Leaderboard

Some dwell meters have multiple scales and/or ranges for a 4, 6 or 8 cylinder. We'll assume you have it setup correctly and are reading the right scale. Smaller gaps increase dwell time. Dwell time is how long the points are closed. So your smaller gap should show more dwell time, though I can't say if 45 is where it ought to be reading with .018" gap. When I got my 51 the gap was also too small, the dwell too much, the timing way retarded and the idle speed was at 1600 rpm. All of those interact with each other to some extent so you will have to go bath and forth double checking till everything is settled down to where it needs to be.

2020 is all wrapped up for my ‘38. The insurance expires at mid-night tonight. Today we had fair weather. Cloudy. No rain. 47 F. Heater was on. The driver window down for arm turn signals. I put on about 70 miles today. It was a nice back country cruise. Total miles in my ‘38 this year is 1553. 2500 KM for my fellow Canadians. A great year. I learned a ton this year. My perception of the general public has improved somewhat too! I’ve met so many nice strangers who approached to talk about, and view my car. Among my favourite stops all year was the gas station. That’s where most people approached me. 2020 cruising season was a rough one in many ways. My ‘38 kept things more fun and positive. My maiden year in this car, it never left me stranded. Never saw a tow hook. Sure I ran out of gas 2x, but I’m no longer a rookie. I always had extra gas in the trunk! The bugs were all worked out and the car became better and better, as the miles added up. These are tough old cars. It was 83 years ago that the steel was being made for this car. With the right owner another 83 years is likely achievable. I stopped on the hill home for a final 2020 photo. She pulled the grade well. Running strong. Maintaining 40 mph she zipped right up. Here’s hoping the cruising 2021 season turns out as well!

I was reading this post and was going to address this at the end, but I saw your comment and thought I would add my 2 cents worth. If you want to appreciate the slow life of these old cars, get a big old gas guzzling motor home. They are most happy at 55-60 mph. Can they go faster? With no problem at all, but any speed above that severely affects the gas mileage. And at 8-9 mpg at 60 mph it drops to about 7-8 at 65 mph and at 70 mph about 5-6 mpg. Taking that into account the average 30 foot motor home goes about 500 miles at 60 mph and at 70 mph about 350 miles. The gas tank size on the 30 footers is about 50 gallons. So most RV owners will drive a little slower to save a lot of money on gas especially at $100-$150 per tank of gas at current prices. I should know, just got back from a week with my dad in the Bankhead Nat.l Forest in Alabama. Now what do these Land Yachts and old Mopars have in common? At higher speeds a simple mistake or momentary distraction can be catastrophic. Land Yachts and Mopars don't handle or brake well at higher speeds and with how old some of us are, our reaction time is slowed. So with all that being said, slow down, take your time and enjoy the drive. Roll the windows down and smell the journey as well. (fresh cut grass, hay, pine forests are just a few things I enjoy on the back roads. Dead skunks on the other hand, not so much. But you gotta take the good with the bad. At least the smell doesn't stay in the car very long.) Joe Lee

A foggy afternoon drive along the coast in NorCal.

When using a dwell meter, I generally overlook the actual measured gap. I don't bother attempting to learn what actual gap measures in at by using a feeler gauge. I use the dwell meter to measure the dwell time. I adjust according to what the meter shows. Points surfaces become mis-aligned as they wear. A feeler gauge can produce inaccurate recordings when measuring worn points. If you happen to have a Motors Manual there is good info in the general repair section under the Ignition System title. One example is provided in the illustration below. The dwell meter is a more accurate precise measurement. A feeler gauge can be accurate on flat aligned points. When points are worn, the feeler gauge often only gets you in the ball park. If your car seems to be running fine and you are hesitant to tweak the dwell, you don't have too. The dwell time is the amount of time the points are closed. My understanding is this is the amount of time that the coil can build up a high electrical discharge. Generally, more dwell time attributes to higher voltage at the pug tip when it arcs. A nice thick, hot blue spark. Especially important under a heavy torque load such as a hill climb. I deduce that too much dwell introduces the laws of diminishing returns. Timing should be checked and re-set after the dwell is adjusted. Additionally any changes to the air idle mixture screw will also effect idle speed. A vacuum gauge is helpful here too to set the idle mixture. Then adjust the dwell and idle speed. Then the timing light comes out. Worn distributor shaft bushings will have the timing bouncing around. Seen when using a timing light. Additionally a sloppy worn breaker plate may also net erratic timing. The condenser, the tricky little variable that can also be troublesome, I just go ahead and change out if I do't recall or know the history of. I've had good luck with decent quality condensers that work. Others will tell all sorts of stories about cheap, crappy, brand new, condensers they had to deal with. In addition to all those variable...Theres the coil, cap, rotor, spark-plugs and wires, vacuum and mechanical advance mechanisms. Points spring arm tension. Lol, a can of worms! It is fun though. Sorry I'm getting off topic here. Keith

Nope, don’t have all three together. However, you have given me a project for next year. Combine the three. This is the best I can do this year. ?

You did have a good year! Lots of reliable miles. When put away for the winter, remember to go out once a week or so and pump the brakes just to keep up residual pressure. Seeing your ‘38 always gives me a bit of seller’s remorse about my ‘38 Chrysler.

You are a great example for classic car use. I enjoy your no nonsense, humble, posting with the car and often with your family. TKS.

I've had to pull mine apart and clean all the old, rock hard grease out first when my clutch pedal was sticky.

Rich, I find my Cranbrook runs best w/ dwell at 36 degrees(checked with engine running) and timing set at 6 degrees. I tried to "eyeball" the settings after a breakdown on the road, it ran but wasn't happy. As a reference: turning the breaker pt. adjustment counter clockwise lowers the dwell reading, turning dist. clockwise, retards the timing. Been a long time since I have dealt w/ pts>!!!!

@desoto1939 This is very important information, as you are a very meticulous person I know you will store this information away in your vast library.? @Sniper also has a very valid point as most people rarely or have never dressed their points....it really is one of the few times when you are working on a car and these three can be combined with good results......cheap, fast, and perfect. It is very important to file the contact pads in an EVEN PATTERN or you are right back where you started from with less materials. Not only do I file points on dizzys I file points on voltage regulators when they get build up.

This is what points files were invented for. When I worked as an I&E tech at a cement plant we'd had to disassemble and clean the contacts on the motor contactors about once a quarter. Essentially, they are just large points and we did it for years with zero issues. A light touch to dress them is all that is needed.

For me, with the various ol vehicles I have and have had, I take a look at what their advertised max speed was when they were being sold and use it as a type of measuring stick as to how fast I should attempt to take it. On my 47 D24, Dodge advertised 80mph as the max speed for the car. So that was my target while restoring him. I'm proud to say after replacing and repairing from front to rear, ol Doc and I can achieve 78mph at 5,000ft ASL. He'll cruise down the Interstate at 65mph all day long with one finger on the wheel. The only issues that come up is he may get a tad bit warm after pulling a 5% grade or steeper for a few miles. Going to slightly wider tires helped with the excessive hunting on the highway. Speed demon, he's not. Able to take extended trips at a reasonable speed, most definitely.

Braze would be surest, after you get all the oil cleaned out of the lap fitting. Mig would be fastest, but mine tend to be porous, so it might take more than one try.

The Offy dual manifold almost assuredly indicates a 230/218 as I can find no indication that they ever built one for the long blocks. Or, what looks to be aftermarket cast iron header underneath it. your car probably has a 251. And, I don't think you would be happy with the torque loss of the shorter engine, even if it has the right crank flange. The duals and carbs don't really effect the low end power, needed to start a heavy car rolling.

I like that tattoo on the bumper!?

my car has turn signals added by a previous owner. They use the front parking lights with dual filament bulbs, but the rear has separate added lights, with blue dot lenses.

I've used these motorbike blinkers/indicators for 40 yrs tho' last year I replaced the rear ones with a pair of smaller "harley"style ones, have got a pair of the "harley" style for the front that will be done soon........I originally tried to adapt the front parking lights and the rear tailights to both work as indicators but space was an issue so the bolt on bike ones were used........hopefully saves an idiot hitting the car..........andyd

Winter. Snow. There, I gone wrote it. If the Moderators don't delete, then we're good. Not swear words, but things many folks just don't want to experience yet (if at all in some places). We've got two or three more weeks of occasional good weather to drive the old cars in up here, could be a couple weeks longer, but I still haven't installed the heater in the D24.

This one? I do have a bit of seller’s remorse occasionally.

Your so right 48, I unloaded from my trip to the home improvement store now, I’m gonna see if I can find him again.

10-16: My son and I gassed up and took a cruise to visit my brother. It was a chilly 32 degrees, so heater on. Thermostat only halfway though, and fan on low. The Meadowbrook ran great at 55mph. I could have driven all night! Maybe tomorrow ?

20 -25 mins later everything is fully warmed up. Idling is hotter even than driving down the road. Heat travels up. The exhaust manifold is very hot. Heat from it travels up to the intake manifold. Then into the carb base. Heats up the carburetor. Carb gets real warm, fuel vaporizes. Fuel level in bowl gets low. Car stalls.....Just a theory. What quality of fuel are you running? Any ethanol in it? Consider a phenolic spacer at carb base. I highly recommend non-ethanol fuel. Cures what ales ya 9 times out of 10. Consider a back up electric fuel pump with a sprung switch on the dash. So you can give it a shot as needed. Push fuel through that possible vapour lock at the fuel pump or fuel lines. They are all located near that dang hot exhaust manifold....Just a theory. Worth sniffing out.

10-15: After work I drove to Hwy 61 Liquor for some Henry's hard soda ? Had the heater on low as it was chilly and windy. Pic 2: Had to park in front of the neighbor's. Later I'll take her back to the garage. Got a couple of thumbs up and some strange looks too. ?

Taken today. My 41 Plymouth in front of the original owner's house. I don't mean the person I bought it from, I mean 1941 new. Interesting fact about the car, it only has had three owners all live or lived on the same street including me.

Robert, I have been that guy that slams cars to the ground my entire life, totally impractical and dumb but I love how they look, I have to do a lot of work to slam these old Beetles and since it is so easy to drop these cars a couple of inches I thought I would give it a go, I don't plan on dropping it on the ground as that would be so much work but just a little tail drag, here is my 60 Beetle for an idea of how I usually roll lol, all static dropped and OG paint

You seem to have done a 1st class restoration on that truck and trailer,but unless you have arms and legs like the Hulk,those things are NOT a lot of fun to drive. Takes two men and a small boy to turn the steering wheel at slow speed,and both feet to stop it.

Just had to see what my 230 w/OD will do! 80+ on the freeway Once. Also needed to Especially know what she would do at stop lights. Just to make sure I could clean the clocks of the old Fords and Chevy's. Mission accomplished. Love to surprise the young bucks with there Jap noise maker exhaust when they change lanes at the stop light so they will not get stuck behind that "old" car when the light changes, helps to be able to split shifts from 2nd. to second OD then to third w/o OD. Find that at the next light they will not look over to see what left them behind. Good story but I have only really done these things once Officer! ?? DJ

That'll raise a few feathers. LOL. Do as you please. Everyone has their own individual reasons for not having the desire to drive a 1937 Desoto at 80 mph all day. Nor jumping out of airplanes. Or free climbing El Capitan. It's not because we are scared. We've all done dumber things at different times in our lives. It's more likely due to experience and common sense that we develop as we age. Risk versus reward. I like my teeth and brains inside my skull. It's not worth the risk to me, at this point in my life. When I was younger, you bet. I was invincible. Scared, no. Smarter as I've aged? I like to think so. Reminds me of a saying I once heard about a father and son buffalo out on the big prairie. Staring at a pasture full of cows off in the distance. The sons says, "hey dad what say we run down there real fast and bag a cow each?"..Dad says, "how about we walk down there and bag 'em all?"....That's experience. LOL.

As I read several years ago and I quote” Many people think that they want an old car but what they really want is a 2014 Toyota that looks like an old car”

I had the ‘51 Dodge D39 business coupe out yesterday (picture 1) because the forecast for today was S**W which proved to be correct (picture 2). First W****R weather so far. Things will likely improve for a bit and I might get my old cars out a few more times but the writing is on the wall. Old Man W****R is just around the corner. Glad I have a heated garage.

I finally confronted the problem that my old machinist made for me by gasket matching the exhaust ports on my vortec heads. I realized that the headers I have been running are seriously restricting flow since the primary tube is 1.5" and even smaller at the flange as opposed to the much larger ports. I looked into larger headers for the 4.3l v6 and found there are no options for a larger primary tube unless custom made. Hooker Super Comp used to make a pair but discontinued them. So now the only option I have is to go back to stock manifolds. Supposedly these manifolds are not very restrictive until you go over 300hp and I am going to run a cutout after the crossover pipe. Is there a significant advantage in having them ported? The port size is (i think) exactly the size of the flange on the manifold and I would like to have them opened up a little to prevent reversion and maybe have them polished to improve flow. This will be done by a different, more reputable machine shop by the way if I get positive feedback on this.