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  1. I've been asked a lot of things by a lot of different people in my life. Giving advice, lending a hand, being politely asked to leave..., they are all generally of a similar class of requests such that not many are ever a surprise anymore. That was true most of my life until as of late. Now I'm getting surprised all the time. Here's some examples. Looking for any and every excuse to drive my truck, I took my kids to a birthday/costume party. In a few minutes parents were asking for kids to pose in and on the truck. Why not? A couple weeks later, again looking for an excuse to drive it, we used it to go to the local Chili Cook-off. It was pretty easy to just put the old slow cooker in the back and drive over. I stopped to drop off my entry and then went and parked. Within 30 minutes the organizers were looking for the owner of "that old black truck". They wanted to park it in the middle of the event for ambiance. Well, ambiance and picture poising. So many people wanted to crawl in and out of it, my view was obscured more than once. The wife bought a new mattress and box spring from Sears but refused to pay the $80 delivery charge. She was going to bring it home on the top of the Ford Escape. I mentioned that I had a truck which she had not considered. Not sure why she didn't - too "special?". We laughed. So we drove down to the outlet, tied the new items up and headed home. Near home I was trying to make a lane change but was blocked by some lady in a car. She kept matching my speed! I finally just decided to turn right. She ducked in behind us and followed. I remarked to the wife that if she pulled along side that the truck was $17,5k firm. We laughed and turned left. The lady followed. A couple of stop signs later, the car behind us pulled up and waved for my wife's attention. Seems she was getting married Saturday and wanted to be taken to the church and reception in my truck. My dirty, old, smells like gas, farm truck. If you would have seen her smile, heard her excitement, you wouldn't have said no either. What to charge her got me thinking about one of 48Dodger's blog posts. The question was about being able to put a proper the price on our parts or services. I was struggling with that and it took me a while to come up with a clear answer for myself. In the end I didn't charge her a penny. Couldn't really. There was no price on a blushing bride, clearly happy about going to her wedding in an old farm truck. There was no payment large enough for the looks on people's faces, the thumbs up, as we passed them on the way to the church. You certainly could never have found enough of any payment of any kind for the entire church gathering's collective look as we drove off with the newlyweds in the front cab. I got paid with this story. With smiles. Good feelings all around. I'm lucky enough to be in a position to make some people happy. Whether you know it or not Tim, you do the same thing for a lot of people here. Did for me.
    18 points
  2. I find that guys like me, on the DIY sites, never seem to think anything is rare or as valuable as stated on Craigslist or EBay. It might be guys like me are not the ones to ask. I can fabricate, paint, tweak, locate or trade whatever I need when it comes to the 48-53 dodge trucks…I got friends too. So maybe it just seems easier for me, which somehow translates to cheaper? Maybe less valuable? I have to look at a recent event that made me think about my attitude. Why pay a mechanic 500 bucks when you can do it for 20? This just happened to me. I fixed Mom's 2004 Grand Marque for 12 bucks. The Light Control Module had failed.....the dealership wanted 650 bucks (replace the LCM), the other shop (2nd opinion) wanted 560 bucks. I was like "What??? Let me look at it" I did the research on the internet, found the common problem disscussed on a forum, and fixed it with improvements recommended by the thread starter. A failed relay needed replacing; 12 bucks in parts....took me maybe an hour. It’s not original, but using wires to relocate the relay that has problems, outside the module, makes it easy to replace when it fails again. The price of a new Light Control Module ranged from 100 to 400 dollars.....the relay was 3 bucks (wires, etc made up the rest of the cost). Of course this was Mom, but I got to thinking.....why don't I see what I did as valuable? Did I just want to prove those wrench heads are overpriced???? If it wasn't Mom, would I have charged 90 bucks for the time and 12 bucks for the parts? I don’t know, I did take a free lunch and the satisfaction of knowing I saved my Mom from the wolves. Or did I? The shop was charging for the part and the labor. It seems my default is to undercharge based on some moral dilemma I created in my head based on the fact I personally can do things cheaper for myself. I paint cars on the side, but do it cheaper because my overhead is lower etc….but how is that my fault? Again, I think it’s a Do It Yourself mentality that’s skewed my interpretation of value. Looking at Craigslist, I see 48-53 trucks that are clearly over priced….uh….that I think are overpriced. And the crooks on EBay that have NO idea how to price a damn vintage fender….err…I FEEL are uninformed of a reasonable price for classic steel. It’s there that I wonder if I should take a closer look at how I’m applying said worth to the stock pile of parts I sometimes give away or sell cheap to fellow vintage truck owners to help them out. Not that I want to change my practices (I know you’re reading this Mike aka Trampsteer, lol) but maybe bring myself into the 21st century and give the guys who are charging possibly the “right” price for these trucks and the parts a break from my attitude, and maybe give myself a bigger pat on the back when I make a what I consider a good deal. Okay….so maybe this is where it really started. It’s been a few months since I fixed Mom’s car, when she calls me and says she received a notice in the mail. Ford sent her a letter stating that her year car has been having troubles with the LCM. They would like to extend the warranty to have the problem fixed. If it has already been fixed by a non dealer, etc… to provide the bill to Ford and they will reimburse the money…….damn. Ford owes Mom 12 bucks and a lunch, lol.
    13 points
  3. It's taken a long while but we got her put together this spring. Her name is Bettie. She ran so well that we chose to take her to the Hot Rod Dirt Drags in Monte Vista, Colorado. Won 1-3 against a big black merc. Blew up a second flex plate and found out the steering column needs a new bearing. Even with that she drove there and back home without a complaint! Woot!
    12 points
  4. · · For Decades I have listened to people talk about Flathead Mopar 6 Cylinder Engines in terms of intakes, what is the best carb configuration for their particular situation. Discussions on putting two carbs and those who claim to be sure that is too much carburation or that it will use to much fuel. Then every once in a while the discussion of 3 carbs comes up, and that almost always sparks the debate on how it would take a race motor to need it, or how the engine will bog, or run poorly. In the last 20 years with a good friend of the AoK boys coming across a huge stash of 2 barrel carter weber carbs which were designed for slant six engines, the discussion on utilizing a 2 barrel instead of two singles comes up. I just smile, but then I know that when the stash of 2 barrel carter webers were found, its finder put them on his website as a carb for a flathead mopar. Its amazing how a market can be created and how quickly – “this is the way to go” spreads like rapid fire, without as much as any background check into something. But 1st, let me go back to the 1st time I heard the discussion on multiple carbs vs a single multi-barrel carb, or put another way, comparing that “old technology carter ball and ball vs a modern 4 barrel carb”.. It was about 45 Years ago, when I 1st heard someone in a conversation with my Grandfather and my Dad, suggesting they knew a lot about Flathead Mopars and were sporting a 4 barrel carb on a homemade intake. This gentleman had played with flathead Ford v8s and had came across a Dodge 2 door sedan from the mid-50s. He was suggesting he had built the ultimate flathead Chrysler Engine and he was one of those guys that whatever he had at the moment was just the best and the only way to go. Well after my Dad explained he had far from the ultimate flathead Chrysler, and that his wife’s daily driver (my Mom) was good enough to kick his ass, Dad pulled out my Mom's pickup. It was sporting a bored out 265, with a cam, a factory dual intake and exhaust with a pair of carter ball and balls, and an a833 4 speed tranny. After a little bit of fun that really wasn't much of a contest, licking his wounds sort of speak, Mr "Ultimate Flathead Chrysler" started down the road of excuses when Grandfather shook his head and cut him off at the pass. Grandfather like my Dad were automotive Engineers, and Grandfather literally knew more about Chrysler Flatheads than any person alive. Given he saw the very 1st flathead roll of the line in Windsor, Ontario Canada in 1935 and saw the last block cast in 1959, he had some pretty good credentials to give a lecture. What is explained in a few minutes was not only how the flathead engine worked, but why the engine this gentleman had came with only 1 carb failed to perform. Most think that 1 carb was put on the engine and that it has sufficient carburation for the engine, and if it needed more, Chrysler Engineers would have put more on. On a basic level that is true, but what engineering was building was an engine to a specific HP, torque and fuel consumption target and not to get the most out of the engine, make it as efficient as possible or even have it run to anything close to 100% optimum performance. By Optimum performance I am not talking maximum hp or maximum rpm or optimum fuel mileage on a vehicle. Grandfather then explained that in fact when Chrysler was faced with the need to meet a 5 ton truck specification for dump/plow trucks asked for by Canadian Municipalities during the winter of 1950, that the requirement had filtered to engineering in late 1950. They developed the 265 ci motor which was 3 7/16" bore and 4 3/4" stroke and have dual carbs and dual exhaust on them, which was what was in Mom’s pickup. Few realize that that engine actually had more hp than any other engine on the market. I will attach the picture of the poster that was on Grandfathers office at the time. I gave it to George Asche Jr years ago. In any case you can see the hot v8 mopar had in 1952 was 133 hp and the flathead 6 had more hp. As an aside Grandfather with the cam grind out of the 1952 Chrysler that engine exceeded 150 hp at the time, but given the time, energy and money that have been invested in the new Hemi v8 that was never going to see the light of day on any marketing information. That engine and the fact it had a factory intake, immediately became a stock car favorite in the 1952 season, when Mopar dominated stock car racing everywhere it landed. In any case Chrysler didn't just put on a second carb on it because they needed more carburation. By then Chrysler already had Carter building Ball and Ball carbs from 85cfm - 425 cfm each and we now know they had a 625 cfm carter ball and ball single barrel carb if they needed it. The reason for two was the basic issue, some would call flaw, but Grandfather would call basic restriction to taking the engine to the next level. I say that folding back to the earlier point that Chrysler was building engine to a spec of "x" hp, "y" torque and "z" fuel consumption. The flathead 6 build by Chrysler has 3 Siamese intake ports, each of which feed two cylinders. Setting aside the exhaust for a second, and keeping in mind that an engine is really just a giant vacuum pump, putting 1 carb in the middle of the block, basically over the middle intake port feeding cylinders 3 and 4, means that if all cylinders are the same in compression ratio and ability to create vacuum and suck in a fuel mixture coming from the carb, then cylinder 3 and 4 are going to get more fuel than the intake ports feeding cylinders 1 and 2 or 5 and 6. Yes Chrysler made intake modifications to help that, but they again were not trying to make the perfect engine, just have it meet specs required. As a little aside if your look at intakes from the 1930s through to the 50s you will notice Chrysler Engineers raised the level of the carb. With the Dual Carb truck intake it also was raised further with governors placed under the carbs. The height of the carb mounting above the intake posts can easily be seen to rise from the 1930s to the 1950s. Its also why if your look at some of the aftermarket dual intakes made in the 30s and compare them to say the 3rd generation Edmunds in the 50s you will notice a huge difference in height. The raising of the carbs and providing a smoother run from carb to the intake ports saw huge benefits in performance. Of course maybe buried in the story is the fact that early intake was designed for a marine application where quick rev was far more the desired trait than was torque. When the intake was moved to an automotive application you would find a quick rev with the clutch engaged, but disengaged there is a significant loss in torque and it will actually burn more fuel than a single carb. But back to my story, if we now add the exhaust component into your stock Mopar flathead (or L-head) which depending on what year engine and what vehicle, has the single exhaust exiting at one of a few different locations. For this discussion lets say it exits at the back as does the post ww2 cars. What you find is as the cylinders push out exhaust there is almost no restriction or back pressure at cylinders 5 and 6, but there is a great deal of back pressure at cylinders 1 and 2. So here we have the most back pressure making it tough to push away the exhaust and actually the front intake port receiving the least amount of fuel. While the engine meets specs with no problem, its clear that if you can balance the exhaust, by having 3 exhaust cylinders exit through 1 exhaust pipe and the other three through a 2nd pipe, you can better balance the exhaust back pressure. We sort of glossed over the fact that while there are only 3 intake ports, each cylinder does have its own exhaust port. Something that changed with the introduction of the slant 6, which had 6 equal intake runners each feeding a cylinder. Back to the flathead, if we can better distribute fuel to balance the opportunity for each of the 3 Siamese ports to get fuel, then the engine will run more efficiently. So if you were to take a big block 25 1/2" engine, and anyone of them, not just the 265 and put the factory dual carb and dual exhaust setup on it and then put on the appropriate carter ball and ball carb on it, it will gain hp, torque and improved fuel mileage. The reason is it runs more efficient. The same takes place with the 23 1/2" USA small block which has the same intake and exhaust configuration, although slightly smaller ports. If you take it one step further, putting 1 carb on top of each intake port, you can provide the optimum amount of fuel efficiency for the engine. Back to our 4 barrel friend, putting on a large carb just provides a further opportunity to over fuel the center siamese intake port. When he hammered the throttle it was actually not able to burn all of the fuel in the middle two cylinders and was “bogging” ,until it could gain enough RPM to use some of the fuel. When he was running against Mom’s pickup which had more balanced back pressure, and a better distribution of fuel he had no chance even if the engines were internally the same. Of course they weren't but that is another story. Years later when we created the AoK triple intake, we placed the first intake on an almost rock stock 201 ci motor. It had been rebuilt stock, although required to be bored out 10 thou to clean up cylinders. Beyond that it was a stock cam, intakes etc. With 3 of the smallest CFM carter ball and ball carbs on board and headers made from a stock exhaust systems, the car ran smoother, had better acceleration and got 6 miles per gallon better highway mileage over the single carb and single exhaust. In the end, it is just a myth that you need some bored out, cammed up engine for 2 carbs and a full race motor for 3 carbs. The reason why Chrysler didn't run 3 carbs was simple. 1) The cost of 3 carbs was no inconsequential 2) They could meet the HP, Torque and Fuel useage targets with 1 carb. The exception was when there was a time window where the dual carb, dual exhaust 265 ci motor was released, but with overhead valve v8s and Hemi's coming shortly after the multiple carb flathead life-cycle was short lived. There is a bit more it than that. I have glossed over a bunch of the engineering parts of why you don't just put a carb directly to each intake port with no equalization tube, but I am sure you get the drift. Unlike a v8 where you might try and make carbs progressive because your feeding a intake plenum that equally or close to equally feeding all 8 cylinders, the flathead engine has 3 intake ports each feeding 2 cylinders so progressive carbs just are not effective. On the flathead Mopar, with either 2 or 3 carbs you want them to produce the exact same fuel to feed each of the Siamese ports exactly the same. Its not progressive in terms of additional barrels or carbs, its progressive by pushing on the gas peddle. The key is making sure both or all three carbs are identical and that you have linkage that operates all of them exactly the same. Its a common misconception that they must be hard to keep synced. We have engines with tens of thousands of miles on them with multiple carbs and are never adjusted. George Asche's 1929 Desoto that he has owned since 1950 likely has an unbelievable amount of miles on it and likely the carbs were only touched when George has redone the engine. I own vehicles with 100,000 + miles on them and the linkage for the dual carbs has never touched. That has a lot to do with just how good Carter Ball and Ball carbs are.. We also get asked quite often about modifying the block to provide 6 intake ports, or using webers or other carbs, or running fuel injection. Dad and Grandfather with too much time on their hands, as my Mother would say, did modify a couple of engines to provide 6 intake ports. There were several intakes made including one with an 18" runner set on it, one with 6 side draft webers and one with modified hilborn fuel injection. At the end of the day, with various levels of success, nothing seems to outperform an Edmunds triple carb intake with riser blocks and 3 matched 1952-56 Truck carbs on them and maybe with some jetting changes. Of course, since then we have developed a couple of new cam profiles and of course the AoK triple which utilizes better and modern casting technology, as well as better flow bench testing and computer modelling that neither Chrysler or Eddy Edmunds had. Have we thought about digging out the 6 intake port block that is still in Dad's shop, well yah we have, but that is another project and a blog entry for another time.
    11 points
  5. February 6 1932 my good friend and second Dad, the Grand Master of Flathead Mopars - George Asche was born. Yesterday was his surprise Birthday Party and today is George's 85th Birthday! The picture below is rumored to be when George Graduated High School, but I think really that should be a diploma of future Flathead Chrysler, Desoto, Plymouth, Dodge/Fargo's mastery ! In the background is his Dad's Dodge truck which George still owns today! Happy Birthday George! Oh and if your wondering what George was up to for Birthday. Well - Lunch with his Boys at the shop (George III, Rob and Tim), then building some carbs up, then over to the machine shop for some consulting as the AoK dual carb intakes were rolling through 7 different station. The picture of George with the prototype and the very first one to be completed which of course is his birthday present.. lol A few pictures of the Dual Carb (23 1/2" USA small block) and Triple Carb (25 1/2" Canadian Big Block) intakes going through the steps, and being test fitted on blocks setup with exhausts so that every intake has been checked for a perfect fit. Then it was off for Supper in Knox (Horse Thief Capital of the World) and back to George's shop and setting up tomorrows trip, which is believe it or not, were heading down to pick up George's Uncle Harry Hiens - #90 who is in the Nascar Hall of Fame. Harry lives in Mars PA. Were bringing him up to check out the AoK intakes and take George's newest 1929 Desoto for a ride!
    11 points
  6. Well the pattern is complete! Attached are a couple of pictures. The one with the blue cores was just before Christmas, and the other two were actually taken last week. The 1st intake will actually be cast tomorrow and then a 2nd one will be cast with the integrated water tube early next week. It will be made with its own mini foam core for the water tube. The tube will be on the inside, or block side of the intake. In that way it becomes easy to make it optional, without changing the outside appearance. Those two should be off to the machine shop early next week. Once that work is completed and everything is checked and double checked dimension wise, we will be doing some testing to confirm our flow numbers and other factors. George will then get into finalizing linkage and all the stainless steel pieces will be manufactured, machined etc and ready to mate up with the completed intakes. Then assuming everything goes well, and there are not too many changes, we will give the thumbs up to start casting the 1st real production batch of intakes, then off to the machine shop. Right now I think we are still on track for delivery in March/April time frames. When they are done as we a have said, we will ship them based on 1st paid for, will be 1st shipped. As I have said before, If your concerned they will be sold out and you won’t get one, don't worry about that. But if you one of those people that has to have one before their buddy has one, well then get your order in to get in the line ! Right now there are about 1/2 dozen ordered. Yes there are many times that in terms of people inquiring about them and expressing interest.
    9 points
  7. In 1936 Eugen Herrigel wrote a 20 page essay about his experience using Daishadokyo to learn archery (under the direction of a master), or more specific, kyūdō (Japanese bow). He later put those writings into a book called "Zen in the Art of Archery". It was published in Germany in 1948 and in the U.S. in 1953. He was interested in how the skills used for sports could be improved by using Zen (meditation), repetitive motion, and less concessions thought. Don't think; let the subconscious do the work. He felt progressive learning was to be practiced until the skill needed was effortless. The title of his book has been used, in variation, extensively. Most famously for the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" was written by Robert Maynard Pirsig in 1974. A great book about individuals who looked at life form opposite ends of the spectrum, with the main character attempting to find the middle. They rode for a time across the country, from Minnesota to Northern California. "Sutherland" would represent the romantic character of the story (Zen). He believes all will be alright in the modern world without his help. His is the new motorcycle that needs no care, no maintenance. And if it does, others with the technology will fix it. He lives for the moment. "The Narrator" is the character who rides the old bike, maintains it, knows when something isn't right with it, and fixes it (Mr. Maintenance). Left Brain vs. Right Brain, the Artist vs. the Engineer..... This is where I find myself in the world of my “old truck”. My truck hasn’t died; it will live longer than I will be remembered. But its built from parts across several generations. The term I hear most is Vintage Mod. It looks like it was just pulled out of the barn and put on the street, but really, the original steel is hiding the present day technology. I can feel the conflict in my heart. I love to meditate on the history of my 1950 truck and where its been, what its seen, and where it may end up…..but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna drive 25 miles per hour all the way to town! The first book had put Zen into the art of learning Archery, the second put Zen against the world of mechanized technology. I want to be the guy who enjoys both worlds. Zen can mean to “live in the now” and preventive maintenance could mean the opposite, to think ahead and plan for the best or worst outcome. It’s during the PM work on my truck that I lose my Zen. There is no romance and no apparent reward when it’s done. It’s work, nothing more. Sometimes I drive it with my senses tuned only to the bad sounds and not the good. There is no perfection, and there is no definable “quality” is there? So I ignore the romance of the “old truck” and get the work done. But… … when its sitting perfectly still…..not making a sound….Zen finds its way back to my heart. Not touching a door, a handle or a steering wheel….I stare. My thoughts run deep into how I feel about something that could take me far away, and maybe even bring me back. I wonder if I will ever be able to feel that way when I’m actually driving the thing. Maybe not. Maybe it’s not supposed to be that way for me. I demand performance from my ride, not beauty. But man, is she a beauty. I could never say that too much. I wonder about the guy who first bought her. My truck was saved from the crusher, only 7 vehicles away. They had stopped crushing that weekend, and I bought two trucks that day. Two 1950 trucks, side by side. They were owned by the same guy, who put them directly in line, ready to be crushed. When I was driving on the highway, one truck on the trailer, I had Zen. When I drove the highway again with the other truck, I had Zen. Those two trucks made one good truck. A fast truck, a truck that needs lots of stuff other than Zen. Herrigel and Pirsig are good guys. They both studied philosophy and took the time to write books I enjoy. I read what they are saying, but question if I understand it. I strive to understand myself, but not too much…..I don’t want to miss the things that matter. The stuff that has nothing to do with me. The stuff I keep around the place to remind me “cool” was happening long before I was even thought of. Stuff like my truck. She’s been here awhile, she is here right now, and will be here when I’m gone. I want to find the patience, to give my truck the care it needs and the love it deserves. That part, I do understand. I have created an art to impatience. I need to change that, I want to slow down and let "it" in. I’m working on it…..I’m driving my old truck and working on my Zen. 48D
    8 points
  8. Finally the AoK George Asche Jr Ltd Edition Intake for the all 23 1/2" USA flathead Mopar engines has been completed and is in production. The pictures below has prototype linkage for the 1933-1938 Cars and all trucks and power wagons. You may notice that the left carb linkage bar has been cut short, and is not hooked to the left carb. That is strictly for prototype purposes and the production versions have a longer bar That allows for a linkage bar to come down from each carb to the common rail. It does shows how the serial number and linkage block provides the spot for stock linkage components to be mounted and then integrated with the new AoK linkages. That is critical for the earlier cars and trucks. You will notice for this version we are using the outside "wings" for linkage mounts. For newer cars where we want the linkage rail mounted on the inside, there are inside "wings" that are drilled and the rail is then on the inside wings. The outside block will then just be the serial number plate. Early cars and trucks are different in that they are on the outboard side of the intake, but they also have different connection points for the carbs to the common rail as compared to later model cars.. George has the linkage working perfectly for the several different applications. If you are going to be using this on the truck or older car you would just use your stock brackets and the AoK linkage will just integrate with it, to give you the desired upgrade from the single to dual carbs. Oh yes, and hot debate on the name.. Our original intent was to have the writing read from the passenger side although you may notice it was reversed to be read from the other side. In the production version, we have got the writing of "AoK George Asche Jr Ltd Ed" turned around and in a different font than the prototype. There were a couple of minor changes to the prototype, including making the outboard linkage mounting block slightly bigger, changing the name and a couple of internal items. Today the 1st batch of production intakes are being poured. That process will continue for the balance of the week, they are heat treated and shipped to us. We need to have the casted intakes machined, tapped and threaded which should see the 1st intakes ready to ship in the next 4-6 weeks. * Dec 3rd note: That casting turned out to be 1 being cast with the slight change talked about above. That one was heat treated and shipped to us. We called back and said why did you just ship us only 1. The reply, they wanted to be really sure it was correct. They were given the go to cast a production run and more of our Big Block Triples which have been sold out for months. They have no been all cast and are off for heat treating on Monday. The intake has been a long time coming, even more so given the prototype was completed almost a year and a half ago. Now - down to the brass tacks as my Grandfather would have said - Cost ! Feb 8 2017 Were committed to the pricing for the 1st shipment as we feel customers have waited a long time patiently for the product and that was our original We will be repricing them upwards slightly as the development cost and the casting price has escalated well beyond where the estimates were when we started. Just the casting price is up 73% which is an increase in the price of the aluminum. For linkage, if customers want us to make them linkage, it will start at $150 and really depends on what linkage is required. By that I mean if a customer needs linkage for a 1933 Desoto, and if they don't have the linkage block tab, we can get that piece and will sell it at our cost, but it is a relatively expensive part. If the customer has theirs and most do, then we will clean theirs up and paint it for them at no extra cost. If its linkage for a 1946-48 Plymouth, then it is very straight forward. Built carter ball and ball carbs are $195.00 each and the will be Siamese twins, meaning they will be exactly the same in their venture, throttle bore sizing and jetting, with all new kits in them and if a customer buys the entire package, George will mount the carbs, linkage, adjust everything and the customer wont have to pay anything extra for that or the carb gaskets. * Note if you already ordered your intake with carbs, the price quoted you is still in effect, even though the cost of full rebuild kits just went up significantly. Shipping is extra and is at cost, or the customer can use their shipping preference and if they have an account utilize that. We don't charge for packing or handling. Our address is George Asche/Tim Kingsbury 1693 fertigs Road, Fertigs, PA 16364 I can be reached directly at Fargopickupking@yahoo.com and we will accept paypal if it is send via family and friends so were not paying the paypal fee as there is literally no margin on these 1st batch of intakes. We will also accept a cheque, money order or if your driving by, cash! A few notes: 1) We will also be receiving a small number of the AoK triple intakes for the Canadian 25 1/2" big blocks. They have been sold out for over a year now so if you were looking for one of those we will be able to ship finished triples by year end. . 2) Headers made from OEM exhaust manifolds are available for both the USA small blocks and the Canadian big blocks. The last picture is from my 1949 Plymouth Business coupe which has a Canadian 265 ci motor in it and the AoK Triple. Its the same basic look for either the 23 1/2" small block or 25 1/2" big blocks. 3) We now have a source for reproduction GMC (not the Chevy versions with major air restrictions). You can get replacement air filters for them and they are available in Chrome tops or Black. The Black versions are $125.00 and Chrome ones are $138.00. You can see them here in a video posted by Fred Buhay. 4) The Big Note to be aware of: We expect to be able to ship finished intakes early next week, but there is not some big pile of built carbs or linkage sets made up and ready to ship and George hand makes every piece of linkage and rebuilds every carb completely from top to bottom. So if your looking for linkage or carbs or both, on top of an intake, get your order in early as I expect to see a big back log in short order. To date we have note taken orders or money, but have put people on a waiting list. Everyone on that waiting list were alerted 48 hours ago and right now 1/2 of the 1st production run has been spoken for. There is no fear that we will be unable to get people intakes, but the question of when we can supply is potentially a question. Finally if you would like us to call you and answer questions about either intake, we are happy to. Just drop me an email to fargopickupking@yahoo.com with your phone number and when is a good time to contact you and George or I will give you a call. below is the AoK triple on my 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe.
    8 points
  9. As suggested by Captain Fred in his blog entry on his 1940 Plymouth build, he wanted something done on cams. Well, that can be quite a topic, and while you can find all kinds of article on the "inter-web" on how cams work in an engine, my goal is to put a Flathead Mopar slant on the topic. Of course as my Grandfather used to say, an engine is nothing more and a large vacuum pump. Your cam turns lifting up intake valves, as pistons are being turned by a crank and that creates a vacuum. The vacuum sucks in whatever is near by into the engine. The cam turns a little further, closing the intake valve, we "light a candle" to whatever is in then in the cylinder and after what we hope is a controlled explosion, the cam turns a little further lifting exhaust valves and those pistons coming up push out whatever is left out of the engine.. In the V8 world a great deal of people used to think that making power, aside from the "no replacement for displacement" concept was putting in a wild cam. As time went by in the racing world, while the cam was important, we know it is the heads that are a much bigger factor to the V8 world. Sure superchargers or turbo chargers, trying to jam more stuff into the cylinder and the type of fuel you use for your controlled explosion also became a big factor, but in the world of cam vs heads it is the heads that lead that world. In the flathead Mopar world, fuel isn't entering via the heads, and so it is definitely a cam that leads this world over the heads. Next lets talk about stock lift and duration and even there, Chrysler Corporation made a huge number of cam profiles so the second I toss this out here, its easy for someone to say - "my stock cam is different" and yes I know that. But in high level terms, a cam has two major factors and a few lesser factors. Lift and most of the p15-d24s were a 375 lift and then duration. Lift is how high the cam lifts the valve from its closed position, and duration is the degrees of the 360 degree circle that it keeps those valves open. In other terms how high we lift the valves and for how long we keep them open, whether intake or exhaust valves. Again high level - you are limited by how high you can lift the valves in a flathead by the head. Lift the valve too high and it hits the head. On the duration side, there becomes a point where you have kept the valves open too long and it starts to effect the actual vacuum level in your engine. Remember again, a big vacuum pump. as we open and keep open valves we loose the seal on the vacuum. Of course we do that because we want to get and fuel and air mixture into the engine. The change in duration also does things to the torque curve on your engine, but that is a whole different level of the discussion and I am trying to keep this more on the basic side. Again in general if we keep the intake valves open longer and lift the intake valves higher, we get the opportunity to get more fuel/air into the engine. More fuel and air, and yes, clearly effected by the compression ratio, the more "bang" when we ignite the mixture with the spark plug firing. Now, in the cause and effect department, generally as we raise up the valves higher (aka the lift) and hold those valves open longer (increased duration) we tend to change the rpm idle and things become what most of us call "lumpy". In the good old mopar v8 days of the 1970s I am sure lots remember pulling up to the lights with a guy running a "cammed up" motor and it was idling rough, shaking, coughing an weezing and yes that was also how the timing was set, but it was the duration of the cam that was causing that. When the light turned green and they hammered it, assuming the timing was set correctly, the goal was for that high lift cam to allow for a lot more fuel to get into the engine dramatically raising the RPM and turning the lumpy idling engine into a smooth running race engine. Yes I am isolating and slanting this entire discussion towards cams, when timing can also be a huge factor. No better example being when Big Daddy Don Garlitz was forced to use a 426 hemi after they actually ran out of 392 hemis. He couldn't get the 426 to run as well, and out of frustration he advanced the timing way way beyond what anyone would have thought would work. In fact Don often tells the story that he intended to blow the "blanking" thing up. But as the engine rev'd up that advanced timing suddenly brought out the inner Monster of the 426 Hemi and all of a sudden the 392 Hemi was obsolete in Don's mind! Back to our cams and remembering that the generation of car cams we are talking about were 375 lift. There are two school of thoughts on creating high performance cams. 1st is to raise the lift gradually and some pretty famous high performance cams raise the lift to 380 an and then increase the duration to 242 degrees. The 2nd is to raise the lift up as extreme as we can and also increase the duration. in the 1950s a pretty famous performance cam used a 400 lift. and 250 degrees of duration. The other factor without diving into the details to much, is what I call the split. A great deal of cams have the intakes open and the exhaust close at exact same time, but some use a split. So for example an Esky 3/4 miles cam the intake opens intake valves at 20 degrees and closes them at 50 degrees and the exhaust opens at 57 degrees and closes at 13 degrees. The Schroller full race cam - again a stock car racing - Higher lift and increased duration the Intake - has the intake valves open at 18 degrees and closes at 54 degree. The exhaust opens at 54 degrees and closes at 18 degrees. If you are using a turbo or a blower, you often want a period of time (number of degrees) in which the intake is close and the exhaust hasn't yet opened, or visaversa. The age old question is of course - so how much lift can I have before the engine sounds like it is misfiring. Almost always visions of those 1970 v8 engines coughing and wheezing are the reason for thing that. In reality the flathead just doesn't really act like a great deal of those badly timed, over cammed engines.. lol The reality is in the flathead world it is more a case of the rpm rises at idle than it is about it sounding like the 1970;s v8. Of course most want a cam that sounds like it is rock stock, idles like the engine isn't running, but then they want a Top Fuel Monster to come alive when they hit the throttle. That becomes a delicate balance and is always a compromise. So lets talk extreme. Maybe there is a wilder cam out there, but if there is we have never seen it. Ill keep the origins of this cam a little bit of a mystery, but the cam we use in the Velociraptor is the most extreme cam we know of. I chuckle these days as this phrase that seems to be in vogue again, but decades ago my Grandfather used to refer to a car that had this cam as "The Hot Mess Express". Today we call if the AoK Velociraptor Grind . It is tough to get it to idle below 2000 rpm and we have with a ton of work have actually gotten our dragster to idle around 1800 rpm. It will wind up to North of 7200 rpm. You can run an engine on alcohol and will need 3 carbs and need to shift to 6 exhaust pipes for at least 42", to get it to run properly. Its lift is are you ready, 446 and its duration is 280 degrees. At this point we definitely have issues with vacuum and it would be extremely rough at idle, thus increasing the RPM just to get it to idle. For those that figure that isn't possible, by reply is gather up and bring all the cash you can find, because I am happy to say - "How much would you like to bet!". Here us a link to 3 videos of the Worlds Fastest Dinasour Now from the extreme, to lets say a mid-50s truck cam which topped out around 3600 rpm, becomes the topic where many recipe's for performance have been made. Some by Chrysler Corporation for everything from cars, to boats, to combines and even Massey Harris 101 Super tractors powered by Chrysler Flatheads. The later were built for high torque and low rpm, which is great for plowing a field, but achieving a high way speed, not so much! Today I think we have a catalogue of around 25 cam profiles. Of those we have cam patterns that we use , made for about 6 or 7 cams and of those, the number drops down to 3 or 4 for most engine builds. I think right now among the Kingsbury motorized items we have 14 different cams in use. In the Asche fleet of motorized items I am going to say they have 7 different cam profiles. The major difference, lol, yes I have more junk... I have a marine version, several truck versions, a combine, a water pump, a welder, a compressor which actually uses 4 cylinders to run the engine and 2 cylinders to make air, and an engine that used to be in a certain motorcycle.. lol.. Oh and I have an actual cam from a tank engine, but it isn't in an engine. I could make a pattern if someone ever needed one ! For Fred's engine, we used what many call an Esky 3/4 race cam. The 3/4 stands for stock car racing on a 3/4 mile long track. This is what I today call, a fairly mild cam and we likely sell the most of these. I suspect part of that reason is as I talked about earlier, that people think back to those lumpy, poorly idling v8 engines with wild cams.. The .380 lift cam is going to give Fred 4500 rpm quickly. Its been around a long time and has a quicker rev over stock and was used historically for stock car racing. As you can likely figure out by reading this thread so far, we likely sell the most of these because most guys think they want power..... but..... they want to start it and not hear the engine running or running like a sewing machine. Tons of guys call this cam a race cam.. For me, its far from that. The tech side = 242 degrees of duration and .380 lift Finally I will end the cam conversation for now, with the cam I am using in my 1949 Plymouth. It is what I call a little lumpy but still very much streetable and no, it is nothing like a 1970s over cammed v8 with bad or good timing.. lol but it is definitely aggressive, with a .435 lift and 258 degrees of duration. This cam was developed from tweeking a full race cam through the 1950s and 1960s and was what Harry Hein #90 (NASCAR hall of fame) used at the end of his career. Harry who is still alive would be the uncle of one George Asche Jr. The intake valves open at 20 degrees and close at 58 degrees, while the exhaust opens at 58 degrees and close at 20 degrees. Here it is in my 1949, when it was started for the very first time, so its not tuned and its running 47" straight pipes out of the headers. It is a bored our 265 ci 25 1/2" Canadian big block flathead And here is the same cam in a 230 ci USA 23 1/2" small block I hope that helps a little Fred, without confusing things too much! Now what is in that Engine of yours, I can not confirm or deny what was originally put in the engine is what is in it now.. Who knows what happens in the middle of the night in George's shop... Only the shadow, or in this case the 1929 Desoto knows for sure.. lol
    7 points
  10. I was asked if I could start a Nostalgic Chrysler Flathead Racing thread. Of course, Plymouth, Dodge, Desoto, Fargo and Chryslers are all clearly included as are things like a friend of the families who have a Flathead Chrysler in a Model T Ford.. If it has a Mopar Flathead in it, well it likely belongs here. Of course from Stock Car to Drag Racing, Walter Chrysler's engineers have had their fingers in the racing pie pretty much since the birth of the Chrysler Corporation. Along the way the "up and coming" Flathead Chrysler earned its reputation for taking on and blowing away the competition with V8's and more. Along the way, I hope this becomes a spot those who once had closely guarded secrets on how they got a "little more" out of their Flathead Mopar might finally tell all.. I know from the AoK racing family the 50s were the start and the golden age for George Asche and Eddy Kingsbury. George who in the 50's would campaign his 1929 Desoto, powered with a highly modified 265 Chrysler in the famed "Flying Mile" on Daytona beach where he would go undefeated. George raced V8's and even a v12, in a competition that say a big Chrysler Hemi. In the end George whose top speed was 142 mph.. Yes 142 mph would become the gold standard at the Flying Mile that season. While there is no longer Drag Racing on the beach, George still owns the 1929 Desoto, and it still has no problem meeting all the speed limits in North America. On the north of the 49th Parallel flathead racing say the building engines driven by some legendary stock car racers, among those the Legendary Jimmie Howard who was one of the 1st Canadians whose full time job was racing stock cars. That also saw the very 1st multi-carb car in stock car racing history, when Wellington Motors in Guelph Ontario received their 1st "nudge nudge wink wink" dual carb, dual exhaust manifold set that went onto a stock car in the spring of 1952. Armed with the Chrysler Engineering parts Manual supplied by my Grandfather, my Dad waited for inspect to defend the usage of the dual car and dual exhaust combination as it technically met the rules of the day. So as promised.. here is the start of the blog entry.. If you wish, post away.. if you want to email me stuff that you want me to post on your behalf or as part of the blog, feel free to send them to me at - fargopickupking@yahoo.com
    7 points
  11. In creating this spotters guide for Flathead Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Desoto, Fargo intakes my hope was to show related information, pictures of various intakes, and attach any technical information and perhaps vintage ads for them. I am starting it here in hopes of putting something together with the help of many members and then maybe move it to the technical archives. If there is lots of information coming forward, then maybe it becomes a given thread for each different intake For now will do it as a grouping. Why do it here ? Only because I or someone can edit and compile. So 1st up Eddy Edmunds stuff - in my mind the Godfather of custom Mopar flathead intakes.. Attached the picture of 3 of the Edmunds intakes. the dual carb Chrysler, Desoto and Dodge Truck (25 1/2" flathead) and the Edmunds triple for the Chrysler, Desoto and Dodge Truck (25 1/2" flathead) Courtesy of : http://p15-d24.com/user/296-ralph-d25cpe/ The Edmunds instruction manual pages with Linkage Courtesy of: http://p15-d24.com/u...5770-61farnham/ A 1st generation Edmunds dual carb intake for the Plymouth and Dodge (23 1/2" flathead) A 3rd generation Edmunds dual carb intake for the Plymouth and Dodge (23 1/2" flathead) Courtesy of http://p15-d24.com/user/6715-dwest999/ Here is a 2nd generation Edmunds dual carb intake for the Plymouth and Dodge (23 1/2" flathead) with integrated water and for two barrel carbs. This is the Edmunds "Pancake" Intake
    7 points
  12. My paternal grandfather was a farmer/pastor in the early 1900's. My grandmother was known for her life of prayer. One summer afternoon they had a major hail and wind storm. This was in Western Nebraska. The next morning at the breakfast table, Grandma noted, "Well Henry, we've got a lot of praying to do", to which Grandpa said, "No, we've got a lot of work to do!" When I was in high school we put up hay on a large meadow. Some neighbors hayed the meadow next to us. In the morning we could not mow hay til the dew dried off. Elmer, the neighbor would periodically grasp a handful of hay and twist it. When a sample was dry he would say. "Well Paul, the sooner to war; the sooner to peace". So now I've got some work to do and a war to be fought. With the forum soldiers along side me the battles will be won thus the war as well. I think the kitty died of smoke, that will be a tough one. The fire is ironic because I was doing a thorough cleaning before I continued, just to prevent such. When I clean I throw trash in one direction and good items go on a large temporary table. Clean rags here, dirty rags there, and crying towels over my shoulder. I was rebuilding a couple of carburetors in the area where the fire started and so I wonder . . . I have an engine on a stand in front of the truck so it certainly protected the grille. One tire is down the others still up, maybe not safe anymore, but holding air. The wires in the cab are toast but the steering wheel is fine, I suspect the gauges will be suspect. So new wiring harness, not interested in cutting and pasting, and anything rubber or plastic as well. I can feel the adrenalin starting to fade so going to take five. Then plan my next seven weeks so I can get the truck ready to drive to the BBQ. Guess then I will name her Phoenix. Maybe everyone can bring a couple rattle cans of paint and we can paint it Saturday morning.
    7 points
  13. One of the quickest ways to get a quick health check on your electrical system is watch your ammeter! It will tell you all kinds of valuable information if you know how to read it! Most modern cars now use a voltmeter to provide limited information about your electrical system. Or even worse just a warning light to let you know your alternator has failed. Because voltmeters are now the norm the skill of interpreting the information the ammeter provides is becoming a lost art. Let’s walk through a driving sequence to understand what the ammeter will reveal about your electrical system. Entering the car your the ammeter should be reading "0", straight up. You may see a quick defection to the minus side if your have an interior light that comes on with opening the door. It's at "0" because you are not using any or generating any current (engine is not running). When you turn on the ignition you will see the needle move slightly to the minus (discharge) side indicating a discharge of a couple amps. This means your ignition system is getting power. When you hit the starter the ammeter will deflect sharply to the left (minus 20-30 amps) as the starter spins. The energy for the starter is being drawn straight from the battery. As the engine fires the ammeter will quickly move to the plus side (charging) of the gauge in the 20-30 amp range. The energy that was drawn down from the battery while starting is quickly being replaced by charging current from the generator. As you start driving the voltage regulator will manage the amount of charge needed to go back into the battery. After around five minutes of driving typically the battery will start to approaches full charge and you will see a reduction of charge rate down to 1-3 amps on the plus side. At this point the battery has fully recovered from the starter discharge and now the generator is putting out only enough current to maintain the charge. The voltage regulator manages the on-going charge rate.

 While your driving night time is coming and it is getting cooler. You turn on your headlights and start up the heater fan. Immediately you see the needle momentarily jump to the minus side, then come back to 1-3 amps on the charge side as the regulator manages the generator output to meet the increased demand. As you come to a stop sign and the engine speed drops, the ammeter will move sharply to the minus side, often 15-20 amps down. You notice the lights dim and the heater motor may slow. Right now your generator is not creating enough power to offset the increased load of the headlight and heater motor and is drawing backup power from the battery. This lack of sufficient power generation can fully discharge a battery if allowed to go for a long period. The short stop at the stoplight however, is not harmful. In fact, you can always bump the manual throttle to bring the idle up enough to stop the discharge. As soon as you accelerate from the stop the generator will again start generating sufficient current to replenish the energy pulled from the battery (expect a jump to 5-10 amps charge for a short period) before settling back to a trickle charge of a couple amps while driving.
 
So how can you use if for some basic troubleshooting? When you first get in and step on the break pedal, the ammeter should deflect slightly to discharge as the brake lamp lights. This lets you know the battery has some charge. No deflection? Battery is probably dead or disconnected. Also when you turn on the key if you don't see a slight discharge indication your ignition is probably not connected or functional. If when turning on the key and immediate your have a full discharge (minus 35 amps) you have a dead short that needs to be repaired. Immediately turn off the key and begin trouble shooting to find the electrical short. Otherwise you risk the very real danger of a wiring fire. Might start your troubleshooting at the headlight switch as they have historically been trouble spots due to corrosion resistance in the connectors. If you are running and suddenly see a continuous discharge usually this indicates a voltage regulator issue. Try tapping the regulator case with a screwdriver handle to see if a relay is sticking and it starts charging again. On teh other hand if you see a continuous rate of high charge (> 20 amps) that never goes down you may have a battery starting to fail (it's not taking or holding a charge) or a voltage regulator failing. Either way it's time to troubleshoot the generator and regulator charging circuit. 

By watching the action of your ammeter your can easily tell if your electrical system is functioning correctly. It will tell you if you have a short, your battery is full charged, how fast it is charging and how much current your are consuming while driving. Compared to a voltmeter which simply gives system voltage, ammeters allow you active monitor your electrical system. 

Share what on the road lessons have you learned by paying attention to your ammeter!
    6 points
  14. Well lots have asked about AoK where that came from, and what is the story behind the Asche and Kingsbury's and to be honest it really isnt as complex as some may think. The Asche thread dates back into 40's and 50's when many members of this branch of AoK were busy driving mopars. George's Dad was a Dodge and Chrysler man, as was his Uncle Harry Hines (who is still alive today). George worked as a mechanic at various garages, as well as started helping his uncle with his stock car. As time passed George became the crew chief for the legandary #90 car, as "Uncle Harry" dazzled the tracks in PA winning race after race with his flathead Mopars. I will do a blog on Harry sometime, and maybe do an interview of him for the blog. Harry was inducted into the Nascar hall of fame a few years back and a big reason for that was his nephew and crew chief George Asche Jr. George purchased his 1929 Desoto in the early 50's and wasn't long before he had built a race 265 ci chrysler motor for it. Complete with Edmunds head, Edmunds triple carb intake, a custom cam and oh yes, bored 125 thou ! He rolled on to Daytona beach in I think it was 1955 where they still had the legendary "flying mile" drag race right on the beach. George had a hard time actually getting them to take his 29 desoto with a 6 cylinder serious, but he eventually talked his way into an entry spot by challenging one of the favourites. Well it didnt take long before they went from not taking George serious, to the challengers lined up as George won race heat after race heat. By the end of the Meet, George's Desoto was the only undefeated car, topping out with a mind blowing 142 mph pass. The cool thing is well, the 1929 desoto is still in George's possession and I will attach a couple of pictures. Most notorious was George daring my Dad Eddy to get in the back of the rumble seat for a quick pass. Dad jumped in and it was game on. On the Kingsbury side, my grandfather was a Chrysler man involved in some wild stuff including a highly modified Henderson Motorcycle equipped with a Plymouth 6 cyclinder motor. No I am not kidding, but that is too as story for another time. My Father Eddy naturally became a Mopar guy, and his 1st car was a 1941 plymouth business coupe. He apprenticed with Mopar dealership in Georgetown Ontario, where he spent his spare time working on first stock cars and later dragsters and eventually top fuel cars. The owner of the dealer, said to him his talent exceeded what the dealership needed and he sponsored him back to school where he would eventually get his automotive engineering papers. It would be cool if the Kingsbury's and Asche's had met up at some track running head to head, feuding like some modern day Hatfield and McCoy's, but unfortunately that never happened. That meeting would actually take place much later. My Dad and I had went on a quest to Western Canada in search of his Grandfather's (on his mothers side) homestead in Saskatewan. He has been out and tried to find it many times with no success. So he and I flew out to Winnipeg (also knicknamed Winter-peg) and made the trek to a small town called Bulyea Saskatchewan. I said well lets hit two spots - the local bar and the local post office. The long story short, the post master in the town, lived dead across the road from what turned out to be his grandfathers. On the big piece of property there was only a grainery and barn left standing, while the rest of the 800 acres was used for cash cropping wheat ! Inside that barn was a 1952 Fargo grain truck. A truck which later on I would purchase and surprise my Dad with a birthday present. The truck wasnt his grandfathers. His grandfather homesteaded their in the later 1800's, and when he retired he moved to Ontario and settled on a farm, right across the road from the Kingsbury homestead which was setlled in 1795 and I still live there. But the grandson of the gentleman who bought the farm from my great grandfather had purchased the fargo brand new, and when he retired from farming in 1989 that truck had only went 14,250 miles. Its entire life was hauling grain from the farm over to elevator #1 in Bulyea. The 1952 fargo while was only 1 of about 50 Fargo and Dodge trucks in the Kingsbury Collection,was the apple in my fathers Eye because he got it for his birthday from his son and Grandson Daniel. One of the things we immediately started to look for was a factory dual carb and dual exhaust setup for the truck. While it really didnt come with it from the factory, the truck cried out to have one.. lol. So in that quest I found myself at the All Chrysler Nationals In Carlisle PA looking for among other things, a dual carb and dual intake setup. It was the 3rd time I had been there to the Meca of all Car shows (yes another topic).. and as I turned up row E, in then spot 5 and 6, there was George and his good friend and Model T enthusiast Bob Wearham . In fact I took a picture before I left and I have attached it here. For those who have visited George.... maybe you can guess what year this was ! In any case that is where the Kingsbury's met the Asche's.. Row E at the All Chrysler Nationals or as I often call it ChryslerCarlisle. The touching piece of that story was later on, George gifted a factory orignal dual carb intake and exhaust that he has restored to my Dad. From that point forward, well there has been a lot of things happen, a lot of projects, and a lot of great fun and fellowship. We were looking for a team name and George came up with the name AoK which stands for Asche over Kingsbury and lets face it KoA was already taken by someone.. rofl and didnt sound near as good as AoK. For a number of years you would see on Row E George and Eddy, side by side solving the worlds problems and trading war stories as I call them. The PA Dodge Motor home also referred as the Southern Mopar Nut crib and beside it the Ontario Dodge Motor home, also referred as the Northern Mopar Nut crib. Now having said that, it seems there was been Southern Mopar Nuts (Asche's) hanging in or sleeping in the Northern Mopar Nuts (Kingsbury's) crib, or visaversa on many occasion. Just like while it was the Asche's that introduced us to Smth's slab bacon, it is now quite often that the Kingsbury's are hauling it down to the Asche's as the factory store is in Erie Pa and on our way from the Kingsbury's homestead to the Asche's homestead. So there folks is the story and honestly that is the short version. Tim
    6 points
  15. I like to race. The 1950 Dodge Pilot-House Truck I built for myself allows me to do that. I took a stock frame, gave it a 1985 Dodge Diplomat front-end, a 1997 Ford T-bird IRS, a 408 stroker with a 850 dbbl pumper with mechanical secondaries, a 904 tranny, and a rollcage. It's a fast old truck.When I dust it off and check the equipment...I sometimes wonder why I do it. Why does anyone like to race? And I'm not talking about those who make a living at it, or those who make money off of others. I'm talking about the guy who spends his "free time money" on going fast. There really isn't anything heroic about it. It's hard work and when things break, it gets even harder. In my case, it's not a bucket list deal, I've raced plenty. It's not pride, or a need to get back on the horse. So maybe I'm asking myself a deeper question? I have always believed it's Fear. When I get to that point whenI feel like I can't control it anymore, I get afraid. It's not a vehicle anymore, but a place to challenge my nerves and self-preservation. I respect my truck. It can kill me, and it can kill others. It is not a toy. Any vehicle has that risk attached to it. But when you put yourself in a position to "see what will happen"....it seems different.I've asked other racers why they do it, and the standard joke is, "it's a disease." But I've found lately, that the best guys to talk about speed and fear with are vetern war pilots. And that's really what I wanted to share. I've been fortunate enough to work in an area where a lot of pilots trained during WW2, Korea and, to a lesser extent, Viet Nam. My favorite pilot is my Uncle of course. I remember speaking with him about his experience as a fighter pilot for the Air Force. He flew a F-104 Starfighter. A fighter jet capable of going Mach 2...twice the speed of sound. He told me the most fear he ever experienced was not even during a flight, but rather sitting on the runway, ready to end the world during the Cuban Missle Crisis in 1962. He had been a pilot for 2 years and was 25. He liked flying, but wasn't concerned about the speed so much as getting his job done right. We talked about a lot of things, but when we talked about racing, he said it's amazing. He didn't know how I could do it, because it looked so dangerous. I laughed and said, "I've never gone Mach 2," and he replied, "I don't know...a hi-tech jet vs. a chopped up car with roll bars..." We laughed, I got his point. He gave up his wings in 1984 "to let the younger guys handle it". He retired as a Colonel. Another pilot I spoke with was a radioman/bombadier/gunner of a TBF bomber, who fought in World War 2. If you don't know the TBF/TBM Avenger, it has 3 in the flight crew. The radioman sits on a bench in the middle with the navigation/radio equipment, and would crawl through a "tunnel" to operate the rear "stinger" gun. The turret gunner and radioman had no access to the pilot. Talking with him I said, "diving out of the sky, getting shot at, and having no chance to recover the plane if the pilot got injured?" Now that's scary. He said two things that stuck with me. First, being in the TBF was realitive to his stituation. At his hieght of 5'7, he was worried he'd either be put in a tank or a ball turret of a B-17. He was more than happy with his assignment. Second, he entered the war at sixteen....no one checked his age. In his words, "Through the whole war, I was to stupid to know I should be scared." He is a vet of the Guadalcanal Campaign, and many others. Both those guys shared kind words about my love of racing, and I thanked them for preserving the freedom that allows me to do so. The thing I learned most from my uncle is that fear is an excellent co-pilot, and should be respected. And my friend who flew in the TBM? He cherishes the long life he's had so far, and studies philosophy as a hobby, to find maybe even a little bit more to the meaning in life. What he shared with me, was his understanding of balance and perspective. Something I try and do everyday now. So why do I race? Maybe I really don't know why, and maybe I never will....but lately, I've used the question to start some really great conversations, with some really great people. 48Dodger
    6 points
  16. Going to start a new blog regarding my B1 project instead of posting to the WIP page on the "About" section. Just a lot faster and easier than editing html web pages! A little history, I purchased the truck, a B1C, in early 1999 from the son of the original buyer. The truck had spent it's entire life working on a farm in the Dunbar, Nebraska area. It even came with a copy of the January, 1949 Certificate of Title! I had the truck shipped out to California and the seller had been honest about the condition so I knew I had some work ahead to get it road worthy. Carb rebuild, brake overhaul, radiator flush, tires and tune up and I was back on the road. About two weeks after putting it back into service I was coming back from a dump run and suddenly had no power to the rear axle. Tow truck home and dropped the pumpkin to get out the piece of broken axle in the third member. Probably from metal fatigue from all those years of hard work on the farm! I drove the truck as is for about six years. It did have some bigger issues I knew I would need to address in the not to distant future. Had a crack in the water jacket but stop leak seemed to keep it under control. Smoked badly and needed an overhaul. And I was having to replace the head gasket about once a year. Around 2005 I acquired a B1D parts truck, no engine but full drive line and running gear. After investing this model a bit more I decided to "upgrade" to a 1 ton, with the optional dual 20" rear wheels and a rebuild 230. This model is listed in the factory brochure as a D-116 Code 75 Like all projects life sometimes gets in the way and it is still not finished. Good news is I have all the parts, either acquired or fabricated. Now I just need to get it finished and back on the road! I be posting updates as I reach a new milestones but for a starter I will post a some pics to get your interest. More to come in the months ahead!
    6 points
  17. I've never written a blog before, but I do have the ability to share what's on my mind to those who will listen. So I guess this is the same thing, only different. To be a blogger, I can see a need to be somewhat entertaining as well as informative. In other words, make sense and don't turn it into a dang lecture about what I think is right or wrong. Yet, to do that, it might be helpful to have an artist's "eye" to create something people can enjoy, without feeling patronized. Lord knows I'm not starting my entries out with opening lines like "Dear Diary" or "You know"....I just can't put that kind of pressure on myself. I will do what I can with "the writer" I might be, "the thinker" inside us all, and the artist I actually am. I can only share how I see things.....really....that's it. I'm not an analyst, reporter, or anchorman. I am the man on the street who never got his interview. So here I am. This is my marker. I'm gonna go think of stuff, try and create an idea, then write it down.......should be fun.
    6 points
  18. Many site visitors appear to arrive with the pre-conceived opinion that some technologies because they are old, are outdated, obsolete and functionally replaced by newer technology. Case in point are two common forum topics, oil bath air cleaners and bypass oil filters. Both these technologies have been around for many decades and in fact perform better than the "newer" technologies of full flow spin-on oil filters and paper air filters. Let take a closer look at both. 
 I ride and wrench on dirt bikes and quads for fun. I mostly ride in the California coastal mountains, noted for dry, hot and very dusty conditions. All my machines use oil soaked foam air filters because they are more effective than paper filters. When our cars and trucks were first sold dirt roads were the norm, not the exception. Chrysler used the most cost effective solution of the day, oil bath air cleaners. They provide very effective cleaning and unrestricted air flow. They are easy and cheap to maintain. So why would you want to change to a less effective and more expensive paper air filter? Most common reason is they are a lot of maintenance and the oil spills out of the pan and into the carb. Both reasons are not very good! Back in the 40's and 50's vehicle owners drove on a lot (including the occasional oil/pcp waste oil covered) on dirt roads and you needed to maintain oil bath air filters on a regular basis. Today we just drive on pavement. I personally have seen the air filter oil go two years in service and still have clear clean oil in the filter pan. The extra maintenance argument doesn’t hold for today’s use. I have driven mopar flatheads since 1968. I have never seen a properly serviced oil bath air cleaner leak oil into the carb or on the engine. If yours puked oil over the engine then you overfilled the air cleaner oil pan. Pretty simple solution to that problem! And don't forget oil bath air cleaners do a better job of feeding your engine clean filter air than a paper filter while being cheaper to maintain. One for old tech!



 Now lets move to often maligned bypass filter. This is the source of so many incorrect internet myths the conversation becomes funny. "They only filter part of your engine oil..." or "Look at how small the piping is, how can it clean all the oil" and "It take forever for all your oil to go through a bypass filter". The best myth is full flow spin on filters do a better job of filtering than bypass filters. None of the above statement are true. First a brief explanation of how a bypass filter works. Your oil system is a closed system under pressure created by the oil pump. Oil circulates through the engine in the oil gallery. You can see the galley running along the driver’s side of the engine. This pressurized oil flow provides lubrication to main, rod and cam bearing so the journals actually "float" on a thin film of oil so they don't overheat and fail. This pressurized oil system also has a safety valve in case oil pressure gets too high, the oil pressure relief valve. The bypass oil filter taps into the oil gallery and dirty oil is piped to the bypass filter under pressure. (The same pressure your see on your oil pressure gauge). It is then filtered and readied for return to the oil pan. Bypass filters actually filter much smaller particles than full flow spin-on filters. Full flow filters are plumbed to directly feed oil to the mains and they have to pass high volumes of oil or the bearing will fail. As a result they can't filter to the same degree as a bypass filter. When the clean oil exits a bypass filter it goes back to the oil pan via the pressure relief valve. The pressure relief valve acts as an oil traffic cop, that is, if the engine oil pressure is high enough the pressure relief valve opens and clean oil flows back to the oil pan. If oil pressure is low, like at idle, the valve stays shut maintaining minimum safe engine oil pressure bypassing clean oil return from the bypass filter setup. Now lets address a couple of the myths. Think about how often your engine runs with minimum oil pressure. That is the only time clean oil is not returning to the oil pan from the filter. Basically anytime above idle and your bypass filter is working. What about those skinny oil lines, they can't move much oil, right? Wrong! The oil in moving under 20-60 pounds of pressure. On my B1 I once had a cracked (not broken) oil return line. I lost over 3 quarts in about 45 seconds. Based on that measure I thing it is safe to say all engine oil is being filtered every couple minutes the engine is above idle. Modern full flow filters for modern engines must be able to pass large volumes of oil to provide full lubrication for mains and rods, plus have a bypass when the filters are dirty and clogged. They just don't filter dirty oil as well as a bypass filter. Bypass filters are still used extensively on long haul trucks, plus their are many aftermarket kits to add a functional bypass filter setup to modern engines. Why? They do a better job of filtering then a full flow filter!

 Lastly, what about those remote mount kits for using a spin-on filter instead of the stock bypass system? They basically replace the bypass filter with an easier to change spin-on filter. My question is why would you want to replace a very efficient bypass filter with a spin on that typically allows particles 3 times larger to be returned to the oil pan? 

Like I said, old technology doesn't always mean obsolete technology! And if your engine doesn't have a bypass filter setup we have used units for sale in the P15-D24 Store. They also show up on eBay all the time.
    6 points
  19. Overview: We keep being asked about Mopar Overdrives, so I thought I would do a blog on spotting overdrives. I know from the start this is not the definitive guide, thus I have titled it - "The Rough Field Spotters Guide for Overdrives" and this will start off being slanted towards Plymouths ! This will definitely grow as I need to take some pictures of earlier (pre-1942) overdrives to put up. If you want to add replies with more information, super, more than welcome. If you want to send me pictures and add them in, again more than welcome. I will be putting a list of contributors on the bottom. I say that because my intention if to keep adding to this. As well I will put up a few pictures that I happen to have close at hand, but will adjust, add and change pictures as time goes on. I may also put in a tab with links to other sites, article etc on overdrives as I find them ! Chapter 1: Chrysler started using Overdrive Transmissions in 1934 and Walter Chrysler described it something to the effect, that the use of true overdrive transmissions were made for high speed cruising and award-winning economy should drivers opt for moderate operation. "Walter P. Chrysler at White House (cropped)" by Harris & Ewing, photographer There were several generation of early overdrives used prior to Walter Chrysler's death on 1940, starting with the introduction in 1934 and there use would extend to every part of the Mopar family before the retirement of the L-Head of Flathead Engine Line. We will concentrate here on the early overdrives, leading up to the "peak" of the Borg Warner Electric Overdrive coming out in the 1952 Plymouth Car line with the R10G1 Borg Warner overdrive attached to a 3 speed manual transmission. The R10G1 was used fro 1952 to 1956, when Plymouth then changed to the longer R10J1 Borg Warner overdrive transmission. Along the way in the 1952 Canadian Dodge and Fargo heavy trucks a 5 speed transmission was introduced with an option of having 5th gear as overdrive. Teamed up with a 2 speed rear axle, it provided quite a range for hauling heavy payloads, or rolling down the highway empty. Chapter 2: - The history of the overdrives (short version) On Monday April 13, 1931 when the United States Patent Office opened, Rex Keller was there to file application # 529,666, making 36 Claims for patent of a “Clutch”. This application would eventually be issued of May 16, 1939 as patent # 2,158,544 to Rex E Keller Los Angeles California. The application for patent was pitched to Walter P Chrysler, who would assign it to Carl Breer the head of Engineering to see if they could utilize the concept. In Carl Breers, book/autobiography entitled “The Birth of Chrysler Corporation and Its Engineering Legacy” there is an excellent explanation of what took place and here is an excerpt of that book. It would be during this process that the terms “Keller Clutch” and “Overdrive” would come forward. It should be noted that this “Keller Clutch” is not named after K.T Keller (Kaufman Thuma Keller) who was head of Chrysler Manufacturing at the time, and would upon Walter Chrysler retiring in 1935 become the “hand-appointed successor” as Chairman of the Board of Chrysler Corporation, but was Rex E Keller and inventor from Los Angeles California. Once Engineering had perfected the Overdrive Transmission Carl Breer discussed its manufacturing with K.T Keller, and both asked for a meeting with Walter Chrysler to discuss that matter. Breer and Keller made a presentation on both the “Keller Clutch”/Overdrive Transmission as well as its manufacture Their estimated cost to setup manufacturing was $25,000, to which Walter Chrysler is quoted in Breers book as saying “We can’t afford it; let Borg Warner make it.” What isn’t included in Breer’s book is how the $25,000 estimate was arrived at, or what the recommendation of Keller and Breer was. It is my belief that Keller, who was already stretched to bring the new Airflow to completion made sure the estimate was high enough that the joint recommendation of Keller and Breer would be approved by Walter Chrysler. My Grandfather’s opinion was that this was the most expensive error in Chrysler’s history and ironically mirrored that of Henry Ford with the Dodge Brothers. While it brought the Overdrive transmission to the Chrysler and Desoto lines well ahead of any other automotive manufacturer, it also opened up a Patent that was controlled by Chrysler to its competition through the manufacturing deal with Borg Warner. It would soon be referred to as “the Borg Warner Overdrive”. Well after my Grandfather’s death when Daimler agreed to sell the Chrysler unit to Cerberus Capital Management in May 2007 for US$6 billion, Borg Warner had a market cap value of almost twice the value of Chrysler. Unfortunately it seems Grandfather was indeed correct, and he often pointed out that it was not the 1st time where a smaller supplier was put into business and eventually dwarfed the larger manufacturer. Of course he was referring to the Dodge Brothers who prior to going on their own to manufacture their own Cars and Trucks, were major suppliers for Henry Ford. In 1903 the Dodge brothers had agreed to supply Henry Ford with 650 chassis (including engines, transmissions, and axles) for $250 each. In this case to avoid a further investment of $25,000 Chrysler put a much small manufacturer into a business, which later on would come back to bite Chrysler. To put it into relative terms Chrysler had purchased Dodge for approximately $170 million in 1928. On March 14, 1934 Rex Keller would file application # 715,513, with the United States Patent Office making 4 Claims for patent of an ”Automatic Transmission”. This application would eventually be issued of December 17, 1940 as patent # 2,225,174 to Rex E Keller Beverly Hills California. It would be in this application for patent that the first use of the terminology “Overdrive” would be used. Ironically this patent was not issued until after Walter P Chrysler’s death some 4 months earlier. So who was Borg Warner - In 1902 Thomas W. Warner formed the Warner Gear Company in Muncie Indiana to manufacture automobile parts, steering, and transmission gears. In 1909 the First manual transmission is manufactured by Warner Gear. The original Borg-Warner Corporation was formed in 1928 by the merger of Warner Gear, which itself was founded by Thomas Warner in 1901; Borg & Beck founded by Charles Borg and Marshall Beck in 1903 and Marvel Schelber Carburetor Co founded in 1905 by George Schebler and the Mechanics Universal Joint Company. Chapter 3: The patents - Work in progress. I now have them, just need to figure out how to get them in the blog entry Chapter 4: The overdrive generations This is a high level chart on the various Mopar Overdrives 1934 overdrive 1st used by Chrysler (I believe in the Chrysler Custom Imperial Royal and the Airflow) This was a Warner Transmission and Warner Overdrive Patent Image - R E Keller Patent: 2,225,174 Filed: March 14 1934 Walter P Chrysler showing of The 1934 chrysler airflow - equipped with overdrive 1935 Chrysler - Tr14 warner transmission with a separate overdrive unit. It expanded in the models it was used, some standard equipment and some Optional The models this transmission and overdrive came in were: CHRYSLER AIRFLOW, MODEL Cl OPTL. CHRYSLER IMPERIAL, C2 (1935) CHRYSLER CUST. IMP. CW* ('35), C3 ('35), DE SOTO, MODEL SG (1935)--OPTL. An early advertisement showing "over drive" 1936- This year is one on to its own it is a 1 piece - Borg Warner T86 1A overdrive transmission 1937 - This is the first year of the Borg Warner R6 transmission The 1937 is the last year with the parking brake on the floor and the parking brake drum on the back of the transmission has the connection on the right side. Its still a non electric overdrive. It is at this point that Chrysler really started to pump the overdrive in its marketing brochures. Not only was it featured in the Car Brochure but they produced a separate brochure just on the overdrive and its features. Here is an example of the car brochure Here is the rare 1937 Overdrive Brochure 1938 – The Borg Warner R6 transmission - still a top loader, floor shift only With the 1938 the parking brake on the drum now moves over to the left side and this is the last year of a pure floor shift. It is still a non-electric overdrive, which means for example if your going up a hill in 3rd overdrive, you will need to shift down to 2nd. You cant just get it out of overdrive without slowing down substantially. You need to be going down to between 25-35 mph to get it out of overdrive. Here is a 1938 Chrysler Custom Imperial Brochure - extracts Here is he 1938 Chrysler Royal Imperial Brochure - extracts Here are some pictures of a 1938 overdrive transmission, freshly restored January 22 2015 by the master -George Asche Jr 1939 – The Borg Warner R6 transmission - "Electric overdrive" & Optional two formats So for 1939 you could have the top load or floor shift and you could have column shift which was done with a cable. 1939 also saw the first use of the solenoid so it would electrically kick it out of overdrive. Prior to that you have to get down to about 25-35 mph to get it out of overdrive. Illustration showing the cable used in the Column shift Here are some pictures of a 1939 overdrive transmission. 1940 – The Borg Warner R7 overdrive and Now Only column shift - 1 year only This is also the last year where the gear cluster and 2nd speed gear in the 3 speed transmission gave you a "fast 2nd speed". This was done with a cluster tooth count of - "14.19.25.32" and the 2nd speed gear was a 23 tooth count. After this the cluster was a tooth count of "14.19.23.32" Chrysler also beefed up the cluster gear so it is thicker than the 1939 and older transmissions. I have a good reference document describing the "WARNER OVERDRIVE "KICK-DOWN1 CONTROL" dated 1940, I have uploaded it here called " 1940 Overdrive info 1940 overdrive info.pdf 1941 - The Borg Warner R7 overdrive ends as a new car offering It seems very few cars in 1941 had the R7 overdrive in them although I do know that there was a Chrysler Service bulletin that described putting this R7 overdrive transmission in later model cars and I know of at least 1 1942 Plymouth which had an overdrive from the factory in it. Keep in mind Canada entered the 2nd World War in 1939, so civilian cars after 1939 were tough to get until the 1946 model year. This maybe one of the very 1st Plymouths to have an overdrive in it, as everything I have described earlier are Chrysler and Desoto vehicles. 1952 - 1956 - The Borg Warner R10G1 overdrive and the full introduction in the Plymouth line 1952 became the 1st time since 1941 that Chrysler had overdrives in any vehicle. The overdrive patent, known as the Keller Clutch had see the head of production outsource its build to Warner, which eventually became Borg Warner. The agreement he signed with Warner was that as long as Chrysler was using the overdrive Warner(Borg Warner) could not make overdrives for any other companies, Following Walter Chrysler stepping down as the President of Chrysler, and passing away in 1940 then former head of production, then the President of Chrysler decided to drop the use of overdrives. His feeling was there was ample horsepower, a great supply of gasoline all over the place an the overdrive would no longer be required. How wrong he was! With the passing of 10 years, Borg Warner reached out to both Ford and GM and in 1951 overdrives were supplied to other than Chrysler. The impact was immediate. Customers bought competitors cars when Chrysler didnt have what others described as "The new overdrive concept". That forced Chrysler to go back to Borg Warner and for the 1952 model year Plymouth would have as an option an overdrive. Unlike the previous overdrives, this was a full electric overdrive, allowing it to be taken out of overdrive as any speed, and with the addition of a kickdown switch on the carb, one could step hard on the gas pedal "kicking it out of overdrive" allowing you to pass. The overdrive could be engaged in any gear, making it in effect a 6 speed transmission. Lots more details further in blog article, but here are a couple of pictures of the r10g1 along with a wiring diagram which shows a modification allowing for not only the kick down switch on the carb, but also a switch that could be mounted in the cab allowing the operator to take it out of overdrive without "kicking it down". That modification was something George Asche Jr made in the late 1950s. 1st a marked up picture of an r10g1 pointing out features and length here is George Asche Jrs wiring diagram This is an r10g1 overdrive that has been modified with a long shaft installed (and a long throw out bearing) which then allows an r10g1 to be used in a Dodge or Chrysler that had a fluid drive or or semi automatic transmission. 1956 (late) more commonly 1957-1959 the Borg Warner R10J1 overdrive appeared I say late 1956 because I have known seen a Plymouth built on December 10th 1956 that has the R11 overdrive in it right from the Windsor Ontario Canada plant. I will add a bunch more to this R11 section over time. The r10J1 is essentially in many ways the same as the earlier r10G1 except it is a much longer transmission. Total length of tranny from bell housing to back of brake band is 25". Unfortunately it makes the transmission not an ideal candidate to put into cars prior to 1957 although in the next two pictures the person did put an R10J1 into an earlier Plymouth which did not have the cross over support frame that was in the 1957-1959 cars As well in the reference section will be more pictures of the transmission. The other overdrives I know described in the article in the reference section below stated that it is 1954 that dodge trucks came out with overdrives and describes other models. Again keep in mind I think we all find new information that allows us to be more intelligent today than we were yesterday and that doesn't mean that at the time that article was written that was the best information available to its author. I do know that in 1952 both Dodge/Fargo trucks were offered with overdrives, as I have a 1952 Fargo 4 ton with a 265 ci motor, factory dual intake and exhaust, a 5 speed transmission, with 5th being overdrive I am also told by a very respected expert/researcher of Chrysler Service bulletins which provided information and part number to retrofit overdrives into cars without original equipped overdrives, which included year prior to 1952. This section will definitely be a work in progress. Chapter 5: Repair, Mix and Match, or Retrofit primer In this chapter I am going to try and go over taking transmissions and overdrives from one year/generation and putting them in earlier or in some case later model cars. I will be looking for help here as I know while we have some great knowledge on the subject there is much more information out there. As well, we will shortly enter into the discussion of putting a more modern overdrive transmission into your old Plymouth and it will not be a T5 conversion. Mopar !!!!! Here is a great resource document that covers the Overhauling of the 1935-39 Overdrives, thanks to Bert Platz, who is one of those guys who Is one of the specialists for the 1935-38 overdrives. The Reference Section: R1) One of the great articles I would like to refer to is one that I have been given Permission from “the living legend” - Jim Benjaminson to use here. Of course if you are not a member of the Plymouth Owners Club here is the place to Do that and catch other cool stuff and articles http://www.plymouthbulletin.com/index.htm http://p15-d24.com/blog/17/entry-87-borg-warner-overdrive-transmission-by-don-frolich/ R2) The Chrysler Master Tech Series - a section of the 1952 films put on you tube. Simply great stuff covering r10g1 overdrives and a few extras I will toss in. Here is the 1952 movie to explain the overdrive to the dealers.. no this is cool ! MTSC - 1952, Volume 5-5 Automotive Overdrive - Operation MTSC - 1952, Volume 5-6 Automotive Overdrive Controls MTSC - 1952, Volume 5-7 Automotive Overdrive Maintenance MTSC - 1952, Volume 5-8 Universal Joints And Propeller Shafts MTSC - 1952, Volume 5-4 Servicing Tips R3) A few early pictures I will attach here a few early pictures, lol and by early I mean early in the development of this blog post. Not early in the overdrives coming from Chrysler. That will come later. Right now, since I have been asked to show a picture of an overdrive I thought I best take this from draft to publish and will just keep updating it. So consider this a work in progress: R4) Reference Pictures 1952-56 Plymouth 3 speed standard with overdrive tranny (R10G1 Borg Warner) Total length of tranny from bell housing to back of brake band is 19 1/2" 1952-56 Plymouth 3 speed standard with overdrive tranny (R10G1 Borg Warner) with input shaft for a fluid drive bell housing 1952 - 1956 Borg Warner R10G1 overdrive attached to a 3 speed standard transmission looking from bottom - again with the input shaft for a fluid drive bell housing * You can adapt the R10G1 overdrive on to the 1953-54 Plymouth Hy-Drive transmission (has a different input shaft) 1957 and newer Borg Warner R10J1 transmission attached to a 3 speed standard transmission Total length of tranny from bell housing to back of brake band is 25" M6 Gyromatic "semi auto" with r7 overdrive (* Note: I need to put up a better year and identification description for this one) Dodge Gyromatic - had "fluid drive" without overdrive (* Note: I need to put up a better year and identification description for this one but believe it was a 1949) * Note: a 1949 Dodge Gyromatic has a external brake band for the hand brake and a 1950 and newer has a brake drum with internal shoes for the hand brake Reference Links: https://www.allpar.com/mopar/transmissions/
    5 points
  20. I have often said women love big dumb animals. You know, like horses, and see men pretty much the same way. In the begining, for me, trucks were like that. A tool a guy needed to move the real vehicles in this world, muscle cars. And I mean real muscle....1/4 mile muscle....straight liners and roundy rounds...cars you didn't drive on the street, but cars that tested your ability to deal with fear and become one with the machine. In 2001, I came across a 1948 Dodge truck sitting on the side of the road. It was for sale. I was surprised how much I liked it, considering how rough it was. I don't want to focus on the passing of my wife, so much as how she brought me into this wonderful world of old trucks. I love muscle cars and the power they demand, but my wife wasn't so interested in that. She liked things a little slower. She never liked the idea of racing and looked forward to when I would stop fooling around with it. I decided to buy the truck in hopes of narrowing that gap between us. She didn't exactly see it that way, but humored me. She passed away in 2004 of pneumonia in a matter of 3 days. The truck sat a few years after that... I believe it was 2006 that I decided that I had bought the truck for myself, and had I been the one to pass away, she may have only kept my helmet. I was her big dumb animal, that's what she bought into. So the truck was going to be my project, with a hint of my past somewhere in there. As I dug into the truck with a surprising passion, I eventually found this website I love so much. And as I found friendship here, I also found a need to bring together those of like minds in a celebration of the old Dodge trucks. I'm so thankful for the Clements Tailgate BBQ, its one of the things I look forward to every year with great enthusiasm. That first truck. That one on the side of the road. She slowly became a parts truck and lost much of it to a 1950 truck that would become "The Brick", the one I race at Bonneville. But as many things do, the truck found a niche, a place in my life, and my friends too. That old truck on the side of the road became the B-1-BQ.....a beautiful old parts truck, that turned into the best BBQ ever. 48Dodger The B-1-BQ
    5 points
  21. Hi guys - As covered on the earlier blog entry, we have an adapter kit that allows you to bolt up a modern A833 floor shift overdrive on to your stock bell housing. Please read this blog as it covers a lot more details. We recently got a new supplier, and have kept the aircraft grade aluminum. The have drilled and bevelled holes for the flush mount and come with the appropriate bevelled bolts, and have threaded holes were required. The truth is we could have done these at a fraction of the price if we had done them in steel, but from weight to corrosion, we decided just to do these like the originals we made a number of years ago. As George Asche says, if we cant make Grade A stuff, I don't want our name (AoK) associated with it! Lol.. They are in stock right now and they are $140 USD each (adapter plate and bolts) shipped anywhere in the Continental United States. A 2nd, 3rd or 4th adapter plate would be $125 USD each and all go in the same box, so you save the shipping on the additional plates by a combined shipment. And watch folks.. there are different length snots on the a833. and different shifter positions. We have heard the 1979-80 car is long and shifter near at the back on the tranny. That is going to be like the t5, really too far back for a lot of applications. So measure from your bell housing to your stock floor shift (if you are floor shift) We got them in this week and have already started shipping adapter plate to those who were on a waiting list. Thanks to those who have been patiently waiting. ** We have recently been asked if the adapter plate will work on trucks. The 1st response being what truck and what transmission is in it now. We know of conversions that have been made, but they were all in late 50s pickups that had light 3 speeds with car style bell housings. *** Nov 21 - In addition to the car bell housing there are several bell housing in trucks. We will take 4wd and heavier trucks with 5 speeds out of the mix here. We believe that believes us with 3 bell housing patterns from the late 30s to the late 50s. The one with the car style bell housing , 3 speed column shift our current adapter plate should work. For the heavier 3 speed or light 4 speed both floor shift, the bell housing is the one at the top of the attached picture, which has 2 holes equally spaced on the right and left of the bell housing. For this one we are going to develop adapter plates for. The other bell housing pattern is the ones at the bottom of the attached picture. It has the 2 bolt holes on the right closer together than on the left side. This is for the heavier 4 speeds in heavier trucks. While it looks like you can use our existing adapter plate, by drilling 4 holes, tap them and use our adapter plate, we have not actually tried it. At this point unless there turned out to be a demand for them, we don't intend to make new adapter plates for this bell housing / the heavier trucks at this point. The reason being, we really need to make a minimum of 10 pieces, and to make the price reasonable 25, so unless there is a demand we don't anticipate it doesn't make much sense to make them for the heavier trucks. * Update: The adapter plate is completed for the trucks now. Pricing is for the car version, in the continental United States the adapter kit (plate and bolts) are $140 shipped and truck adapter kits are $150 shipped. Outside of that area cars are $125 + shipping and trucks are $135 + shipping. If you want 2-4 plates they can be shipped in the same box so you save the shipping on those additional plates. As usual happy to accept emails or give you a call to discuss.. Let us know if you are interested in either truck version. Tim fargopickupking@yahoo.com .
    5 points
  22. Well folks as 2016 starts to wind down we reflect on the year and what a different year it has been. It seems like just yesterday the new year started and here we are in December! What a magical month December is. The countdown to Christmas is well under way. Santa Claus parades throughout the world. Cities and towns lit up every night with fabulous Christmas light displays. School kids and churches putting on Christmas plays and pageants. Hopefully hearing the sounds of coins and bills dropping in to the bottom of the Salvation Army red kettle drums and other charities receiving support for all the great work they do. The elves at the North Pole working furiously to satisfy the wishes from the tons of letters arriving at the North Pole. Hockey fans counting down the days until the IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Championship tournament begins (Had to throw in some Canadian Hockey influence here) and visions of getting your Mopar out next spring dancing in many automotive enthusiasts head. I am sure every Mopar fan has made their list of parts they hope to find under the tree Christmas day, and I am sure a lot of good Girls and Boys will find a few Mopar related items boxed up for them. I definitely know the AoK boys shipped a lot of stuff to the North Pole recently as, well we subcontract to Santa for some of those harder Mopar items that his elves have a difficult time to make! lol We often get Christmas cards and Christmas wishes, many come in different forms as technology evolves. Here is one of our favourites containing a lot of our favourite things - a Fargo pickup (great for hauling presents), a little Mopar Period Performances additions, and of course that it has Santa ! On behalf of the Asche family; George Jr and his sons George III & Rob, the Kingsbury family; Tim and his son Dan, collectively known as the AoK boys, we wish one and all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Years!
    5 points
  23. In this sport its funny how many times ones path crosses with a kindred spirit, This blog entry is of just such a person, whose daily driver, and I do mean year around daily driver, got another performance improvement. Not its first and not its last. Proud to have a good friend of the AoK boys document his baby's latest performance update. Here we go - As Fred started out - "Hey all, had a suspicious package arrive today at the local Canada Post Office inside the General Store. Much to my thrill, a AoK Asche Dual Intake/exhaust, BBI carbs, and a A833 adpater plate was in the box, T5ers eat your hearts out.. Now the big plan for phase 1, pull stock manifolds, clean up engine paint and make all nice and purdy. The new duals will be installed, with George Asche carbs and linkage, these are the large cfm truck carbs too. Hope to get a lot more punch out this old 238 engine, gonna be kool. The A 833 trans, have 1 in the wings, not sure how well it will be with my current 3.23 gears, but do think it should be just fine. I am not sure if I will be pulling the head, and having it shaved, but that is a possibility. The final plan at some future point is the ultimate 265 hot cam, shaved head, will definitely push this little old Fargo along real nicely...."
    5 points
  24. Howdy Folks - Well while we are awaiting the first lot of intakes to be cast George has been busy working on various linkage combinations. Here is the 1st look close up of the finished prototype AoK dual carb intake for 23 1/2" USA flathead mopars. This one has - prototype linkage being developed for trucks or 1933-1938 Cars Notice the left carb linkage bar has been cut short, and is not hooked to the left carb. That is strictly for prototype purposes It shows how the serial number and linkage block provides the spot for stock linkage components to be mounted and then integrated with the new AoK linkages. You will notice for this version we are using the outside "wings" to linkeage mounts on the outside. For newer cars where we want the linkage rail mounted on the inside the inside "wings" will be used and the outside block will just be the serial number plate. Of course the final linkage for older cars and trucks, will have a longer linkage bar and the same connection to the carb as you will see on the right carb. Of course on the carbs you will see a mounting spot for cars and for trucks. They actually connect in two different spots. I can tell you George has the linkage working perfectly. You would just use your stock brackets for trucks and older car applications and the AoK linkage will just integrate with it to give you the desired upgrade from the single to dual carbs. Oh yes, and hot debate on the name.. Our original intent was to have the writing read from the passenger side although you may notice it was reversed to be read from the other side. Oh and the cat is out of the bag, as the prototype wasn't supposed to have the name on it yet.. lol.. so lets say George was a little surprised as he didn't authorize his name on it.. That one I own although he smirked and lets just say he appreciates the tribute! so the "AoK George Asche Jr Ltd Ed" intake development is pretty much complete.
    5 points
  25. Well it has been a while since we last checked in with the progress report on the New AoK intake. As does happen some things just throw a curve ball into a project and the water jacket feature was our curve ball. We have a perfectionist as our pattern maker and while it didn't increase in price, he most certainly put in a ton of extra time trying to come up with a solution to the water jacket "perfect solution". The perfect solution really became comprised of two factors. 1) We asked if it was possible and if so how much of a deal would it be to have 1 set of molds, that allowed for the creation of the intake without and then with the water jacket. We were doing that based on a pretty much split down the middle in response from customers on what they would ideally like to have. 2) Was is there any difference in having the water tube integrated on the outside or the inside. If it is on the inside it would look better as things are a little more hidden and we don't have any issue with the it interfering with linkage required for vehicles needing linkage on the outside of the intake such as trucks. So between #1 and #2 we went from being a couple of weeks ahead when we were ready for a 1st cast early in January, to being a month or so behind. Lol.. welcome to the world of trying to make as perfect a part as you can. Now for the good news: The final molding (not just the prototype molding) is now finished and what we hope is the final intake before going to production with be cast this week. It will be shipped to us to be checked over, then machined to make sure it is 100% in line with the specs. Then assuming its two thumbs up we will go into production casting the intake without the water jacket. No, don't panic, we will then insert the add on mold piece and be able to cast the intake with the water jacket. So we are making progress and the there are some great things coming from the process but it is taking time. Expected shipping of intakes to customers... still shooting for April time frames. ****************************************************************************************************************************** Appendix: This is a picture of our AoK triple for the big block. It has a set of AoK headers made from a stock exhaust manifold. Customer wanted white ! These two pictures are the AoK triple on Tim Kingsbury (my) 1949 Plymouth Business coupe. It gives you a good idea what the headers look like mounted on the car. Personally I prefer the look over other headers as it provides more of a period look and provides the same performance results.
    5 points
  26. Definition: a surface appearance of something grown beautiful, especially with age or use, which adds value to an antique or collectible and should not be cleaned. Patina: a surface appearance of something grown beautiful, expecially with age or use, which adds value to an antique, collectible or scarce and should not be cleaned, in some cases, and preserved in other cases. I grew up in a farm/ranch environment on the edge of the Southern Nebraska Sand hills. Our neighbors to the east and south were miles away, those to the west were closer, yet our closest neighbor was a mile and a half away. It was the late 40's and early 50's and things were not plentiful. We ate well, had a warm house, a good home life, but not many extras. Most of our toys were made from scrap wood and metal. I made a toy 'self propelled' grain harvester (combine) out of a 12" 4x4, a license plate folded 90 degrees for the header, two pair of large jar lids for the front wheels and a furniture swivel wheel for the rear. We recycled things long before recycling became 'cool'. I have always liked hot rodding. I had scores of the early "Hot Rod" magazines when I was in high school, the ones that were about 3.5 x 7 inches, small magazines. I dreamed of doing such, yet didn't. As I grew older the skills of body work were not mine and the cost of painting discouraged me from 'restoring' older vehicles. When I first saw a patina finish truck, then one big obstacle was removed. I appreciate the skill and labor required for a very nicely painted vehicle yet I have a preference for an original surface. I am not all that excited about the faux patina painted vehicles. To me faux is not foxy. So then the patina surface allows me to 'restore' an old vehicle, enjoy the tasks and become a small part of this hobby. Today I was cleaning small external engine parts such as a solenoid, starter, regulator cap, for repainting. I was using a wire wheel brush and my drill motor. I find it very enjoyable to take a rusty item, wheel brush, sand, etch primer, paint it and make it look nearly new. As I was doing that today it reminded me of my youth. My point is this. There are two very expensive items in the restoration process, upholstery and paint. That patina surfaces are now acceptable and all sorts of implanted seats will work in an old vehicle, those two items no longer prohibit a novice or one with somewhat limited resources from working with an old vehicle. My philosophy is to bolt off, fix or replace and bolt back on. That way the vehicle is never damaged for someone later who may prefer a finer result. Often times, progress occurs when we step back a few paces and reevaluate the larger definitions of creativity and imagination.
    5 points
  27. Well there it was, the 1st car I ever bought, a 1970 Dodge Challenger... I knew it was a major project, but I was thinking - "well I can get parts to fix this over at the scrap yard at no extra cost and the body looks good." So I was quite pleased with things. I was off for home and Grampa who I thought was heading to the other barn to feed the livestock was busy jacking the car up and removing the wheels, just after I left. He was also obviously on the phone with Grampa Bolton. Home I arrived and my Dad was still at work as was Mom. I remember clearly thinking I best get to Dad first, so I got on my Motorcycle and headed to Dad's shop. I rolled in and walked into the shop where Dad was busy on a project for the Guelph Police, building what was known as Valiant pursuit package. It was a factory 360 police package. Dad and a couple of his team were taking the engine and transmission to the next level.. It wasn't unusual for me to arrive at the shop, although normally it would be after school. Dad was working the 4 to 12 shift so it was a little unusual for me to be at the shop that late in the day. So it wasn't long before Dad said, to me "so what up".. Well Dad, I bought a new car and I remember like it was yesterday his reply - "a new car, you don't say".. I went on to explain that it wasn't exactly new, it was just new to me and that it was really a used car and it had some mechanical issues.. Well it wasn't long before he knew it was a 1970 Dodge Challenger and like every Dad likely would do he said, do you have any idea what the insurance will be on this car. Woops.. well I did think about it, but no I hadn't checked that. Then came how much did you pay for this car and how did you pay for it. I learned many years earlier, you may as well spill the beans, so I told him the whole story, right down to the loan manager who turned me down. The only good news is Dad couldn't stand the guy either, and Dad was about as impressed with the Loans managers lecture as I was. But surprisingly I didn't get a lecture about it was too expensive and he did think it was a great idea to get any parts we could get from cousins John for the car for free, but as he pointed out there are a lot of things on that car that likely wont be found in the wrecking yard. Oh and he would have preferred it was a Plymouth Cuda ! Lol Dad did also suggest I not break the news to Mom until he was home. That was good advise and for the next few days I was chewing off my finger nails, and trying to think if I would ever get to drive the car. Not only was Dad likely right and the parts I would need likely wouldn't be at the wrecking yard, despite it being the biggest yard for likely 100 miles, but the insurance was likely going to be out of reach. The day after Dad knew, I did what every young guy would do in my circumstances.....skipped school and headed to the farm to work on the car... lol what did you think I would do? I drove down to the farm, parked the motorcycle and headed for the barn. About 1/2 way down to the barn I noticed the lights were on in the barn. I remember thinking that is odd. Well surprise surprise, as I walked in the man door there was Grandpa hard at work on the car. He had the tires off the brakes all apart, the drive shaft out, the rear gear set out. Wow.. Grampa just looked up and said, well you want to go get on some farm cloths or you going to ruin those ones. Being the only grandson, I had my own bedroom in the farm house. It was my Dads old bedroom and I had cloths there so when I was working somewhere on the farm, I had cloths that if they got ripped or greasy it wouldn't be a problem. So I got changed and when down to the barn for the update. Grampa who was not a licenced mechanic likely could rebuild anything and definitely repair a car to not only have it pass the mechanical inspection, but usually had them repaired to the condition it would have come from the factory in or better. Its seemed the brakes were in terrible shape, brake cylinders were leaking lining was pretty much gone and when he was checking the rear end oil it smelled burnt so he tore it down. I remember thinking oh boy this car has been run hard and put away wet and were going to wind up rebuilding it completely. So we worked away and come lunch I asked Grampa if he checked the engine. "Nope, that is for you and your Dad." Early in the afternoon we were off to get parts. I assumed we were heading to wrecking yard, but noper... we were off to Wellington Motors where we got 3 or 4 boxes of parts. I mentioned Grampa that I didn't have any money yet to pay for the parts and he laughed. That is ok, I will add it to your tab. As it turned out Jean McLean had dropped of $1500 so the car was really only $3000, but I wouldn't find that out, until well after I had broke the news to Mom that I had paid $4500 for a car that was torn all apart and the engine didn't even run. Grampa Kingsbury had phoned up to Grampa Bolton and I am not quite sure who he called or what took place, but what I know is we sure got a heck of a deal for parts. By supper we had all the brakes completed, tie rod ends replaced and grandfather had the rear end gear up into his machine shop in the driving shed and I am not sure what he did to it, but I do know it was back in the rear end casing, the axles back in and the u-joints replaced. I called home and left a message with my sister that I was working at the farm so I would have supper there. That was not an unusual occurrence. Over supper we talked about what all the car needed and he said - "well when your at school tomorrow I will head to John's and see about tires, and we need a rim as the front rim was bent" and he had a list of other parts he would try and find. The next day, you know I headed to school... lol.. are you nuts, I was at the farm by 7am.. But Grampa was up at 430am had the chores done, had finished breakfast and he was loading up the truck. He smiled when I pulled in as I remembered , and off to Johns we went. It would be the 1st of dozens of trips to the yard. We couldn't find the rim that day and a few other things, but Grampa left a list of things for John to keep his eyes open for. Surprisingly we found brand new tires that had been full sized spares that were in the trunks of cars. That got brand new tires for the front of the car and Grampa had called Gampa Bolton about back tires. In the afternoon Grampa Bolton arrived with a brand new set of firestones for the back of the car, plus another pair on rims for spares. I had pulled out the seats and pulled out the carpet and was over with a garden hose and a bucket of soapy water cleaning the carpet and seats. As it turned out they were in good shape, just incredibly dirty. By supper, the carpet was hanging by a swing beam in the barn dripping water, and the two Grampas had the car up in the air using the rope system for the hay wagon in the barn. Sort of a red neck car list I guess. I really do wish I had taken a picture because it was hard to believe. Once it was up In the air they had put stands that Grampa had welded up and put under all 4 corners and they were pulling out the transmission. When it was on the ground and remember it didn't run, Grandfather Bolton wasn't happy with the way it shifted.. So out it came. It was a 4 speed manual transmission. Grandpa Kingsbury loaded into the front of Grampa Bolton's car for him to take home.. lol.. yes it really was the front, as Grandpa Bolton was driving a vw and it was rear engine with a trunk in the front. About a week later the transmission came back along with a new clutch and rebuilt or built pressure plate that definitely had some factory unauthorized modifications. To be honest I don't remember and didn't write down exactly what he had done, although I am positive Grampa would have given me a very detailed description of what he had done. So a week and a half had gone by and still Mom didn't know about the car. Dad had the day off and down to the farm we went.. When we arrived, into the house we went to see Gramma and Grampa and Dad announced we were down to see the new car. Grampa pipes up and said, well its down in the barn in the same spot as when John dropped it off. The way he said it, I remember thinking he is suggesting the car is exactly as it came, but I knew there has been a ton of work done. I am pretty sure Grampa was lessening the blow given what I had paid for a ridden hard and used often sports car. Down to the barn we went, Grampa with us and Gramma who never ever was down to the barn, was right behind us. She too was coming to see her only Grandsons new car. So in we went and Dad started to look it over.. He slide under the car and constantly was mumbling... "ah hah".. we still hadn't opened the hood and he says, so is that is the way you bought it. I looked at Grampa and then at Dad and said, well Grandpa Kingsbury and Bolton may have helped work on it a bit. I had forgotten the tranny was still out of the car and was over to one side of the barn in the tack room. Dad then says, so next question. do I need to check out the brakes, rear end, and front end on this car. Grampa says, of course you do, I am not a mechanic and Earl the Squirrel (my grampa Bolton) doesn't have a mechanics licence so who knows what we have screwed up. Dad just laughed and inquired who did the brakes.. Grampa fessed up and told him what all he had done. Dad looks at me and said something like, "well its a good thing your grandfathers have your back." So up went the hood finally and Dad took off the rad cap, then pulled the dip stick, shook his head and said, well Son, we have some work ahead.. This engine is smoked.. There is antifreeze in the pan, the 1 cast iron header was visibly cracked so it has been really hot and I will bet the head gasket blew on this head. There was also oil in the radiator so the engine has to come out. Well I don't know it to be a fact, but given the Grampas' didn't put the tranny back in the car I suspect they knew what was coming. So after a pretty close inspection, we were off for home and well.. yes you guessed it, time to tell Mom. We arrived home and I think I pretty much stalled and waited for supper. Then you know, I was busy eating, then well I am sure there was something on TV of great importance. You see while my Mom is only about 5 foot 2 and maybe 120-130 pounds, and at 16 I was 6 feet, 225 pounds and was not someone most would want to try to bully around and my Dad was likely about 240 pounds and had forearms on him that would blow you away... Even Dad and I combined, we were not about to take on my Mom... finally I thought I had gotten out of telling Mom as she said she was going to go get ready for bed and Dad pipes up and said something to the effect of - "Tim wants to tell you about the new car he bought".. talk about letting the cat out of the bag,.. So it was quite a discussion, and yes, what about insurance, how much did it cost, how did you pay for it, and a huge list of questions came from Mom. I can tell you the CIA, FBI and even the Canadian Mounties combined couldn't interrogate as well as my Mom could. The good news is I lived to tell the story, although I have to tell you a few times I thought I was dead, and my Dad was there trying to be supportive, but hey lol there was only so much he could do. I think it was the fact that I had paid more for a used car that needed work, that Mom and Dad had paid for a brand new 1971 car. Of course they got it through an employee discount program and well, it had a slant 6 in it, and mine had a hemi, but of course I wasn't mentioning that because that would have opened up the discussion about how much gas this thing used. Sunday we were going down to the farm for supper and Dad asked Mom if she wanted to go early to look at the car. So down to the farm we go and really, truly taking Mom to look at a car that wasn't running really wasn't exactly a great idea even though Dad and I thought it would be.. lol We all went into the house and after an hour with Grampa not saying to much, I asked Mom if she want to see the car. Down to the barn we went, and honestly it really wasn't as bad as I thought.. As Grampa, Dad and I looked on Mom opened up the door, got into the car and remarked that at least the car was fairly clean, and then muttered but of course for $4500 it should be. Then Grampa who really wasn't exactly a shrinking violet at about 6 foot 6 and 285 pounds says in a low voice. "Oh it was only $3000. Jean McLean dropped it by $1500.. Now I was excited about that news and Dad was nodding like he was impressed.. Mom... nope. she just says, so you just about over paid for the car by $1500. Now how do you respond to that one.. Easy... I think it is in the Kingsbury DNA when your Mother takes a shot like that.... you.......... of course, you stand there, say nothing and pretend your a statue ! Because there is nothing you can say that doesn't get you in more trouble. She then looks down kicks the back tire (honest she really did) and says- "well at least it has good tires so it couldn't have been driven to hard".. Again, Kingsbury DNA ... statue.. you don't say ****..because there is no way you can win or improve your position.. I don't remember, but I can pretty much bet all three of us Kingsbury Men were nodding.. So Mom knows, Dad knows, the car is $1500 less than I thought..Grampa Kingsbury and Bolton have helped fix things up.. we just have the engine to do... we should be away to the races right... well not quite. End of chapter two.. In Chapter 3.. Out comes the engine and the rebuild begins. Keeping in Mind, how bad could it be... lol... Punch line - "At least the block isn't cracked!"
    5 points
  28. So this isn't about a flathead and to my one grand father, he like Richard Petty would turn up his nose as it wasn't a Plymouth ! lol I have tried to recreate the conversations from my diary posts and what I can remember of conversations. Most of which I think I remember very well... lol.. Whether I did.. well at least two of the people in this story are still alive (besides me), so maybe I will run it by them sometime! My 1st car, was a car my Dad purchased for me. It was a Plymouth with a slant 6 and an awesome car. The guy had painted it red with a white stripe like a Starsky and Hutch car which of course annoyed all the Ford fans. This wasn't my 1st vehicle as that was a Suzuki 250 Hustler motorcycle and the reason for starting with a motorcycle is you could in 1976, get your entire licence the day you turned 16 for a motorcycle. For a car, it was at least a three week process, so the day I turned 16 I was at the licence bureau when they opened at 8am. By 930am I was a fully licenced motorcycle driver ! But back to my story.. During the summer, I was on the motorcycle all the time, and I have no idea how many miles I put on, but it was a lot that summer. During the summer I got my drivers license and got to drive the Fargo at the farm for Grampa Kingsbury, Dad's pickup to the track hauling a trailer with tires, fuel and parts and had the Plymouth if it was raining hard and I didn't want to pull the Suzuki out of the garage. About 2 miles from the Kingsbury farm (where I live today) is a car wrecking yard which is owned by a cousin. Of course in the area we seem to have a lot of relatives, the reason being as Grampa would say ... a horse and buggy could only travel so far.. I was over picking up something for Dad or Grampa I am not sure which and there just being towed in, was a nice looking 1970 dodge. Sporty, Green, Vinyl top and it immediately caught my eye. I went over, didn't see any damage to body panels although there sure wasn't much rubber on the back tires. As I was collecting whatever I had came for, I said to my cousin John McLean, hey I see you just got a new Dodge in. He laughed and said, you don't want that Tim... its not a Fargo or a Plymouth, and your Mom would kill us if we sold you that, although your Dad might smile. I said ok, so what would that cost. John said, that one might just be a little to expensive for you. I said - "well it looks pretty nice".. he said well it is body wise, but it lost water, overheated and blew a head gasket and that is going to be expensive. I thought, expensive.. my Dad is an engineer, my Grandfather Bolton is an engineer, and my Grandfather Kingsbury could just about fix anything even though I am not sure he graduated from grade 8. I said, well John how much ? His reply $4500.. and I went oh.. I worked at a local Hardware store and did manage to save a few dollars, lol.. plus money helping both Grampas and Dad, and I likely had $2 grand in the bank. I said, well John, can I give you a deposit and see if I can round up the money. John said, look Tim, you want it, I will hold it till you can pay for it. How much money you got saved. I told him close to half, and asked how much of a deposit did he want. His answer, no I wont take a deposit. I will hold it until you tell me you don't want it or you can pay for it. So off I went... My Mom was the bank manager at the local bank so she is the 1st one I asked. Mom, I have some money saved for a car. I need to borrow about $3000 to get it. She smiled, and offered for me to go talk to the loans manager. Well that was a setup. I went in, talked to him about buying a car, and to make a long story short he told me he would take my application, but he didn't think he would approve it given my job at the hardware might pay the loan but that I was still going to school and I was also playing hockey during the winter, which paid $50 a week playing for a team in the OHA so he thought I should save my money. Lol.. and they didn't have any idea that this car didn't even run. So next up time to talk to Grampa.. I knew if I talked to Dad it would get shut down by Mom and would come out it needed work, big time work. So Grampa Kingsbury was next up. I went over told him the whole story, that the car needed work, was over at cousin Johns and I needed $2150 to buy the car, and wanted to borrow another few hundred to get it running. Well Grampa did what Grampa would do.. Well go warm up the truck.. lets go see this car. So over to McLean's yard we went. The Dodge wasn't where it was earlier in the week but Grampa didn't care.. Into the office, found out where John was in the yard, then Grampa headed to their house which is right beside the yard. He went in to talk to Johns wife and Mom for a couple of minutes. John's Mom was a Kingsbury, and then out to the yard we went. Grampa who was a large man, about 6 foot 6 and 280 pounds was easy to spot as he we walked across the 100 acre yard and John yells over.. well well its the Kingsbury Boys and I see you brought the big guns Tim.. Grampa just smiled. He then said, well John, I hear you have my Grandsons 1st car here somewhere. John said, well maybe. Grampa then said, well, how much are the parts to fix this car. John said, well I don't have that engine anywhere in the yard, but tell you what Charlie (my Grampa's name).. if you or Eddy (my Dad) or Earl (my other Grandfather) or Tim want to come out to the yard, anything you can find in my yard that you want for this car you can have for $1. So I do have what would be needed to get it on the road, from another engine, a rad, tires etc, but I just don't have exactly what is in that car. Grampa said - ok well I see.. and you want $4500 for this car. John started to explain how rare the car was and Grampa just help up his oversized mitt (hand).. John stopped.. Grampa said, John, don't try and sell us. I am just asking. John said, yes, if it was anyone but you guys it would be a lot more. Grampa said, ok John. Drag it over to the farm and Ill bring you over the money on Saturday. So there you have it.. my 1st car.. Grampa didn't look at it, he didn't see it, he didn't ask a lot of questions. Now maybe I was his only grandson had something to do with it, I am not sure. On the way home I said, I will get you all the money I have Grampa and are we going to the bank to borrow the money. Grampa said, oh no.. you go get your money sometime and I will get whatever extra we need. Then we need to break this news to your Mom and Dad and well, we maybe in a bit of trouble. I dug out the money I had at home, and then withdrew everything but $10 at the bank and down to the farm I went. As it turned out with a cheque I hadn't cashed, I had a total of $2300. So I needed $2200 to close the deal. Grampa and I went over to the Junk yard and into the office we went.. There was John and his wife and Grampa said well John I came to pay for the car. Johns wife Jean said, car, what car.. .. Grampa and I said nothing, and John started to explain about the car he got from a Ford Dealership that was a trade in, and they called him for an engine and when he didn't have one, nor did any other local yard he wound up buying it. She just smiled and said, ok and how much did you sell this car to your Mothers Brother and his grandson.. John told her $4500.. She looked at him and said, $4500.. really.. Poor John was on the defensive. Grampa looked at John then looked at Jean, Johns wife and said, well here is Tim's $2300 he has saved and here is $2200 I am loaning him. You folks can discuss it after we leave and if its $4500 ok and anything different, leave me a note in the mail box if I owe you or you owe us ! Grampa then looked at me and said, lets go look at this car you just bought. So back to the farm we went, and down to the barn we went where John had tucked it away. I said did you check it out Grampa and he said, not before you were here to show me. So we swung open one of the big barn doors and Grampa proceeds to look under it, open the trunk, open the doors and everywhere except under the hood.He looks at me and says - "you do like green don't you". I said, well for cars, yes, tractors no. He laughed. I asked him if he wanted to see the engine, and he said, well if you want to show me, but I know what is under the hood. Given all the trim badging and markings were removed from the car, I was curious if he really knew. So I said so you know its a slant six Grampa? He smiled and said, so have they upped the cubic inches of the slant six to 426 cubic inches. Obviously the gig was up and there under the hood was the legendary elephant that was a 426 Hemi. That's it for part 1. Now looking back, does this qualify as a barn find ? Lol In part 2 : Explaining this to Dad... maybe a lot easier than explaining it to Mom ! Also, the tail of "Kingsbury's stick together" and the $1500 rebate from McLeans.... making the purchase price $3000.. That was good news, lol, would have been even better if it came before I told Mom I bought a car that didn't run for $4500!
    5 points
  29. Paul joined the forum in 2006. He had bought his bluish gray truck for 250 bucks. He was planning on giving it to a friend, but was told he should keep it and restore it himself. He had always wanted to do something like that and retirement had given him the room to do it. To learn what he could and enjoy it along the way. Paul is a good natured fellow and carries a huge smile where ever he goes. Through the years on this forum he has ask 4 million questions about the complicated and the simple tasks when building a classic car or truck. His desire to keep it within budget and still enjoy it has been quite an experience as a reader of his travels on the forum. Things really picked up speed when he decided to put his heart into the build. 2012 was a monumental year. The years leading up to '12 were interesting like engine, king pins, and the discovery of the word Patina while using solvent and sandpaper to find his trucks true color in '08. In 2013 he picked up his nickname to describe his "paint job", since most had considered his truck more sanded than patina. So if you have sanded the orginal paint and left it, cuz it looks cool, you have a "Patina Paul". He has embraced his nickname like he has embraced the friends he created here over the years. Always remembering to thank anyone who helped him learn something new. His simple approach to life and his love of his family always present in what he writes. But let me not forget 2012. Paul made a mad dash though every component of his truck that year....he posted thread after thread of his finds and questions. He did the brakes, rear-end, turnsignals, wiring, steering wheel and more. His work on the Cherokee rear axle seemed to be his greatest victory, next to his patina. By January 2013, he had the project rolling downhill, getting his final registration in March! I finally got to see his truck in person. I had met Paul before and wrote with him on the forum for many years, but this was the first meeting with his truck. It wasn't the finished product that struck me, but the man who was proud of what he had learned. He was an "old" dog who had learned a new trick. He drove it to the top of the hill to the Sequoia Nat'l Park, drove it to the BBQ where he won the Tough Trucker award for just making it there, not letting coolant and bad connections keep him home. With the victory complete, Paul moved his energy to the next challenge. Cars. He bought two, a 53 Plymouth Cranbrook Convertible, and 54 Plymouth Suburban. His adventures continued, and his knowledge grew. But........sometimes life has a way of happening while we are making other plans. Paul's detached garage....along with his truck...were in a fire. It seems the shop is a complete lose, and the truck damaged but still standing. The family cat was lost as well....We here at the forum are like most people, we care about our friends. But I also realize a lot of new people here are seeing the thread "Fire" and may not appreciate the back story. That shop became his "space" while working on the '52 Dodge Truck, and it was his first shot at giving some life back to an old tired truck. And it all happened while he was here on the forum, the place where I met Paul. My heart goes out to his family, and sharing a snap shot of his story is my way saying thank you for taking me on the ride so far. 48D
    5 points
  30. Sunday February 6 2022 - Guess who turns 90 today ? The answer to that question is - George Asche Jr, born February 6th 1932! Here is an great article that was published in the local paper earlier this week, celebration "The Nifty at 90 - George" If you want to call George and wish him a Happy Birthday, his number is 814-354-2621 although around 4pm on his birthday he likely wont be answering the phone until 7pm. I cant confirm or deny there maybe a Birthday Party, but I can confirm there will be cake! If he asks you who told you it was his Birthday and you want to get a chuckle, tell him - "It was your 3rd son", which will get a smile from him as that is often how he introduces me. For those wondering if George is still active these days, the answer is - "Heck yes" - he is still doing what he loves every single day. Here is a little video when I was down before Christmas. I was down for a few days and he rebuild an overdrive, finished off an engine rebuild doing the assembly of the engine, and rebuild 3 carbs. In the video he was mounting 3 rebuilt carbs on one of our AoK triple intakes, and making some modification to some linkages that came from a customers previous intake and what I wanted to document was how to setup and adjust up 3 carbs all operating on a common rail. What it will show is not only how to do that, but also shows George still at it and going strong. Oh and yes for those with a close eye, that is a copy of the poster that was on the back of the door at my Grandfathers office at the Chrysler Engine plant. The poster which was made in late 1951 was announcing the new Hemi for the Dodge Truck line and introduction of the factory dual carb and dual exhaust on the 265 ci motor. I will attach a copy of that poster at he bottom of this post.
    4 points
  31. In creating this spotters guide for Flathead Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Desoto, Fargo intakes my hope was to show related information, pictures of various intakes, and attach any technical information and perhaps vintage ads for them. I am starting it here in hopes of putting something together with the help of many members and then maybe move it to the technical archives. . Why do it here ? Only because I or someone can edit and compile. #2 Nicson Engineering Nicson Engineering was we believe the very 1st aftermarket maker of dual carb intakes for the Plymouth and Dodge 23 1/2" motors. The 1st generation with several markings including the "Volumetric", and "Plymouth Dodge Cars" as well as "Plymouth dual Dodge" was for the earlier smaller 2 bolt Carter ball and ball carbs. The one pictured below was never mounted on an engine and was the only one I have ever seen. Here is that Nicson intake, now cleaned up, mounted with 1938 Plymouth carbs, nice new stainless linkage all done by George Asche - AoK racing and heading out to be a new piece of jewelry for a 1938 p6 Plymouth ! The 2nd generation intake Nicson made was for the Chrysler, Desoto and Dodge truck 25 1/2" block as well as and intake for the "Super Big Block" engines up to and including the 377 and 413 ci engine. The 3rd generation intake was for the for the Plymouth and Dodge 23 1/2" motors taking the bigger Carter ball and ball carbs. Next the picture of a Tattersfield and a Nicson dual carb Plymouth and Dodge (23 1/2" flathead) Here is the Tattersfield circa 1950 I have also seen a Nicson triple made as a "Chrysler Special" for the 25 1/2" block engines, but never took a picture of it. That was back in the early 70's, well before the camera on every cell phone era and have not seen one since. Courtesy of http://p15-d24.com/user/7710-charleyd/ who scored a copy of the October 1952 Hop Up Magazine, where the article which gives a big thumbs up to the Nicson intake and I will put it up under that intake thread as well as here. Here is the October 1952 Hop Up Magazine on Hopping up the Plymouth with some really positive endorsement of Nicson #2 The Coolest Funky looking intake - Tattersfield Power Equipment This intake came only in small block form for the Plymouth and Dodge (23 1.2" flathead) It came in 2 different generations. The 1st pictured with the Nicson intake and the 2nd generation pictured with carbs on it. Notice the linkage tabs on the 2nd generation intake. Courtesy of : http://p15-d24.com/user/7408-hellyeah/ A later Tattersfield intake / exhaust combo with linkage. Note the intake has linkage tabs like Edmunds did on his later dual intake manifolds. As well a picture of a Tatterfield Aluminum head - all for the Plymouth and Dodge (23 1/2" flathead) & a letter from Tattersfield on their performance equipment. then Courtesy of: http://p15-d24.com/user/5770-61farnham/ The Tattersfield instruction page with linkage illustration and picture of the Tattersfield intake with carb on it Some earlier Tatterfield literature, followed by the later which referenced Mopar in the later 1940s \ Notice the reference to the Electric and Carburetor Engineering Company. This is a picture of the inside of the Electric and Carburetor Engineering Company from a 1951 (courtesy of a P15d24 Member 50Plymouth) . Ive seen it referenced elsewhere as a Calendar shot from 1942 although a couple of items in that picture would date it much later In the display end of the counter is what I believe to be the the 2nd generation Chrysler six cylinder intake (top intake)
    4 points
  32. 3rd part in the series, its for me the Grand Daddy of them all, straight from the Chrysler Engine Factory in Windsor Ontario Canada, factory Dual Carb intake, and factory Dual exhaust which were options on Dodge Trucks. Most believe they were only on 265 ci engines, however that is incorrect. They were available through a factory order on either the 250 or 265 ci motors, and at Dodge truck dealers, they would happily put them on any new truck you wished to put them on. There is a local farmer who had a 1953 Fargo 1 ton pickup truck with a 238 ci motor, the dual carb and intake on it and always said he bought it right from Wellington Motors in Guelph Ontario Canada. After his death, his family found the original bill of sale for the truck and there on the bill of sale from the dealership was listed the Dual Carb and Dual Exhaust option, although it was not given an itemized price. I believe the reason he did that was he had purchased a heavier Fargo truck with a 265 ci motor for hauling livestock the year prior and when he bought the pickup at the dealership he asked for the same setup as he had on his truck. That is a bit of speculation on my part, however I did have the chance to ask him on a couple of occasions why he had the dual carbs and he would just smile and not really give me an answer. For this intake and exhaust I can provide more details as required as the setup is clearly in several Chrysler Manuals that we have, Tim Here are 3 pictures of a Factory 1952 Dodge Truck Dual Carb Intake and Exhaust that came off of a 4 ton Truck with a 265 ci motor Here is the Factory "Chryco" Parts Manual and the page illustrating the explosion view of the Dual Carb Intake and Exhaust Below Some Vintage Speed Advertisement and Articles - 1st up I belief is a page from the 1953 Bell Auto Parts catalog Show a Edmunds finned high compression head for Chrysler, DeSoto, DeSoto and Plymouth....$54 Courtesy of "Old Mopar fan, Don" who can be found over on HAMB http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/members/41-c28.10395/ 1953 Bell Auto Parts Catalog - Front Cover 1953 Bell Auto Parts Catalog - Aftermarket Mopar page 1953 Bell Auto Parts Catalog - Back Cover Courtesy of http://p15-d24.com/user/7710-charleyd/ who scored a copy of the October 1952 Hop Up Magazine, where the article which gives a big thumbs up to the Nicson intake and I will put it up under that intake thread as well as here. Here is the October 1952 Hop Up Magazine on Hopping up the Plymouth with some really positive endorsement of Nicson
    4 points
  33. Howdy Folks - Well the good news is the new AoK dual carb intakes for the 23 1/2" USA small block flathead Mopars started going out the door last week. As well the AoK triples for the 25 1/2" Canadian Big block flathead Mopars that have been sold out for over a year are also available and shipping. More details and what the look like on this blog entry. The good and bad news.. Good: If your on the list for either a dual intake or a triple your covered. Your intake and if you want linkage, we will be able to supply them at the price point discussed. Bad: well Maybe Bad: If you haven't ordered an AoK dual intake there are 7 left not spoken for and there are 2 AoK triples for the big blocks not spoken for. After that, there will be no more at this price point that is for sure and whether we have any more made with depend on customer demand. As well we are now out of Carter Ball and Ball cores to build, so if you need George to build you up carbs, as of right now you will need to supply cores. Final piece of news is that if you order intakes, when paid for they can be shipped in less than a week. If you need linkage as well its up to 3 weeks lead time right now to ship and if you need carbs and haven't already ordered intakes and specified carbs, even with cores the lead time right now is at least 3 months and may be longer.. The super thing is George who just turned 85 is still doing them and is the best there is at doing them. The unfortunate part is George is slowing down and no one anticipated the new AoK intakes taking so long and the overwhelming demand for them and carbs when they were ready. Now that they are coming out of the machine shop all completed, the shear number is overwhelming so it will take some time .. George also has 4 Performance engine jobs promised and as of today will not be accepting any further engine rebuilds until further notice. On r6, r7 r10 Mopar overdrives, we will have to see what George has time for, and what his Sons and I can help out with on that front to be able to give anyone a leadtime. As I and many call him, the Flathead Mopar Living Legend is still going strong, but his ability to work on customer projects outside of the family, will now be very much slowed down. I am sure that is not a major surprise to anyone . Tim Kingsbury fargopickupking@yahoo,com
    4 points
  34. I will start this Blog entry off with a cut and paste from an entry I recently posted on the forum. The preamble: I am not a fan of the non-mopar t5 transmission conversion. A great deal of those transmissions have gear splits that were meant for low horsepower, low torque engines and they just do not match up well to a flathead mopar. The are also in my opinion, a great deal of work to make the conversion. There are many models of the T5 transmission, with several having very little overdrive to them. As some have pointed out, when I posted a chart showing a great deal of the T5 transmissions, in at least one case a member who is a huge t5 supporter, editted his post as his transmission was not what he thought it was. That may should like a shot, it isn't meant to be, but what it is really is an illustration that a lot of guys have ventured into the t5 project without realizing what they are in for or what they even have. I do completely understand why so many having went though the conversion process, claim to be happy. They may indeed be, with all the work behind them and in some cases guys are not about to admit that they wished they have never went that route. At least one of those recently posted on the blog here, who was beyond frustrated with the project effort level and the results. Now having said that, there are some t5 with better splits and more overdrive than others, but given the work effort, the cost and the end product it still wouldn't be my first choice. The goal: I wont go into the ramble on why I still prefer the Mopar Overdrive solution, and why for me the 1952-56 R10G Borg Warner overdrive gives you in essence a 6 speed transmission, and concentrate on the pursuit of many. That being a easier to find Overdrive transmission that provides you with a decent level over overdrive, with a decent gear split and for many, the desire to have a floor shift in their car. There is also those with earlier (pre-1939) Mopar's that had a floor shift transmission and would like to keep that original cab look, but want an overdrive and cant find one of the floor shift overdrives from the 30's that came from Chrysler/Desoto. The Solution: A 1975 - 1987 Aluminum A833 4 Speed Transmission with overdrive. Yes, the A833 "bullet proof" transmission is the in essence the same transmission as the "cast iron" version of the 60's that went behind the 426 Hemi. Those transmissions tend to be very pricy and 4th is direct drive 1:1 so since were looking for Overdrive, the older cast iron A833 doesn't fit the bill. Although the 1975- 1987 Aluminum A833 certainly does! The details: Lets start with for the earlier Plymouth we have to deal with the "X" frame so the A833 becomes a great candidate for this application. I would use the Aluminum cased a833's 4 speed with overdrive which started part way into 1975 and went thru until mid 1987. Here is the gear splits: 1st: 3.09:1, 2nd: 1.67:1 3rd: 1:1 4th: 0.73:1 (Trucks used a 0.71:1 fourth) The overdrive configuration with a 23-spline input appeared in these vehicles: o 1975 to 1979 Valiant, Duster, Dart, Scamp, Swinger, Volare, Aspen (3.09:1 ratio first gear) o 1975 to 1987 Dodge light-duty pickups and Dodge and Plymouth Vans (3.09:1 ratio first gear) o 1977 to 1979 Diplomat and LeBaron (3.09:1 ratio first gear) The "Coles note" version of what you will need to do and I will mix in the details concerning the "X-Frame" which only becomes relevant in the models from the 1930's. You will be using the original bell housing, not the one that came from the vehicle that had your donor A833 4 speed and yes ones like the bell housing in the pickups are large and might leave you the impression your on the wrong track. You will need and Adapter plate and screws to mount the transmission up to you stock bell housing. You do not need to make modifications to your bell housing * The Adapter plate kits (Plate and screws) are available from AoK. We do not have A833 transmissions for sale You will need to change your clutch to fine spline and you will need to make an adjustment to the connection of the A833 transmission to the drive shaft. You can change the yoke on your drive shaft so it will connect up to the new transmission or in many cases this may be the opportunity to put in a modern rear end which will allow you to use a modern driveshaft with the A833 and the new rear end. Will talk about that more in a second. ** Note: Sept 2015 we sold the last Adapter plate and our Supplier cranks up the price to the point that we are looking for another supplier. Will update this blog entry when we have more details. Nov 2105 - as covered below, we have got a new supplier and have the adapters and bolts (as a kit) for $125 USD plus shipping. That is the price for the next 25 at least and is priced really based on what the cost of the aluminum stock price is. You do not need to change your pilot bushing as it is the same as original. On 1937 – 39 Plymouth cars (with the X-Frame), you can cut bottom of x frame loop off - (half off) to get the transmission in place. Some think it is fine to leave it with the piece of X-Frame taken out, although it is easily to get it back in place so that would be my preference. The the last one I saw done, they made a bracket to put the x frame loop and then fasten the half of the X-Frame back in. Depending on which A833 transmission you get, you may have to make a minor modification of the bearing retainer. It is the round plate that has 4 bolts holding it on to the tranny.. A couple of the A833's have a longer housing and you need to unbolt it and cut some of the housing off. About an 1” 1/8”, For the 1937 we recently had a hand in, he used a 1966 dodge cornet rt clutch (10 ½”) and pressure plate that he bought from napa (called a clutch pack), however there are lots of great and inexpensive options there. You can change the yoke on the drive shaft to hook up to the A833 or change the rear end. For the 1937 Plymouth project I just mentioned, he put in a 1963-64 Chrysler New York rear end and it fit in perfect. It also had 3” x11” brakes and positraction and a 3:55 rear end ratio which with the a833 gives you 2.59 results as well gave you the emergency brake on the rear axle since you loose the emergency brake drum when you swap out your original transmission. Here is a handy chart on mopar rear ends that may come in handy depending on your application For the 1937 Plymouth which already had a floor shift, the shifter had to be modified slightly so it came up in the original position. Basically the shifter was modified to move it to the right (passenger side) and then up towards the firewall slightly ,to have it come up the original shifter position. Despite the two bends it shifts perfectly. If you are putting the A833 in an early pickup the shifter had to be modified to go towards the passanger 3/4" and then towards the firewall 1 1/2 and it shifts perfectly. In the pickup if your interested, when the snow leaves (about july.. lol) I have to go have a better look at the rear end. I cant remember if the drive shaft was modified to put the modern yoke or if the rear end was changed. I do know the A833 came right out of my Dad's 1982 Dodge pickup. The net in either gives you a floor shift transmission with decent overdrive ratio (0.73:1 or on the Trucks 0.71:1) and decent gear splits! For cars from the 1940s and 50's you don't have to deal with the "x-frame" so the project is even simpler. In terms of the shifter position coming through the floor, you will have a slightly better starting point than other modern floor shift transmissions, and keep in mind you can modify the shift to bend it towards the passenger if you like or towards the firewall. Personally in a 1948 Plymouth business coupe, we made no modification left (towards the passenger side) but bent it forward towards the firewall a bit just because for the driver (6 foot 2 inches) that is just where it felt the best. The point being you have a fair amount of flexibility in where you want the shifter to come up through the floor and then bend it to work best for you. For the 1946-48,Plymouth it seem the US cars may have a slightly different back mount with a cross over member being notched for the standard 3 speed. To then accommodate the lower a833 transmission, I am told you have to notch that cross over frame piece slightly to use the adapter and A833 transmission. For the 1948 Canadian Plymouth we did not have that issue. * Jan 2016 - We have been able to pull stock transmission out of 1946-48, 1949, and 1950 Plymouths made in USA and every one would require modification of the cross member as the A833 4 speed being deeper than the stock transmission is going to hit the cross member.. Also remember that when you swap out your original transmission and move to any modern transmission, you have to consider what your doing for an emergency brake. As I covered above, the change of the rear end to a more modern rear end may solve that problem for you. There other options, 1 such option would be something like - E-Stopp Electric Emergency Brake with Remote Push Button http://www.estopp.com/ Here is the A833 illustration right from Dodge/Chrysler and then a view angles of a rebuilt tranny. ** Dec 22 2015 - Just to be clear, the A833 adapter plate is for Mopar 833 Aluminum 4 speeds for use in Mopar cars, and was not designed for use with the - 1981 -1986 Chevy/GM Truck Overdrive which I believe is a 833/RPO MY6. We were contacted in May by a customer and in the conversation it became apparent he was considering using a GM version of the transmission and he was told there appears to be a great deal of difference between it and the Mopar version of the A833. It appears he has been able to make modifications and get it to work and we will attempt to get a report from him, but up until now we have had zero experience trying to use A833 chevy truck transmissions with this adapter. That doesn't mean that this conversion cant be successful, but it does mean we don't have experience in doing this. There also appears to be interest in an adapter plate for the lighter truck bell housings, which as of now our adapter plate would be viable only for the 1955 and newer 1/2 tons using the column shift 3 speed and utilize the car style bell housing. The floor shift heavier 3 speed and lighter for speed (top bell housing below) and the heavier 4 speed in the 1 ton and lighter 2wd trucks with heavier 4 speeds that utilize the offset bell housing (bottom bell housing below) will not work with our current adapter plate and an a833 mopar 4 speed. Depending on demand we can make adapter plates for either. Let us know if you are interested. Feb 5 2016 - Well mission accomplished. We now have an adapter plate for the both heavy 3 speed floor shift and light 4 speed bell housings and heavier 4 speed bell housings. Bellow is the truck adapter which works for both, then a picture of it with the car and light 3 speed column shift for tucks, and then a picture of the two truck bell housings that the new adapter plate works with. Price is going to be $135 & shipping for the kit. The kit will be the adapter plate and 4 bolts required to mount the adapter plate to the truck bell housing. Bottom line: In the continental United States car adapter plates are $140 shipped and truck adapter platers are $150 shipped. Outside of that area cars are $125 + shipping and trucks are $135 + shipping.
    4 points
  35. Shirley Muldowney's Mom, Mae Scarborough Roque passed away today, in her 100th year. I had the chance to chat With Mrs Rogue. What a wonderful lady. How proud she was of her "little girl" putting those boys in their place on the track. In her 100th year She had quite a life. Our condolences to Shirley and the entire family Mae Scarborough Roque JANUARY 3, 1918 - JANUARY 9, 2017
    4 points
  36. Its part 4 over time. Lol.. some pictures of the engine bay, the fuel block you will see on the fire wall as custom made by Dashman's Hot Rod and Speed Parts. They make super cool stuff.. You can get an idea on their ebay account (items for sale) or check out their website or give them a call. http://www.ebay.com/usr/68rrman http://www.dashman.net/ Oh yes, they are the supplier of the fuel distribution block and other cool stuff on the Worlds Fastest Dinasour ! Also pics of the beautiful restored hubcaps by hubcap.com , the alternator Rob built and the waterpump view of the dual pulley system
    4 points
  37. Happy New Years ! Well on behalf of all the AoK boys, we wish you a Happy New Years ! In the last few weeks, after being nudged by a couple of members, we started to blog. I figured we would give it a month and see if I got a few followers interested in the ramblings of a group of Mopar Nuts ! We have been sincerely humbled by the responses so far. While I cant guarantee I will have the time to post as regularly throughout 2015 as I have the last month, I will try and make sure a month doesn’t go by without some new post as long as you folks are interested ! If you have suggestions for topics, want us to go down some path or another, please don’t be afraid to make suggestions. For me this blog idea was all about giving those interested in a peak into the world of the AoK boys. Without readers, and your interest, this blog will just dry up and turn to dust. So what I am saying, is you folks and your feedback, comments, suggestions and ideas are the key to the success of the blog and my interest in doing it for you. Thanks again and hope you have an absolute awesome 2015 ! Signed Tim Kingsbury – on behalf of George Jr, Rob, George III, Eric and Evan Asche - the Southern Mopar Nuts, & Dan Kingsbury and myself, the Northern Mopar Nuts, who combined are.. The AoK boys !
    4 points
  38. I'm sure you have seen the build adventures on the Fast & Loud series at the Gas Monkey garage in Texas. Their "restorations" are actually a pretty good example of how some fast and shady car guys work and take the unsuspecting for quite a restoration ride. Make it look pretty but skip the details. Pretty much every restoration or build is quick paint job, air bags, disk brakes up front, new seat covers and maybe a new front end. When you see the prices they are asking and wonder what happened to the detail stuff like brake lines, wiring, dash and chrome restoration or engine rebuild, it's no wonder they often lose their shirts at auction. A detailed pre-auction inspection should leave any potential buyer wondering why the job is half done at a full boat asking price. I pity the poor fool who buys one of these one week wonders and I'm amazed they doesn't go up in flames on the drive home. And don't start with "You just don't like modded rides". Yeah, I'm old school, that is, if your going to do a job then do it right. If you do the job right the quality of the build is clearly evident. These cable show "builds" are just how fast can they turn them. WIthout the attention to detail for safety (or aesthetics) the objective is just find a buyer who doesn't know better. The problem is the growing proliferation of these programs (Desert Kings, Texas Cars Wars, et al.) is people actually accept this as the way the job should be done! Just reminds me of all the classic tricks used car salesmen use to use to move a lemon off the lot! Your thoughts and comments?
    4 points
  39. If I recall correctly the discovery of fire was one of the most helpful discoveries in the education of man, the invention of the wheel the second. There is a gigantic difference between fire and the wheel. Fire is a natural action to be discovered the wheel was invented. According to reports from the early explorers, the grasses in the North American Plains were knee and waist deep before they were plowed under. With that much matter and nothing to eat it all, after a winter's covering of snow that would be a thick mat which would not allow anything to grow through, so how then did the grass survive? Fire! Not only were the plains renewed by fire, so were the forests. Scriptures state that gold is refined by fire. They also say that at the judgement man kinds' life accomplishments will be tried the same way. Now those could be metaphors, yet they carry a serious meaning. When a fireman looks at a fire, all contents to him are fuel; not precious antiques, or papers, or trucks. The only thing that is important is to control the fire and then extinguish it. The only fuel the firemen at our fire did not go after were rounds of ammunition. When they started to pop, the fireman looked me up. Before a fire the owner's possessions are valuable, some priceless. Yet after a fire, when the clean up begins the fire separates the important from the mundane. We clean our buildings and often times we don't really clean, we just reorganize putting less valuable items further back into the room, rafters, or attic. There they may eventually become fuel! There were items I found that at one time I could not discard yet after the fire no longer had meaning. After just a quick thought they were tossed. They had served itheir purpose.But what survives does become important. For example, in one pile of debris taken out by the firemen and tossed in the back yard, I found wrapped in wet newspaper a porcelain nativity scene, complete with animals, shepherds, wise men, Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus, God incarnate, lying in a manger, not one arm or horn or finger was broken or cracked. It reminded me of a verse in Matthew 28.20 where Jesus said, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world [garage]"! Two things in closing. I did not realize how hard it is to get soot off of my hands, if so there, then the same everywhere else. No wonder the smell of a fire lingers so long, and finally how a fire draws out one's friends. I hope I am worthy so that my friends stick to me like the soot.
    4 points
  40. Aristotle's instructions for a complete exposition starts by stating that background information is prerequisite to a full understanding or a full explanation of said topic. So a brief bit of history is in order. Some eight years ago, a friend and I were returning from scoping out a couple of lakes for potential fishing holes. On the return, via a different route we saw this truck sitting on the side of the road. We turned around out of curiosity to check it out. It had sat in that spot for 17 years, and the lady at the door wished someone would haul it off. I offered to do so for $200. 00 and she liked that. So the following day we returned with a trailer and took it home. It then sat for another three years. Little by little I worked on it, doing simple things first because I have never worked on cars. I decided that I could remove, fix or replace, about anything so that became my mode of operation. Below is what I hauled home. Then I found the p15-d24 forum and started to learn a few things. Greybeard was a patient, knowledgeable teacher. He became my first mentor. With his guidance I restored the engine. I found the head and manifolds in the bed. So when I got it home, I pulled it and put ATF in the cylinders, as it seeped down I would add a little more. Finally I got it started, then I tore it apart and rebuilt the top, pistons, rings, valves, head, etc and ended up with this. [/url] and this: And now it looks like this. http://s1332.photobucket.com/user/pflaming/media/Truck2-23-13grillview_zpsd30f58fd.jpg.html] To be continued
    4 points
  41. This was my Dad's original 1938 Desoto - Plymouth Approved Service Dealer Sign. My Grandfather had a later Desoto- Plymouth sign and a Chrysler - Fargo Trucks sign hanging on the outside of his shop, which he built after he retired from Chrysler Corporation. It was a 42" sign and of course Dad always admired it. When Grandfather passed away the signs were sold at auction and the pair sold for $18,500 and after their sale Dad almost immediately started looking for one. Years later on his first trip to our friend George Asche's he smiled when he saw George had one hanging on his garage. I took a picture of the pair of them in front of the garage and it became one of Dad and George's favourite pictures. The meeting of the Northern and Southern Flathead Mopar minds. In any case, it would be about a decade later when Dad would finally see one come up for auction and of course it wound up costing more than did the one that sold at Grandfathers Auction. During the lead up to the auction it came to light that dealer sign was an original 1938 sign and as we checked out the sign measured it, and then compared it to the one that sold at Grandfathers sale, there was indeed a slight difference in size. Grandfathers was 42" and this one was 45". Grandfathers, well it had made its way back to Chrysler and was on display at the Walter Chrysler Museum. Given its age, it was in remarkable conditions when found (see picture of the pre-restoration sign) but after speaking to George who wished he had restored the enamel instead of painting its spots missing enamel, and speaking to the Curator at the Walter Chrysler museum it was decided to have it restored by the best we could find. It underwent a world class restoration on the few areas that needed attention, by the leading enamel sign restoration company, Don Van Kannel - Van Kannel Sign Restoration and it is in absolutely spectacular condition. Sadly its restoration would take a number of years, and Dad would pass away without ever seeing it finished. The family has wrestled with keeping it, or selling it. It had been appraised at $15,000 prior to it being restored and with the restoration cost, the imminent sale of Mom and Dad's place it really didn't make sense to keep it. So we put it up for sale and also consigned it to a large automotive memorabilia auction. We got a few people express interest, and a couple of trade offers, but nothing serious, so off it went to the automotive memorabilia auction with no reserve but a guarantee for the auction company on the minimum sale price. As our luck has seem to have gone lately, the sign appeared to sell at the auction for well above the guarantee the auction company had provided us. But a couple of days after the auction we were told that the buyer had failed complete the sale. Grrrrrrr, what else can you say. So the Sign went up for sale on this week Ebay and locally. Here is the listing - and the current bid is $17,250 (a verified buyer with a 5780 rating) http://www.ebay.com/itm/252734854732?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 We have put it up for sale at less that we (Dad) had in the sign, but it needs a new home and we would really like to see it go to a new home. We might consider a trade for something, but it will need to be something one of the family wants, and then they will put the cash into the estate. If you have any questions feel free to drop me a note at fargopickupking@yahoo.com Thanks for your time Tim Kingsbury
    3 points
  42. Originally Posted 29 November 2014 - 09:54 PM Howdy Folks - As discussed on the forum under various topics, my father Eddy Kingsbury, George Asche, his boys Rob and George III along with a buddy and myself developed a triple carb intake for the Canadian 25 1/2" big block flatheads. We used the 50's triple that Eddy Edmunds produced and dramatically improved the flow of the intake as well as made a number of changes to the design to dramatically improve the performance (torque and RPM) over other multiple carb intakes . We did not develop that intake for commercial purposes, but for use on our rear engine dragster and a couple of personal projects. I put the setup on my 1949 Plymouth business coupe (sporting a modified 265 ci motor) and am currently getting ready to put it on a 1956 Fargo pickup. If you want to see it in action on my car or the dragster I have uploaded a view video's on youtube. https://www.youtube....7YNWI2Rnnvn8rig I had mentioned in my post under the tatterfield intake thread that we have thought about doing a dual carb intake for the USA built 23 1/2" block engines.. aka all your P15/D24 cars. Well the feedback over the past week has been absolutely unexpected. Heck we have already had 2 guys wanting to send checks . Today we have decided to proceed with the project! So there will be an AoK Dual Carb intake for the USA 23 1/2" flathead 6 cylinder mopars ! We basically already have all the research and the majority of testing done when we created our triple for the big block. We have had a number of car guys who are unhappy with the performance of the offy's (lots of rev but looses torque over stock) or other intakes and who are seeing huge prices for vintage Edmunds intakes, ask us to consider making a dual carb setup. We also know with lots of our triples out there to confirm our triple is outperforming the super rare Edmunds triple, that we are confident a dual carb setup would outperform any similar intake ever produced. Our big advantage is not only is there better flow and other testing instrumentation available to us today, but foam core casting just allows for a product that could not have been made in the 40's-60's, when all of the dual carb intakes were designed. We have spent several hours with our machinist / intake genius, who takes our designs and turns them into reality. He will start the core development Monday ! Things we still have to finalized ------------------------------------------ 1) Whether we put a water tube integrated in the intake as Edmunds did with 2 of his versions. Note: we know it is not required, there is no measurable performance increase and the carbs don’t ice without it. But the customers are always right on what they want and a number of guys have asked for them. It required another core mold, and will require us or the customer to prep and tap both sides to it can be plumbed. 2) Whether we put the tabs or a large tab on the outside of the tube so that it can be used for trucks and older mopars. The tabs are drilled and tapped to mount linkage. (I’ve attached a picture of a factory truck intake.) 3) Whether we put the linkage tabs (like Eddy Edmunds did) on the inside (block side) of the intake or the outside of the carbs. Edmunds started off with none, then went to the inside and the last ones were all on the outside. None of the other intakes even have them. The easy answer would be do what all the ones being produced now do which is don’t do anything, but heck the Kingsbury and Asche's never do the easy angle if it is just to avoid work or time to produce a better product ! 4) Finally, what the name will be beside "AoK" lol... I know falls into the minor category. Right now it is looking like an AoK dual carb intake, machined, with the truck linkage tab(s) We will, as several suggested serialize each intake Thanks again for everyone who has sent notes, called us and provided input on the project Tim Kingsbury and George Asche AoK Racing and Asche Mechanical Distributors
    3 points
  43. Ellis - Made intakes for Chrysler Corporation for the Dodge 331, 377 and 413 ci "super big" block truck engine. They also made aftermarket intakes for both the USA small block and the Canadian big block 6 cylinder engines. This intake is believed to be off a feb 1950 built 377 ci engine which was 4" bore and 5" stroke producing 154 hp at 3000rpm and 330 lbs of torque, 7 main bearing crank. Here is an Ellis intake courtesy of http://p15-d24.com/user/296-ralph-d25cpe/ A nice example of the Canadian 25 1/2" big block - marked "Ellis Dual Power Manifolds" on the side and "Dodge" "2 ton" "1 1/2 ton" on the intake runners Here is another nice example of the Canadian 25 1/2" Big Block - " Dual-Power" intake with Carbs Photo's courtesy of http://p15-d24.com/user/4694-scotia-steve/ Attached is a picture of an Ellis dual crab intake for a 23 1/2" USA small block Advertisement and Instruction sheets: also to follow. I think I have some filed somewhere. Thickson - I believe I have seen 3 different Thickson intakes over the years. This was the one I had a picture of. If you look close there are tabs for the linkage on the intake of this example. It looks like a Tattersfield influenced intake and I do not know who made which 1st although given it is the later Tattersfield that had the linkage tabs, I am thinking the Thickson came after the Tattersfield, but that is just a guess. So this one is a work in progress. McGurk - More known for Chev intakes, however they did make them for the USA small blocks I am told. So this one is a work in progress. * Note: this is the 5th installment on intakes and the 6th with be on Sharp. After that I can't help thinking there may be others I am not thinking of. So if you have any more examples instruction sheets, advertisement, let me know and I will continue the series. As mentioned in the 1st installment my hope is to gather up the information and instruction sheets, maybe any technical stuff that came with them, examples of linkage etc so that eventually it can be moved to the forums technical information section.
    3 points
  44. Well The Monster Lives... again.. As I hinted in past blog entries I knew and know where the legendary Plymouth Motorcycle is. I was in touch with its owner Louie Fisher a few years ago after he had acquired the motorcycle along with a buddy from the Dean Hensley estate back in 1992. They had actually taken it to a couple of antique motorcycle meets in the early 90s and eventually took the big plunge to restore it. Recently they have taken the project from a basket case with no viable drivetrain, to the point where I can say - "The Monster Lives Again!" I was excited to see the Legendary Plymouth Reporter - Jim Benjaminson with an updated article on AllPar and with it some pretty current pictures. Here is the link to the article: Enjoy! http://www.allpar.com/history/plymouth/motorcycle.html If you hadn't read my earlier blog entries on the Worlds Fastest Flathead Motorcycle, here is the link to the 1st parts of the series: Part 1: http://p15-d24.com/blog/17/entry-65-as-promised-the-story-of-the-worlds-fastest-flathead…-motorcycle-part-1/ Part 2: http://p15-d24.com/blog/17/entry-66-as-promised-the-story-of-the-worlds-fastest-flathead…-motorcycle-part-2/ Part 3: http://p15-d24.com/blog/17/entry-67-as-promised-the-story-of-the-worlds-fastest-flathead…-motorcycle-part-3/
    3 points
  45. Part 4 – The Plymouth gets trailered to AoK headquarters and is parked beside the “World’s Fastest Dinasour” & “Calling In Favors” Well the Plymouth wasn’t home long and pictures were shared with my friends and the ideas and discussion of what the plans were for her. In what I will call the round table discussion with George and Rob Asche we kicked around the idea of building a race engine that would still be streetable. We had just finished off the Velociraptor or the Worlds Fastest Dinosaur engine, and well we did have some spare parts.... tee hee When we were in the design of the dragster project, Dad had called in some favors from some of his drag racing friends and colleagues and we were able to get several sets of Venolia Forged top fuel pistons made, complete with HardTuf coating on them. Those and sets of custom Plasma Moly Gapless rings actually cost more than the 1949 Plymouth was new ! Actually a lot more come to think of it ! So with the pistons and rings at up to .125 over bore and a 1952 Dodge 265 Truck Engine, the start of the project was in hand. I loaded up the Plymouth in my enclosed car trailer, and headed south/east to AoK Headquarters, where the Plymouth was tucked into bed beside the Rear Engine Dragster. George and Rob pulled down the truck engine and the legendary and in my opinion the best Flathead Mopar Engine builder alive started the build process. Here are some of the highlights. The engine after hot tanked and checked for cracks and defect, was decked with about .20 removed from it. The block was bored and new custom valve seats and valves installed. The crank quick was perfectly balanced from Chrysler back in the day, was prepared with a few racing tricks, and nos 265 rods were balanced to the gram. Clevite 77 Bearings were secured, as was a brand new brass water tube. Not that the water tube being brass had a lot of a performance impact, but it was a rare part that had long ago been set aside for a special project. I will also attach a picture of the oil pump beside am OEM stock oil pump. It has been built, and I say built because it was NOS when we tore it apart and made a few mods to it ! Its all about getting some oil flow to an engine which we expect will touch north of 6,000 rpm ! A 1956 dodge 265 truck head was prepared, shaved .80, and modifications made to cc the head to 70cc’s. In the end the engine is about 10.5 to 1 compression ratio. A new custom cam with 435 lift was prepared for the project. This of course is a lot less lift and a lot less compression than is in the rear engine dragster but it isn't exactly streetable ! When the engine was in the discussion phase I really wanted to have a George Asche custom made triple from a stock intake used. That was really for sentimental purposes, but I got over-ruled, lol and of course an AoK triple carb intake was used for the project. George prepared 3 carter ball and ball carbs – model E9K1 which were original equipment for the 1956 Dodge 4 ton truck with factory dual carbs as stock equipment. These carbs are stock 1 11/16” throttle bore and 1 11/32 Venturis. Interestingly it was this throttle bore and venturi size that Lee Petty used in his 1949 Plymouth. Mind you he used 1 and well, we have 3 for this engine ! When finished these fully matched carbs sported over sized Grose Jets. Sadly Ansel Grose of Stoneham, Middlesex, Massachusetts who made the worlds best carb jets is no longer with is, and so far it does not look like anyone has taken over the business. Too bad, because his jets were unreal and the Kingsbury and Asche stashes of them is definitely pretty limited. While George and my brothers (Rob and George III) were busy on the engine, I was on the prowl to try and put together the ability to put air-conditioning on the car. We found a dual belt pulley from a past project and using 6061T6 aircraft gear grade aluminum had dual belt pulleys made for both the crankshaft and water pump pulleys. Now I am sure your now thinking, air conditioning, how are you doing that with 6 volts.. Well the truth is for a number of reasons, we decided to change to a 12 volt system. Brighter lights, a better wiper system etc etc. Which of course brings up one of my many Christmas presents from George. Lol.. Hidden away from plain sight would be an upgrade from a vacuum wiper system, from a late 1940’s Chrysler George completely rebuilt an electric wiper system for the car. By now I am sure you can see this “build a high performance flathead” project got a little wider scope. “Brother Rob” would specially build the high amp 12 volt alternator for the project. Something he and George III do regularly as they have for the last decade or so taken over the Family Business – Asche Mechanic and Asche Mechanical Distributors. If you want some starter, generator or automotive electrical component rebuilt, they are definitely the boys for the job. Some time I will do a blog entry on their diamond in the rough business. I believe “Brother George” actually built the starter for the car for the project. I will attach a few pictures of the engine as it was built, and may have to put up a few other parts just to get the pictures up. I think we were about the fall of 2013 when the engine was complete and was set aside, actually I believe right beside the dragster, as if it was a spare engine. Somewhere along the way I acquired a 1953 Chrysler Windsor with a 265 ci motor, and while it wasn’t the motor we wanted for this project it did yield some donor parts. The rear end gear set or Pumpkin, which was a 3:54 ratio was a far more “highway friendly” set of gears than what came with the Plymouth. As well Chrysler’s being a much heavier car had bigger brakes, so the thought of much more power and speed, naturally shifted into the need to upgrade the brakes. So the Plymouth brake system was converted to Chrysler 12” brakes and that also required different rims to handle the bigger drums. Again George and Rob would be the master behind the project and restored all of the parts, as well as brass sleeved the master cylinder (poor man power brakes) . While that was taking place, down in George’s work shop a specially prepared 1952-56 Borg Warner R10 over drive was prepared. The top secret 1940 cluster and 2nd speed gear set was used for the project. I call it top secret because it’s a not widely known fact that the 1940 only gears give you a much faster 2nd gear. It was a trick used by one Lee Petty back in 1949 and does indeed make a huge difference. The r10 can be set up as 6 or 12 volt, this one obviously being 12 volt. Shortly after the piece of art, that would be the overdrive was completed it was coupled up to the engine. But not before we pulled out another mopar secret; that being the pressure plate and clutch setup of a 1956 plymouth and went to Fort Wayne Clutch for the project. Now AoK doesn’t do anything 1 off very often, so a dozen of these special heavier spring clutch and pressure plate system were made and the 1st of which was put into the plymouth, along with another secret, a custom modified flywheel which provides the perfect balance for a high performance engine. The Plymouth's new heart was put in, and you can see the engine here on Youtube as it was fired up. While everyone wanted me to do the honors, I couldn’t take that smile away from Rob and you can see him fire it up as George smiles in he back ground and of course I am running the video. The picture of her shortly after rolling out of the garage, still had the hood off and looking like it was ready to go to the drag strip. The rims were all prep’s and powder coated red as was a number of pretty famous Mopar Stock cars in the 50’s. Thanks to Lorenzo Martinez of Hubcaps.com they restored a set of 1949 full hubcaps to NOS condition. I cant say enough of their work, it was absolutely unreal The steering wheel which had cracked over time needed attention, and here is another AoK secret. . Koch’s steering wheel restoration took car of the restoration of the steering wheel and it came back better than NOS ! http://www.kochssteeringwheels.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=3&idproduct=4 Another neat part that obviously didn’t come with the zero-optioned car was its clock. In one of those urban myth stories my Dad had been following up a lead about a 1949 Plymouth that was specially built for the man who would be the Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Well 2 years ago, one of Dad’s friends called me from Saskatoon Saskatchewan, where Diefenbaker is buried and told me that he had located the 1949 Plymouth my Dad was looking for. It was located near Neustadt, Ontario which ironically is where Diefenbaker was born. Neustadt is super close to where I live so out I went to check it out. It is in the heart of a German Mennonite and the black 1949 Plymouth was living behind a barn of an Mennonite family who make old style wooden windows. They have no electricity in their house or telephone and have an old d21 Allis Chalmers tractor with the wheels off sitting on blocks, running a big generator to run the power for the window plant. When I inquired about the car, the owner said to me that it was John Diefenbaker’s 1st wife’s and he had actually tried to give it to a couple of museums over the years. Sadly the car had the front suspension rusted out, the engine seized. Now you would think with such a story, and little proof in hand of the story that the price of the car would be out of sight. No sir. The price was pegged at what the car weighed and the price of scrap ! So home came the 1949 Plymouth, and while many I am sure are rolling in their graves, the 1949 clock was pulled from the car, gone over and will find its way into my Aunt Thelma’s Plymouth. Aunt Thelma was a big Diefenbaker fan and I thought it was a fitting and appropriate upgrade for the old girl. The car with temporary dual exhaust on it was taken out for a couple of test runs. OMG talk about a car that can smoke tires. I think that is where the project sits at the moment . Still to come is a brand new end to end stainless steel dual exhaust system with a pair of specially made polished stainless steel mufflers courtesy of another friend. As well, while the car has few miles , never saw winter and I doubt it saw rain very often, a lot of the chrome was done over pot metal on those cars and so a great deal of the pieces need to be replace or rechromed. The pursuit of air-conditioning is still ongoing with that challenge right now being I can’t find a small enough unit to fit under the dash… grrrr.. As well Rob in looking really close at the wiring, a lot of it is old and brittle, so he is busy rewiring the car in a lot of places. I call it a labor of love that you couldn’t even ask your Brother to do, but he is a man on a mission ! In the future, I may freshen up the interior and touch up things here and there. As things progress or change I will try and update the blog, and who knows we may test it out to see if it is faster than the average Echo ! lol
    3 points
  46. Well as the year is coming to a quick end, a shout out to a great guy and fellow Mopar Nut! I am not 100% sure what year it was, but sometime after the earth cooled, my Dad, George Asche and I were hanging out at Chrysler Carlisle (or I guess All Chrysler Nationals) when I 1st met Mike. I think we hit it off immediately and as my Dad said, that guy has that same twinkle in his eye as you do.. Full Throttle Trouble ! Over the years we would see Mike and his buddies, and somewhere a few years ago as we were building the AoK triple Mike commissioned George to build a high end, bore out 265 big block with an AoK triple on it, for the sole purpose of burning tires ! When we purchased the our AoK dragster, I remember bringing the attached picture to Chrysler Carlisle to show a number of people, including Mike. The picture is as it left the dragsters previous owner. He had bought it from Bartone Racing, sold off the big Top Fuel Hemi, took off the wing and tried to run in a class with a big block chevy. He was never successful. In any case, Mike had one look at the picture and it was "holy crap" and his eyes lite up like a Christmas Tree. I know Mike has been around drag strips for a long time, but I like to think between the Mopar only Drag races on the super old track associated with Chrysler Carlisle and maybe the Worlds Fastest Dinosaur, Mike got inspired to switch his drag racing from cars to dragsters. Now, that may be for many,be out of the frying pan and into the fire but the more I get to know Mike, the more I realize he isnt afraid to take on the impossible or the projects that have a lot of other saying -"why bother".. A few years ago Mike had brought his 1951 Dodge Business Coupe to Chrysler Carlisle. We had heard him talk about it, and the cool part is just how much of it he did. It wasnt a farm the whole thing out project. I remember like it was yesterday, over went George, my Dad Eddy, George's son Rob, his Son and myself for super by the grand stand, and then over to the show field we went to have a look at Mike's car. We walked up and I think my 1st words were likely like his when he saw the dragster... "holy crap". lol What I saw was absolutely the nicest Dodge coupe I have ever seen. The workmanship, the paint, and the interior was just jaw dropping. It was the kind of thing you see on $100,000+ resto-mods that someone plows a modern hemi in it etc. But what he had done was keep true to the drivetrain that came with it, and his custom changes were things that the Dodge Brothers would have given 2 thumbs up. Next when Dad and George gave it a good look over and gave it 2 thumbs up, you know Mike had built a show winner in the eyes of the Asche's and Kingsbury's.. Over time, and as Mike started other projects I had to ask, "So Mike what will it take to buy her!" Well, it was clear, it just wasn’t for sale, and you know what, I understand and respect that. As time past, I found not the original car that my Dad had, but a 1941 Plymouth that was very close to his 1st car. Rob Asche and I had driven 3 days in my race car.. well that is another story for another time.. and purchased the 1941 Plymouth. As we were coming back, having just left a huge pile of US $100 bills for the 1941 Business Coupe I remember sending a note to a few guys, Mike being one. Later on I would find out, that had I asked the day I bought my 41, I could have pried the 51 Dodge out of Mike's arms. After a big run of car shows, with Mike finding winning as a regular occurrence I think other projects that cost $$ and a lack of using and enjoying the Dodge made it available. Unfortunately I just wasn’t in a position to buy both. I have to tell you I thought about it, and I thought about selling the 41 Plymouth to buy the 51 Dodge, but in the end I couldn’t pull the trigger. Over the last year, for other reasons there just is no chance I can swing the 51 Dodge business coupe still, so when someone posted on the forum looking for a very similar car, I thought, well maybe it’s a sign, I can give Mike a hand. So today as we end 2014 Mike has moved from sort of putting the 1951 business coupe for sale, to it is definitely for sale, to the right home. And believe me , the right home is the real story. Mike asked me yesterday what I thought he should ask. I gave him a number and to be honest I was a little surprised to see him listing it well below the number I suggested. The other super news, is in the process, and with some help of his kids I think, is Mike has signed up and is on the P15-D24 site. That to me is the big win win as this guy is an absolute diehard Mopar Nut. Oh.. also below his "brand new slingshot" dragster. Finished to the point he has fired it down the track, been successful and is already spending the off season making more changes. So yes, Mike is way faster than us AoK boy to get to the track... but hey, at least brother Rob (Rob Asche) took the dragster for a spin. Attached is the picture of him in the car, and yes, he literally drove it out of the garage and lite it up on Main Street Fertigs ! And who knows, maybe the AoK dinosaur may have to square off against the Meier-Mania (my words) dragster ! of course he has 8 cylinders and we only have 6 so he should give us a 25% head start.. lol.. 25% more cylinders, sounds fair doesn’t it ? rofl.. Well again, a huge Shout Out To Mike.. and while I am sad in some way to see his car listed... http://p15-d24.com/classifieds/item/806-relunctant-sale-1951-dodge-wayfarer-business-coupe/ Well maybe I can kidnap him sometime and redo the paint of my baby, the 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe.. To be honest while I can find tons of guys with way more experience, I cant think of anyone I would rather have. Just think in his 1951 Dodge, you get "ground zero" which was the labor of love for hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of hours !
    3 points
  47. **** Development Update **** Behind the Scenes *** Well as promised a little sneak peak behind the scenes on the development of the new Dual Carb AoK intake. And just to give people an idea of where this process is going, I have also attached the finished AoK triple intake that followed this exact same development process. So since our last update, which to recap was the completion of the core. Unfortunately I dont have a picture of the dual intake core, so I will attached the core from the triple in a picture beside an original Eddy Edmunds Triple carb intake. The core, made of a special foam is put inside a finished mold and after the alunimum is poured in the mold, the casting is reheated and the core suddenly turns to powder and after it is blown out, you have the inside of your intake. In any case, this is the pattern for the outter mold. Believe it or not, this is where the major work is. It is all created in wood and its something the "masters of the trade" never let people actually see. Those who do this stage are absolute artists and this is where the true magic happens in my mind. You will notice the tab that will eventually act as a spot for truck and older cars that use linkeage attached to the outside of the intake, as well as the spot for a serial number. You may also notice the top of the carb base has tabs on both the inside and outside of the intake. Those can be used for linkage on either the inside or outside of the intake. With none of the current in production intakes offer this, it was a feature that Edmunds had, although they had 1 generation which had the tabs only on the outside and another only on the inside. For the AoK it can have either or left undrilled and not use this option. Still to be finished at this stage, is the core and pattern for the water tube. It too will be an optional item where you can use it or leave it unused. Were having a bit of a discussion today as to its exact location as when Edmunds did include a water jacket and he didnt do it for all intakes, he never offered the otter tabs for truck or older car linkage. This is not a complex stage and should be done with another 30 hours of work which Tom says he is on track to finish before Christmas. So images p1000073, 75, 76 are all the patterns from which the outter mold will be made from. In the end, we will have a pattern to make the core for the inside of the intake, a pattern to make the core for the water tube and finally a pattern for the outside of the intake. Once you have those you use the core patterns to make foam cores. You need 1 intake foam core and 1 water tube foam core for every single intake we make. Then you set those cores inside the outter intake mold and pour it with alunimum. You let it cool, then reheat the intake to turn your cores to dust, as well as heat treat the actual alunimum. With those steps done, you have the raw intakes ready to send for the machine shop.
    3 points
  48. I used to worry about big things. Can I really do a McArthur on the frame and survive. Will the gas tank fit. Does anything forward of the spliced midsection of the frame actually work. Will the DMV let me drive it. Can I afford to keep doing this. Now I think about little things. Ignition switches with real Dodge keys. Blinkers signaling inside the cab. That paint chip on the tailgate. How to keep the smell of gas out of the uninsulated cab. How I will sound proof. If I should redo the doors and windows myself or farm it out before I break the rattling glass. How to deal with dim bulbs (thanks Plymothy, I'll try that). Is the gas tank empty yet. Should I hook up those heater controls. Where do I get mirrors from. How can I make a monthly budget to keep it going. That's right, now I'm driving it. Any time I have an excuse. They are short trips. Less than10 miles. But it is out there. People point. I get thumbs up. I am now the the guy waving back. I've taken it to a car show as a participant. People ask questions. I show pictures to anyone foolish enough to listen - like a Dad with a new born child. I talk their ears off. I'm passionate and knowledgeable about it. I used to be a guy who wanted a truck. Now I am an owner of a running truck. It's different. I am very excited by it. Not sure what it means. I think it's a journey. Thank you Mr. Hemingway
    3 points
  49. Cleaned up the frame yesterday with an angle grinder and 3" wire wheel. Took seven hours including two coats of rust prevention. Man am I sore - my old knees hate me. Never had so much fun though. After cleaning with the wire brush and noting the areas to touch up we coated the entire frame with Zero Rust. My friend used it on his early 60's Willies Jeep with good results. Plus it was only $81 a gallon instead of the $165 for POR-15. Some day we'll see if that was a good cost-cutting decision. Can't wait to start making the cut and splice that will close up this chapter. The other plus is that I finally got to use the truck. I had lunch in it!
    3 points
  50. While testing a starter on a 56 flat head, I explained and demonstrated how electricity works to my nine year old grandson. First I explained to him that a power outlet in a house is connected to a large network of lines which go back to some electrical power generating source, such as a water turbine. The I showed him how one can move power from an outlet via a battery charger to a battery. I showed him how the charger did nothing until we plugged it into the outlet and then how the positive and negative clamps would then spark. We attached those clamps to a six volt battery and showed him how the needle indicated that energy was moving from the outlet into the battery. And finally how that we could prove that by touching a wire from the positive pole to the negative pole and a spark would occur which meant that we just let a little bit of energy escape from the battery. Then we looked at the starter and and its motionless engaging gear. When we put two wires to the starter and that gear spun, his eyes were wide open. I then had him put his hand on my wrist and we repeated the action; then his hand on my hand then my hand on his wrist and finally he did it himself. When he touched that hot wire to that starter by himself and that gear spun, he was one excited little boy. Tomorrow I will teach him that the starter is an electric motor and how that small motor turns over a LARGE engine. Later when the L6 is running, we will learn how the electricity flows from the generator to the spark plugs and etc. Next week is going to be a fun week, and all because some eight years ago I picked up an old truck sitting on the side of the road and learned how to become a novice hobby mechanic. My success though is also the success of the many who have helped me and who continue to do so.
    3 points
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