keithb7

Went for about a 75 mile cruise this morning. A little town north of here. Barriere BC. Got up early and headed out. Great run. Kept the tank over ¼ full and no issues. 2 lane hiway. I kept my speed at about 50-55 mph. Was nice with some twisty roads and nice scenery. Sneaking up to the 1,000 mile mark for 2018 cruising. That's the North Thompson River seen in the photo. If any of you have been to the Canadian Rockies, the river begins not far from the west side of it's foothills. Not too far from Mount Robson, our tallest here in the Canadian Rockies.

Thanks. Usually a sign of a crappy seal or excessive bore wear I assume?

I was under my '53 Chyrsler today with a light doing a regular general inspection. Looking for signs of something needing maintenance. I noticed a drip of fluid handing right off the bottom of master cylinder boot. I touched it to see that it was brake fluid. This is a little concerning. I just rebuilt the master cylinder this winter. Shouldn't it be dry inside the boot where the push rood meets the piston? I assume brake fluid is somehow getting past the secondary cup. The brakes seem to work pretty well. I noticed that my pedal travel was increasing a bit lately. Just yesterday I adjusted my front shoes closer to the drums. I definitely noticed and improvement with less pedal travel when I took it out for a cruise last night. I was planning to do the major adjust on the rears today. However I found this brake fluid in the boot and stopped there. Piston stop is in place. Maybe my cylinder bore is worn just enough to let some fluid get by the secondary cup? Comments and advice appreciated. Thanks, Keith

Found a couple more pics to compliment this thread...Its turning out real nice. Thanks for making it so folks!

My wife and I at home, just heading out on a cruise. We had some family here visiting recently. We loaded up my Windsor 6 deep. Went for a cruise and ice creme. We had fun. I made sure to drop the tranny into low and come up the big hill home. Stayed cool as a cucumber.

Maybe. Either that or he had a LT-1 engine in it like 99% of the muscle cars there. Didn't want me to see it as I was clearly interested in the straight 8. LOL.

Thanks @Dodgeb4ya if I think of it, the next I am in WA I may hit you up on your offer. I have not actually seen or heard the straight 8 in person yet. Just photos and You Tube videos. I would have loved to look this car over much closer. The owner was maybe tired of car shows and people asking questions? I don't know. I can usually get a good read on a person after some brief conversation. He did not seem overly enthused that I was genuinely interested in the finer details of his T&C. Maybe he's just "Car-Show'd-Out". Who knows? The T&C is so long, it almost appears to bend at the frame where the front fender meets the door. It is a massive car. I am curious how long it actually is from bumper to bumper. Anyone know? I know my car is close to 4,000 lbs. Thinking about this, I said to the owner, "Wow that a beautiful car. It must weight close to 5,000 lbs." Which he replied, with what sounded like a forced reluctant answer, " Oh well... I don't know. What is 5,000 lbs anyway?" I thought it was an odd reply seeing as he had owned the car for 64 years according to the posted signage on display. Oh well. Maybe next time I see the car, I will try again. Maybe he will be interested in telling me all about this great treasure. I hope so!

Being fairly new to the hobby I have been enjoying the car shows. This show I went to yesterday had about 700 cars. I probably could count on two hands, the stock vehicles that I saw. It was a clear to me that there is little interest in preserving history among many. Seems everyone is trying to out do each other with blowers, and superchargers. Corvette engines in so many 50's & 60's cars. Between the Corvettes, Camaros, 5-6-7 Chevy's and Mustangs they might have numbered 1/2 the show it seemed. Just this one stock Mopar from our era.

I saw this Town & Country today at fairly good sized car show yesterday here. Then we passed it on the drive home later that day. I tried to talk to the owner as I was pretty into his car. I had hoped to see under the hood. He wasn't into talking much or popping the hood. Cool car though. https://youtu.be/Dhkz5MV5P1k If someone could teach me how to properly embed a YT video that would appreciated. Thanks.

I went and checked it out. Pretty rough. I can’t image restoring something like this. Yet there are some here who do. That’s quite a task. The engine seems all there. Starter and manifolds look good. Lots of chrome and stainless pieces. I’d summarize that the powertrain are its strengths. Engine, fluid drive, tranny, diff, steering parts, brakes etc. The interior is really bad. The story goes like this. Original owner bought new in 1949. Drove it regularly until 1972. Some type of ceramic bushing (?) failed in the fluid drive. Then it was parked. Been sitting since 1972. Lots of stuff vandalized. Brass rad and heater core gone. Hood ornament gone. About ½ windows smashed for fun it seems. I will decide what to do and come up with an offer.

Thanks for the comments so far. I'll start with the house comments: It appears that the car is sitting on a side hill. The images, likely taken with a cell phone, the phone was twisted sideways so the car looks level in the pics. Now the house appears to be leaning! LOL. I agree @Dodgeb4ya, local classifieds are not my target audience here. Shipping won't be cheap, but if the parts are as rare as you say, it is what it is. Items would be shipped at actual shipping cost. Someone with a valuable convertible or Town & Country with a Straight 8 likely has money. If the parts are needed to make their $80,000 + car complete I'd wager that freight costs won't be a deal breaker. @mmcdowel Yes, I follow the parts classifieds on the Hemming's site. Using it as a marketing tool is certainly on my radar. I think I will contact the seller next and enquire about seeing the car in person. More to come.

Pics:

Hi folks. Recently a 1949 NY’r showed up for sale locally. It looks dead with its tongue hanging out. Flat tires. Rear window smashed. Its a straight 8 engine. Fluid drive I assume. Well Patina’d. The price is quite low and may likely be had for a song. I am not interested in restoring this car. However the idea of parting it out may be attractive. If the engine is not frozen, are these straight 8’s hard to find? Thinking this engine might be worth pulling and selling. Tranny. Diff. All the chrome and trim is there. Stock hub caps. Plenty of good glass. Etc, etc. Might be a fun project. If there is a healty market. I watch a few web sites for used flat head Mopar engines. I don’t see too many come up. Especially the straight 8. Shipping an engine would be interesting lol. I could build a stand though. I have access to a engine hoist. I am interested in hearing your experiences. Is there much of a used parts market for these parts? Y’all want pics I suppose? Thanks, Keith

I was waiting for someone to respond who maybe did bench bleed their MC before install. I did not. I had installed new lines and wheel cylinders as well so I figured why bench bleed it? I installed it and many, many pumps later had successfully bled the entire system. With a helper of course on the pedal.

Thanks for all your responses. There are some real nice humane people here. I am often reluctant to post personal things like this on the internet. You never really know the audience. Obviously there are some real classy folks here. The company you have given has been great. I already know today that yes, I will own another dog. They just bring so much to your life. True if we never get attached we are not pained when they pass. However it is worth it. A man's best friend. This was Abby's last trip to the park yesterday. Staring down the donut bag. LOL.

I never expected it would hit me like this. Maybe posting here will cheer me up. We got Abby at 6 weeks old. A pure bred boxer. She became such a great friend and companion. She became one of the family. Like a kid who never talked back. Always happily ate her dinner. Never snuck out or stole from the liquor cabinet. Obedient. Always excited to see you everyday. Do anything any time for a treat. Clowing around, ready for a good wrestle anytime. Then one day she lost her appetite and got sick. Abby never complained. In her worsening state she dragged herself up to greet us. Abby would have been 12 years old in August. Today she was treated to donuts and an ice creme cone. A trip to the park. Finally she laid down for her final nap. Surrounded by my wife and I. Boy that hit me hard outta left field. Just a dog right? That’s what I thought. My first lifetime pet experience. It was great. Sad they must pass. As we all do. RIP Abby.

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I got this engine SN in my 1953 C60-2 Chrysler. 265 CI. My 265 is listed at 3 7/16 bore, 4 3/4" stroke. Not sure if that helps or makes this more confusing. My Motors manual reads that a C54 car is a 1951 and 1952 Imperial with a V8. A C54 engine sn? Makes sense that it would be a 265 to me. Why did they share engineering car codes with engine codes, I have no idea.

Worden it's not a difficult task to change the master cylinder. It turned out being easier than I anticipated. The master cylinder came come out fairly quickly. Not as quick as "ready for this weekend", but worth doing yourself.

Glad you folks I are enjoying it. I still am, weeks later. There are so many great sections that are are filling in the gaps in my education. The front-end steering chapter was great. I knew about camber, caster, and others. However I did not have a full understanding of why. Now Toe in and king pin inclination makes so much sense. I understood what a magneto was, and a primary & secondary ignition system. Yet the basic 1 sentence summary was overlooked in my high school shop class. Dots are getting connected! You can teach an old dog new tricks.

Today I installed a couple of mirrors. I'm not sure I would call these peep-mirrors. They seem bigger than I had expected. I ordered them and a new gas cap from Bernbaum. The mirror assembly quality? Ehh...Ok. Not awesome. These are more ornamental than effective. I was silly enough to think I may be able to place these in actual functional locations. That's not easy to accomplish. The triangle vent window needs to clear them so that eliminated a fair length mounting area. You guys all know this I'm sure. I cut my own thicker rubber, and put a piece on each side of mounts to protect my paint. I ended up with one mirror up high on the driver's side, as it is effective there. Passenger side down low, allows me to actually see something in the mirror. I don't know. Maybe I put both up high so at least they are in the same location. (And look better?) Yet then the passenger side is 100% useless to the driver. The mirror seen on my driver's side fender is not stock as far as I can tell. It was on my car when purchased. Gas cap looks good. But fit? Ehh...Ok as well. As far as I can tell my fill spout is stock. Maybe not. The Bernbaum cap fits but it does not feel like a good strong fit. Maybe my spout has been replaced? I'll get in there and look at the locking thread area. Maybe it needs a tune up with a hammer and punch to realign things.

Why are parts crap? Because at one time quality, reliability and reputation was #1. Today? Profits at any expense. Cut quality and availability to save costs in the name of profits? You bet. Today parts products are built to last until the warranty period is over. A large number of new vehicle buyers will have never changed a headlight. They’ll have leased or bought another new vehicle every 3-5 years. Many might have brakes or tires replaced once. Then its time for a new vehicle. New vehicle manufacturers love this. Sell more! More profits! More wealth! Will there be a 2010 vehicle on the road in 2110? Does shiny foil covered plastic, made to look like chrome, last? Plastic radiators? How about those awsome fake chrome covered lug nuts? Aren’t those a treat once the vehicle warranty ends! Outsource everything! Across all businesses it seems have happened. Remember when appliances used to last 20-30 years? Rant over.

I ordered a visor and wheel skirts about 3 weeks ago. Be about another month or so until I see them. They build the pieces once the order is placed and your VISA clears. I look forward to seeing the quality of these parts. I have heard good things, so I went for it.

I laughed at Knuckleharley's comment. I too have been gob-smacked later at home by all the things I over looked with the "I want this!" problem!