keithb7

My wife had a fun time working the muppet. Kids and adults alike loved it. Great time tonight. Good memories.

Impossible to please everyone on the internet. You can’t. Do as you please to your car. I do. I even put an Ahooga horn in my ‘38 Plymouth. Lol. I am ok with stock brakes. I have been fortunate enough to pick up 3 spare 3rd members and a pair of spare axles. I have 3 different gear ratio options. 4 spare drums too! Chin up. Don’t take it too serious. Thanks for the multiple plugs for this site. keith

Tons of fun. A great parade. Very good turnout.

Taking part in our local Santa Parade this evening. 1928 Dodge Bros. Will get some in the dark later with the xmas lights all on.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. Some good points on upgrading the axle assembly. I'd be interested in hearing how the car feels at 65 mph. Is there much power left at that RPM to overcome wind resistance?

I followed your similar path. After I measured everything up and knew exactly what I had, I stripped the block bare. I took it to the machine shop for a hot tank and magnaflux crack check. It passed. I picked it up and took it home again. At that time I knew what parts I needed and sourced proper sizes and options. I held everything until I had all the new parts. Then I took the block back to the machine shop later for all machining. I provided the machine shop with rebuild parts for measuring only. I reassembled everything later at home. The shop boiled the block again a second time. It turned out extremely clean. All my inside passages are excellent.

I hear ya on the pain @knuckleharley. I had a herniated disc in my back. Sciatic pain down my legs. Brutal chronic pain. I was about 35 at the time. I was literally screwed. When I was on the path to mentally get past this crap, I'd try getting up and out of the house. I remember shuffling my feet like a very old person with a walker. I literally recall crawling to the toilet on my hands & knees. I was a mess and scared for my future. I was the main bread winner and I had young kids at home. Bills and a mortgage to pay. I tried physiotherapy, acupuncture, drugs of all sorts. Even opiate based prescriptions. Luckily for me I had no trouble with addiction. Nothing worked it seems but time and rest. I remember it took quite a while just to get out of a vehicle. Move 1 leg halfway out. Stop wait 15-20 secs. Move it again. Pause again. Repeating until I was fully out. Took a few minute. Pauses were necessary to avoid a blackout from searing pain. In time, once I became a little more mobile Advil was my daily helper. It took me about a year to get somewhat feeling normal. I never abused my back again. I don't help people move to a new home. No lifting much of anything without thinking about a better way. Leveraging things and using gravity to assist. I was very proud to get my flat head 6 engine block into a pick up truck bed, and out again at home, by myself. Using techniques and leverage. Not hurting my back nor lifting much at all. Massive steps of improvement compared to when I was crippled up. I sincerely hope the best for you and your cancer remains dormant. Keep on doing what you love. We like seeing you coming here.

This is the one I used. Says right on it for head bolts into thru holes. Gotta get the High Performance stuff? I did. Not all are rated for gasoline. This one is. Seems to be all I wanted in 1. I guess we’ll see when I fire up my new engine rebuild.

I went with Andy Burnbaum. Seen here.

Those bolts feel sorta skimpy when you are torquing them up. Is it 85 Ft lbs? I puckered up and winced as the wrench clicked. Maybe I’m just used to larger Caterpillar hardware in my work environment. I don’t like re-using bolts that are stretched and effectively locked into place when elongated. I’m not sure that’s the process with these head bolts. However I have replaced them all with new, each time I have taken them out. Sort of a best practice for me. I like to think “if in doubt throw it out” when it comes to certain parts. Head bolts fall into that category for me. BTW recently I did apply Permatex thread sealant to all head bolts. So I should be good. I think!

My Garage is chilly! Natural gas hydronic heat at my place. I am too cheap to let it flow into the garage floor. I fire up a propane space heater as needed out there. About -5C this morning. Yet +10C forecast for a high tomorrow. The Pineapple Express is passing though again this week.

I've been hoarding Mopar axle shims. I've picked them up here and there. I now have a decent collection of spares of various sizes! Only a few years ago I was wondering the same thing. Where will I get some?

Might that carriage bolt, with a square shoulder, slide right into a square punched hole? It does not twist. It is anchored in place. The Nut on the other ends twists on. it might still work fine!

I made a decision and began saving for the golden years at age 19. Investing too. Some a little risky. Some secured. When Covid hit I hunkered down and let the bottom fall out. I just kept buying when things were low. Staying the course seems to be working out pretty good. You do need nerves of steel sometimes with stock market based investments. I always dreamed of going at 55. Now that I‘m getting close, I am sort of doubtful. Yet I think I probably could. All depends on what kind of lifestyle we want to settle in to. Currently I am enjoying my job. At this point in my life I am I pretty sure I need the pace and work tasks to keep me stimulated. For how long? We’ll see. At some point I guess a person gets to the point where they have enough. Enough funds and financial independence. Also they’ve had enough working for the man too. I’m not quite there yet. With a little luck and some risk management, I expect my wife and I will be pretty comfortable. Yet who knows? Many things can happen. Planning for retirement sort of feels like trying to balance on top of a greased ball bearing sometimes.

Just one. I center punched it. Drilled it. Tried various bolt extractors. Nothing worked for me. I let the machine shop take over. They had no issue getting it out.

You guys say you planned for retirement. I am interested in hearing some of the ideas that you set out years ago . Plans of success to get you to the point where you could walk away, retiring on your terms. I'm 50 and have some years to go but I am interested in hearing what you did. What worked well? What didn't.

https://www.amazon.com/Fel-Pro-BS-6300-Rear-Engine/dp/B000HUGMO6

Hopefully you aren't under a time crunch to re-power your car. Best to take your time if you can. Have fun. Enjoy the process and new learnings. Frustrated? Tired? Head back in to the living room and the fireplace. When you get the urge, go back out another day. I'm 1 year-in so far from when I pulled my engine. Lol. Yet I'm quite enjoying the process. No complaints only fun, when I want to.

Great news! Congrats. It takes determination and focus to make this retirement thing happen. Good on ya!

We had a ton of rain over the past couple of days here in BC. We are seeing Massive widespread flooding. Mud slides. Hiways were destroyed. All major hiways (supply chain routes) are closed. People trapped in vehicles for hours. Railway lines damaged and impassable. Blocked by mud slides. An Entire town evacuated. Many other people evacuated. Its catastrophic. Its been a rough go here in BC over the past year. We had a heat wave in July setting all-time record temps. Then forest fires went nuts. Entire towns burned. Many people died from heat exposure. Many folks ended up homeless in shelters. Many were evacuated. Many are still not back home yet. We saw the largest ever storm over the northern pacific ocean last month. A massive cargo ship lost like 120 sea cans full of stuff. Fell over the side. Sea cans went for a swim. Some sea cans washed up on beaches. Many floated away. Many sank. Most never seen again. The ship caught fire from some sort of dangerous goods in seacan. Last week a tornado touched down in Vancouver. Extremely rare occurrence. Climate change seems real and it is hitting us hard. Add to that, 2 years almost now of Covid restrictions and fear. It seems many people in BC are scared. Anxious. Panic appears rampant. Today mass hoarding is really happening at Costco and all grocery stores. All produce, meat and dairy. Shelves are picked clean. Not unlike the toilet paper hoarding we saw when covid broke out. I am sure it’ll be difficult getting any toilet paper for a while again around here. A few pics are below of the recent carnage courtesy of Mother Nature. Strange days indeed here in BC. We’re all good here at my place. No flooding in my town. Electricity was out last night, high winds. All good here tonight aside from the bare shelves at the grocery store. The effects of this latest mess will be forthcoming I’m sure.

Since we are talking about points and lube: What is the right lube to put on the hexagon ramp? Something readily available ideally. In my scouring of the auto parts stores, I’ve yet to see breaker arm cam lube. Seems nobody needs it, or stocks it anymore? Just us weird old car guys need it. 1 tube would probably last me a life time. So, what do I buy? Where?

Nice car. Welcome to the best place in the universe to learn more about your old Mopar. I agree with other comments about the brakes. When in good order and set up properly, they are adequate for braking at typical speeds the car was designed to travel. Keep an eye on the master cylinder fluid level. Check if often until you can be sure it is or isn’t losing brake fluid. No second chances with a single reservoir master.

Goto the 12 min mark here. See what I did. It worked well.

I've purchased and used this one. The price has gone up. I paid $39.99 in 2019. https://www.ebay.com/itm/384421405846?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D5470f6c390d448b594930dd0b9c6d877%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D384421405846%26itm%3D384421405846%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26brand%3DAC&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A0cf1d4c7-459d-11ec-8682-12c540d1e5bb|parentrq%3A20a3abb117d0a4d760aee819fffbb06a|iid%3A1

Modern rebuild kits work fine for mechanical fuel pumps. I've had good success. I've also ran an electrical back up pump and seen the benefits. The one I have will push or pull fuel through the mechanical pump. The electric are great for priming after the car has been sitting for a week or two. They are also nice to give carb bowl a good shot of gas if the mechanical pump experiences vapor lock. Or when the fulcrum pin backs out of the modern reproduction mechanical fuel pump. Ask me how I know this!