Leaderboard

This 3rd of September, we took the Plymouth again for 2 weeks in Italy. I had put a new alternator this spring to replace a shot generator, but it but unfortunately failed in August too. So I had to put a working spare generator which was on hand. Usually, I carry all my spare parts behind the spare wheel, but now I had no time to repair the shot one. We don´t have the autotrain/ sleeping car choice anymore, in Germany they cancelled the whole service! Because of this, we planned to drive the whole trip by car and to stay overnight on both ways. First trip was 400 mls to beautiful Neuschwanstein (castle looms over the hood!). Next morning we continued through Austria 225 mls to Lake Garda/ Italy. We we met traffic jam everywhere. The worse was on the Autobahn incline from Innsbruck up to Brennero in full summer heat. After 1 1/2 hour of stop and go the poor Plymouth´s cluch began to overheat- which forced me to take the next available exit to ÖAMTC (= austrian AAA) grounds. There, I let the car cool down and asked for a connection off the Autobahn to continue on the old Brenner country road. There was none, they told me. Downhill back to Innsbruck to the next exit was the same jam. In the meantime, however, my wife had found an alternative on her cell phone. But stupidly this earth and gravel path seemed only to lead to a quarry and was forbidden for cars. We took it anyway, trusting the cell phone, hoping to reach the old Brenner road. At the Brenner- railroad site we met a group of workers and asked if we would be able to continue. They did not recommend because of a very heavy grade down and a disastrous condition of the road. I dared and made it, but it was extremely steep and the passage under the railroad line absolutely tight. My brave wife had turned quite pale and was happy when we reached our hotel in Gargnano! We had 2 beautiful problemless weeks making 700 mls visiting Brescia, Torino and a lot of small Piemonte towns. (RR crossing near Acqui Terme) (our stylish Samsonites in a stylish Hotel!) (Agliano -Villa Fontana: Piemonte is vine, truffles and hazelnuts!) (near Agliano Terme) Then, we started to the return trip to have 2 nights at Freiburg. At the Milan tollgate again we suffered 1 ½ hour of stop and go in full heat. Now I noticed that the battery was no longer being charged. I changed the voltage regulator - but obviously it was not the culprit. Well, and as I had mentioned before, this time I didn´t have a spare generator on board! Nevertheless, we tried to reach Freiburg, still 250 mls away. We only used parking lights in the numerous tunnels in Switzerland (all one way only and speed restricted) and used as little electricity as possible except for the ignition. Above all, the generator developed an ugly bearing noise. For the last 30 mls in darkness lo beam lights were needed. With 6,6 V at Milan, voltage dropped to 5,9 V when arriving at the Hotel´s garage in Freiburg. That drive was no pleasure! The next morning the ADAC (= german AAA) picked up the car - I would have risked a day drive 300 mls to Düssseldorf with freshly (Hotel-) charged battery, but I did not want to experience the generator bearing´s falilure! We had a beautiful day in Freiburg. The next day, I got a free rental car for the trip home from the ADAC. As I had no hurry they brought The Plymouth to my mechanic in Essen 4 weeks later. In the meantime, I had repaired the other gererator and he could exchange them. Now, the car is ok in his own garage. My wife don´t want to go next summer to hot Italy in Plymouth! Maybe we go to my sister in colder and traffic jam free Helsingborg/ Sweden! Greetings from Düsseldorf! Go (red: travel 2022. The dots are our older Plymouth holidays). Places visited: Düsseldorf: yellow dot red: travel 2022. The dots are our older Plymouth holidays 1 Neuschwanstein 2 Brennero 3 Gargnano 4 Brescia 5 Agliano Terme 6 Nizza Monferrato 7 Acqui Terme 8 Alba 9 Asti 10 Torino 11 Bra 16 Freiburg

Guess that means it's been too long since I posted Dad's.

When my DeSoto hasn't started since 1980, you bet I'm going to video it and put it on Youtube.

Update. I knocked the dowel pins in on the advice of three above members’ posts. Success! Thanks for the help! The dowel pins can easily be knocked out of the bellhousing now that there is no flywheel interference.

Last Sunday was the 45th annual Chicago Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade. It was also the first time for me riding it. I'm not a guy for group rides but I had a great time and I'm already looking forward to the 46th. It was a 55 mile ride for me to get to the start at the Dan Ryan Woods FP at 83rd and Western. It was also 17F when I left home. Glad I have heated grips and winter riding gear. There were thousands of motorcycles participating. And just a few Urals. The route ran north on Western Ave to Lane Tech High School on Belmont, about 15 miles, and took nearly an hour to cover. A surprising number of people lined the route to watch and wave to the riders. I had some faith in humanity restored as I was stopped, waiting to turn into the Lane Tech parking lot. A young guy and his little boy came up to my rig and placed an arm load of toys on the sidecar as a donation. The ride home was 60 miles and was a tad warmer. I'm glad my buddy talked me into it.

I just bought a b2d in pretty good shape but she needs new tires all around to get her home. I only have 4 rims on the dually ... lord knows where the other 2 are but I won't be getting them with the truck. I took the tires to a local tire shop. They told me to get tubes and flaps and they'd sell me tires and install them. I got everything there and they tried to put on some new 265/75/16s on (there were 285/75/16s on them) but they ended up being too wide in the middle (from what I can tell) so they decided they don't want to work on them after many failed attempts. They did get the lock rings and the old tires off so that was probably the worst of it anyway right? So now I'm calling around and everyone is giving me the run-around. I need to get the truck off the guy's property asap. I have a lot of mechanical experience and even worked a tire machine 8 hours a day at a junkyard 30 years ago ago but I've never worked on rims like this before. I've read about people on here are doing it themselves and I've seen a couple youtube vids and it looks doable with a clip on chuck and some chains. So here's my questions ... I'd really appreciate any insights. 1. I only have 4 rims. Will I be able to easily find another 2 matching dually rims for a decent price? If I can't I was thinking I might try to just change them all out and dodge the locking rim problem all together. 2. Are there readily available steel rims that look somewhat like the originals ... like off a newer old dodge 1 ton or something. The pattern appears to be 6 on 7" (or 7.5" maybe?) and the center hole is huge so I'm not too optimistic about this but I thought I'd ask. 3. Is this something I can tackle myself. I can get some 7x16 tires ( I was looking at these https://simpletire.com/brands/deestone-tires/d506#v=1&tireSize=7.00-null-16&mpn=ds1262 ) and slap in the tubes and flaps, chain 'em up or take them to my brother-in-law's (who has a cage), install the rings, and see what happens but I don't want to take up an bunch of time and money and end up having to take them to someone anyway. I know the risks and I'd take all the precautions (my father-in-law has 1/2 a thumb because of a tire accident). Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice or expertise you can throw my way. Looking forward to getting the old girl to her new home.

Maybe it's a Canadian car. Chrysler would put a Dodge nose on a Plymouth body and call it a Dodge. People refer to them as a 'Plodge'. The Vehicle Number can pin this down.

I think Bob summed it up for us. To the best of my knowledge there is no kit. The parts book usually will tell you that info so you can make a list and build your own kit. Or fo what I do, just buy a nut and bolt assortment kit and use what you need.

I dunno about the thermostat, the one I was running is just a modern parts store piece. There are two temperature switches in that spacer below my thermostat housing. I am running a two speed electric fan and one switch is set to go on at 185 off at 175, the other at 195 off at 185. I plan on adding AC in as well and the stock mechanical fan isn't going to cut it in west Texas in the summer.

Fenders, core support, bumpers, inner fenders, etc. Does anybody sell a kit, we buy them for other cars all the time

For whatever it is worth.....direct quote from the service manual: "If the pressure plate is scored or warped, it should be replaced." That is a very ugly pressure plate......

Use a mopar V8 1970's thermostat that fits the housing. I like the robertshaw style stats, much more reliable opening temperature and also a larger opening vs the big box cheapo stats. Your choice !

Correct, but (I dont think) its not the entire story. The floor has been heating up since I got the car, At first I thought it was the rear diff. once I got her up on a lift after a 10 or so mile jaunt and the diff was cool to the touch. The underhood temperature also is well above normal, mainly in the area of the exhaust manifold. For whatever reason the exhaust system is heating up more than is proper. That combined with the misplaced muffler and junk floating around the floor pan measured up to near disaster. I suspect some clever rodant made themselves a stash in the muffler, or something like. I plan on cutting the muffler apart to see what is what. But currently the temp is hovering near freezing and my limbs dont circulate the heating fluid as well as they used to(need to see if I can dig up the warrenty papers).

I've heard about that ride, but never got up the courage to ride down there for it.

Dad was on an Army freight ship in the Pacific ( FS259 ) and it had a Bofors on the stern. For fun they’d take a big Oxygen bottle and drop it from the bow when they were underway. It would go way down and come shooting back up out of the water behind the ship. They’d shoot at it with the Bofors usually hitting it with a violent “Clang” with bright sparks sending it tumbling end over end. That gun takes at least three people to shoot it. One for up and down another for right to left and a loader. My Dad and a German Immigrant Sargent were the best team on that gun. Only once did they man it in defense. A “Betty” bomber spotted them made a turn and lined up on them bomb bay doors open. Just as it got in range it pealed off and closed the bomb bay. They figured the ship was too small to waste bomb on…. When the war ended the Navy came and removed the Bofors. I figured somebody in the government must have known the mischief they could get into with that gun. lol The last ship he sailed on was the FS344 for one trip San Francisco to New Orleans just after the war. Much later It was transferred to the Navy and became notorious as the USS Pueblo, a victim of North Korean piracy.

All mocked up and fitted.

Tires came yesterday and I got 'em on in less time than I spent looking for someone to do it LOL ... about 45 min. Got some talcum powder and a jug of RuGlyde from napa and had zero problems. I don't understand all the resistance I ran into and honestly, I'm kinda wishing all my wheels were like this so I could work on them myself. That being said, I didn't make it out unscathed. I scratched my thumb with another fingernail while stuffing in a tube so maybe all the warnings about the dangers were warranted LOL. Anyway, thanks for the help everyone. Time to get 'em on and get the old girl home for some electrical work.

I use a pair of "duck bill" pilers to straighten and pre-load the teeth on the wheel covers. They seem to loose their "bite" on the wheels over time. I do it to keep them on more than stop the walk.

Not hard to find at all. https://www.oldmoparts.com/parts/e_wheels/chrome-valve-stem-cover/

Shown...The MoPar wheel cover anti-rotation cups...two sizes were available.. They are pretty rare to find.

I use the Milton 476 valve stem(from local auto parts store)with the chrome valve stem cover (W129) from Andy Bernbaum.

I had four lock ring wheels sand blasted. I washed any residue off and brush primed and painted them satin black. I like to use 7.50R16LT tires, they are taller than 215/85R16’s. I use tubes with a TR150 valve stem that you bend after putting the tires on. I like to keep the wheel dry so I wipe the bead and wheel with rubber lubricant. I got four 8.5x17.5” wheels that could be assembled tubeless, but I would need to buy tires and they would still be a shorter height. I’m going to wipe the tubes with corn starch when I assemble them. I had a flat this summer on another truck and the tire dismounted easily and the wheel was still clean. There was a short piece of cellophane type tape inside the tire that rubbed a pinhole in the tube, another reason to use corn starch or talc. Rick D.

You are not neccesarily missing 2 wheels. One ton trucks didn't ALWAYS have dual wheels, the axle is just set up that way (see below). As for finding a new rim for them...good luck. I never did find a good alternative that wasn't insane. And yes, a good COMMERCIAL truck tire place should have no problem with your rims if they aren't idiots about what they really are. Just know most of the younger kids have no real clue about older tires and will opt for the "widow maker" call.