Mr. Belvedere

Hmmm, seems like you might be on to a new career there. I have often thought web design would be fun. The kinda job where you could let your creativity run wild. Best of all it could be a home based enterprise. BTW I thought your site looked real sharp.

What does a web page designer professional typically charge to design a set-up like yours?

Where do you go to get a new lining for your emergency brake? I've got one that is down to the rivets and starting to dig into the drum. Thanks

Most definitely, I doubt they have any real big plans for the rest of Chrysler. They might rebadge one of their euro econoboxes as a Chrysler or Dodge and see how it goes. But why would anyone waste time with them when for probably similar money you can get a small Toyota or Honda vehicle with proven reliability. The rest of Chryslers line will not meet the new cafe standards and with no more money from the government to do R and D, I doubt they stand much of a chance. Besides a "controlled" bankruptcy probably allowed most of their UAW contracts to remain intact and its those liabilities that keep them from making profit especially on smaller low buck cars.

Great pic captain, did you move? I thought you used to be from Colorado.

What reason would there be for not revealing your reserve? Sometimes I think people selling some items like cars put an impossibly high reserve just to see how much their item might fetch on the open market.

Awesome '42 Pete, rarest of the rare Plymouths more pics please!

Gotta be a 36 or 7. How much?

Ever since I have used e-bay I have always wondered why people don't simply start the bidding with the minimum they will take for the item. Instead of starting at some ridiculously low figure and having a reserve. Even e-bay encourages you to do it this way via there pricing structure for listing items. For some reason it does seem to work better this way and I do not know why. Just auction mentality I guess. Any thoughts?

Hi-temp wheel bearing grease should not liquify when hot I've been doing it for years based on a what a shop manuel said to do, and have never had a problem, besides its only a light little smear.

Helping the springs can you push shoes back in? You might check the backing plate where the shoes rub and see if there is excessive wear damage that they might hang up on, also put a little grease there and maybe where the clips hold them to help them slide a little better. Do they eventually let up and go back in or just remain out? Maybe inspect the hydraulic line back to the master cylinder for a dented or partially collapsed line that may allow the greater pressure from the master cylinder to the wheel cyl. but not so well the other way as return pressure is probably not as strong. I doubt the wheel cylinders are the issue.

With the 4,000 headbolts these engines have and relatively low compression and stout copper gasket its hard to imagine these engines having much problem with headgaskets especially with newer parts and trued up surfaces.

You have no idea, I nearly cried. At one point I wanted to curl into the fetal position and go to my happy place.

This water distribution tube came out of a spare running flathead I recently picked up, along with 6lbs of mud and crud. In fact the lower half of the lower freeze plugs were completely rusted thru. Just the dirt and sediment pile in the lower half of the block kept it sealed. I noticed strange ridges and grooves in some of the cylinder walls where the cylinders come closest to each other. I believe that it is heat damage, because between some of the cylinders where they come closest, the rust and crud formed a wall and blocked water flow from going all the way around there by creating hot spots. The engine also had one burned exhaust valve. According to the guy I bought it from it ran well and had no overheating problems, I have no reason to doubt him since he sold it to me cheap. It is actually quite a testament to how tough these engines are, and how little or no maintenance they can get and still perform fairly well.

Congrats, the car looks terrific as ever. Soon their will be lots of empty dealership lots to have car shows on.

Darin, I gotta spare one you can have if a 54 is same as a 47. The bulb in it still works, I can take a pic of it if you would like. Mr.B

I've never had alot of luck with my one man bleeder kit. My wife bought me a nice one for my B-day one year(mainly so she would not have to help me anymore). Mine is a Mighty Vac brand and has a vacuum pump. But I find that when I would apply vacuum it would always suck air in from around the loosened bleeder screw so it would mix with the fluid coming out so I could never tell when I had all the air out of the system.

A few months ago I made the mistake of responding to a card I got in the mail from Collectible Automobile Magazine. It said to give our magazine a try for free on us, just check the box and send it back to them for a free trial issue of their magazine. Ha! shoulda known better and in the back of my mind I figured I would live to regret this, and so I have. In all honesty I can not remember what the small print said on this card said or if there was any, a thing they probably count on. It may have said something like "you must send in a cancellation notice by such and such a date or it will be assumed you want the subscription and you will be billed. Well this is what they now claim. At any rate I received my "free" issue and then an invoice for my subscription. Well I don't care for the magazine. So I have not paid the subsription and now I get a never ending stream of hate mail and threats that they are going to turn me over to collections if I don't pay-up. Well I am thinking about sending the "free issue" back to them and telling them to go pound sand, but before I do I was wondering if they can ding my credit or whatever if I refuse to pay them? My wife says to ignore it but I'm not as ballsy as she:o . Am I up a creek on this one?

The big three's problem started way before the economy started tanking and before gas prices spiked. They have been losing market share for some time now even when truck and SUV sales were good. The imports have steadily chipped away at them for decades by building very reliable fuel efficiant vehicles. They started with small cars, then midsize, then luxury, and finally SUV's and trucks the last of the big three's safe zones. The big three have never made a consistantly good small car and stuck with it, instead they roll out something all new and it usually comes with plenty of bugs and issues that have to be worked out. How long has the corolla been around or the civic? Almost 40 years? Whos fault is it that the big three have given in to rediculous union demands over the years that are now bleeding them dry? Ford and GM at least are building very good quality cars and trucks now for the most part, though still not quite on par with their japanese counterparts. Trouble is you can only burn people on a major purchase like an automobile once maybe twice then they won't even give you the time of day no matter how good your latest product maybe.

Looks like were all gonna be buying foriegn cars now. Even if the big three get some "loans" from uncle sam, it will most likely only put off the inevitable. Still it will be a blow to the American phsyche to lose them not to mention devastating to the economy. I could really use some good news seems like bad news is everywhere and on every front.

Hmmm....several vendors have been repeatedly bashed on this site and I am grateful for the low down on scoundrils that pray on newbies to the hobby and there is always a fresh supply of those else they would not be in business long. I do not know how in an open forum like this the administrater can be held liable for thoughts and opinions of others. This site is a tremendous asset for information on products and services for old cars. I would hate to see it lost from fear of legal recrimminations

Send some our way! Nothin but this blazing fireball and cloudless skies and hot dry dusty desert winds. We can't seem to turn the corner on summer here in Socal, where it is still in the freakin 90's with 0% humidity!!!

Well thank god most of these new cars do not need plug changes to often like the old cars did. My dad finally felt guilty enough to take his Town & Country in for a plug change after a 150,000 mi. They gave him the old ones and the still looked pretty goood just some minor wear on the center electrode and the insulator was still white and clean. I changed the plugs on my wifes Escape and you have to remove the intake plenum and coil on plugs, throttle controls, and vacuum hoses. Kind of a pain in the neck especially in light of the fact that the plugs still looked new when I replaced them!

Chances are your water distribution tube will come out in pieces any way so the length problem will most likely be a non-issue anyway. Many of the guys here made their own tools for removing it. Do a general search of the forum on "water distribution tubes" as there has been lots of discussion on this in the past and many pics of various homemade tools. As mentioned above remove the lower two freeze plugs on either side of the distributor and flush the block. I got enough sediment and other crud to fill a gallon jug.