advice!!
  8. Depending on how often you use the garage/shop I would liik at a 'corn' stove IF your in a corn growing area,,,or a pellet stove IF your NOT!! They use outside air for combustion and pvc for chimney so pretty efficient. You could always light it up when you come and throw a GOOD electric heater with it for quick heat up. CO2 is a very real and considerable problem in ANY garage,,,even with the door cracked and cracks around overhead doors etc. Had good friend come within a hairs breath of buying it!! Used to do same thing till he found out how fast CO2 accumulates and how slow it disapates. I saw a deal on tv where a guy ran a generator for the ice storm blackouts in his garage and they actually 'measured' the co2 levels and just in 11 minutes it was at 'lethal' levels,,,would have passed out far sooner under normal circumstances.(These people were wearing protective air pacs)(like fireman wear,,,and THEIR CO2 warning buzzers were dinging. I have used the kerosene heater in a shed and had a headache too,,,sometimes you are just a minute TOO late to enjoy your OLD cars. FOR good grief sure,,,IF you are running 'anything' with CO2 get a 'good co2 monitor/alarm and make SURE its working!! But at all costs TRY to avoid ANY CO2. Live long,live well,live happy,,,dont leave a grieving family!! And since it worked for all these years,,it should work today. Wrong,,,inversion,occasional wind conditions, weather changes,,,all influence the outcome!! Say around here, think,,,we need you!!
  9. You could use that plastic conduit flexy stuff IF you dont mind being all original and IF it is subject to scuffs like going to tailights down frames etc. It protects from alot of crap. Or going thru firewalls etc with 'sharp' edges. Otherwise a wrap or two of good friction tape every few inches or so helps harness it together and some plastic ties keeps it from rubbing or drooping all over. I think functioanbility is formost. Bigger is better,specially in wire size!!
  10. "IF" I had a hub I absolutely had to keep in service, our local blacksmith would get the job of welding the hogged out part back with a bead of good steel weld. Then have him stick it in the turning lathe and turn it to exactly the right size again. I have used the peening method discribed before, here, with varied success in agricultural settings. Sometimes it works well,,,sometimes NOT. Depending how much was hogged out. IF severe the weld job for sure. IF not too bad I would peen severely and dimple the heck out of that race seat. Have to use good judgement here to peen enough and IF excessively peened makes driving the race in VERY hard! Otherwise other way might be to have it lathed straight, so its even all the way across and use some sleeve material to get the race 'tight'. My favorite shim substance for this is a wrap or two of aluminum pop cans. It compresses well and has held 'some' bearings 'here' for years and years with NO signs of giving up!! In the applications used in its NOT life threatnening to have a failure,,,just another 'fix-it' job!! (Ask my rider mower front wheels) Otherwise WAY to expensive to replace all that it would take to make it 'right'! Tin cans, like bean or soup cans can work too,depending on thickness required. Napa makes shim stock too,,,but considerably more expensive and no better materials. Welding and lathing would probably be my 'first' choice for your situation,,,any good machinist/blacksmith can advise!! AND if the first one doesnt like it ask a few more!!
  11. Nice presents, trade your for my 'pillows' Your probably much more aware of this than I was,,,when you install those halogen bulbs,,,dont ever,,,ever,,,touch them with your bare hands,,on or off.. Yes they are hot but the point is the bulbs will not last long with body oils on them,,,wear new cotton gloves or use a clean new cloth ONLY for touching them in ANY way!! IF they have this on directions,,,ITS not BIG enough type!!! or mentioned enough!! Have fun with your new toys, - just don--
  12. "Painted the light bulb red" reminds me of days of my youth. New cars had red lights inside and we called those "sex lights"(dont ask me where that came from). Anyway I tryed a variety of ways to get a sex light inside my car,,,but results were less than satisfactory. A teen age boy doesnt quite know what works and what doesnt work BUT who wants to take a chance on NOT being "all inclusive". Probably was a here and then thing so wouldnt put much stock in it,,,but sure do remember spending alot of time TRYING to do just that. A bulb painted red gave at best a pink glow. No. 1 problem is the heat ate off thick layers of paint. No 2 is they are redder when off than on!! Shoestring budget didnt even allow for going to a parts store and asking IF they had red bulbs. Probably didnt, but never ask either. Course back then they didnt have a parts store on every corner either!! Painting the inside of the dome light didnt do much better. been there, done that!! OLDER people thought I was nuts,,,guess maybe they were right, looking back now. Just like I remember painting on red wall tires too. (poor mans imitations) You were really cool if ya had store bought triple red wall tires(three thin stripes of red). That was late 60's thing!!(here and then) Along with the triple chrome reverse wheels and slotted chrome mags. THEN the real deal of the drk center chrome outside spoked mags!! The GOOD old days,,,best part of THAT is I was younger then!!! IB --just don--
  13. I think they were talking about those on a post of mine last week. Dont know how far down the page, but if they are in order,probably the last thread I had. If that is not what you are talking about,,,me sorry.--just don--
  14. Does make a ton of difference doesnt it Phil. GOOD idea. I notice you have replaces ALOT of wire with handmade wire/connections crimped. Rather than a factory harness set up. Your wires LOOK very heavy , good for YOU. IF you take a car to a car show,,,ever ,,,do they ding you for that?? Is there standard new harness available from parts places? Or only make yourself kind?? I am kinda new to this form and jus getting the itch to get my 50 Dodge out of storage garage after 25 years of owning it there. (AND driving it after I get the engine going again)(IF anyone is interested OR cares, this Dodge was bought new by my grandfather) I remeber sitting on a chair behind it once, it was parked in the garage, door open,(after probably mowing his yard) and grandpa saying IF anybody collides with my car its THEIR fault. Why is that grandpa?? Cause it says Dodge on the front and back of it!!!!! He was always sorta orneery!! Good job on painting of the underside of the dash---have to remember that!! merry Christmas all-- just don--
  15. Their is/was(deceased now) that his daughter took her car to a quick change place somewhere multiple times. He is a mechanic by trade so when they were working on her car they determined no one had changed the filter for a mighty long time. More than likely tho, given his daughters track record, she just drove it and spent the money she said she did on'feel good' items if you get my drift. I have NEVER known a place like that not change the filter and rip somebody off for the price of it. These are all indepentent owners of these places(here) and they are working hard for their business success! Back in the 70's did have a bad experience with an oil change but cant remember where.(cross threaded plug and leaking oil or loose non tight one, cant remember.)
  16. I had to look up Ithaca, never been there. I see Gretna is right down the road. My daughter just bought a house down there(I think), havent been there YET!! Will soon HAVE too, to see my new upcoming Grandson!!! Thats one cool Injjun. Have seen some carved with chainsaws, very talented people. NOT me!!! -d-
  17. I am NOT a real good car knower yet but that very first pic with the four door suicide door on THIS side of the street looks 'exactly' like my '41 Ford in the garage right now. Dont know how many years they made them without major changes. Back then there wasnt 'alot' of differnce between makes either. That back seat in the '41' suicide door, I have lived in smaller apartments,,,no wonder there were lots of '40's kids made back then!!! Tons of leg room, lots of head room, plenty of bench room!!! They just dont makim like that any more!! I can always stand correctin' --d--
  18. Here is what I learned over the years. IF its a positive ground the positive side of the coil will go to the distributor. IF the negative terminal of the coil is hooked up to dist. then somebody switched it over OR made a bad mistake exchanging coils etc. They dont run quite right polarity reversed, but sometimes runs. Sometimes NOT. It is an easy quick check to see if things are okay.
  19. I am sorry I spoke wrong. The overhauled motor is the 'original' motor for this car. Relative had it done on the cheap as a 'tech' school project for some kid and the wrist pin wasnt installed correctly(lasted 5 miles). I do have a parts car parked here I thought I could get a decent block out of ,,,as long as its the same) and use that one on a complete rebuild. So the question remains,,,is this car worth MORE with the original motor bored and sleeved(and about what might that cost???) OR this other block completely rebuilt as the original one was!!?? Either way looking at a complete rebuild from bottom up to be SURE of what I might be able to drive. Do you guys have professional engine rebuilders do this OR do yall do it yourself??
  20. You guys have me all pumped up for trestoring and fixing my grandpa's brand new 50 Dodge as a daily driver. I am NOT doing it for resale,BUT dont want to shoot myself in the foot for the future values either(my kids dont want this 'stuff'). I have a different motor(possible donor block) instead of boring and sleeving the old one where the piston wrist pin damaged same( Bad news-5 miles on new overhaul) (Good news,,,it was the previous owners prob). Does using one block over the other make this car more or less valuable to any future owner?? I will go out right now and find the block number on the donor. The car and its original motor block is too far from home for same info. AND how did you guys get such good looking paint on those rides?? What kind of dollar figure would one expect to pay(for the paint part) ,,,not the body work IF needed. I am sure it has the faded surface rusty parts common for hood and trunk etc. Its been in a garage for the last 20 years but sat outsioide previously(previous owner) TIA --d--
  21. I will ask seller for the good info. MY car and all parts are in a garage 15 miles away stored in a different location from ME. It will take a bit to get a tape measure on it. (and I will check that number too. It is quite a ways down in a pile of stuff so might take some digging(I put it in the trunk,,,other people stacked stuff all around it!! I was sure Dodges were the longer ones and plys shorter motors I found the difference one time while trying to swap one for the other. Wish I had all my good old cars back I had one time. Got talked out of them Just like my 69 z-28 Camaro, boy what a ride!!! But the old Mopars is where I started in life,,,tough ole birds they were IF they could take what this wet behind the ears kid would throw at them.(I didnt know any better then) Thanks -d-
  22. I am a Newbie here so hope this in the right spot and as its supposed to be.Looks like a real good site.-d-
  23. I have owned my grandfathers(bought new) 50 Dodge (car)for many years but have been unable to drive it. previous owner wrecked the motor. I found a 52 Pickup motor on e-bay and wondered IF it was the exact same motor as what I need for the original style motor for this car?? I used to drive this 'kind' of car so want the 'Fluid Drive' for sure in this car. Does the pickup use the fluid drive? OR some did ,,some didnt? I know the Dodge motors were a couple inches longer than the Plymouth motors, and I do know the Dodges with fluid drive had a dish to the back end of the crank where the Plymouths didnt(no fluid drive plymouths). So how do I make sure of this is what I want before I buy it?? Dont need another pile of iron in the corner. Its about 4 states away just to go 'look'. BUT the e-bay deal doesnt give me much time!!! Any help appreciated. -d-
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