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De Soto Frank

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De Soto Frank last won the day on September 13 2013

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  • Biography
    A car-crazy kid who still hasn't "grown-up"... love old MoPars. Own '41 De Soto; 60 Chrysler, etc
  • Occupation
    Theatre Technical Director

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    PA
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    Anything old; house, vehicles, appliances, etc...

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  1. What's with the orangey stuff in the spark-plug wells ? That's not rain water, is it ? Frank
  2. Does he still have any 1950's - 1963 Rambler Americans ?
  3. Relays are out there. Before condemning the relay entirely, i would replace the sub-harness between the relay and tranny. You can make one up out of THHN stranded wire from Lowe's, Home Despot, etc., matching the color-code in the shop manual, and wrapping with black e-tape, and have a respectable looking job of it. Just make sure all your terminal lugs are SOLDERED and Heat-shrink insulated. DO NOT TRUST CRIMP TERMS ON VEHICLE WIRING ! They are an endless source of gremlins and grief ! The factory soldered all its terminals, and so should we. After my relay reconstruction, i still had intermittent shifting issues that seemed to be electrically-based, so i whipped-up a replacement transmission harness, and that finally seemed to resolve things. As a general rule of thumb, whenever you switch-on the ignition, you should hear the FD relay close. Switch-off, the relay opens. If you can switch the key on & off multiple times in succession, and here the relay operate each and every time, that suggests that the CONTROL side of the relay is functioning properly. See where this gets you.
  4. I have seen pictures (B&W) of that "designer" two-toning on the 1940 D-14 Luxury Liner in Tad Burness's "American Carspotter's Guide: 1940-1965. It was probably a fore-runner to Chryco's "spring-time specials" of the 1950's...
  5. '48 and earlier used a different steering arrangement ( pitman arm on bottom of steering-gear, both tie rods attach directly to pitman arm assembly). The steering gear box sits inside the frame. Don't remember if the steering gear box is placed further to the side on the '49 & later... I have a '50 NYer, but it's been decades since I peeked under the hood. '48-'41 De soto / Chrysler Six should have a 121" WB, while the Straight-Eights had a 127" WB, the stretch being between the A-pillar and the "front axle". James's car is a Suburban Carryall, which rides a 139" WB (IIRC), and I know the body shell itself is stretched; don't know if there was additional stretch in the cowl, as with the Straight-Eight. In general, the 1949-'50 Chrysler and De Soto are 4" longer in WB than their '48-'41 predecessors. I found this out when I tried to swap the M-6 tranny from my '50 NYer in to my '48 NYer. Vintage6t - that Red '50 NY'er looks really sweet !
  6. If you're looking to get more oomph to compensate for "insensitive modern drivers" ( or whatever other reasons you feel you need more oomph ), I wouldn't "settle" for marginal gains provided by slightly larger six (ie: the Jeep 4.0 liter) or small V-8. If you were going with a six, the only one I would consider would be the Ford 300 cid, one of the late incarnations with EFI. They are strong and bullet-proof. I have no idea how it would fit. If this were my project and goals, I would be looking for a late-model Chrysler big-block (440) and suitable tranny and rear-end. The S-11 Suburban is a huge car, on par with the LWB Chrysler Imperial of the same vintage. It is big and heavy. Plus you're talking about dragging an Airstream trailer behind it. You're going to need lots of HP just to get the rig moving, plus whatever reserve necessary to keep-up with modern traffic. Talk to anybody who hauls a fifth-wheel camping trailer or who tows a show car in an enclosed trailer: they're not doing it with small-block engines. They've got trucks with either big-block V-8 / V-10 gas engines, or Diesels, and OD trannies (automatic or 5 or 6-speed sticks). Try and tow a big heavy package with a Chevy 350 or Ford 302 or 351, and they will do it, but they'll be maxxed-out most of the time, and will see shorter service life between rebuilds. If you're straying this far a-field from the original flathead Mopar drive-train, you might as well get the most bang for the buck, and have enough power to haul the car, run the A/C, tow the Airstream, AND contend with modern motorists. I'm all for staying stock, but when you're gonna change, might as well do it once and be satisfied with the result. No sense in trading an insufficient old six for an newer, insufficient V-8. My thoughts, so far... PS: My inspection mechanic always talks about his 1939 De Soto that he repowered with a Chrylser 383 and push-button Torquelifte (complete with PB control). I asked him "how did it fit?" He says "Great - just had to make some front mount brackets. Kept original steering gear, column, brakes ( ), etc. "
  7. Here's some quick photos of my early Silex, circa 1920. It does work, and even makes a tasty cup or coffee, but is more useful as a patent model than as a volume producer of hot beverages...
  8. As for avereage fuel-pump lifespan, I put an Airtex 588 ( from Western Auto) on my '41 De Soto 15 years and 40-some thousand miles ago. Still working fine. haven't even had to dump the sediment bowl yet...
  9. Fundamentally, they are similar in design and construction, but aside from "accessories" like Carburetor, Fuel Pump, and Generator, they generally do not share parts. As the previous posters have stated, Chrysler & De Soto blocks are 25 inches long, while the Dodge and Plymouth blocks are 23 inches long. Also, most 1939-'54 Chrysler and De Soto sixes are going to be equipped with Fluid Drive Fluid Coupling, which means a different bell-housing, clutch, and transmission. Don Coatney has successfully re-worked and installed a De Soto Six into his P-15.
  10. Tim - I have a Silex (before Proctor) vacuum coffe maker from the late Teens or early Twenties: looks more like a piece of laboratory equipment: bottom vessel is a Florence Flask ( round bottom, long neck) which is held by a clamp around its neck, supported by what is basically a fancy nickel-plated laboratory stand, and the top vessel looks like an over-grown Thistle-Tube, that seats in the neck of the bottom flask with a white rubber sealing sleeve. In the top vessel is a strainer plate that gets covered with a little white flannel bonnet, complete with a draw-string. The whole thing is heated by a little glass alcohol lamp. From stone-cold, you can have hot coffee in about 20 minutes. About two dainty-sized cups. It's a great party trick ! Then I have one of the chromed Sunbeam electric vacuum makers form the late 1940's... I'll try to grab some photos tomorrow.
  11. Should be straight-bore, 1-1/8" all the way around. No stepped-bores after WW II.
  12. You are describing a vacuum coffee maker. There were stove-top versions made by Silex and Cory, and there were electric, all-metal ones made by Sunbeam. They do not "perk" the coffee, rather , the water in the bottom vessel boils, and the resulting steam expands, forcing the hot water up the center tube into the top camber with the ground coffee. When the water is gone, the boiling stops, you remove the whole thing from the heat, and as the bottom vessel cools, what was steam condenses, and creates a vacuum pulling the water in the top chamber back down through the grounds, and a filter, and into the bottom vessel. Percolators employ a stem and basket, and keep forcing boiling water up the stem, over the grounds, where it drips down through the basket. Over-percolated coffee can be lethal...
  13. James, Any water / coolant getting into a combustion chamber should produced a very clean plug, as the moisture will turn to steam and help burn-away any carbon deposits. The old-timers' trick to de-carbon an engine was to run the engine until thoroughly warmed-up, then begin feeding water-mist into the air-horn - not enough to create hydraulic lock-up, but enough to create steam and clean the carbon out. About two months after getting my '28 Model A, the head-gasket let-go between #3 and #4. I was out on the road, so I carefully drove it home. When I pulled the head, the first two cylinders were somewhat carboned, the rear two ( where the leak was ) were squeaky-clean. So, if all your plugs had relatively equal amounts of deposit, I would bet the cylinders themselves are not shipping any water. have you performed a compression test and / or cylinder leak-down test ? It is remotely possible that the bottom of a water jacket has rusted-through, allowing water to migrate into the crankcase. Before you re-acquired the car, had it lived in or spent any time in freezing climate, even during shipping ? If so, perhaps a water jacket cracked internally ? Another model A experience: they are known for cracking the deck between the exhaust valve seats and cylinder bore; when this happens, they frequently weep water from the water jacket through the exhaust valve pocket or deck, and into the cylinder, past the rings, and into the crankcase. I have not heard of MoPar sixes tending to do this, but it might be a remote possibility. Hope it's nothing really complicated. Frank
  14. Looks like '51 Dodges on the carrier, and some mad scientist klodged a '48-'50 Pilot-House with a Mack "cherry-picker" !
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