1951plymouth

There is a YouTube video from the factory dated 1954 that troubleshoots the Kelsey Hayes vacuum booster. Key words to search are "master tech 1954 power brakes". Very informative . Hopefully u document on here the resolution. Thx and good luck

Find a 1950s Ford guy that know these transmissions. There are lots of Ford r10 overdrive transmissions compared to mopar r10. Ford guys are more reasonable on price. Mopar r10....thousands of dollars Ford r10...hundreds of dollars

If u have several miles on your brakes, you can take the drums off now and use a permanent marker to put some parallel lines on the shoes about every half inch. Them reassemble and go drive it for 10 to 100 miles. Then remove drums and look at the lines....if you see lines that part of shoe is not being used. So there should be no lines on shoes if they are adjusted correctly. If there are line there is some brake tuning required.

Hi all, I am trying to find an automatic solar battery maintainer for 6 volt car battery. I don't drive my car regularlynakd I live n California with bright sun every day. Between drives I thought it would be a great idea to keep my battery well charged using a solar trickle charger. Does anybody know of an appropriate solar battery charger manufacturer, model etc? Also, how many watts, amps or milliamps should I be looking for in a charger. The goal is too just maintain a healthy fully charged battery between drives and to not over cook the battery. Thoughts? Thx Mike

The 59 Savoy had a cable control to push bottons on the dash. There was no linkage rods on the 59 if this helps.

Agree w above 100%. Backfiring in exhaust....Also would add that I have experienced when (as) the points wear out my car starts to backfire on deceleration. I do run my engine a few degrees advanced as compared to stock fyi. As far as the linkage I would look to see if the linkage rods are hitting each other as you shift. It's common in 49 to 52 plymouth s, which is where my experience lies. Sometimes the cotter pins are the culprit. Lastly popping out of gear, it's possible and very destructive that your trans input shaft is not in perfect alignment . This can happen when the trans mounting face or flange is not in alignment with the bell housing and crankshaft. Basically the input shaft and main shaft would not be in alignment . There are some Chrysler Master Tech videos on this issue in YouTube circa 1948 to 1952.....excellent source of info for those of you not familiar . Good luck

Check your rear engine mounts. Mine were squashed a little from time. I replaced them and in doing so my engine sat a little higher and produced more space from the firewall. Maybe add some washers to what you have to see if you will get the same result as I did. Enjoy that offenhauser! Hey, I am in Glendale and a dual carb guy too along with all the cool speed parts and crazy accessories!. I am working with Phil, Mike and Tony to resurrect the Old Plymouth Owners club in SoCal. We became official in December and are looking for members to share all things Plymouth. Hit me up if interested.

Hi, I have a 51 Plymouth w a 165 thermostat and a 4 lb cap, which I believe is proper for my year. This cap is consistent w the then new style radiators with a pressurized system with the overfill tube in the neck of the radiator cap. 9lb is too much even for the latest 1959 plymouth, those expansion plugs seem like a weak spot for too much pressure. The higher pressure caps allow for hotter temps before boiling. With my setup on a stock 218 with dual carbs and headers my car rarely gets near 200 degrees in california. Sometimes if my radiator level is too high it will puke just a little fluid, which right sizes the coolant level in the radiator for coolant expansion. You might check for the proper type of thermostat, fitment and water distribution tube condition as they wrought rust away and cause hot spots evidently. I like the idea previously mentioned of using an infrared temp gun to check temps around the engine for clues on why your temp is so high.

Hi chief, great topic. Probably ought to mention if you want a stock or mild hot rod rebuild. If stock, you likely can regrind valve seats, new or reground valves, new pistons and rings next size bigger, new guides or maybe guide inserts, check head and block for straightness, original factory balancing sb good already so just new bearings and gaskets. You can probably reuse the lifters or have them reground and I would guess the cam is ok. If your oil pressure was good just reuse the oil pump and use new water pump. This is the cheap way to go and I believe the motor will last forever. Normally the heaviest wear is the bearings, guides, valve seats and the cylinders. On this basis, this is my suggestion. If you want performance , find freewheeling tony on Facebook and check w him. I say check w Tony and or earl "edgy" edgerton add new performance cam and lifters, surface grind the block and head and consider the need for more balancing....Do all this after you determine whether you want multiple carbs! Hey chief, my name is Mike and I am a plymouth guy in your neck of woods. I have three other guys local that are plymouth guys too. If you want to discuss just message me.

Hi, I have two stock carbs on an Edmunds intake manifold on 218 flathead. They work great. A rebuild will not fix the leaks from the throttle shafts. They will require fixing by having the shafts bushed. However, before you do that double check the float level. Also set the accelerator pump on the lowest setting or you can try the medium setting, I have used both depending on the weather. Most important to succeeding with dual carbs, 1) your linkage must be sturdy, consistent, adjustable and well adjusted to open and close the carb butterflys equally and 2) you must adjust the idle airflow and mixtures using a synchronizing tool like a Unisyn. My carbs work great ,slightly rich but not unacceptably so. My engine idles nicely and drives smooth. I am building a 230 so I will wait to change jetting til then if necessary.

George Asche and friends in Pennsylvania operate as "aok" racing on YouTube. Watch the video of them tuning their proprietary 3 carb flathead dragster. Pretty cool. Mr. Asche is awesome and focuses on flathead mopars. He make the aok manifold . Good luck , Mike

Hi Dpollo and all others, thank you so much for the replies on my thought of converting to 11" brakes from 10" as an improvement to brake fade. It was just an idea I had to postpone the expense of converting to disc brakes using factory parts. I will be disassembling and inspecting brake system this week to determine my needs. I have been hobbying w my 51 Plym for 5 or so years, done massive research, and ultimately purchased the Ammco brake gauge for this brake job so I hope stock brake operation is signif better than before my first rookie brake job. I will update after I do teardown, though I suspect my previously installed nos ALUMINUM wheel cylinder pistons are worn, along w rubber parts causing fluid leaks which also ruined brake linings. I plan to have linings matched to drums as I found an old school shop to do this and plan to mark linings w permanent marker so I can determine the extent shoe lining contact w drum after major brake adjustment. Either way I think I will also continue to evaluate and look for the Canadian backing plates, spindles and brake parts for possible conversion.....I like this idea and own the brake gauge so it seems like a viable course of action. Thank you for your thoughts on this parts swapping and compatibility! I'll be back! Ps...Sorry for delay. While I have read many many many posts (or threads?), I have not posted much and am still trying to figure out how to work this website! I didn't get any notifications that there were responses so I didn't know to respond. I hope to be more interactive when I get the hang of it. Thx.

Hi all, It's time for a major brake service on my stock 1951 Plymouth. I have read lots of forum posts discussing that the stock brakes operate well if properly adjusted for most below 65 mph or so and that the various popular front disc brake conversions improve braking/safety, especially with a dual master cylinder conversion. In doing my research on this and other forums I see that dodge/desoto had larger 11" drums and Chrysler may have had 12" drums. I have no experience with the dodge,desoto and chrysler. Question: Do these 11" and/or 12" drums/backing plates etc interchange with 10" Plymouth drums? If so, wouldn't the greater braking surfaces be "better", i.e. less heat,fading and shorter stopping distances? Is this a viable potential upgrade for Plymouths? Thank you for any helpful info. Mike