keithb7

If you remove the access cover with the shift linkage you'll see the model number stamped in the housing. It will show what car the tranny was originally installed in. Here in this example you see it was for a C56. A New Yorker. 11 17 52, maybe Nov 17 1952 production? Makes sense for a '53 NY'r.

The groove in your pushrod shaft is for the dust boot. There certainly is no lack if confusion around how these parts go together.I understand your guys' thoughts. I too was scratching my head... When I took my first ever old Mopar master cylinder apart it was screwed up and assembled wrong too. By the previous grease monkey in there. See this pic below. Look when my valve seal is. On the push rod beside the cylinder stop. LOL. Then on top of that you get old photos that don't show the valve seal. Guys get to guessing where to put the extra parts found in the reseal kit.

This next pic is missing the valve seal, which is shown above in my other pic. However this pic does a good job showing placement of the rest of all the parts:

Tell us a little more. How long have you owned the car? Did it drive fine, hot or cold, for some time? Then recently start acting up? Improperly set valve lash may allow the engine to start when cold and run quiet. Upon heating up the valves, they expand. If clearance too tight, they’ll stay open enough that the engine may miss, backfire and will not start again until cooled off. Just an idea. Not saying that’s the answer. A cold & hot compression test may reveal a few things.

Compression test. That should let you know where to look for clues going forward.

My ½” drive 24” long breaker bar knows that axle nut intimately.

I think if you upload 1 pic per post, then post it. Then start another reply and post again, you can upload more pics. Left side of engine and firewall and fender wiring would be great! Thanks.

Thanks folks. Typically maybe this is a horn relay. It's wired up though as a connection for head lights, not as a relay. Nor used on the horn. Thanks @38plymouth for posting a pic. Mine is not set up the same. Could be because it was built in Canada. Or someone changed things up. I would love to see more photos of your engine bay if you have them. I would like to know how things looked when new. Your low milage car would be good guide for me. Thanks, Keith.

Thanks dpollo. At this point I assume it serves no purpose except join wires together, and hold them close to the fender. I could eliminate it by joining wires directly together. Correct?

Forgot to mention. I have the original manual. This box I am referencing is not shown in the wiring diagram. Thx.

Getting into wiring clean up in my ‘38 Plymouth. I decided to pull the original headlight harness. Needless to say it’s in horrendous condition. Crumbling away upon touching it. Lots of bare exposed wire. I’ll build a new harness from scratch. Wires from the headlight harness went to this 3 terminal box on the left fender well inside engine compartment. 2 wires go to this box. Appear to come from cab area possibly. I’ll dig in further with a multi-meter. I suspect the two wires come from the hi/low beam foot switch. The two wires connect to the outer pair of terminals on this box. Then the two head light harness wires connect to the same outer two terminals. The centre terminal on this box was unused. I’m wondering what the purpose this box is. Its not a relay as far as I can tell. Its not wired up as such. All it seems to be doing is offering a mechanical connection of the wires. Is it a type fusebox maybe? It’s plenty old for my eyes. I can’t recall seeing one before. Mind you I have not owned a car built before ‘92 since ‘92. I suspect an earlier owner custom repair. Someone changed out the headlights to sealed beam 6V type. The little auxiliary bulbs in the orignal headlights are gone. The wire is still there in the harness. Thanks.

So far brake shoes appear to be near new. I’ll be definitely digging in further. I see old crusty flex hoses. They’ll be replaced. I exposed the carb bowl today. Quite dirty. To be expected for a car that has seen so little use in decades. After some extensive internet research time, I learned this is a Carter BBS carburetor. Used from about 54 and up thru the 60's. This carb seems to align properly, age-wise with D54 engine SN on my block. I was able to locate a rebuild kit on the Carb Doctor web site. Carb is currently disassembled and soaking in Lacquer thinner. Every time I walk by I agitate it a little.

Flat black seems popular with the vintage hotrod guys around here. They add red & white custom pin striping it seems. I can understand how a home hobby hack type of guy, trying to stay in a budget, would consider flat black. Might be able to get away with a home paint job if he has no desire to show the car. Just get out and cruise. I may or may not fall into that catagory. ?

I like hearing these stories. I too love to talk about my best friend. They broke the mold after she was born. Many a man have asked me if my wife has a sister. She does haveva sister but they are nothing alike. I like to go on about all her amazing skills and work effort. I try to refrain but will list a top 5. Please excuse my boasting. She is the real deal: She personally, totally renovates our homes. No she does not hire contractors. She does stucco, hardi-plank or vinyl siding. She removes and installs new exterior windows. Tile and hardwood flooring. Hang doors. Builds cabinets. Custom builds and tiles showers. Drywall, including ceilings. Paint. Brickwork. Rips out and upgrades plumbing. Solders copper and electronics. Custom builds furniture from scratch. Has her own well eqipped wood shop in the basement. Does Electrical work. Amazing finish carpentry work. She picky as h e l l and does the work of mutiple men. She’ll drop whatever, when I ask her to help me install a transmission or push a dead car. She’ll shove her small hands in tight areas to get a bolt that I can’t access. This morning she pulled dead mice from our basement traps. She is dedicated to any projects she starts and gets them finished to a very high standard. Many a man have been humbled when they got in her way. She’d die to protect her sons who she poured the best of herself into. That was #1 in my list I’ll stop there. I am very fortunate. I gotta run, she needs a hand. She’s installing a new bathtub in her bathroom reno today.

An exciting day as I flashed my Plymouth up again finally. Fresh new 1/O battery cables. Good starter that I had serviced and a new clutch gear installed in. Thanks to @dpollo for a good starter. I am really enjoying this car very much. Tinkering away as time allows. Its kinda become like a go-cart for me. I crawl under it and smile at the simplicity of it all. I feel like little kid building my own go-cart when I work on it. Except now I have tools. And space! And money! LOL. Engine is not blowing any smoke that I can see. Radiator is doing it's job well it seems. I plan to warm it fully tomorrow and do a compression test. We'll see what we've got here. My latest blog video. Learn about Necker Knobs here: https://youtu.be/O3ZKXp0VWl0

This evening I was in my garage workin’ on my ‘38 Plymouth. My wife showed up with a sign that she saw in a store. She bought it and she even hung it for me. I’m grateful she supports my old car hobby. I’m very impressed that she even knows what Mopar means! I am a lucky man. 26+ years married so far. Not 1 hint of disapproval when I wanted to buy my 2nd old.Mopar She was smiling in the passenger seat of the musty old interior, right beside me when we jumped in to check it out for the first time. Anyone here as lucky? Let’s hear about it.

Lots of topics lately on here about brakes. If you search, there is a lot of great helpful responses here. Most folks ask the same questions. I too did the same when I started to tackle my brakes for the first time. Most of our brakes are all the same.

With these old cars, it is imperative that the master cylinder fluid be checked regularly in my opinion. A single reservoir master cylinder, and other old parts leaves little room for error. Maybe I am paranoid, but it is my life on the line. I check the master cylinder fluid level often. I look for signs of leakage at all the wheel cylinder and at all brake line connections. I pull my drums off at least a couple of times each cruising season to inspect my breaks. Make sure your parking break is well adjusted and functioning properly. If may be your last life line. It's your reserve chute.

You need to pull a tie end on the steering linkage, directly under the pan. Then turn wheels to a full stop one way. Then you can drop the oil pan. Its not a hard job. You’ll get messy. While you are under there scrape off 50 years of grease and road grime that is often all over everything. I did my ‘53 oil pan about year and a half ago. Was my first time. Not a difficult job. You can read all about it here: http://p15-d24.com/topic/45530-oil-pan-removal-engine-in-car-53-windsor-265/#comments

Assuming your rear brakes are stock, I can share my experience with my ‘53 rear brakes. Remove wheels and axle nut. Acquire larger 3 arm puller often mentioned on this site. Pull drums. Initial inspection may show signs of brake fuild leakage at the wheel cylinders. Depending what you find, you may want new shoes new return springs, hardware etc. Look at your shoe wear surfaces for signs of uneven wear. Indicating misaligned shoes. Look at your drums for grooves. Good drums are smooth across the wear surface. Measure drum internal area for total wear. Compare to spec. Brake fluid by nature absorbs moisture. Even humidity in the air eventually causes problems. This water/brake fluid mixture sits in enclosed areas such as wheel cylinders, master cylinder and brake likes. All winter or longer. Corrosion takes place when steel and water sits.Then the piston in the cylinder can rust, freezing in place. Best practice is to flush out all brake fluid with new, every 3-5 years. A Mity-Vac is a wonderful tool I recommend for this job. You can elect to simply replace the wheel cylinders. Or clean and hone your originals, possibly. Depending on how bad the pitting is, general cylinder condition and if measured within spec. All new piston seals and dust boots and you could be good to go. Be prepared for rusty original brake lines. They can strip or break off when you attempt to remove them from the rear of the cylinder. Personally, I bought new straight steel lines and hand bent them to shape and fit. I sourced tooling and practiced flaring. I made my own double inverted flare ends. I am comfortable with my work in that I put my life on the line driving the car regularly. All went well with new brake lines. Brakes will need to be bled after all this work. While you are accessing the master cylinder to top up, pull the cap and clean the tiny air breather hole. This is important. Best tool I ever used on my Windsor is the homemade tool I made. Pic if it is below, showing front wheel application. I use it to accurately set the shoes concentric to the axle centre. Some type of tool or method to get this right is pretty much mandatory. Otherwise you’ll struggle to get the brake performance you’ll expect. Reinstall your drums and set your minor adjustment. This is easily done. Rear brake assy shown for reference. -Keith

What year Windsor? Original Lockheed brakes?

Another of the interior. Maybe it has had some work? I can’t confirm. Owner said it was all original. Here’s another shot.

Reviewing the data printed in my Chrysler book this morning I find: The Chrysler 77 featured hydraulic internal brakes, 4-speed tranny, double drop frame, parking lamps front upper corner pillars. Pennon typer hood louvers were used on early production units, while later cars featured vertical louver design. 77 Royal Sedan (owner's info board claimed it was a Royal Sedan) 5 passenger. Price was $1495. Weight 3,755 lbs. Production total 7,211units. Interesting is the 3.375 bore x 5" stroke engine. Must be some decent torque here compared other 1930 cars. It seems the 1930 77 Town Sedan saw only 436 production units. Seems to be some discrepancy here. It happens. Nice car. I'd be smitten with it if it were mine.

Today I was at the finish line of the 2019 Hemmings Great Race. It was at the LeMay museum in Tacoma Washington. There was also an open car show for any makes and models. I saw an awesome car at the show n’ shine that I thoroughly enjoyed. The owner let me get a real good close look. I sat in the front seat, and crawled around the rear seat area too. Taking everything in. The car was an original, 100% stock, 1930 Chrysler model 77 fourdoor sedan. The car is a true survivor that has never been restored. The interior was in amazing, stock condition. The car has around 20,000 original miles. The car has been stored for countless years in a garage I assume. I was informed only 436 of this car were built in 1930. 4 speed. Hydraulic brakes. The owner and I were unsure exactly how much of the frame was wood. I know I saw some wood. He’s only owned it for a short time. A younger fellow. He is truly fortunate to find and secure this car in it’s current state. The owner and I spoke for a while. I went back again later to see the car once again and talk further. For now, I’ll limit sharing more knowledge about the car here. I’m going to invite him here. Hopefully he’ll register and introduce himself and his car here. A sneak peak of limited pics I have. Maybe owner will post more we’ll see. - Keith