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Merry Christmas to all ! ?

Coming back from a car show couple summers ago I was tired so Mrs swapped driving with me. Half an hour later I woke up to us passing cars on the divided hwy. Mrs has a led foot and the needle was bouncing over 80 …..OVERDRIVE BAAAAABY.

Fastest I've had the ol' D24 has been 65 on the recently repaved Interstate. I don't dare go that fast on the secondary roads any place we've lived due to road condition. Suspension, except shocks, is original. Engine was rebuilt long before we got the car and could use another going over. Does not have much trouble getting there, and seems to have more in her, but the noises she always makes crescendo as I speed up to the point I don't want to go any faster. Nothing that doesn't sound right, just an old car making noise (kinda like me). Although, much quieter and less "exciting" once we put radials on her. I believe top speed cited by the factory for the D24s was right around 95 mph, I seem to recall reading that in an official tome sometime in the past, which to me is impressive - there's only so much a 102 hp engine can do in a car with the aerodynamics of a chicken coop.

Local vintage club had an article about a multi-purpose arena located in Copenhagen that was built in 1926. One of its many events was the annually car and motorcycle exhibition showing the latest wonders and innovations. These photos from 1934 show MoPar’s stand with presentation of the new Chrysler/DeSoto Airflow. Text comparing body uni-construction to Lillebæltsbroen, a newly build bridge. Check out General Motor Art Deco lettering in background. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Out in my ‘51 Dodge D39 business coupe for what could be the last run of 2021. -3C (27F), little bit of wind, and cloudy although you can just make out our star in the first pic. Supposed to get 5-10cm (2-4”) of snow overnight and tomorrow and then a bit cooler for a while. Colder weather doesn’t bother me as I just about got roasted out of the car with the heater fan off! Just don’t like messy roads. If things clear up I hope to be out again before the end of 2021.

Looks like no more than $1500 if the frame is in decent shape.

Numero uno on the list is seeing my son. He's in Seattle and we're in Jersey and the last time he was here was Thanksgiving 2019. Thank you Covid (NOT)! Gotta get rid of more stuff and sell the house. It would be nice if we had an idea of where we're moving, but the jury is still out for various reasons. Also getting at least one of my Plymouths roadworthy would be a big plus.

To my knowledge, US-built P15's did not have a data plate with color codes. Only Canadian cars had this feature.

I have been telling myself that I would get the Miata back on the road for about four years. Finally ordered a new top for it and got it installed. First time to replace a convertible top. Turned out pretty good. The tops for these cars are basically unbolt and bolt the new one back on. But you have to take most of the interior out to get to the bolts. A few other mechanical fixes, new tires along with a good detailing and I'll have the car back on the road. This car has been modified. Almost 300 HP to the ground. When people ask what was done to the car it's easier to tell them that the fenders are stock.

that seal looks like packing ring, local hardware store might have something useable. The packing is to seal the shaft of the valve at the nut, sort of like your garden hose outlet in the house or a sink faucet. Only problem I see is that you may have to remove the handle from the stem and it's probably peened over.

Enjoy your Holiday fellow gear heads ! Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas Tim, George, and George Jr.

Merry Christmas everyone

Love the post card! And Merry Christmas right back atcha!

Oh my blessed are we with mid 70's temps and bright sun....while I may not take the Porsche or the Austin out today, put a few miles on them yesterday....I do have my helment right beside me as I type this...a jaunt down the country roads back of town should prove enjoyable. Merry Christmas to all and to all a MoPar....!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to y'all. Sitting here listening to old German Christmas carols.

Just in case this was in response to what I said about the storage insurance on the 75 Dart, this car is not currently being driven at all, and we have not renewed the annual registration, either. So to put it back on the road, we would need to do both of those things, pay the registration fee again, and get insurance on it again. (I don't have any storage insurance on my 46, partly because I haven't transferred the title from my home state yet.

Years ago when they sold real Italian FIATs in this country the dealer I worked for sold a lot of the 124 Spiders. The truck that brought them in held 9 at a time. When the FIAT guys saw the truck pull up they all ran out to help unload them. The driver always needed help. I overheard one conversation with the truck driver, "How many of them run?" "5 sort of, the rest we pushed on." As each car was assigned to a mechanic for it's pre-delivery inspection (PDI) they were handed 4 NGK spark plugs and a set of bumpers. It seems from the point that the car left the assembly line till it got to the dealership, the choke was never pushed in. Each time the car was moved the choke was full on and no one could tell how many times it had been moved and never fully warmed up. Once the mechanics pulled out the factory Champions and installed the NGKs they ran well indeed. The bumpers....well every one of them were replaced at the dealership because sitting at the port in Italy, then sailing across the Atlantic to Panama, through the canal, then up to Long Beach harbor and sitting there for a while caused them all to turn green. The SAABs however always ran like brand new watches because they were fuel injected and years before so did the carburetor versions. The carburetors had automatic chokes that were reliable. The point I am getting around to is that the automatic choke was a real technologic break through that Chrysler pioneered. A savvy driver may prefer a manual choke but to the average driver an automatic choke has very real benefits. I consider myself "a savvy driver" but I like the fact that when I want to launch on a journey to the market warming the car up is one less thing I have to worry about. The automatic choke on my 49 works very well and my car starts very well because of it and you know what they say: If it works don't fix it. I was talking with a Mopar buddy and I was describing the idea I had for putting two of the electric choke controls on my exhaust manifold for dual carburetors. There's two spaces for them and Plymouth at one time or another used both. He said I only needed to use one choke. That one choke on one carburetor would do the job. Hmm That simplifies dual carburetors a great deal! I'll try it with one first. I've never had a choke cable that I liked so that is one reason I am loathe to use a manual choke. I am not saying you can't have a good one made, because I know you can. I've just never experienced a good one.

Big Diesel engines use them. They work just like by pass oil filters, just filtering a small amount at a time. Some come with additives in the cartridge. They rattle when you shake them. Not a thing wrong with the idea. I would use hard tubing like the diesels do. Less hoses to have leaks in.

I can't speak to which is "better",but *I* will ALWAYS pick a manul choke over an automatic one. I just like the simplicity and the fact that *I* get to control it. 8

Since you like the manual as I do, I m going to sell the two I have.

This 50 year old hobbyist mechanic started working on these old Mopars 5 years ago. Been a great time! I enjoy every minute. I’ve turned many a page to try and learn. I must have read the section on the M-5 tranny 3-4 times before it sorta all sunk in. Quite the system. There’s extremely few flathead Mopars seen out on the roads around here. Regionally we might be able to build a club of 15 members. Doubt it though. So I have become my own isolated Moapr specialist. Lol. 52 weekends a year I’m usually wrenching in solitude. Not complaining, I love the downtime. Especially when there’s no cussing required. I’d enjoy helping out another Mopar owner around here. Yet I am having little luck finding anyone. So I do it on You Tube. The dusty, dead ‘37 Desoto coupe that I found. The weather turned and caught up to me. Hopefully next spring I can dig that one out. The owner is 80+ I figure.

You're right about that. The Motors manuals printed in the 50s/60s are just a must have item. Specific factory manuals are good for one vehicle but the Motors provides a broader range of info,IMO

Fortunately all that is needed to figure out how our old cars work is some decent mechanical skill and the willingness to study the manuals. But many current mecha.....er......technicians are flummoxed if they can't find a diagnostic port..... ?

My uncle used to own a 48 Chryser,and the top speed seemed to be about 20-25 MPH. I used to sometimes catch a ride to the nearest grocery store (about 20 miles one way),and at times was tempted to just get out and walk. Seemed like that was the top speed of everything he owned.

Yep, those 105 year-old mechanics are a valuable resource if you can find one..... ?

I had a vibration in my trunnion style driveshaft on my 51 Cambridge so I bought the parts and rebuilt it. It still vibrated but not as bad. I took it to a truck drive line shop to have it balanced and they could not get it to balance as one of the trunnion shafts was off center by about 0.050" and they would not try to center it. They built a new shaft with Spicer u-joints for $325 and it solved my problem with readily available new parts. It was well worth the cost in my opinion.

Heck, I'd pay a member fee if it'd help

well got everything dropped back in...picture proof I got it all to fit....barely...

Turned out to be a beautiful day here in Central Pennsylvania. My wife and I took the '41 out for an hour or so. Here it is getting fueled up as we headed home. Last ride of the year? Maybe/maybe not. Funny story, at an earlier stop today a teenage boy came up and said "Cool car, that must be what, about a 1976?" I said 1941 Dodge, and he said "Was that the first year they even made a Dodge?" He was polite and even told me AutoZone probably won't have parts for it but I could try Google on the internet if I need anything. Made me feel really old!

Great pic, Sam! Those are the moments that shine. I never want to add up all the parts costs, like you guys say it is definitely more than I paid for the car in '96! And more than it's worth. Typical to look at an anticipated $100 improvement and spending three times that or more before it's done. Then you get in it to drive somewhere and it doesn't matter. And the smells of old iron, mohair if you still have it, a hint of oil and a warm engine. Gives me nostalgia of simpler times and a reminder of the great people that came before us. Boys and girls, what a wonderful sickness it is to be motorheads. And we are world wide.

If we do much work at all on these old cars we'll have more invested than market value. But that doesn't bother me......

Sounds about right. It just makes you THINK you have a lot of money if you have 17 grand floating around in your wallet these days. The reality is it buys very little,and what it does buy is junk mostlhy made in China by slave labor.