keithb7

When hot barely turns over. Do you mean the generator barely turns over when hot? Or the engine barely turns over when hot? Who rebuilt this generator? Was it your old one sent it and rebuilt? The generator field windings do need to be polarized when a battery has been disconnected for a while. This action gets the positive and negative ends sorted out so the proper magnetic field is created. If not, a weak or no magnetic field is created by the field windings and little to no output amps are created by the generator. If the battery is good, and the engine barely turns over when hot, I think a short to ground could be occurring. Somewhere in the system between the battery and the starter circuit. A person should have a multi-meter to run some quick checks. Ideally a clamp style ammeter for DC voltage. At a minimum at DC voltmeter so you can read your battery voltage and confirm the battery voltage before and after starting the engine. The clamp style ammeter will show you exact ammeter out put.

Tons of positive feedback from the general public while out for a cruise last evening in my Plymouth. Interest from all ages. Again, I am pleasantly reminded how much the 20-something crowd reacts to the car. I am trying to understand why the loudest, and largest number of drive-by approvals seem to come from that age group. My '38 Plymouth has a different vibe going on. The paint is peeling off the doors. The side runners, the original rubber coating is worn away in chunks. There's a hole in the front fender. General wear and tear for an old car. I don't wash it nearly enough. I've never waxed it for fear of more paint falling off. I am not picky about its presentation. Yet a lot of people seem to approve it as is. I am left thinking, its approachable? Maybe it looks easy to own? It's been nursed along for 84 years, never restored. I guess folks just appreciate that about it. I don't know. It'll never win a best of show. It'l never play in the big boys club of restored cars. Yet it seems to win the the hearts and adoration of many, not just the owner's. You've all been aware of the work I have done to this car to built a solid, reliable daily driver. Indeed it is very reliable now. Any time I have to leave the house for any excuse, I choose my '38 Plymouth. From Mar to Nov, it sees regular use. I maybe went farther than I needed to when I pulled the engine in 2020 and completely rebuilt it. Sure it had some issues to be addressed. An in-frame rebuild probably could have nursed it along for many more years. Yet there is something extremely satisfying about the whole experience. So very smug feeling when you drive down that long hill and there is no oil seen when you accelerate away at the bottom. When you push the throttle down at 10 mph and that new found torque pulls the car along briskly. Smooth, quiet, and confidently. I guessed there must have been a couple 100 things that needed to be addressed when I acquired this old Plymouth. It turned out to be more like 1,000. No, it's not done. It's a continuous work in progress. It would be an odd feeling if it were all done. What would I do in the garage every weekend? Lol. I guess I can state that I am extremely satisfied with the results so far with this car. From the front nose cone to the exhaust tip, anything I've touched I've enjoyed every minute. This morning as I open the garage door, I have decided to devote time to my Chrysler. A little neglected so far this spring. Today is her day.

Order Take out. Drive to the park by the river. Beautiful warm spring evening. Enjoy our meal in the Plymouth. Take in the view and the breeze. At 99,793 miles tonight. Reason 153 to own an old Mopar!

Here's my wide open 6 cylinder for comparison. The 6 seems to sound like it lopes along, compared to the even balanced tones from the 8. Certainly a little different cadence.

Well that made my day!

Somehow I feel partially responsible. Lol.

I am not sure how to do the engineering math and figure out exactly what tooth count you require. However in the original parts books they listed all the optional speedo drives depending on how the car was configured. What was your old rear end gearing? Divided by 17 on your old speedo pinion, maybe gets you a number. Your new rear end ratio 3.27, divide it by your just calculated number. Might give you a desired pinion tooth number so you have a similar overall ratio?

Sorry to hear of the thorough testing of your patience. You’ll be much quicker the next time you have to remove the starter. This is how professional techs get fast too. By doing jobs over and over many times. I’m about there with 3 speed tranny removals in 1938 Plymouths. Too bad there is only 1 known specimen within 200 miles of here. It happens to live in my garage. I’ll never get rich beating flat rate times on tranny removals. But hey, I’m probably the top tech to hire within 500 miles of here, to do it! Lol.

100% agree on the electric fuel pump and line. To review: engine runs just fine until everything warms up to full operating temp. Then it seems to surge, stumble and miss? Or does the engine flat out die, and you coast to the curb until things cool down again. At this surging stage what happens if you pull your choke on partially? (If you have a manual choke cable) Any other clues? Backfiring? Engine timing and dwell set set recently? Distributor Vacuum advance hooked up and working? Are you still running the 6 volt system? How old is your ignition coil? Do you have a spare? Do you have a dwell meter and timing light? Spark plug wires age? Plug wire boots tight? Threaded teeny little caps on top of spark plugs tight?

Sometimes what seems like fuel related issues can be tracked to ignition system issues. Good troubleshooting and eliminating variables should yield good results. What have you eliminated and proven so far?

Some assumed fuel related issues can be tracked to ignition system issues. Good troubleshooting and eliminating variables should yield good results.

I'm not saying the car or engine won't do it. I pondering whether or not it shortens engine life when we do it.

A nice friend of mine wanted to let go of his 2T engine hoist. He gave it to me. Free. I needed an engine stand. I found one on local classifieds. $50. Both allowed me to do a complete engine removal, get the block to the machine shop and back, completely rebuild the engine, and re-install it, all tasks by myself. At my pace. Comfortably. The hoist folds up and stores pretty well. The engine stand unbolted and all came apart. It's now tucked under my rolling tool chest. Will I need these specialty tools again? Likely as I have what I suspect is a leaking expansion plug. At rear of block inside the bell housing. I also forgot to put thread sealant on the main oil gallery plug. Of course it's also up behind the flywheel. I'll back in there sooner or later. No these tools are not must haves, but they sure do make for a nice enjoyable rebuild.

I like car investment discussions. Car 1: 1938 Plymouth Sedan. Paid about $2800 US funds. It ran. Barely. It changed gears, barely. It stopped, sort of. 3 years later I’m still nursing it back to health. I do not keep track of what I’ve spent. Don’t want to know. Its been wonderful project. I have bonded with the car. Drive it whenever I can. Car 2: 1938 Chrysler Royal coupe. I found it fully restored. Someone spent a ton of money on it. Ii paid about $22000 US for it. I have spent a bit of money on it. Not much. More time than money just maintaining it. It’s a fine car. Yet, I’ve not been through much of it. I wouldn’t say I’ve bonded with it. I did not restore it. Yet I saved a ton of money buying it already done. If I have not already spent $22,000 on my ‘38 Plymouth sedan, it won’t be long. No paint or interior work yet. It could cost $100K all-in to get it to the level of my Chrysler. Cars, a great hobby. You can drive them , fix them, restore them, any way that you like.

TKR?

I think if you are climbing a steep hill, in say 3rd gear with a 4:11 rear end , able to maintain minimum 40-45 mph, yet no power left to accelerate, that’s probably not lugging. You are likely maintaining a decent higher engine rpm. As you climb , if ground speed drops, you are headed towards lugging. You could remain in 3rd gear, mash the throttle and maybe maintain 25-30 mph. To me, that’s lugging. You are now at a low engine RPM. The engine torque will keep you going up the hill. Engine is under a lot of stress. Carrying-on like this the temp gauge creeps up. 190-200. Depending on length of hill climb. Ambient air temp has less affect than you’d expect. Low fan speed. Heavy load. Low RPM. Down shifting to 2nd, the engine rpm jumps up. You certainly quickly loose some travel speed. Then you can accelerate again. Say up to 25-30 mph comfortably. The engine is buzzing now but not severely. Lots of cooling fan speed. You can easily maintain 25-30 mph in 2nd and accelerate more if needed. I’ll hold second gear and climb the remainder of the hill at about 25 mph. The temp gauge stays steady at 170. Sure it seems slow compared to modern cars. My car is 84 years old. I don’t expect it to perform like a modern car. These old cars have no tach so its hard to tell you exact rpms in these scenarios. The flathead engine makes decent torque but it has its design limits. I could pull the hill in 3rd. Sling shot it. Get a good run, reaching 50-55 mph before I hit the uphill grade. Pull the entire hill and not drop below 40 mph in 3rd. I’ve done so, many times. Yet its a residential area. There is only 1 car like mine in town. Irritated neighbours may take offence. Plus the speed limit is 30 mph. County-mounties have been hanging out there lately. I often thought I’d share a good laugh with the police officer if he ticketed a 1938 car for speeding.

Saw this one, this morning on a Facebook group. Looks pretty favourable to me. Asking $5500. A coupe.

1951 Desoto, you mentioned. Looks to be a coupe that someone had been fixing up. The flathead 6 engine, appears era correct. Once you gather the engine SN we can comfirm. I believe these were 251 ci engines in ‘51. 3 7/16 bore x 4 ½” stroke. Decent torque. Solid, reliable engines. Based on the pic is looks to be a 25” block to me. The tag on the firewall could be deciphered to reveal some more trim details on the car. Original paint color etc. In terms of rarity or value, these old Mopar sedans were mass produced. They don’t generally attract a high resale dollar. So they are easy to get into. Parts are readily available. There is tons of support here. We all love our old Mopars dearly. They are great cars for the next generation to learn on. A 2-door is generally more appealing to the public and future buyers. Personally, I think the sedan is on equal footing. More doors = more people and fun. Is this Desoto a 3 speed manual with dry clutch? Or fluid drive? The upgraded disc brakes is a bonus. The distributor and rotor area looks old. The block paint new. You may want to confirm how the engine is being advertised. Ran when parked? Rattle can rebuild? Or full rebuild with new parts and machining? Big difference. If you have any questions before you buy, feel free to ask. Keith

Ok. I’ll admit. Call me a Monkey’s song. I’m a believer. We are in San Francisco this weekend. Pedal assist bikes. We rented them for the whole day. We covered a lot of ground. They sure are nice. 4 of us. We’re among the converted.

Good point @sidevalvepetecould be out a bit. Yet my 170 thermostat seems to regulate nicely when steadily cruising on the hi-way. Seems to read steady in the 170 range on the gauge. I like the idea of a 6 blade fan and a shroud.

I’m reading these cooling threads. Taking it all in. I’m second guessing my thoughts about what I think is “getting hot”. 200F to me getting pretty hot. But not to some others here. Being as 212F or so is boil over point isn’t it? Depends on system pressure (cap), elevation, % of glycol, etc. I agree, if I keep driving and air is moving through the rad, it doesn’t boil over. Again, pending my travel speed and ambient air temp. My water pump has multiple vanes. I firmly feel that my cooling system is in tip-top shape. I’ve been through it all. Boiled the block. New WD tube. New W pump, belt, hoses, thermostat re-core’d the rad all fins new & clean. New rad cap. It all works well as a system . To re-state the obvious, it still gets up to 190F up the hill home. It ain’t even summer yet!

Each pair of cylinder is “Siamese’d”. Water does not flow between each pair. Connecting rods are also offset in pairs to match. As all rods are not spaced evenly apart across all 6 rods. Having the coolest water from the water pump, directed at each exhaust valve is pretty nice. From each exhaust valve it flows across the block. Pretty cool design I think. In my experience it works but it does border on not being quite cool enough. Regular driving around town, on the hiway too. No problem. 160 easily maintained. Climb a long steep 11% grade hill. 2nd gear 25 mph steady. She gets warm. 200 F comes up fast, at 35 ambient air temps. This is with a fresh serviced cleaned rad. New thermostat. Newly flushed and rebuilt engine. Very clean block. New water-pump. New belts. Good original fan. Air shrouds in place. It all works, it’s just borderline sometimes. Under hot summer, heavy load, lower speed drives. To be expected I suppose for its design age. It hasn’t boiled over (bwry close) so I guess its all good. I used a round punch and a lighter ball peen hammer to flare the edge of the water distribution. Ensuring it was sealed tight against the block.