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Background: when I first brought my '49 back to life (wow, almost 2 years ago!) I found it would barely move. It took quite a bit of hydraulic fluid to get the Fluid Drive up to the fill line; okay, I hoped, maybe just a real slow leak (after all, the car had sat for nearly 20 years.) Well, gradually I was finding it required topping off more and more often. I could feel the slippage, and see the puddles. Strangers would stop me and parking lots and point out the fluid running out from underneath Earlier this year I ran to get pizza and could tell it was due for its now weekly (!) top-off. Well, I did something I knew I should never do: dropped the fill-plug down inside the housing. I crawled underneath, knowing the challenge I'd have getting it out...and that's when I realized that the quart of fluid I'd just poured in was running out just as fast. Ugh. It was time for action. I'd said, when it arrived at my house the first time, that it wouldn't leave on a rollback...that I'd drive it away. I did make an exception on getting it to my friend's garage. (I tried running it around the block with a homemade fill plug, but it was none too happy.) I'm blessed to have a mechanic I can con into doing these type of things, but I knew his limits would be getting the Fluid Drive out and then reinstalling it. He did ask around, to see if he could find someone with the tools/experience to reseal a unit, but without success. I knew that Bernbaum and at least one other vendor are advertising resealing at a cost of $1250+shipping (or more.) Could the old cheapskate here get by for less? I put some ads out hoping to come up with a recently resealed unit that someone might have but all I found were a couple used assemblies. I'd hate to go through all this trouble only to find a problem with the replacement. One thing my string of ads did was bring a message from a guy letting me know his boss might be able to help. And, he was right. The place is called Gaslite Garage in Holbrook, NY. I gave them a call and the shop owner let me know that he had resealed several of these, and I could tell he was familiar with them (including the variations in seals over the years.) I forgave him for insisting on calling it a torque converter! I shipped the unit to him and turnaround was perhaps 2-1/2 weeks, in line with the other vendors. Now, Bernbaum says they will convert older units (like mine) to the newer (and preferred seals) but Gaslite felt sticking with the original type was proper. He let me know that someone, in the past (probably the 90s) had fiddled with it before, trying to seal up the leak with some sort of silicone. Among other things he found that the "accordion" seal was cracked. After he had it together he filled with fluid and let it sit at least overnight to check for leaks, then drained it and shipped it to my mechanic. My bill for what Gaslite did was around $850, which included the return shipping. When I first filled the unit the year before last I decided to buy a 5 gallon pail of AW32 hydraulic fluid rather than special ordering the Mobil Light Circulating Oil. Since I was down to 1-1/2 gallons of the other stuff (what, you didn't believe me when I said it leaked a lot???) I broke down and ordered the good stuff. The results? So far, so good! I've had the car back maybe 2 weeks and have probably driven it close to 200 miles so far. Monday I had to take the dog to a specialist almost 90 minutes away. Of course, I took the Chrysler, and it performed great. The mechanic wasn't sure if he topped it off right, as he chose to fill it off the car. I told him to imagine about the 2-o'clock position. He took it for a test drive and mentioned a slipping; it did the same thing to me once or twice on hard acceleration but it didn't feel like the drive, but the clutch. That was replaced last year (of course, I should have done the drive at that time.) It feels like that did; pretty sure all that some of all that oil found its way where I didn't want it. It hasn't acted up in the last 100-150 miles, so maybe it just needed to "burn off". Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience, and offer my recommendation to Gaslite, 631-738-7712.

due to global warming these unit are just now being discovered as the snow and ice melts....? maybe not that bad but if you own a snow shovel, way too north for me....

This is a perfect example of something that well written and topic specific enough that it should be recast in its own thread with a searchable title. Thank you for putting this out here

I know alot of MoPar car owners are always asking what sparkplugs can they use in their flathead engines. These newer plugs can be found at your local WalMart store back in the section around the airfilters. The plug number is 295. They sell them for $1.97 here is PA. I have seen these same sparkplugs listed on Ebay and other site and they are asking alot more that the $2.00 price at walMart. These are a replacement for the Champion J8C plugs that were also used on our flathead 6 cylinder cars and truck. A friend of mine runs these in his 1939 Desoto and has had no problems with these plugs. The only difference that we seen is the the metal base of the plug is chrome and they original Autolite A9/A7 plugs were black. So if you have a driver you can purchase all six plugs for under $12 plus local state taxes. I have these as spares in my tool box in my 39 Desoto. Just passing along this information as an FYI. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com

I put my fuse panel under dash, above the drivers side kick panel. Anywhere near the gauge cluster is good. Put the power runs that come off the ammeter through a fuse, then to the loads. The headlights are the only things that go through a breaker. Fuse the dome light, tail lights, park lights, lighter and anything else you want. The horn and radio should have there own fuses already. I added power wipers, so it is nice to have a few extra slots.

Just use a wire brush to clean the plugs.

That would be the AMT 1/25th kit.....I've been building models since the early 60's...........scratch build a rear seat & paint the interior grey & you can build the Auxillary Seat Coupe that I had...you'll have pretend its RHD......lol............couple of hints & tips.......the kit headlights are too thick, try & thin them down a little...also the area between the chrome grille bars is actually a sheet metal stamped piece & is normally body colour so paint the area between the kit grille bars body colour, also cut the kit metal front axle down to about 3/8th in length & superglue it to the kit stub axle.....BTW..heres a pic of my Tower of Empty Model Kit Boxes.....over 100 kits built since march 2020, its an old pic as theres now 5 columns....lol.........regards, Andyd

I got the bed installed. Body is finally done. Just need to complete wiring the lights, turn signals and wipers.

The mfg date would be located on the build card, which a copy would need to be requested from the Chrysler Historical Society. I have several build cards waiting to be deciphered by Kevin Clause, but I didn't get them to him until right before covid hit, and since then he has been über busy. The mfg date should be easy to find on the build card tho... additional information - build cards

A HUGE bonus for you is that you have nearly all the interior and exterior trim. That will save you a ton of time and $$$'s. I see Luke has his bottle of MMO close by so he should be able to fix about anything he finds. ?

We are on the same page. I did the same with my ‘38 Plymouth sedan. Solid reliable driver. Yet it looks like it just came from the farm. Seems the general public loves it as-is. They are surprised to hear when I have taken it on a 6 hour hi-way trip over the mountains here. Rock solid. With parts and labor prices where they are, and no relief in sight, more people are choosing the path you and I are taking. Upholstery Paint and bodywork are a luxury.

Just a little update on the 6 volt alternator install. I would highly recommend it to anybody whether you have a generator that still works or need to replace it. All the lights and everything just works so much better on the car. I took it on its longest drive today since I did the install and drove probably 45 minutes and this is weird for me to say but I swear the car just runs better. It seems like it idles better has better power and it's smoother I don't know if it could have something to do with maybe a better spark or what. I know it definitely starts faster. I think this is easily the best thing I have ever done to the car.