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Just want to introduce myself. I just picked up a 53 Coronet and was told this was the place to be. Always been a Ford guy, but when I saw this beauty, I just had to have her. As get into it further, I'm sure I'll have lots of questions. Thanx, Roscoe Clyde

Below here is my '38 Plymouth. I pulled off the 4 lane hi-way here in this pic, to take a break. The engine was a little warm, not hot. I was about a climb a long steep hill. I took a proactive 45 min cooling-off break. Then hit the hill. She pulled at 50 mph all the way up. No problem. Many folks overheat on this same hill. I did not. If you have driven to LA from Bakersfield, you know the type of hill I am talking about. Lots of folks overheat on that one. Imagine a 1938 Plymouth shooting past you while you are in the shoulder boiling over in your 2000 year car/truck. Lol. 4 lane hi-ways around here are pretty civilized. Speed limit is about 70 mph. Folks go 75-80 most of the time. Me at 50-55 mph, it's fine. They breeze right around me. The two lane hi-ways are the biggest concern for me. Impatient folks right up my rear. Taking chances passing, to get around me. I pull over a lot and let anyone go by me. I get out of their way as much as I can. I'd rather be on a divided higher speed hi-way than a 2 lane, undivided hi-way, anytime. 4 lane seems safer to me. We don't have LA or Dallas type car congestion on our 4 lane hi-ways. Far from it. Dallas at 3 am has more traffic than we do at 5 pm on the Friday of a long weekend. In that way, I am spoiled. My Plymouth has stock brakes, 3 speed transmission (no OD). 4,11:1 rear end. Stock size new, bias Coker tires. Stock worm gear steering. Stock driveline and suspension. Original 6V system. No seat bets. Vacuum wiper. Her biggest upgrade is a 25" long 237 ci engine. She pulls pretty dang good. Great car. I. enjoy driving her a lot. The coil spring seat does take a toll on my back after 4-5 hours of driving. Easy fix. 600 mg of Advil as needed and I'm good to go.

And some jack stands you can trust!

I paid a shop way too much to repair my rear main seal. I expected they would remove the engine. Turns out all they did was remove the oil pan, drop the rear main, and replace only the bottom half of the seal. Still leaks. Then they told me my fluid drive/ semi auto trans was a 3 on the tree, and that you have to remove the intake and exhaust to adjust the valves. I'll be doing all my own repairs from now on.

So I bought a "53" Dodge 1/2 ton S/N 82254693. So it turns out that it's a 51 B3B. I have it up on the lift at my mechanic, and I can't find too much wrong with it. Just the tranny seal and rear pinion seal. And some other minor squaks. The frame is still surprisingly solid with just surface rust. It's the original 37k mile motor, runs right with good compression and my wrench doesn't think its ever been out. We are converting the points to electronic ignition and the brakes to a dual master cylinder. I want to drive her and enjoy her. Home Depot and Lowes shopping trips are doing to be fun! The only body issue is the bottom of both doors are shot. I'm thinking of the best way to take care of that. I may have some donor door available on eBay. The bed wood has to be redone (ez peasy). Otherwise just a lousy paint job and since minor dings. I'm trying to decide if I should take the rear end and front off this winter and really clean everything up and nip the rust in the bud now. Question, how heavy is the cab? My garage space is tight will be interesting to get it up and off the frame. Not sure on the paint, as to how old it is. From what I see this is not an original color from what I can find in the literature. Any advice or tips will always be welcome. Anyway I wanted to introduce myself and I appreciate all the valuable resources you have all posted here. I've been restoring/returning old motorcycles back to life and this my first car. I'm quite excited to have some fun, make mistakes, and learn.

I suggest you get a copy of the parts manual for your car, it will show all that.

Just something to think about, I have no idea why the bolt broke in the first place. If possibly do to age, stress, weather conditions ..... might be a good time to replace all the bolts with new ones.

The best advice I can give is from experience. The tree branch is never as strong as you think it is and the kid's swing set will not hold. Thanx, Roscoe Clyde

I am pig sick over this. I was really hoping to have Daisy running this weekend she's been 7 months up on blocks. Thanks, Keith and plymouthcranbrook. I did say to my wife tonight I know the right thing to do is repair it. Thanks for pushing me to do the right thing

Drat. I’d be pulling the flywheel again. There is a lot of force on the pressure plate. I’d want it balanced right. Especially after all the work you have done to fix your transmission. I’d also also be networking like to mad to try and find a home hobby type person with the tools to get it out. Friends with hobby machine shops are very dear friends to have! Are the threads of the bolt extruding above the flywheel flat surface? Or did bolt break off down in the hole? Extruded threads are a bit easier to deal with in my experience. You thread on a nut ,at least partially then them fill up the nut with weld matrix. Stick weld has worked for me. Allow to cool. Then simply turn the mess out. The heat from the weld does amazing things to a seized bolt too. Comes out like butter after the bolt is red hot. A recessed hole a bit trickier. A drill press may be ideal but not necessarily required. Drill out a hole in the bolt. Reverse drill bits work well. Or insert an e-z out extractor and twist out. Like they say, “a 20 minute repair becomes a 2 day project after 1 broken bolt”. ?

I cannot really say but to me in a situation like a clutch where a spring pressure is spread over the whole flywheel I would be concerned that you might not get a full release when depressing the clutch. It also might wear unevenly. Others may have more knowledge but that is my opinion.

I wonder if just installing the pump and running the engine would be less time and hassle than figuring out how to bench test it........... ?

Thanks for the warm welcome. A little information about the car... Red Ram Hemi Gyro-Matic 58K original miles She was repainted around 1979 or 1980. Been off the road for about 7 years. Check out some of the interior pics Thanx, Roscoe Clyde

Hold your finger over the inlet port and operate the lever. If it pulls a vacuum on your finger it should pump fuel.

Your best bet is to buy a Baldwin JC405 filter and it will come with the gasket you need. The Baldwin filters fit the housings much better than Wix filters.

additional information - parts manual

I set up a jig for my bike and cut the frame today. Tomorrow I weld. Tonight I have to make the parts, first. Otherwise I have nothing to weld. I had to cover up part of this because the jig is attached to my stock rack and it is extremely confusing to look at. Here you can see the bicycle is bolted to the jig upside down. I have some telescoping tubes as leverage to bend the frame. I have dropped it about 1.5” there. I kept going until I dropped it 2.5”. In the next photograph you can see that I strung the jig out with monofilament, so I had site lines to keep everything straight as I was bending. On the tail end, the lines spread apart to this frame which is centered on the jig. On the head end, the lines come to this bolt. I did not have any machined cones to center the head stock in the jig, but I found a couple of large aircraft locknuts that fit in exactly right. The frame is clamped down at the seat post. I stabilized the whole assembly by bolting the crank arms to this stanchion. It was all rocksolid and stable and the bending went very easy because I had plenty of leverage.

You are going to buy plasti-gauge. 1-4 thou or so size. You pull off a cap. Wipe oil off cap and crank journal. Place a 1" or so piece of plasti-gauge. Reinstall cap, and torque to proper specs. Then again remove cap. Measure width of plastigauge. This is how you test oil clearances, and taper wear. The plasti-gauge will be fatter at one end than the other, if the wear is tapered. You need to do this, one cap at a time, for all con-rod caps and main caps. This will tell you exactly what is going on in the bottom end. Do not take off all caps at the same time. Mark them so they go back on the exact same way they came off. If you have a knock, very good chance you will visually see the disaster unfolding, without needing plastigauge. Best practice is to measure them all though. Definitely report back with your findings!

The red on is a old Western Flyer and the black one is just something I put together with a bunch of my spare parts. Roscoe Clyde

I drive old cars almost exclusively. My daily, for the last 32 years, has been a 1970 F100, 300, 3 on-the-tree. Before that it was a 63 Falcon. My fair bride drove a 65 Mustang for like 10 years. Once I get it running good, my new daily will be a 53 Coronet. Nothing against newer cars, but I just don't have fun driving them. Too quiet, too easy.

So here is an update to the above post. Last Thursday I headed out to complete an 1100 mile round trip in my 46 in 4 days. Not fast driving just long stints behind the wheel. First I have to say the car ran exceptionally well. Thursday was very hot, 31 C or 87 F, and my temp gauge went from the 160 standard to 175 but never climbed higher. I do not have the speedometer synchronized to the smaller wheels she came with but my calculations were that 65 to 70 on the speedometer gave me 55 miles per on the road. About 1/2 the trip was 4 lane divided highway and the rest was two lane undivided. Maximum speeds went from 100 to 110 KMH (60 to 70 MPH) Like mentioned above "head on a swivel and no distractions." Having never taken a long trip before preparation was key and from there it was sticking to the plan. The hardest part was in the bigger centers where signage wasn't always the best or only provided short notice. Regular stops along the way and a couple extra ones to check on folks who had broken down. Will I do another big trip like that again, probably. Will I do it alone again, probably not. Also a big Shout Out to Saskwatch who spent a few hours on the road himself to come down and see my car when I was driving in his neck of the woods. Good luck with your project! The best art of the whole trip for me was some new possibilities like those below. Safe driving everyone.

also, She will shift straight to second now. I am thinking it just needed to be worked a bit after an extended period of disuse.

I’m out on a Sunday morning drive in my Plymouth today. Again looking for possible photo ops with period correct backdrops. Lately I’ve been reading the Grapes Of Wrath for the first time. Although it takes place before my ‘38 car was built, I feel I have more appreciation for travel in the 1930’s. People were tough. Cars also tough. Times were yet tougher. A great period of car evolution was in full swing. By contrast, today we watching a massive change in transportation. Perhaps the most complex automobile evolution since it’s inception. Electric vehicles. Momentum is growing. The change is in full swing. As the decades pass, the early days seem more attractive to me. I am fortunate to be able to relive them in my own limited ways with my 1938 Mopars. Perhaps yet an earlier period car is in my future….Maybe some day. Odometer 683 miles.

We have been using our 1947 Desoto as a daily driver since 2003. Now here in SF we only do about 3000 miles a year. We do not have any belts in it. Over the last few years however the number of close calls seems to have increased. Particularly on the freeways. When I start to go through the car next year, I plan on adding belts. The law in California is such that if yo install them you have to use them. I plan on using some steel plates welded to the underside of the body. A few holes with in and out spot type welds. Then 4 bolts in addition. This spreads out any forces to a larger area than a large washer. As to three point...the Desoto Suburban has a quite large post between the doors. I will weld in a plate with the appropriate threaded nut for a three way belt. One thing is the seats. They suck as far as the 1940's frame goes. They can hop out. The adjusters are just a bad design. In fact I have had to bailing wire the adjusters down to they will not move. I am thinking of using some turnbuckles with solid rods to set the front seat adjustment and remove the side handle making it more of longer term adjustment mechanism rather than a on demand one. I have no problem with people deciding to not use belts or riding a motorcycle without a helmet. As long as THEY are paying for medical insurance and long term care insurance so that the taxpayer is not on the hook for that decision. James

Just ask Gary Busey how well that worked out. Been riding, on and off, for 41 years. On a motorcycle it's not if but rather when you dump it. Oddly enough, my son and I were discussing that very thing yesterday, I also told him that when you are riding a bike drive like everyone is deliberately trying to kill you, because they are. Bikes have three advantages over a car and safety is not one of them. You can out accelerate them, you can out handle them and you can out stop them, that last one is dubious most of the time because a stopped bike is an easy target. Use the first two to not be where the car is aiming. So yeah, I wear a helmet, a thick leather jacket, steel toed boots and leather gloves, even in 100+ degree weather, because I have dumped it and I have shredded flesh.

I went and tried to order several of them on eBay. They would take the order then an hour or two later I would get an email saying that the unit was back ordered and they refunded the sale. Some 90% of the people selling om eBay and Amazon are just fronts. They have zero inventory. They just take the order and have the items drop shipped and taker a cut. The problem is that these same 90% of vendors do not use real time inventory from their suppliers so until they process the order they do not know if the units is really available. A buddy of mine found a place in the SF Bay Area that actually had a couple in stock, albeit at $75 each. The lesson of this particular episode is do not believe what you see until something is actually shipped or you actually talk with a supplier and they have the part in their hand while talking to you. The internet lies....

I LOVE driving my old car. My Subaru is like driving a sensory deprivation chamber with a TV screen. No road feel, No feed back from the steering wheel, the shifter, The brakes, the clutch, the seat. I get in my old Plymouth and she speaks to me. I know what the tires are doing, I know what the breaks are doing, I can feel the clutch engaging. Even at 35mph I prefer my Plymouth. TO ME, its like walking through a forest in your bare feet. I think growing up with cars that actually had road feel, For me its just returning to the norm after a long absence. I would guess that people who have only driven newer cars dont understand the feed back and vibrations of older Mechanical systems, so feel out of sorts. But that is just MY OPINION.

Gosh this thread makes me happy! I love it when guys geek out on these trucks. Good job JB! Stay tuned for your new challenge ?

Good info Brian. I thought that Sept. '48 magazine ad was showing a metal cased filter cartridge for the JC filter, which really piqued my interest. But after reading through it I believe they were advertising replacement filter cartridges for other manufacturer's filters that would match the quality filtration of the Deluxe filter. That ad would also lead me to believe that Baldwin purchased Deluxe and continued to market them under the Deluxe name for a while.

Thanks so much for your extensive and excellent research on these different oil filters and decals that are used on our Dodge trucks. Most just quickly clean the filter housing ..paint them and on it goes. I learned a lot on these filters. Thank you for this excellent informative post!

So I finally had a little time to perform a couple of tests to see what is going on with the car. From the previous posts you'll know that I was having trouble with the car only going 42 mph as a top speed and that the car wouldn't start with the tranny circuit hooked up to the coil. That lead to questions, such as, is the tranny in high range, is the speedometer acurate, Is the wiring hooked up right, so on and so forth. The first thing I did was a little rewiring. I wanted to rule any of that out as a potential problem. I had already run all new wires for the tranny and the carburetor, so next I ran new wires from the generator to the regulator and from the horn relay to the coil. In doing so I did away with the resistor that someone added to the power lead to the coil. So I am now getting the full 6 volts to the coil and to the tranny circuit. Next I pulled the distributor cap and rotor. I wanted to check the spring tension on the breaker points. I kept thinking that just maybe there wasn't enough tension and at the higher rpm's that they were not making good contact. So I pulled the points, cleaned up an old set I had with more spring tension, and put those in the distibutor. Gapped the points and put it all back together. Turns out it was the breaker points that was the cause of the car not going faster than the 42 mph. Now the car starts right up like it should. So my next step was a test drive. In this test drive I wanted to check the high range on the tranny to make sure it was up-shifting and down shifting like it is supposed to do, I wanted to check the speedomter against my hand held gps, and to see if the car would go faster than the 42mph I had been going. I started out in high range, got to around 15 mph, let off the gas pedal, and it up-shifted. All is good so far. As I was driving I was checking the speedometer against the gps. I am happy to say that the speed was checking out to be right. I kept speeding up and got to 42 mph and pushed it past to almost 55mph before I ran out of straight away and had to slow down. Yeah! So far so good. Next was to check the kick down. It down shifted like it is supposed to. So that's the update on the car. Slowly but surely I'm getting the bugs worked out of it. Hopefully it will not be to much longer and I'll have the car on the road as a daily driver. Thank you to all who posted in helping me get this problem taken care of.