Leaderboard

In the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s I was an English Literature teacher / debate coach in a high school of 3,000 students. I was the first teacher to wear a beard of any kind,

We lived at this spot for about 15 years. We built the deck, the retaining walls, the fences too, ourselves. We started from scratch and landscaped everything. It was a wonderful relaxing spot. It was a fair amount of work to upkeep but it was nice. We sold and moved to our current home about 2.5 years ago. So far we have not done much to the landscape. Just grass and a few little flowers here and there. You know how it goes...I'm too busy with old Mopars there days. A couple of pics of our previous garden, as it matured... Some of my best memories were working so hard with my wife to build the retaining walls and stairs. We cut up and removed the 20 year old old wood-based original retaining walls. We excavated all of it 3 ft back by hand with shovels. We carried every block in by hand from the front yard. 19 quantity of five foot high pallets worth if I recall. We placed all the crush drainage rock in by hand and packed it. Many a summer night we were out there working under lights well past dark. I was so very proud of my wife for her efforts in this project. We did it together. No heavy equipment. No help. Just her and I. We sifted all the dirt thru screens ourselves and layed out a base for the lawn. We carried away countless buckets of rocks that we sifted out. We took them away and dumped them. We installed sprinkler systems too. The project was a real marriage strengthener.

May 12, Tomato produced it's first flower today. Still not everything planted, and 1/2 way done building second box. Goal is 2 boxes this year. Next year want to build a small deck around the stump. Then arrange the boxes in a horse shoe on the deck. Can build a wire fence from the ground to the boxes to keep critters out. Think it will work out nice and easy on the back to maintain, also water bill. Been several years since I have had a garden of any sorts, and first time in this zone, so will be a learning curve. I have had several gardens in the past. I like boxes rather then in ground. Will convert one box into a mini greenhouse and have fresh green salads all year long.

I have a used steering box and column I planned on installing in my '51. Unfortunately a PO must have taken a hammer to the threads at the end of the tube and worm assembly in an attempt (I guess) to remove the steering wheel. The end damage prevented the nut from threading onto the tube and worm assembly and I couldn't get a normal die onto the threads either. Mostly by accident while searching around on the internet for a solution, I came across a tool called a "split die" which I had never seen before. I ordered the correct size split die, put the die over the good threads below the damaged end threads, added a few drops of oil, and slowly worked the die back and forth toward the end of the threads using a socket and ratchet. The tool worked perfectly. Maybe this will help someone who has to restore damaged threads at the end of a bolt, shaft, or whatever. https://www.jmeinnovations.com

A fwiw post, I have seen cars sit for months or years, and the fuel pump not pick up and work, last time was a 57 cheby with a 283. Once I started it running off a gravity feed tank, the original pump started working after a few minutes. I think this is caused from a small hole or a weak diaphragm. My neighbor has a 62 cheby with same issue. Have to feed it fuel until it gets going. I told him he needs a new fuel pump, I think he is waiting for me to come over and replace it. Point is, if you can add fuel in the carb and get it to run, you need to look in this direction. I know on my 49 dodge, I pulled the distributor and later found when I installed it I had a different issue. My intake seemed to have a lot of fuel sitting in the bottom. Once I fixed the firing order, it fired right up and ran ok since.No clue if my intake today still has fuel sitting in it, but I would not worry about that.

I hate starting fluid and suggest to never use it. For troubleshooting it is awesome. If you spray some and it tries to fire, You now know you have spark and your issue is fuel delivery. From here going forward, I would be looking at fuel. Remove the line from the carb and visually see it pumping fuel. These old cars we do not know what a past owner did. Very possible the fuel lines are clogged up from crap sitting in the tank. The diafram in the pump could have failed, the carb may need to be rebuilt. First thing is to verify fuel going from the pump to the carb.

I love it, looks like she is having fun, and thats why we are here in this life.

I use a 2 point lift attachment. The tabs are flat steel and allow the Head Bolts to be torqued down pretty tight. I also remove the Doghouse so the lift height isn't to high. If you have a fluid-drive, and not a standard 3 or 4 speed....... you might consider taking just the engine. But usually they are removed together. Here's a series of videos I did on removing the Doghouse 10 years ago. links to the rest: Estrada MotorSports 1948-53 Dodge Trucks: 48 Dodge Truck Front Clip Removal part 2/4 Estrada MotorSports 1948-53 Dodge Trucks: 48 Dodge Truck Front Clip Removal part 3/4 Estrada MotorSports 1948-53 Dodge Trucks: 48 Dodge Truck Front Clip Removal part 4/4 48D

Just to be clear, the test light goes on when the points are open. It won't flash unless the crank is turning. If the points are in solid contact for some reason (such as being closed or so tight they never open from a worn rubbing block, or a "spike" of transferred metal) the light will not go on. If the light does not light you will get no spark. You can double check what is going on by manually opening the points with a screwdriver when they are closed. Be careful as the coil will spark each time you open them. If the light goes on steady then the points are not closing. That can be caused by dust turning to glass between the points from the spark when the points last opened. (rare but it does happen) The components on the primary side are the points, condenser and ignition coil. If the test light test does not light with the screwdriver method, put the test light on the ignition switch side and see if you have power to the coil. Worn points are the number one reason you don't get spark on the primary side. Assuming you've got a working primary side then you go to the secondary. A cracked rotor or cap will discharge the spark to ground. A bad coil wire will stop the spark before it gets that far. Spark plug wires usually fail one at a time unless someone has disturbed them, then they can all be junk. You can fix an ignition system one fault at a time but old time mechanics for customer satisfaction used to change everything for insurance. Points, Plugs, Condenser, Cap, Rotor and wires were pretty standard fare. The "Battery/Coil" ignition system is pretty basic and easy to deal with. Charles Kettering of Dayton Electric Company (Delco) invented it and when Billy Durant bought Delco for General Motors, Kettering came with the deal. Kettering also came up with the "Self Starter" and Tetraethylead anti-knock compound. We don't use that anymore because it is toxic in the extreme but you can still see its remnants in the bottom of the oil pans of older cars. That grey muck is lead. Something you won't see much of in the future.

You don't need to remove the driver's side floor pan to do clutch or transmission service. You do it all from under the car. The driver's floor pan pice that can be removed only exposes the pedals,master cylinder and steering gear.

This thread has so much great information on it, especially the links from JBNeal! I am hoping this will bring it back to the top for those who are newbies and want information on their car and truck engines. Graybeards post are just incredible.

If you have the correct size socket to fit on the crank bolt, Always a good idea to turn it in the normal direction as if the motor was running. In my experience, often you can just push on the fan belt applying pressure with one hand and spin the fan with the other. What you are fighting is compression. You do not need plugs installed to check spark. The plugs are pretty easy to remove on these engines. And ultimately you want to see spark at the plugs. lay them on the head and crank the engine and check for spark. IMHO, pulling the plugs so you can roll the engine over easily not a terrible waste of time.

I don’t remember age 31! That was half a century back. Dang, that was 1970! Nam war, if I recall, pre viagra, Johnson/Nixon era, Liz Taylor was still a beauty, John Wayne and Ann Margaret were making great movies, Elvis and the Beetles! Radical times!

I dig it but where do you plug these in?

So.......are you using fresh fuel? The shelf life of ethanol-contaminated gasoline can be pretty short and stale gas can definitely result in start-up difficulty. The ethanol can also absorb water.

KeithB7, Really well thought out and executed garden. Had to be satisfying to sit back and enjoy it after all the hard work. When you work hard for something to get it the way you want it the appreciation of every detail is so much more than the eye can see.

I see a lot of discussion on drum pullers for our old Mopars so I thought I would post this easy to make puller I put together a few years back. No flexing in this baby and never fails. If you slot the holes it could be used on other makes as well. You could also make an insert to adapt it for a slide hammer for pulling axles. I see some folks bidding on these lately and this may be an cheap option. Next to the puller you will see some wheel spacers that if you found in steel would give you a head start. Use a piece of pipe, 2 nuts and some threaded rod for those with limited machining capabilities. Posted in tool thread just now as well Hope this helps V$

I see a lot of discussion on drum pullers for our old Mopars so I thought I would post this easy to make puller I put together a few years back. No flexing in this baby and never fails. If you slot the holes it could be used on other makes as well. You could also make an insert to adapt it for a slide hammer for pulling axles. I see some folks bidding on these lately and this may be an cheap option. Next to the puller you will see some wheel spacers that if you found in steel would give you a head start. Use a piece of pipe, 2 nuts and some threaded rod for those with limited machining capabilities. Hope this helps V$

some can naysay this and that and but I bought a 35.00 puller in a read blown plastic case at ye ole tool vendor at the swap meet (off the wall tools and supplies inc.)...I looked at it and felt it should hold up well and I will be the only one gorilla gripping this item and gorilla grip it I did....to the tune of a 8 foot cheater pipe and my bouncing fat butt at 200 lbs.....even at that the drum did not yield...and neither did the tool....it took a few more persuasion techniques to apply and pop goes the weasel....this was true on both sides of this Salisbury rear axle (European Dana) and on the domestics I have used it on...couple good turns..get it tight and they released real nice. There was no distress shown on the tool....all the stress was on me....

My wife owns 2 73 super beetles and 1 72, I've had luck with plain and simple cars, So I'm excited to see how fun this one is to tinker with. Thanks for the tips. I was curious id this would have the reverse threads, ive heard of people doing some silly things trying to grt them off when really they were just tightening it the whole time. Also the car looks really good, the owner has sent me the rust shots of the door sills and some rough spots in the floor boards but it looks more solid than the vws we drive so I'm excited. As far as in the engine bay picture. I'm not 100% on what the glass jar is on the driver side so any input on that would be great, the pictures are too hard to tell what's hoses are going to it.

Just saying, this is the excuse I give to my wife Sonya. And she rolls her eyes and agrees. While I think I should be intelligent enough to not start 10 projects. Here I am living the dream. Sewer needs to be completed, new supply lines run into the house, Porch pickets need to be completed. The kitchen remodel needs completed, I just for some reason can not stop setting up new projects. The 49 dodge needs completed. List goes on of other projects started and not completed. For me just seems normal, I can step in and do every job. Issue is, I am the only employee at this time. I cant do it all. I am either a idiot, or I need to hire a crew and send them out. Being a idiot is not that bad.

yeah, but when we gonna get some "new" vids from him??? come on 48 get on it!!! (the crowd is chanting in the back ground, "new vids, new vids, new vids....." )

Here is a picture of mine from a previous year. Have not tilled it up yet this year with the cold weather and rain were having. I like the raised bed idea to help keep the small animals out. I trapped 14 skunks, a raccoon, 7 squirrels, a woodchuck, a feral cat, and 2 possum all in about 30 days winter before last. Deer are also tuff but my fault for not putting up a fence. I second Los comment on those PA buckets they look great and the price is certainly a deal. I see 55 gallon plastic drums come up for sale at pretty decent prices that could work.

My last garden in the dirt standard style turned out to be a disaster to the point I said no more....this year however these huge 24 gallon super heavy containers become available at dirt cheap. I have green beans, potatoes, grape tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cukes, sweet banana peppers and bell peppers. I have baby cukes and squash already on the vine...some of these were late plants and staggered plantings...I hope with the buckets I will have better control over weeds and water. There are 25 of these container set up and I have my planting station just behind the little building..

we also haven’t done a garden in years Julie and I recycled the wood from a one ton truck bed recently planted cool weather veggies in this raised bed. Have a larger area in a sunnier spot in the ground for the warmer weather veggies, but are a month away for that.....

Do you still have free-play in the clutch pedal? Anything restricting the pedal preventing it from returning all the way?

I picked up one of these clamp style multi meters recently. I tested my generator output with it. The tool and the generator seem to work well. Max output setting seems to be about 15-16A on the generator. Both my ‘53 Chrysler and ‘38 Plymouth seem to put out similar max amps. I cannot recall the proper specs as I type this. I’ll look it up later. Seemed like a good little tool. i was hoping however to clamp around a starter cable to see max amp draw. The tool has a measurement hold feature too. However I can’t seem to get an amp reading off a starter cable when I crank it. Maybe I’m doing something wrong. The specs claim it can read upto 600A DC. Auto ranging. Idle and high RPM generator amp output shown in pics.

This only sorta qualifies as a mechanic's tool. Front side is a regular measuring stick. Anybody recognize the back side of this rule? I used one of these every day at work for over 35 years. Almost felt like I needed one in my hip pocket when I wasn't at work..

http://www.ply33.com/Parts/group10#1121694

Nickelson