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James_Douglas

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Everything posted by James_Douglas

  1. Still in wheel hell. Not just normal hell, but the lower depths of hell... All the suggestions in this thread as to shops that could or would make a wheel have come to nothing. Either they do not make 15 inch wheels or they are not interested in making them. I have sent detailed information to "The Wheel Smith" and they could make a wheel, but they are sounding like they do not want to as they are worried about liability. Because my wheel cracked, they are worried that it is a load issue. Fair enough. But I keep telling them it is a combination of the load and a very bad job on the part of Stockton Wheel in their implementation of it. Stockton Wheel left sharp edges on the wheel center flanges that could then "dig into" the wheel outer and cause the cracking. I do think if they had rounded those 90 degree corners and also sanded the edges to "up sweep" a little and then pressed them in and welded it, it would be fine. Over the last few months I have been reading a 100 page book. It was written by the public school system Wichita, Kansas in the late 1940's. It was the book used to teach and test kids to take the Army Navy welding exam so they could work in the aircraft factories in Wichita. Welding a lot of chrome molly tubes in large clusters for aircraft small and large. It is all about stress and welding. It is all about preparation and exactly how to weld and in what direction relative to the metal grain. All about creating welds that do not crack. If one reads over all the items on metal preparation and welding procedure, it is evident that the folks at Stockton Wheel blew it. However, trying to find anyone that will actually weld a new set and follow rigorously the same level of Q&A as could be achieved in 1940 is proving to be a fools errand. I may have to abandon the disc brake set up and put drums back on just to be able to have wheels that will not fail. James
  2. I do not know who did the work. I happen to have a Logan gear cutting lathe, but fine threads are fun to do... Any good general machine shop should be able to cut the threads without any issue. I just happen to like the design as it screws right into the back of the MC and does not need any modifications to anything else. Maybe I will ask my local shop what he would charge me on his big ass CNC to design up the program and run a couple off for me. James
  3. Some years ago I saw a set up where the owner had done something similar to this. What he had done is machined a block of steel about 2 inches square that threaded into the back of the stock master cylinder. On one side of that block it had two threaded holes. He had a small steel plate that bolted to those holes and the two rear factory master cylinder bolts. The steel plate had two studs in it pointing rearward. he mounted a dual master cylinder to the rear of that. The push rod was then shorter, and would have less flex than longer versions. I thought it was a nice design and did not require welding or bolting to the frame. James
  4. Since I have a three speed stick with OD and they did not offer that on 1946 to 1948 Desoto....the bracket that bolts to the trans to hold the passenger side of the band had to be made. (The P & D drums are smaller and their brackets will not work.) The bracket is not perfect. So it makes it hard to get the band to adjust correct. Plus the thickness issues. I get some 80 grit sticky back sand paper. I stick it to the drum, over lapping it in the direction of travel. I have the band sort of loose. I jack up the car and run it with the tires spinning. I pull the hand brake lightly with the lock depressed and "sand" the band to get it to conform. I then vacuum up the dust and set the brake adjustment as per the instruction with a feeler gauge. I then wire lock the nut-spring on the passenger side, again per the manuals, and I am good to go. James
  5. There used to be a company that sold kits to put in a restriction in the rear oil feed of these blocks to make up for the wear at the rear cam to block interface. When that rear "bearing" wears too much oil pressure can be lost. Hence the kit. I like the idea of pressing in a bushing to bring it back to the low end of the spec. Loren, what about an oilite bushing? Good cam cores are more important, I would rather change that bushing on a rebuild... James
  6. I ran a long ram 64 Chrysler 300K convertible hard in high school. I purchased new hardened keys from someplace on someones recommendation. That 413 was 390HP and a lot of torque. I never busted a key. Same basic axle. The only reason I am going to go to a 9 inch ford for the 1947 Desoto is the big desoto uses a larger rearend, 12 bolt ring gear, and I have not been able to find a NOS 4.11 ring and pinion. The 4.3 works but is a little too much in town in second OD. I also want to get a 12 inch drum brake that is self adjusting. A pinion that never leaks is another plus... Currie can make one up but in the end it will be like $4k. James
  7. Have fun. I keep asking the club to have the convention in September so that if we wanted to drive across the USA from California we would not be doing it in the summer heat. They keep insisting that they have to do it in the summer as kids are off school, but the two conventions I have attended you could count the kids with one hand. Enjoy the drive and the convention. I look forward to reading and see the photos of the meet. James
  8. Lucky here in the San Francisco Bay Area that it really does not freeze much. Good old alcohol is a perfect anti-freeze, the only thing is every few months it flashed off. But, one can dump alcohol without the green police getting on your back. The soluble oil is also non-toxic. James
  9. If the trans was from a standard clutch, you need to get a fluid drive input pinion and swap it. Other than the controls, works just fine. I have one in the '48 Desoto Suburban. James
  10. I think this is an interesting subject. One historical thing I noted was that in 1960 the LAPD required that its replacement fleet of cars had to "share oil" with the engine. These were 318 blocks or 383 blocks I think. The only trans that could meet the spec was the Powerflite not the Torqueflite. One thing I have never found out was did that spec mean the engine and trans had oil circulating between then or the LAPD just wanted to stock only one oil... James
  11. This is the stuff I used... https://www.banditshobbies.com/store/p7543/TAMIYA_%2381025%3A_X-25_Clear_GREEN_Acrylic_Model_Paint%2C_23ml_Bottle.html James
  12. I do not run any anti-freeze so that I can dump the water on my driveway here in San Francisco without having the Green Police on my back. I use water wetter and soluble oil and that is it. If I was going to head up into the mountains in Winter, I would just put some alcohol in it. I run a 180F thermostat and it is not pressurized. One can drill and tap the side of the water neck above the thermostat easy enough and put in one of those little tiny moon eyes thermometers. I did that to cross check the dash gauge. As long as the radiator is good, distribution tube is good, the head gasket is good and it is not running lean the the car should not overheat. Since it is not a big deal on a flathead to pull the head, just take it off and put a new gasket on it. While the head is off, take out the block side drain cock and run water via a a section of 3/8 brake line attached to a garden hose and blow water in and around the bottom of the cylinders through the jacket holes in the deck as that is where crap settles. A lot of it will drain out the side of the block. Just make sure to not cause water to bubble up and into the cylinders or pull the pan at the same time and clean it out and leave it off until you are done with the water trick. Then oil down the cylinders to take care of any water and then put the pan back on, then the head. Don't forget the block stop cock! If a power brake unit. Plug it and drive it of the smoke goes away you know that is it. James
  13. The 46-48 Desoto uses a painted color prism at the base of the needle.
  14. If you read the book on the development of Chrysler's engines...the section on the slant six where they talk about the issues with the aluminum vs the iron blocks...there are references to the issues of drilling the blocks. Problems with long drill bits in production. I suspect that the different sizes may have something to due with the need to not have long bits fail in production. Just a thought...it may have nothing to do with engineering and everything to do with production issues. James
  15. If it is a 1953 block, there is a chance that it has the block that was designed for use with the fluid torque drive what shared the oil with the "new" converter. They may have made the change in the block to support that even if they did not drill the back of the block with the hole that fed out of the block. James
  16. Assuming the speed works and you are just needing to deal with the color... What I did 20 years ago... I went to a local model shop and purchased red, green and yellow transparent paint. it was from a Japanese manufacturer if I remember correctly. This stuff allows light to pass through. I purchased a very fine small brush and I painted the plastic prism just like AutoLite did when they made the speedometer. One work of caution. I painted the green too dark and the light barely comes through until I hit about 34 MPH and the yellow comes in. So, go thin on the color green and red. James
  17. They do not make anything under 17 inch...
  18. The rear cam "bearing" being the block itself is known to wear. Back in the day there were restriction devices that were sold so that oil pressure would not drop off due to that wear. They come up on ebay now and then. I would spend more time, money and effort into making sure that the diameter of the rear cam bearing was correct than worrying about the gallery size. When I do my next flathead, I plan on drilling and busing the rear cam "bearing" area so it is back to factory spec. I have wondered what that "slop" at the rear of the cam is going to the valve geometry over time. I know it is not a lot, but the pressure of the valves on the cam must cause the ass end of the cam to "wobble" a very little bit due to the clearance. I have measured a couple of blocks and some at almost at spec and some are way over. My 2 cents worth. James ******* Related: One of my blocks that had a rod failure hot the block right on the oil gallery. It did not go through, but it did take a little block out when it hit. To be paranoid, I drilled the gallery out just a little and put a sleeve in it. I did the opposite of what Loren talked about. I got a three flute bit as I was taking a very small amount off. It worked fine. I pounded in the sleeve and the block it sitting in a corner. The old automotive engineering block that was first in the 1949 Desoto that had the oil pushing into the water system is waiting for me to go looking to find out where. It is a shame as that engine ran well as has very low miles on it. Either there is a gallery problem or more likely a rust through on the floor of the water jacket above a gallery. In any event, I would pressure test both the oil gallery and the water jacket on any flathead block that I had not been running to make sure.
  19. Some 15 or more years ago, I got 2 or 3 carbs and rebuilt them. New throttle shafts and new butterfly's. Everything was done by the book. They still idled not so good. Not bad, but not great. What I discovered is that there are emulsion tubes in the passages of the BB Carb. They are behind some of those little plugs that at hammered into the housing. The problem is that the old lead gas essentially sand blasted them over the years. They tend to go to crap. The only way to fix it is to buy the tools and find the hard parts and rebuild the bare housing with new emulsion tubes. About the time I was going to do that, I ran across a NOS Carter BB for a latter dodge that used a fluid coupling with a stick. It had an adjustable dashpot on it. I put it on and it has been great for 15 years. Idles great and because it never saw any lead gas the tubes are not going to get beat to crap as the fuel flows through them. Either you have to go all in and call John at the Carburetor Shop and pay for a couple of kits and then all the hard parts and tools...plus a day or two at the bench...or...get a langdon progressive as long as one is not running a fluid coupling. James
  20. First thing is take the linkage off the one end. Then carefully loosen the butterfly screws and see if you can get a tight seal. If you can then carefully tighten them. If not then you either need to buy a new shaft and butterfly or find a better core to rebuild. James
  21. The issue with a mill is you cannot check the wheel to hole indexing unless they have an indexed spinner table attachment on the mill. On a big ass lathe, they can put a dial indicator on it and move the jaws to get it dead centered much better. When the cut is made it would be very accurate and it would take up any mis-indexing when they welded the center to the hoop. It is all able to be done on a mill, but a mill would take a very thoughtful machinist or the spinner table which I have not see on a mill in a long time. The other option is for it to be cut on the jet cutter, but again, getting it dead center is the issue. I would do it, but my lathe is way too small. James
  22. Adam, I have thought of that. It is also a PITA if you are on a cross country run with a flat. Although I do have AAA and they carry several jacks. When I went over all my books again I found references to the 1946 to 1948 Long Wheelbase cars showing the following wheels all 5 holes on a 5-1/2 inch bolt pattern: 16 by 4.5 inch 15 by 5 Inch 15 by 5.5 Inch 15 by 6 Inch These showed up in the 1946 to 1948 Desoto Mater Parts Book, the 1940 to 1954 MOPAR Master Parts Book, the Canadian 1949 Master Parts Book and the Hollander Interchange. So, all the above wheel sizes were used on this one make and model or so the documentation shows. Diamond Back makes a 16 inch tire in their new Auburn series that is a 600R16 that is 28.1 inches tall, tread width of 5 inches for the nice steering, section width of 6.4 which would help with the rear fender issues, uses a 4 to 6 inch rim and has a 1609 pound load capacity. If I used that with a 16 by 4.5 inch steel wheel that is being made by ( https://www.wheelvintiques.com/all-wheels/gennie-bare-finish.html ) with a 2.75 inch back space then I would need a 0.85 inch spacer which is not too much. Between the spacer and the 16 inch wheel it should clear the caliper. It MAY fit without the spacer. The center hole would have to be cut very carefully. I would take it to a machine shop with a lathe large enough to lathe cut the hole with the wheel rim perfectly centered. James.
  23. To get the OD in and out there is a very fussy procedure where you have to pull the cable arm out of the case a bit to get it to come or on. Do to the Imperial Website and read over all the repair booklets. James
  24. The main shaft if different between the non-OD and the OD units. You would have to gut the old unit no matter what. If it is out, just rebuild the 1953 unit with the OD and then put it in. See my long threads on the rebuilding of my units both in the last few months and around 2006. I have another on the bench that that to put together in the nest few weeks. I also posed a week or two back a spread sheet with all the bearing and seal numbers. James
  25. I may have come up with a solution. I found a company that makes custom wheel spacers. I may be able to use an existing steel wheel and use a custom spacer to deal with the backspace. The fly in the ointment may be the left hand thread. They make pug bolts to attach the spacer to the hub and the spacer has lug studs on it. The question is can I come up with left hand thread lug bolts long enough to go through the adapter and the disc brake rotors. The other fly in the ointment is will I be able to get the rear wheel off due to the fender hanging down so low. The other interesting question is on wheel width. My various books show a wheel at 15x5 for the long wheelbase cars (12 inch drums) as well as 15x5.5 and 15x6. No agreement at all. Interesting is that the early production LWB cars used 16x4.5 inch wheels. A 16x4.5 can take a DB Tire that is a 650R16. If I can find a steel wheel that size I may be able to get the rear tire off. These custom adapter's open up some possibilities. I just need to run them down. James
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