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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/30/2020 in all areas

  1. as dodgeb4a stated put your floor jack under the bottom of the differential. Block the front wheels Jack up the car slowly to the desired height off the ground. But you jackstands near the end of the axle at both the same height adjustment. Then lower the car slowly to rest on the jack stands. BUT REMEMBER that if you are crawly under the car that it is up on two or four points to hold up a 3000 lb car. You have to be safety cons enounces at all times. Also if you are going to be working under the car have your cell phone handy incase you need to make an emergency call and or have someone in your house that you can call if you need help do not do the work by yourself. I had a friend that had a 36 Desoto airflow up on a bottle jack to work on his front brake and his foot hit the jack and the car came down on his arm and he had some serious injuries. JUST BE CAREFUL. If the work can not be done with only a few inches off the ground then take it to an auto shop to get the work done. If you get injured the cost of the hospital stay is much more than the mechanics charge to work on your car. Rich HArtung Desoto1939@aol.com
    3 points
  2. Here's another couple pics from yesterday, for my supporters. I do feel blessed and very fortunate:
    2 points
  3. Well the truck seems to like the new high volume/pressure fuel pump. I re-flashed the last solid tune to the ECU and it probably has some learning to do before I can lock down the learn table and limit closed loop fuel adjustment based on the O2 sensor. It was also another crappy rainy day so that affects traction and visibility. Hopefully more joyrides soon. But things are looking up.
    2 points
  4. The shorter one ended up pulling through on the first set of holes around #2/#3 cylinders, used it as a template and cut the longer one at about 26" overall. Was able to get a solid hook on the holes back around #4/#5. We got some small movement with the 2# slide hammer, then called in a favor to brother in-law and borrowed his 13# slide. Saved both tools for future though.
    2 points
  5. I really don't like jack stands but find them necessary. Here are the wood stands I use when there is going to be a lot of tugging and yanking...I trust these:
    2 points
  6. Couldn't wait any longer to put the seat back in a try a test drive. I invited Momma to jump in and enjoy her efforts. (She reupholstered the seat).It was very comfy. It was good to see her smile. Heat blowing on her feet, sitting in comfort for the big drive around the block. ? Part of me is surprised how far the car has come since I bought it. The members on this forum have been very helpful. Thanks for all your assistance so far. I'm far from done but the rewards are stating to show up now. If anyone has a glove box latch they'd part with let me know! The duct tape is just not doing it for me.
    2 points
  7. Today I tried the blower motor and heater core system. I works! I wired it up to read with the ammeter draw. Simple 10A on/off toggle switch for now. That was all I had in my parts stash. So I get hi fan speed or off only. I’ll look into variable resistor options so I can control fan speed. “Heat is a wonderful thing in the shoulder seasons”. - Said Momma.
    2 points
  8. YAHTZEE! Got the booger out today, 5-6 hits with a 13# slide hammer but it's out and mounted to the wall as a trophy! Thanks for the insight, now to talk with machine shop tomorrow about trading my labor for shop labor while i'm on admin leave from work. Thanks again!!! WE GOT OVER A HURDLE!!!!!! Yes, I saved the original head gasket as a reminder.......... it's unique. Thanks again. Eric
    2 points
  9. If you have a 4 speed, casting number C88221, here are a couple of parts I have found. Gasket set from Big Mikes Motor Pool - Order the set for a M37. Rear oil seal from Napa - Part number 21210. Hope this information helps. Here is a picture of my reassembled and painted transmission.
    1 point
  10. Someone way smarter than me informed me: First off: 1st gear and 3rd gear, are the same two gear ratios. The same two gears are meshed when in either 1st or 3rd. Additionally 2nd and 4th gears are the same gear set that are meshed. Same gear ratio when you are in 2nd or 4th. What you are really doing when going from low range to hi range, is changing the final gear ratio of the output shaft of the tranny. "Drive" on the shift console could also be called "hi range". Ok, so lets you start in 1st (or 3rd gear) in low range. You lift your foot and shift to 2nd gear, in low range. Now lets assume you clutch in and shift the console to drive (high range). The tranny stays in 2nd (which is also 4th) gear. All you did when you shifted into hi range was change the final gear ratio of the output shaft. So you cannot actually go up through all 4 possible gear rations from 1 thru 4. The tranny upshift goes, 1st, 2nd, 4th. It was designed this way. The only way to get into 3rd is either slam the throttle down when in hi range, and it will down shift into 3rd. Or, you are in hi range 4th gear ratio, and you coast to a stop. Then the tranny down shifts into 3rd. This can be confusing. It is weird to understand unless you understand the way this tranny works. Maybe another way to look at it is: There are only 2 gear sets on the input side of the tranny. Then you have a final drive hi-low gear option on the output end of the tranny. Your down shift problems are not really solved here, however it does explain why 3rd is skipped on the upshift. This is just a 2 speed tranny with hi/low range options. Many a man has scratched his head over it. Many will poke fun at it, however it’s genius. Those who don’t understand may ridicule it. The people who figured this out and designed it were really smart!
    1 point
  11. Thanks guys. I enjoy your feedback, and also enjoy sharing my progress. It is exciting as my project moves ahead. It is nice to know there are folks around here that really "Get" these old cars. I can commiserate with you all about the topic. Most friends, and family in my life sorta hover over the car. They think it's neat and want to go for a ride. They all sorta glaze over when I start talking mentioning the diff or carb work that I completed. I know I've gone too far when I start comparing the inner workings of my M-6 semi auto tranny in my '53, versus my 3 speed with cluster gear, countershaft tranny in my '38. Yet here, we can talk about it and you understand. We share a common language here. We're vintage car outcasts sort of. The weird guys who cling to the old, less popular Mopars. The cab in the '38 is cozy. Momma and I fit in there nicely. It sure would have been fun if we were teenagers, borrowing Dad's car in 1940! I am planning to install a custom radio. I found an old large box style AM tube radio that was period correct. Art-Deco appearance. About 1940. I gutted it. I ordered a Blue-Tooth circuit board with built in amp. It will run off 6V. My goal is to install 2 speakers, and the circuit board in the old radio box. All we do is jump in the car, the iphone automatically synchs up wirelessly to the radio box and plays all our favourite songs. That's the plan. We shall see. I will post photos and share that project when I get to it.
    1 point
  12. A saying I picked up from a previous co-worker... "If at first you don't succeed, a bigger hammer is what you need." ?
    1 point
  13. That longer blade puller looks pretty good. i like the way you tapered it down. Now with luck you'll never need it again
    1 point
  14. Always interesting to see how much smaller folks were in 1938...... I'm envious of your car!
    1 point
  15. You have made great progress and are starting to enjoy the results of your labours. I enjoy your posts and seeing your progress.
    1 point
  16. or use of a power bleeder
    1 point
  17. but expansion alone doesn't explain your problem. Water only expands about 4% when heated from ambient to boiling. So about 5 oz per gallon, far less than you are seeing expelled. Leaves steam as the cause. Bypasses allow the water to circulate preventing the hot areas, exhaust passages, exhaust valve seats etc, from vaporizing. Drilling small holes in the perimeter of the thermostat is a common fix for poor circulation when closed and trapped air when filling. A couple of 1/8" holes will assure that air an leave the intake area. A jack under the front to make sure that the air can move up and out is good too. Newer cars often have bleed ports for that purpose. You can leave the cap off with the water level over the core and watch the water for circulation and the presence of bubbles. Movement good, bubbles indicate gasket leakage.
    1 point
  18. In preparation of pulling the engine, we started to clean the engine and clutch. Amazing how much fluids and dirt was stuck to everything.
    1 point
  19. Metal was drilled (pun) into me growing up as my father was a machinist for Diamond Chain. They made everything metal including chains for Caterpillars down to chains for wrist watches. Having a Bridgeport lathe, mill and other various tools at home meant we didn't usually need to buy something, but rather make it. I was Navy (69-91) also and did maintenance on crypto/computer equipment. A far cry for metal fab but I liked it. Retired in 91 and thanks to my husband, a real muscle car nut, we worked on and build many vehicles. Mostly street and strip machines. This 49 Plymouth is a real learning experience to say the least. Many thanks again for the assistance and information.
    1 point
  20. That "handle" you spoke of, came from some really nice people in this group. You included. There's no way I would of attempted this project without joining and reading info from this group first. Thanks again.
    1 point
  21. Aww hell, you got a handle on it but good info for onlookers anyhow.
    1 point
  22. If you buy cheap poorly made HF or local parts store DIY jack/ jack stand tools...you are putting your life in danger. Using these cheap poorly constructed tools...you can and maybe should.. Spend an extra hour, two or three cutting up rail road ties or any other rot free timbers for additional under car safety cribbing and properly install said cribbing at all four corners...plus the chinese little jack stands and that 2-3/4 ton floor jack that's really only safely rated for 1-1/2 tons complete with the tiny 3-4" little saddle. All safety bets are off now days using poor quality light duty automotive lifting equipment. Commercial shop equipment not much safety issues at all. Do be safe boys?
    1 point
  23. Many thanks for the response. You know what they say about learning from the past. Whenever I need or order something small, I always get twice the number required. Then multiply that by at least 2. In other words, I ordered 4 bushings. The current hole in the business end of the crank is a bit sloppy 7/8". I can fit some .875 round stock in it by hand. Not much slop, but goes in and out EZ enough. I'll test fit one and see what happens. If need be, I can trim some off another bushing. Since the hole in the crank was never used by the factory because of the fluid drive, the previous owner(s) added a 4 bolt flywheel and a manual 3 speed. I was able to remove the old pilot bushing with just my finger. It was too chewed up to get any kind of measurement. After reading some of the great info from this group, I also found my starter drive gear is only engaging the ring gear by mabey 3/16" if that. None of the teeth are worn much but they soon will be. I am going to mill off about .170 - .180 from the bellhousing for the starter to set deeper. The picture is from Don Coatney (2012) of what he did to his. I thought about removing some from the starter nose, but it's already somewhat thin. Many thanks again.
    1 point
  24. I haven't done measurements on my 54 yet, but a buddy here showed me a universal 7" booster/ Dual MC combo that was available on Amazon, Jegs, Speedway Motors, to name a few. In theory it could fit under the cab using original brake pedal set up. Only thing I found was the need to add a vacuum pump to power the booster. It requires 17-20 in/lbs of vacuum and the flat 6 only puts out 9-12 at idle if memory is right.
    1 point
  25. Roland, Welcome, that's the beauty of this site. Sharing, knowledge, and badgering when needed. LOL. Eric
    1 point
  26. Just noticed the new water pump comment. The bypass situation I mentioned earlier really only applies to truck sourced engines. Cars rely on the internal bypass in the block and pump and the heater route to some degree. When the pump was replaced did the gasket on the passenger side have the bypass hole? If so, that plus the heater hose loop situation should be fine.
    1 point
  27. Doing what I did allows you to collect the coolant and recycle it. It will allow for more complete filling as you never take the cap off. Just add to the bottle like a modern car. This gets the air out of the system, as it will blow out then suck back coolant as the engine cools. This is not a true pressurized system, as the pressure developed is only the max head pressure of your catch can. If it has a foot deep of coolant, that's 64 psf or about half a psi. The pressure isn't the key. It's the cold-siphon recharging of the system that gets the air out, and saves your coolant. That's a big deal, as a system can suck air, even if it's not leaking coolant. I'm not sure what Plymouthy was referring to exactly. Many things could be wrong with bypass, gaskets, wrong thermostat, bad thermostat, inverted, miss-aligned or sticky thermostat, heater bypass routing, etc. Not an SBC guy, as I only owned 2 in 50 years, bone stock, and they always ran OK.
    1 point
  28. Got the engine set back and made some extension brackets for the trans cross member. I’ll probably add another gusset for stability but they should work fine.
    1 point
  29. Very cool! I like leaving the bumps and bruises and just making it mechanically right. Preserve those battle scars; she earned them.
    1 point
  30. I didn't even think about that. Thanks. I have used Oilite bushings for many years for many things. I think it might of dawned on me when I started to apply Loctite to an oily surface. The bushing that Sniper recommended will be here Monday and it is .001 oversize and the bore in the end of the crank is very rough so it should be a tight fit. Thanks again.
    1 point
  31. Happy day! I’m feeling good. Reaping the benefits today from working on my ‘38. It’s testing well and continues to improve. The brakes feel great. I’ve only gone around the block so far. I’ve got some more work to go yet before I insure it for road use. Steady progress. Time to drop the pan and look for sludge. Then pick an oil, and set the valves.
    1 point
  32. Thank you CO54, I ordered the u-bolts from General Spring. They had the 2 x 9 x 1/2 which is what mine measured after re-measuring them. Now, we’ll see how long it takes to get them. -roland
    1 point
  33. 3-27-20: Home again. About an hour and a half round trip. We got rained on at the end. Wipers worked pretty good ?
    1 point
  34. 3-27-20: Pic 1: ready to go! Pic 2: having fun along the way ?
    1 point
  35. Been bound up in the house for a while. Wanted to get out. Took off on a solo cruise. Wow, gas is sure cheap! 0.87/litre. Streets are mostly bare. It’s the weirdest thing to drive them and see so little people. The old girl is running fantastic. The engine starts quicker than a new car. I was feeling a little like “upper crust” maybe, back in the day, while out cruising today. She’s a fine, fine example of American engineering. Thank you Chrylser engineers. If there’s any around to read this, you killed it. Today in an eroded valley. Hills composed of ancient river bottom silt.
    1 point
  36. The handles lock and winders mechanisms were made as far as I am aware by a Melbourne company named Linard and those large splined bastards were used by Oz TJ Richards mopar bodies from the late 30's thru to the late 40's, also used by Oz Fords from 38/39 thru to Ford mid 50's Customlines and the FX and FJ Holdens from 1948 to 1956..........the FX handles use a white plastic winder handle, as pictured by you and the FJ winders are black with a chrome button........internal door handles for FX/FJ are identical.........repo handles are available for about $70 each from Rare Spares ...........the FX/FJ splined mechanism can be used to repair the mopar ones with some fiddling around......I couldn't find a decent complete set of inside original handles for my 1940 Oz Dodge so I've used FX handles for 45 yrs or more....see pic...........the large spline is an OZ only aberation from what I've seen......lol...........andyd
    1 point
  37. Just finished rinsing it off. I noticed the chrome reflecting some nice afternoon colour off the house.
    1 point
  38. 1 point
  39. Thanks for the feedback @classiccarjack. I figure there’s probably no shortage of folks on here like me, who cannot seem to get enough of these old Mopars. I hope that sharing my progress and the odd video on nothing but my passion, breeds community spirit here among us. There’s probably a few beginner folks viewing here, with little car repair experience. There may also be folks who maybe used to wrench, but for various reasons cannot anymore. Maybe there’s folks who are reluctant to start a major project on their old Mopar. Perhaps lacking the confidence. Or maybe its a lack of motivation? We do know there’s some well respected, experienced mechanics here too. Maybe they smile and remember when they rebuilt their first transmission. If I can reach out to any of these people via my thread here, I figure it’s worth my time to keep posting. To some, maybe we’re thought of as an odd bunch. The old pre-muscle car Mopar guys...Maybe we are odd, but we have a great community here and am glad to contribute to it.
    1 point
  40. Loren i built a 265 .030 over and milled .085 off the head and used stock cam with no interference . before i purchased an Edgy Head.
    1 point
  41. There's an EDGY cylinder head on eBay right now. At last look it was up to $960. There was also a Spitfire head. Looking at both of those and a stock head, there doesn't seemed to be much difference. Certainly not $960 worth. The current EDGY heads have the Navarro ledge over the exhaust valve which is intriguing but is it worth $1,400? I used to get into big arguments with my Dad over parts. I tell him "You don't need that and you can spend your money better elsewhere." To which he'd reply, "I don't care what I need, it's what I want that counts!" I was an expert at pushing his buttons so I'd follow that with "Yeah I know if it don't go Chrome it!" Anyway, I suspect that a stock head milled for compression is the most effective way to get a little more compression for the least amount of money. Once I get the cam back I will check the valve clearance at maximum lift, then I know how much it can be safely milled. Knowing that in spite of the fact there is clearance, there is a point of diminishing returns. You can reduce the intake flow on some engines by milling too much. Ed Winfield said that 7.5 to 1 was the max for a Model A Ford. The Chrysler is a much different ball game. The heads have a lot more room around the valves and that 4 3/4 inch stroke gives plenty of time for cylinder filling. Besides that stock iron head appeals to me. Everybody expects an aluminum head engine to go fast, but stock heads are under estimated.
    1 point
  42. Sorry no only have the one full flow engine they are rare in this part of the world. I have a quire regarding oil flow. Restricting oil to the cam bearing to me is not going to send more to other parts of the engine. These engines are running at 40-45 psi and this is governed by the pressure relief valve. Restricting oil to one place is only going to send more oil through the pressure relieve back to sump. Granted over sizing holes and galleries to the crank potentially will increase flow, but without larger bearing to crank clearances oil flow is not going to increase. Increasing pressure to me is the way to send more oil to various parts. This is of course relative to engine RPM but these engines are known for there long life in day to day operation even if you like to push them slightly over their red line limit. If you want to push these long stroke babies to extreme RPM ok things will require more flow. Back on the original forum there were stories of the guys pushing these engines racing in the day. 5500 RPM was not to much of a problem, 6000 and you went around and picked up the bits you left on the track, went home and started on your next engine rebuild. Lack of oil did not seem to be the problem the strength of the parts spinning at high rpm was their down fall. Tony
    1 point
  43. It would seem that Mother Nature read my post here and decided to remind me...”In like a Lion.” I woke up to about an 1” of fresh snow this morning. It did warm up enough to melt again later in the day. I tinkered some more on the ‘53 after work then took it out for another evening test drive. Actually there’s nothing left to test. It just sounds like a good excuse to put on another a mile or so. My older son, (he’ll be 21 soon) dropped by for visit today. Funny enough, just before dinner. So he ate with us and he followed me out to the garage. When I fired up the ‘53 he grabbed his coat and was hanging around the car with a big grin. Up to this point he’s kept his distance from the ‘53. It intimidates him I think. Can’t say I blame him. My younger son and I spent a big part of last summer uncovering all hidden the problems in the car. The gas station breakdowns. The, barely made-it-home stories. The noises. The little tricks we used to keep it out cruising. We worked through them all while son #1 likely shook his head at us. He’d never asked to drive it and turned down my offers to let him. Leading #2 son to then shake his head. Lol. It seems #1 is building confidence. He’s seen the hours I’ve put into repairing the car. The incidents and stories dwindled out by late last summer. Tonight he took up my offer to drive. His first time behind the wheel. He grinned at the big steering wheel. He asked me twice about what to do with the clutch. Park brake? Where? Lol. Loved the huge turning radius. It was fun. More great memories. Big grins all around. Back in the garage. Clocks change on Sat nite. It’s comming.
    1 point
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