55 Fargo

Hi all, I have the existing hole for the antennae on my 47 Chrysler, I bought an aftermarket antennae from NAPA, but the hole is too small, should I make it bigger or try and find a period correct NOS or used antennae. How might I make this hole bigger for the mount, the mount requires 1 inch, the hole is 3/4 of an inch, would a dremel and grinding wheel work......................Thanx Fred

Greg, I have a smilar model, its sold at Canadian Tire, made by Campbell Hausfeld. It comes with a regulator and hose to use with gas and mig wire. The handle is nice, the wire sometimes gets caught up, but all in all not too bad, never tried it with gas yet. I paid $279.00 in Canada, thats like $199.00 in the USA, our dollar maybe be strong but our prices are always higher

Thanx Norm, this might be the right way to go..........Fred

Hi all, decided since the Canuck dollar is still worth a few pennies more than the Greenback, that it might be time to order a new gas tank. Was thinking of going with Tanks Inc, they make a steel rolled, with baffles for 1941 to 1948 Plymouths, the sending unit hole is in the right spot, so is the filler neck. They are $250.00 for steel and $350.00 for stainless steel. I was also thinking of going with a universal poly tank, or maybe with a tank from some other supplier. Do the straps usually come with the new tanks, or can I use the old ones. What have some of you guys used, has anyone used the 41 to 48 Plymouth tank from Tanks Inc, would it also fit in a 47 Chrysler, they should be the same for 6 cyl engines, should they not...............Fred

Well, at least in my province in Canada, rule of thumb is .060 over, and on trucks .090 over. That means the drums could be machined out .030, for a total of .060. Best bet,, check with your state DMV on there inspections, if they have a requirement in your state or county. Get a measurement and go from there. If you need a drum, others have located them on this website. I have heard of drums being spraywelded, then re-machined to spec, not sure if this is a viable option or not........Fred

Hopefully others will chime in, you could also remove the tank, good opportunity to clean it up and then have the leak soldered in a shop..................good luck Fred

I have not personally used a cold weld to fix a gas tank leak, but know people who have. Myuncle has done small leak repairs with J B Weld, then he would go over the JB with metal to metal filler, he said it sealed up the leak.

Good advice so far, I have the 110 volt Campbell Hausfeld, it can be used with flux core or mig wire, to date I have used only .035 flux core wire. It's an 80 amp unit with a 20 % duty cycle, weld 2 minutes rest 10 minutes. I never welded much before I bought the machine, there is a learning curve, once you can learn to adjust your heat and wire speed to the work piece you have, it will go fairly smooth. Welding on the bench is fairly easy, upside down under the car is another story, I have done all angles of welding with this little machine. The harbor feight machine sounds like a good price, at least for learning and using on sheet metal and light mild steel. Once flux core welds are wire wheeled, they loook not bad, mig welds are a lot cleaner and tighter looking though, but you need the shielding gas, the wire is thinner too. As Norm mentioned, invest in an Autodarkening helmet, makes a big difference, I still don't have one, but will get one someday, before the next big welding project. For the amount of welding you may do, this light duty machine might be just fine, I would have liked to get the low end Miller, or the Lincoln Mig Pak 10, good little machines. Heavy welds I would go with an Arc welder, and for me would get a welder buddy to do the job..............Fred

Kevin, you could go with a GM single wire alt, it can be made into 6 volt positive or negative or left 12 volt. Modding a bracket is not too difficult, and with the alt, no more regulator. Right here where I live, these 6 volt positive ground GM alts are around $100.00.........................Fred

Roar thanx for the reply, the tie-rod ends were shipped at least a month ago, maybe there delayed n Norway's customs Department, sorry they have taken so long. It is extremely windy here today, almost doing damage type winds, it is about 60 degrees or 15 c outside,now snow, but we may get flurries overnight. I will call you sometime this week...........Fred

No it won't hurt to change a coil. How about the vacuum advance, is it operating, do you have good fuel delivery. Sparkplugs and wires are in good shape, the low tension wires to the coil are in good shape and not shorting are they. fuel pump, isit putting out enough fuel, are the gaslines clean, is a filter plugged up. The carb, is the accelarotr pump working, have you tried different carbs if available. Does the engine rev up sitting in neutral, but has a lack of power under load. Hopefully, the members of this forum can help you trobleshoot and correct this problem, will do what I can, but I am no expert, or I would not have posted this thread to begin with. There are a few wise Doctors on this forum, the rest of us are interns or med students trying to learn, myself included.

The heatriser, shall be fixed, all the fule lines replaced, and positioned correctly, gas tank installed, a complete going over of the carb, and ignition system. I plan to do this by spring driving season. although it feels like spring here today, must be about 60 degrees, but extemely windy............Fred

Eric, I firmly believ having a heatriser stuck in thecold position, will cause problems with heat and fuel delivery or atomization. Except if it is real cold outsidew, I definately can see this being a problem. This winter, I plan on removing the manifolds, fixing the heatriser, installing new gaskets on the valve covers and manifolds.

I thought of that too Norm, just before the engine became whether fuel or ignition starved, a was driving around a sharp bend in the road just before stopping at the next highway I was to go down. But it also does the hard start after a good run, when it does fire, it's almost like it has gotten too much gas, so I am scratching my head on this one.

Hi Norm, I tend to agree, plus an overheating coil, would n't cool in a few minutes either. I did have one heater hose touching the fuel line to the carb. Another thing, at times when i go for a drive, and when I come to a stop, the idle is higher than it should be, possibly the accelertor pump is sticking. Another problem, is the heatriser is in the cold seized position, this means all the exhaust gases get circulated around the carb. maybe evn getting the carb warm enough to vaporize fuel, just a thought. Other than that, not sure, possibly a sticking carb float, will have to correct this. Other than these problems, this car is running and driving great, still could use a front-end alignment, the steering is slightly more losse than it should be , but the car travels straight ahead, no wonder, and it corners nicely. It is noisy inside because of no carpet, door panels and headliner, but it should be nice and quiet after these are installed, the front vent windows are a little noisy as the weather strip is old and worn. The 3.73 rearend makes a big difference, and no issues off the line either,no extra revving to get going, just release the clutch and go.............Fred

Hi all, since it is till like fall here, will be 55 today, its 52 right now. I took the 47 for about a 15 mile ride, 1/2 way, at an intersection of 2 highways, as I was coming to a stop, the car suddenly became fuel starved, as I was pumping on the gas there was nothing, the engine finally stopped running. I had to push the car to the shoulder, some woman driver just about hit me as she was turning behind me onto the same highway, she had no patience for an old car. Underhood, the coil felt warm, but not hot, but the engine was probably warming it up. There was a heater hose against thefuel line that supplies the carb, could that heat up the gas possibly. After a few minutes, the car started, but sounded like it was flooded or something. I took off, went about 55 to 60 mph down the highway to my road and then home,no troubles after that. One guy did stop, to see if he could help, so there are good samaritans out there. Not sure what this problem is, if it is fuel related or ignition related...................Fred

Try farm implement and tractor shops, that is where they sell it up here. Wallyworld sells #30 and #40, but not sure if they have #10, I know Canadian Tire has #10, but that doesn't help you much. Wonder if 5W20, could be subsituted, probably best to locate a a straight #10 non-detergent oil.

Hi all, no snow here in Manitoba, at least in the south where I live. It is a very sunny 24 degrees f this morning, the wet gravel road is frozen, so it was time for a cruise in the old Chrysler. It started well, on the road it ran without any hesitation, this leads me to believe the choke is working well, and the heatriser, that is stuck, is stuck in the cold position. When the weather is warmer, after a 5 to 10 mile run, when you shut off the engine and go to turn it back on, the carb, seems like it is fuel starved at first. This leads me to believe the gas is being heated up in the carb bowl, could this happen? I am sure that having the exhaust circulate in the manifold, instead of exiting out freely, must have some effect on the fuel vaporization, engine performance, even the temp of the engine itself. I plan to take off the manifolds this winter, not sure if I will repair the heat riser, or eliminate it all together. Have any of you experienced any of these symptoms............Fred

I hate to admit this, but I still do not have a gas tank on my 47 Chrysler, I have been using a 2 gallon plastic jerry can, plumbed with gas line, its mounted in front of the rad, in the compartment just behind the grille. I have driven up to 25 miles like this, I know it's not wise, but it does not leak, it's mounted and is stable.I plan on getting a gas tank this winter.The fuel pump will suctiongas at a lower level, as the pump will pull it..........Fred

Time to send down Dudley Dooright and his Mountie friends, form a posse with the Texas Rangers and go get the Dodge...............hehehehe

Kai, suppose the salt air and moisture right on the waterfront will do it's damage. I remember going with my family to Tijuana, in about 1973, we were riding in taxis, a lot of them were 50s cars, as a kid I was in my glory.........Fred

Hey that is done here up north in Canada too. Sure looks nice and warm where you live, can't be much for rust on any old car in your part of Mexico.............Fred

Lucked out today at local auto wrecking yard, go 4 -15 inch Ranger rims, with center caps, 2 have beauty rings, all for $75 bucks. I have to clean-up and paint the rims, as they are steel and have a little rust on them. Wish I had time to send them to get sandblasted and powdercoated, but the new studded snow tires are going on them Monday............Fred

Well I can't say I have experienced the sound of 2 wives in stereo,to whom do you obey in that scenario, sure glad I am not married to my previous 2 wives though, sure thay feel the same way too.

Tim, that okay with me, can even bring a tin of Folgers with me, I also like there mountain roast. Funny thing my wife like the Folgers better than the higher end Tim Horton coffee or even Starbucks. But you are right, the water does make the difference..........Fred