keithb7

Hi folks. I have a few questions about my home boiler heating system. In floor hydronic heating. Natural gas fueled. Hoping we may have a resident expert here. Thx. Keith

I did not watch every bit nor listen word for word. I skipped around. From what I saw, I have mixed feelings about all those cars sitting there doing nothing. No person in their lifetime could get through them all to make them somewhat usable. The collection is beyond excessive. I think it makes sense to sell them off and let them be enjoyed by the car enthusiasts around the world. Let fanatics bring them back to their stock new condition. Let us all see them at car shows around the continent. In the current state they are in, and where they are amassed, what does this bring to the owners? Empowerment? Having a collection full of cars other people covet? Seems somewhat pointless to me. Left long enough, will they become less desirable? I think so. The way the world is going us vintage car owners will be punished and need special licenses to even drive our cars to and from events only. It's time to get the ball rolling and get those cars rolling ASAP in my opinion.

First short drive of 2019. Around the block. It’s hard waiting for spring. The heater sure adds an interesting element to cruising...Seems like there’s an “Old Car Smell” air-freshener tucked up in the heating duct. Smells that can trigger memories. Somehow it smells like going for a drive with my Grandpa in 1975, in his old car. Well I guess his car was probably 10 years old in 1975!

It seems some folks are unable to see the pic with my new rims. I will upload it here in a different way.

Thanks @homer41 . That's interesting. I will contact them to see if I can get just the 2 I need.

Today I installed my used "new-to-me" rims. In my opinion a very classy improvement. I went to a friend's home-garage who owns a tire machine and balancer. I helped and had some good learnings. I happily paid him for his time and tool use.

I can't say why, but I get little enjoyment from reading a scanned book. Printing the scanned material, binding it into a book, and thumb flipping...Now we're talking.

When Mention buying on e-bay I am referring to NOS Mopar parts only. Not offshore built will-fit parts. I still fail to understand why Bernbaum has 4 different part numbers.

Be sure to check back and report. Either confirm or suppress my enthusiasm...I'm carrying on reading sections daily. Maybe it's just my age and I missed a ton of cool stuff about old cars and how they worked. For example I did not know that old cooling systems did not have a water pump, nor thermostat, and were non-pressurized. I would have probably grasped that pretty easily being as at some point everything had to be engineered. Go back far enough and old cars had 1 HP, and ate hay. The thermo-syphon principle is lost on most people today. Neat old stuff that we had to learn and live through to get where we are today. Did you know that old cars used to have manual control levers to open and close air fins on the front of cars? To control air flow through the rad, from within the cab? Sure, you probably did. I didn't and I'll be ogling over the next car equipped with air fins that I see at a car show. I have never owned a car with that awesome feature. Today we make winter fronts to cover our radiators up here in Canada. Today we seem to have gone backwards in some ways. How about those neat cooling system thermometers that screw into your rad, replacing your rad cap? I'd wager that less than1% of the population today have ever heard of one. Let alone how they work, how to read them, or how they react with non-water pump, and water-pump equipped cooling systems. My point is, the book takes many of these interesting topics and breaks them down for a very good depth of understanding. Using common non-engineering type language. Akin to maybe, car mechanic language. I'm not implying that grease monkeys are dumb, but I am no calculus wizard and this book suits me just fine. These are a few examples of what I took from the cooling system section. Maybe this is all useless stuff to most people today. However for a car nut, someone who enjoys shop talk at the car show, who wants to preserve and maintain old cars, this book is indeed a must have.

Hi folks, my tie rod ends are a little sloppy so I am going to change them out with new. I found an NOS pair on E-bay. # 1243629. These are LH thread. My 1953-54 parts book shows and confirms that 2 are needed. I also need 2 qty 1315410 RH thread ends. So in total a pair of each. I have not yet found an NOS pair of the RH threads, so I reached to my Andy Bernbaum parts catalog. They show 4 different part numbers. Outer right D-143, Outer left D-144. Inner right D-145. Outer right D-146. How is that I wonder? As the OEM parts book show 2 part numbers, a pair of each required. Can anyone able to explain the discrepancy? I'd like to order a matching pair of RH threads, as per the OEM parts book. I emailed a supplier and I am not convinced they understand. They replied by instructing me to buy an inner right, and an outer right to meet my needs of 2 RH thread ends. I am confident I'll know what goes where when I begin to install them. However I would like to have all 4 in hand before I start the job. I am not clear what I need to order from Bernbaum. Unless of course an NOS pair of 1315410 comes up on e-bay real soon. Thanks for any help in brining some clarity to this.

What an incredible book. The amount of great info is mindblowing. The illustrations are like candy for a car junkie. I can’t put it down. I found a 20th edition 1942 year in excellent condition. Paid $15 US for it. Worth a ton more to an old-car car nut. Since it arrived in the mail I’ve burned 4-5 hours with my nose in it. (It arrived yesterday) If you’re a gear head, or not, and just want to learn more about our old cars you’ve got to get a copy of this book. Highly recommend. I am so glad I bumped into this book. https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2016/02/03/recommended-reading-dykes-automobile-and-gasoline-engine-encyclopedia/

Unfortunate to hear about your new Ram Truck problems. The good news is you get to enjoy the Meadowbrook. I finally have heat in my Windsor but have not yet to driven it this winter. Still doing more work. I tend to stay off the winter roads, spoiling the Windsor. Does this look about right for your headlight ring?

Yahoo! We have gobs of marvelous heat blowing in the cab today! Oh so warm sitting here in the back seat warming up as I type this. -10C here this morning.

Hi folks, with spring around the corner I am getting my rims ready. I picked these up used last fall. I am getting ready to swap my Coker radials on the spoked rims. I ordered new tubes from Coker. They offered some sizes of rim liners, but not for my 15" rim. Is there something I can use to protect the tube, to prevent a tube puncture due to contacting the spoke ends? Is a layer of duct tape adequate? Thanks, Keith.

I shared some of my experiences doing some of these jobs last summer. If interested see here: https://youtu.be/E4FiF6h5mtQ?t=2 https://youtu.be/UOni7Udv7jU https://youtu.be/2TlQvMxLeEY Thanks to the input of several members here, they helped me through my questions as I go through this job.

If all the brake parts are coming off, consider the brake backing plates too. Then replace outer axle bearing seals that are pressed in to the backing plate. You’re in that far, how old are your axle bearings? What about the Inner bearing seals that keep the diff oil where its supposed to be? Are you applying rear axle bearing grease as part of your regular maintenance? Going that far in, change your diff oil at the least. All the above work has to be done to unbolt and pull your diff. (3rd member) You may want to consider how long its been since the diff bearings were looked at, as well as crown & pinion wear and backlash. How’s the pinion seal? Unless...You’re in a hurry for upcoming cruising season, and you have limited time, or resources, or tools and experience. Then just do the brake job.

Rebuild kit for original Lockheed brakes? Including all cylinders, shoes, hoses, and master cylinder?

This one? Sorry. Nope. She’s a keeper. ?

Do you have the proper Dodge shop manual? They have a good section on trouble shooting these transmission systems. Not downshifting could be electrical or hydraulic related. Regarding your comment on the interrupter switch. One of my shop manuals reads: Ignition Interrupter Resistor Check: With engine running ground the blue wire on the resistor, or at the interrupter switch. This should stall the engine. If the engine does not stall, either the blue wire from the interruptor switch to the resistor, the resistor itself, or the blue wire from the resistor to the coil is at fault. My understanding is, when you floor the accelerator when in 4th, at certain speed, the carb linkage sends a signal to the interruptor switch. It sends the ignition system coil to ground momentarily to remove engine power (load) from the transmission, to allow for a down-shift. There is also an anti-stall control on the carb. This is a dashpot to control a slow closing of the throttle. It prevents stalling upon quick release of the throttle. It appears there are several systems to check. A good Mopar manual is highly recommended. Several of the tests are simple, done with a continuity light.

Final follow up, the radio got all new caps and tubes. Resistors checked out in spec. I reassembled it and installed it back in my car. It works again. Yay! Unsure if it was a bad tube or capacitor. Either way, all were old and due for replacement. The radio audio now sounds fuller to me and maybe a little louder too. Tone control has a nice effect. I look forward to summer cruising again with the radio on. I did have an iphone Bluetoothed to a speaker for a while, when the AM radio was dead. Iistening to modern set lists via my iphone just wasn't right. The AM radio adds to the 50's car cruise experience. Evening cruise with the ball game on? Or Sunday evening oldies? Now were talking. Where's the nearest ice creme stand?

@Cold Blue maybe post your question here http://p15-d24.com/topic/48405-pulling-the-radio-in-my-53/?tab=comments#comment-513425 I'll address it there, to keep the radio related info in one thread. That way it is easier for people to find in the future. Keith

My clock does not work. I had not gotten around to it yet. I surely will now. I can quickly see that there is no power going to it. I assume previous owner did not want it draining the battery? We shall see. Here are my test results on the water valve. A short video. https://youtu.be/mK7Dd-Dj3q4

What does the copper capillary tube do? I can guess: It heats up based on the air temperature near the heating ducts in the car. The heat travels along the copper wire, back to the water control valve. Somehow it overrides the manual position of the valve that the operator has set on the heater controls. I suspect by warming up a bi-metallic spring that is also hooked up to the water valve? This bimetallic spring opens and closes the water valve too? You can see the copper wire in the photo above attached to the water valve, pulled and sitting on the floor. What is the benefit of this capillary action? Would I notice a difference if I installed another type of water valve with no capillary tube? My mind craves this stuff. I can't shut it off. When I understand how mechanical things work, I also want to know why. Thanks, Keith

Let's try again.

Many beers I owe this man. Thank you @Dodgeb4ya! Success. I will take the heater core in to be professionally purged and tested. It looks great though! I am 99% sure this is the first time this heater system has been removed since factory assembly. Look and you can see my other winter project. I rebuilt the AM tube radio!