keithb7

Its good practice to have a look at the brakes every year before driving. It's a good skill to learn for you, and your passenger's safety. If you are inclined to do auto work yourself. If not, at the very least get under the car with a light. Look for brake fluid leaks. Look for fluid possibly dripping down from the bottom of your drum. Where the drum meets the backing plate. It could be dripping down the inner side of a tire. Look at all connections along the brake lines for leaks. Are brake lines securely mounted to the frame? How rusty are they? Any idea how old those brake lines are? Remove the cover from the master cylinder. Check the level. Top up if required. I like to get in and look at the actual shoes, and adjust them. Yearly seems good to me. You need a rear drum puller. Front drums slide off easily. On the rears you can also look at axle seals. Grease the rear bearings too. Some type of a concentric brake tool really helps get the brakes feeling right. Without it, you're pretty well throwing darts. There are various versions that people have made, aside from the $700 original tool. My home made example is shown below. Front shoes, use the same concentric brake tool. While you are in the front, grease up the wheel bearings. Look for uneven brake shoe wear. Brake retaining hardware seem ok? Look for scored drums. Deal with what is needed. Then reassemble all. Check your tire pressure. Brake lights work ok? Try the master, feel good? Well now you can too. You did it, and have safe brakes for some time to come.

Too late. The JB weld catalyst has been activated. I am pretty sure I’ll end up electric as you suggested Sam. I do plan to permanently mount the 6V pump up along the frame. On a sprung toggle switch.

For future readers, here’a pic of my failed attempt at punching the fuel pump housing. There probably is a tool for this that I don’t have. There may very well be a proper procedure, that I seem to have missed in high school shop class. JB weld is setting up now.

@Pete that looks like the right solution for these fuel pumps. Here’s my guilty culprit. I am going to try JB Weld on both ends. See what happens.

Today we had perfect cruising weather. I took the opportunity to get out. This morning I installed a bluetooth stereo option, then went to enjoy it. Great tunes while I cruised today, and from now on. I gained new appreciation for my Chrysler today. I have been driving my ‘38 Plymouth for the past 2 days. Lots of driving time. Arm signals required. Its still very early into that project. I enjoyed driving it for sure. However stepping back into the big Chrysler...What luxury! The Chrysler floats, by comparison. I don’t know what they did to the steering system, but you can drive it with your pinky most of the time. It does not have power steering but its so very nice. Every thing just seems to glide in the Chrysler. I suppose they were higher class cars back in the day. I bought my ‘53 Chrysler first. It was indeed old and cool. I really enjoy it. However it certainly felt old and simple at the time, compared to modern cars. After 100 miles around town driving the ‘38 Plymouth, my Chrysler feels like a brand new car! New buyers must have been awfully proud back in 1953. The Chrysler changed my perspective today. I admire it more than yesterday. What a car. A real treat to own and enjoy. I am very fortunate to have a choice. Do I drive the Plymouth or the Chrysler. Some might call me a sucker for spending so much time and money looking after these two cars. It is so very rewarding....And lonely too sometimes. Lol. I do spend a lot of time alone in the garage. Yet I’m sure happy out there. A pic from today’s outing.

I hooked up my 50Wx2 bluetooth stereo as per above, today. My ‘53 Windsor has a single speaker in the dash. I utilized it. Hooked up 1 speaker only to the bluetooth amp. No problem. Sounds fine. Sounds like modern music coming thru an old AM single speaker radio. Looks stock as I hid the little system in the glove box. My stock AM radio has a black power from the ignition switch to the radio. It keys off and on with the ignition. I cut that wire, after the fuse. I used a mechanical butt-splice and crimped the wires together. Then soldered the connection and covered it in heat shrink. Black wire from my ignition, to black negative wire from the bluetooth power cord. Red from the bluetooth power cord to chassis frame ground. All connections were soldered and heat shrink was used to cover everything up nicely. Easy hook up. Sounds good. Appears stock. For $15? I’m very pleased. Photo: Speaker is here in dash behind grill. You can see the little bluetooth stereo in my glove box. I think I will some type of enclosure around it.

This afternoon my wife asked if the car was ready for an ice creme trip. I said, I think so. It’s been problem free. My son jumps in also. Off we go. Good little cruise. I took a long-cut home. Laying my foot into it, to start climbing the hill back home....Sputter, cough. Stall. S**t! I coast backwards into a convenient safe pull out. I pop a hood half. Pull the air cleaner. I action the throttle linkage while looking into the carb. No fuel. Hmm. I lay in the dirt to get a look at the mechanical fuel pump. Feeling around...Yup. The shaft pin has backed out of its bore again. No pump action. I was prepared. I had the necessary tools. The spare electric fuel pump was still mounted in place. I quickly swapped fuel hoses over. I put the fuse in the holder and hit the key. We were back on our way in about 10 minutes. My son was very impressed. Lol. My wife just browsed on her phone for the few minutes. When I pulled away, she smiled and rolled her eyes. Though she did not say it, I read it in her face. “It’s no big deal. It’s not the first, nor will it be the last time we have similar episodes in these toys of yours.” That’s my girl. She supports me. Roadside action:

I went out again this morning for another cruise. Cool and gusting this morning. The driver door has no window in it, was chilly. Heater on, felt good. I am approaching 100 miles on the odometer now since yesterday morning. A few little things have turned up, not much. The engine oil filter canister is leaking a little. I will deal with it. Left rear wheel brake cylinder has a little leak. I had cleaned up, re-used and rebuilt what was there. I will order a new one ASAP. Other than that, so far great. People today are generally lacking any understanding of the art of going out and just peacefully cruising. 25-30 MPH is so nice and relaxing in an old car. The sun out, the engine purring. You can feel the road with the skinny bias tires. Then soon enough some modern car, is up your rear. In a hurry. Pushing you to get out of the way. Their car is just a tool, a means to quickly get them where they need to go. The stern look on their face confirms. They are not interested in seeing the neighbourhood sights thru the windshield. Old cars, the satisfaction of maintaining one, and driving one, enjoying them, is lost on so many people. I decided, this cruising season I'll plan to get up and out as the sun comes up, more often. There will be so little traffic, I can putter along at 25 mph as I please. From this morning:

The Mopar semi auto transmission oil spec is 10W motor oil. ATF, (automatic transmission fluid) with red dye is also generally a 10 weight oil. When speak of weight, we generally referring to the viscosity rating. How well the oil flows in various temperatures. ATF and engine oil have a very different additive package. ATF oil is dyed red so we can easily distinguish the difference between it and engine oil. Engine oil is designed to work in very toxic environment. Crank cases fill up with by-products of combustion. Both gases and particles such as soot are found. Condensation, unburnt fuel, lead, dust from the environment, and more. It's nasty in there. Modern detergent engine oils are designed to trap, carry, and suspend all the crap in the engine crankcase within the oil. The transmission runs in a much more controlled, cleaner environment. ATF has special friction modifiers added for wet clutch and brake band parts. Engine oil does not. Your semi auto tranny has no wet clutches or brake bands inside it. Both the ATF and the 10W engine oil will work in your semi-auto transmission. The engine oil is all that is called for, likely because it does not need all the additives found in ATF. Engine oil is cheaper and more often readily available in ones garage or trunk. The additive package in engine oil won't hurt your tranny either. You can use either. Mixing the two? I don't know what that can lead to. Personally I'd run one or the other. Not mix them.

I was able to sort it out. Today's cruising confirmed that...I think, I finally got it. I put 55 miles on odometer today on the stock fuel system with my rebuilt mechanical fuel pump. All last week I was struggling with the fuel system. I figured I had vapor lock. I actually had a few different things going on. I just had to get them all sorted out and realize that not just 1 problem was the answer. 1. I found that silicone goop that had worked its way up to my need valve 2. I ran out of fuel, unknowingly. (fuel gauge is inaccurate. Surprise!) 3. The pivot pin in my mechanical pump walked out and the pump would not work The fuel pump pivot pin is retained only by swaging the pump housing that surrounds the ends of the pin. I did that, but not quite aggressive enough. The pin walked out. I used my Mity-Vac tool and an electric 6V pump to trouble shoot and eliminate variables. I certainly had a "Doh!" moment when I realized the fuel tank was empty, yet the gauge read ½ tank. Old cars...We learn each of their own unique little quirks each passing day. Getting older has calmed me down. In my 20's I'd likely have been throwing tools by day 3 of the intermittent fuel related problems. LOL.

Yes, plenty of goose neck options. Flexible ribbed hoses too. Someone did this with my swap.

A small step for mankind. A giant leap for my 1938. Having a great day cruising in isolation. Isolating more issues I need to address. Lol. It running great. Coolant temp staying nice and low. Even climbing the big hills around my home. I pulled the big winding hill home (sections up to 11% grade) in top gear, 3rd. Never down shifted. My speed never dropped below 30 mph. Engine temp gauge about 125F steady. About a 7 minute climb at 30 mph. I’m quite happy.

I have a 38 Plymouth car. It originally had a 23" engine. The previous owner had a 1954 25" long 228 ci engine installed. The rad was moved ahead a couple inches. A slightly smaller sized rad was used, as the nose tapers smaller as you move forward. That engine you bought is likely just like all the earlier L6 mopar engines before it. My understanding is your bell housing and tranny will bolt up to it. I am not well versed in the topic but see the results in my car. Was the original '39 engine a 201ci? If so, the '39 carb may be a little undersized for the '60 engine. The '60 carb would probably have an auto choke and high idle system compared to the 39 carb. It had a manual choke and high idle throttle cable. My point being the original throttle linkage may be easier to use with the '39 carb. However you may get better performance from the '60 carb on the '60 engine. Depending on the brand of each carb, some body and linkage parts may be inter-changeable between the two. If the 60 engine you bought is a good runner, and you aren't trying to win a concours show with the truck, I'd move ahead to install it. The '60 engine will have more HP and torque too.

I feel like I have something usable here this evening. Decent testing time tonight and it all seems good.

On Rock Auto web site I see the following 6 cyl engine options for a 1960 Dodge D100 truck: 1960 CUSTOM D100 PICKUP 2.8L 170cid L6 3.7L 225cid L6 3.8L 230cid L6 23 " length head. Is that your measured head length? This also lines up with the July 1959 cast date on the block. Also the TP23 number on the block SN plate. Next step might be to pull the hex head plug at the top of #6 cylinder, centre. Get a small diameter wood dowel. Measure stroke. If engine can be barred over.

Boy we’re having fun here. That’s my fuel needle valve at the bowl inlet. Feels like a skim of grey silicone. Not sure where it came from. Fuel filter has been off while I finalize fuel line layout. Its going back on now.

Maybe this will help? https://www.t137.com/registry/help/otherengines/otherengines.php I did find this: TP23 230ci 23 Inches Dodge Truck D100, D200, D300, W100, W200, P300, P400, WM300 1960

My 6V coil is new. Replaced last fall with maybe an hour idle/drive time on it so far. If it was the coil, the engine would not run briefly when I poured raw fuel into the carb. It does indeed run when I do this. However the pump cannot move fuel and the engine stalls within few seconds of run time. Burning the raw fuel I dumped in.

@Pete I have not installed mine yet. I am distracted with fuel system problems in my '38 Ply. I will get around to hooking it up eventually and can report my findings once completed. It's going in my '53 Chrysler which also has a single speaker built into the dash. I am considering my speaker options. 1 or 2. Not settled on yet.

Engine flashed up instantly, running like a champ this morning. After everything had a good opportunity to cool down I assume. I do also have a heat shield/spacer plate between the carb base and the manifolds. As illustrated a few posts above in my carb pic. Will try again this afternoon, afterwork, heat the car up good with the heat shield on, and see what happens.

There does seem to be something off with the software running this site. I too have seen my pics get loaded sideways. It is odd. Only seems to happen when I load them from my iphone. It only seems to happen randomly. Not every time.

The tiny button in the centre is spring loaded. I’m unsure. Is this cap vented? Pouring raw fuel in the carb it’ll run for a few seconds then die. Hoping this would prime the fuel pump. No go yet. About 4-5 times doing this. No prime yet. Pump glass bowl is full to the top. Did the same last night, then flashed up like a dream this afternoon. As described above.

I'll have a look! Thanks.

Fighting vapor lock over the past two evenings. I have not ventured too far from home. I’ve been very lucky and both nights when it occurred, I was slightly uphill. I was able to coast back into my driveway. From a fair distance mind you. Very lucky... I located a 90 deg fitting today. I put it at the pump input side. I then built a new solid line getting the intake line further away from the block. I idled the engine for about 45 mins today. Tweaking. Tuning. Testing with a laser thermometer. I decided to try my luck driving around the block again. 10 mins later, I’m dead. Coasting home again. I took a reading of 135F on the top of the fuel pump, soon after it died. 90 mins later It still won’t pull fuel. I’ve since removed the heat shield over the pump from my ‘53!Chrysler and installed it on my ‘38. Tomorrow evening we’ll repeat the exercise with the heat shield. See what happens. Hopefully I will get a 3rd chance to coast home. Last night it cooled down and purred after a few hours of cool down. Still waiting here now. I’m sure the 20% ethanol is a leading factor here. I have a 6V pump ready to install. I’m stubborn and hoped I could get the stock system working properly. Still hoping to. By Saturday the 6V pump will be in, if we fail to improve.

I pulled the main fuel inlet fitting at the bowl today. To have a further good look. I tossed this problem around in my head while I layed in bed last night. Had to be something in the inlet valve I figured. I slid out the inlet fuel valve. Its the newer flat silicone type. As opposed to the older needle type design. I found a small black piece of some foreign material in there. Maybe came up from the fuel line after the pump? Maybe it was something in my pump that a never saw when I rebuilt it? So small, yet obstructing the valve from closing. Just enough it seems. Then fuel continued to pour in at 3.7 psi. Flooding everything. The screen in the pump will likely prevent any future foreign crap from getting past it, up to the carb. I'll be running a fuel filter as well. A good reminder, something so small can really screw with your fuel system. Many a good man has scratched his head over similar fuel related issues I’m sure. Pics just for good measure: