55 Fargo

Cleaned and oiled another clock last night, it seems to run well, tonight will get test leads with alligator clips and hok it up to a fresh 6 v lantern battery. I will then let it run a few days, should I hook it up as pos grnd, or does it matter for a test.............Fred

Pat it was about 80 or so here yesterday, wind was blowin strong all night from the south, musta been from Joplin Missouri, I think Bob sent it here. This morning it was about 60 or as we say here 15 celsius, it's now 56 degrees, lookin for a high of 61 rain, 60s here all week..........Fred

After speaking at Length with Tim Adams, and another local car man, I have decided to transplant the 3.54 diff I have into my car, this will be fine as long as the 3.54 is in good shape. I figure it will work out fine, a little off the line compromise, this is very flat country, my car is 200 to 300 lbs more than the D24 coupe.....Fred

You Know Dennis, this chop-job, could have been done with taste. It is a little unioque looking, would have not been to bad if done differently. Not what I would want to do, but could have some potential with the right person.............Fred

Hi all just came back from a about a 10 mile ride in the Chrashler. Out side temp 60, very windy, cloudy. Most of the journey was on gravel road, but I id drive on a 2 mile stretch of a small highway. My speed was around 40 mph on the gravel road, at 40 mph, a 4.30 diff, and small P205 70 15 tires, the engine was starting to wind up. On the highway I was driving around 45 mph, and a few bursts to 50 or so. The car drove, nice and straight on the highway, but as I have said with the diff and tires, it is zoomin at 50 mph, what a diffference a 3.54 diff and taller tires would make. If I can have at 55 tp 60 the same rpm as I have now at 40 to 45 mph, it will be great.With the present gears, the car has no trouble taking off in 2nd from a dead stop, I was turning off the highway onto the gravel road very slowly, and did not have to shift out of 3rd gear, and there is no fluid drive. The car ran at 165 degrees the whole trip, once warmed up, the gauge held steady, the ride was not bad,but can see some front-end work in the future.................Fred

Jim, I have a 1955 Fargo truck frame, but the engine trans and drive train remain on it, the rear end is from a late 70s Cordoba, I think, I bought this for the engine, so possibly you could switch the diff to a more modern one with taller gears. If you can get a 3.90, great, go with taller tires to help lower the RPM. I am in a similar boat, I currently have a 4.30 in my 47 Chrysler coupe, not sure who the brain was behind putting that in this car. To make things worse I have p205 70 15 temporarey tires on it, first thing I am going to switch to P225 75 15 tires, they are over 2 inches taller and will help bring down the rpm. At 45 mph, this setup is already busy at 50 to 55 its screamin, with the new tires, I should be able to drive at 50 to 55 mph, a lot better, until I can either get an OD trans or swap the diffs...........Fred

Its geeting voltage and is grounded well

Phone the yard owner this morning, he doesn't know if there are any OD trans, or what diffs are on the cars. I did ask him about the grille, he is going to check and call me are you still interested. I have another guy nearby, he has some diffs at his place, will check him out first............Fred

Thank you very much for the dtailed answer Frank, as I thought myself, the 3.54 with my present set-up , could be a little tough gettin going, buckin wind and hills. Hopefully this is clear in my mind now,and I won't be buggin yall on this topic anymore. I know I can probably cruise at 55 mph with the presnet set-up, could probably cruise faster, but this engine has miles on her. Greg G. was cruisin at 60 to 65 mph, he has 4.10 gears in his car. As you have mentioned the Chrysler is a fairly heavy car compared to a P 15, so going to gears as tall as 3.54, might not be the best idea, but the OD trans is a good idea, something to consider in the future. I have been asking around here about an OD trans, nobody seems to have an idea where to get one, or if they have seen one. It is possible, that in Canada, they did not have many OD transmissins as they did in the USA.................Fred

Is it a 3.73 or 3.90. If availble, can you PM me with price details etc...Fred

Thanx Skrambler, but I think 20 amp is a little high, 2 or 3 should be right..Fred

Thanx Ed, was thinking the same, with the present engine, weight of car etc, a 3.54 may be a lil too tall, but a 3.737 or a 3.90 maybe just right. Actually an R10 trans would be nice, none knows of any around here at this point in time...........Fred

Well, I was congratulating myself a little too quick on this repair. The clock runs 5 minutes then stops, what is up with this, not sure, any ideas..........Fred

Did a speedo test with my 47 Chrysler, equipped with 6 cyl flattie, 3 spd standard trans, dry clutch, either a 4.30 or 4.10 diff, and very short P205 70R 15 tires. The speedo was registering 65 mph while my chase vehicle indicated I was doing only 50 to 52 MPH. Wow is this speedo out, the fact is the stock speedo, had a 3.54 diff driving the wheels. Now with a 4.30 and tires that only have a diameter of 25.5 to 26 inches, this is really throwing everything out. The stock Chrysler engine with 114 hp, the fluid drive and a 3.54 diff, pulls away very slow from a dead stop, I know as I have driven one very recently,and in my opinion are quite slow off the line. But once rolling cruise very nice at 60 to 65 mph. I was thinking, my engine is only a 100 hp, with a dry clutch, there is no fluid coupler as a fluid drive provides, so going with taller gears may make my get up and go performance with a dry clutch and 3 spd trans suffer. This car weighs probably 700 pounds more than a P15 Club Coupe, so it will need lower gearing for off the line performance. I was noticing it was a little slow after shifting into 3rd gear until I hit about 35 mph, then it would pick up speed a lot better. So maybe , with the present engine, dry clutch, I should keep a lower rear end, for now. Does this make sense, or am I off on this one. Having these small tires, gets the rpm really wound up at 50 mph, plan to get P225 75 15 tires, this would give it about 2 to 3 inches taller tires, which would give me a higher speed at a lower RPM.

Did a speedo test with my 47 Chrysler, equipped with 6 cyl flattie, 3 spd standard trans, dry clutch, either a 4.30 or 4.10 diff, and very short P205 70R 15 tires. The speedo was registering 65 mph while my chase vehicle indicated I was doing only 50 to 52 MPH. Wow is this speedo out, the fact is the stock speedo, had a 3.54 diff driving the wheels. Now with a 4.30 and tires that only have a diameter of 25.5 to 26 inches, this is really throwing everything out. The stock Chrysler engine with 114 hp, the fluid drive and a 3.54 diff, pulls away very slow from a dead stop, I know as I have driven one very recently,and in my opinion are quite slow off the line. But once rolling cruise very nice at 60 to 65 mph. I was thinking, my engine is only a 100 hp, with a dry clutch, there is no fluid coupler as a fluid drive provides, so going with taller gears may make my get up and go performance with a dry clutch and 3 spd trans suffer. This car weighs probably 700 pounds more than a P15 Club Coupe, so it will need lower gearing for off the line performance. I was noticing it was a little slow after shifting into 3rd gear until I hit about 35 mph, then it would pick up speed a lot better. So maybe , with the present engine, dry clutch, I should keep a lower rear end, for now. Does this make sense, or am I off on this one. Having these small tires, gets the rpm really wound up at 50 mph, plan to get P225 75 15 tires, this would give it about 2 to 3 inches taller tires, which would give me a higher speed at a lower RPM.

Oh forgot baout the gas gauge, not sure if a straight voltage reducer can be used here, also the solenoid should be changed to a 12 volt type, the 6v starter can handle 12 volts, but the solenoid will get real hot and burn up on 12 volts, the coil, will also need changing.

Go with a cement floor, that is insulated with SM styro board, a good vapor barrier, in floor radiant heating, a small electric bolier to run it. Insulate walls to R20, ceiling R32 to R40, with a good sealed vapor barrier, insulated overhead and entry doors. A garage like this, will be toasty warm in winter, the slab you could lay on with a t-shirt on when it's -20 outside, and the snow or water drys on a floor like this.They stay cool in the summer , mine when it's 90 outside is 72 inside. I have my garage like this, except no infloor heating, still kicking my self in the sarocka, as I just built it 2 years ago. The floor has lots of re-bar, a very good limestone gravel base, expansion joints cut in floor, 25 mpa concrete, no cracks whatsoever to date................Fred

Shel, when I first brought my car home, I also started it with a 12 volt battery, Yes it does crank over very quickly and strongly with the 12 hooked up. The 6 volt battery cranks pretty good, as long as it is charged up fully, the battery cables are a good size1/0 or 2/0, and all the connections are good. But they don't turn over, like a 12 volt battery does. When you look at 12 volt, on our cars, here is what should be considered, all 12 volt bulbs, no problem there, 12 volt signal flasher, voltage reducers for the following, the clock, heater motor, wiper motor. The radio has to stay pos gorund, but do you use your radio. The starter can stay, you can change genny to GM single wire alt, or get a 12 volt genny, I have a real minty 12 volt regulator for sale, and starter also. The heater motor, wiper motor don't care about polarity, not sure about the clock, the radio demands pos grnd, I think. So all in all it may not be such a big job to convert. I have thought about it, but opt to stick with the 6 volt system at least for now, I can buy a GM 6 volt pos ground alt locally here for a $100.00 if need be.........Fred

Thanx Splat, up here in Canada you can get the fuse holder with 14 gauge wire for a $1.99, if I can't find a short fuse at Napa, thats what I will do.

Hi all, was just wondering if a 2 or 3 amp fuse, that is 5/8 of an inch long is the correct fuse for a MOpar clock. I did not have an old fuse in the holder, the holder appeasr to have only eough room for a fuse about 5/8 of an inch long......Thanx Fred

Not sure how good it looks, but it will do for now, it actually looks better in real life, my camera has the habit of making things look worse sometimes

Thanx Norm, the seat covers are just heavy blanket type material. It is a heck of a lot better than the tattered filthy original seat material. They can stay like this until all mechanical, body and paint, chroming of certain parts etc. After everything is done, especially the body and paint, I can then recover or have them recovered to something decent. I have repaired the seat brackets, the seats are secured to the floors properly. Body work, and paint create lots of dust, so I will wait until that is all done before the interior is finished. But I will put carpet on the floor to make it a little more cozy and to deaden the road sound, just gonna use a grey indoor/outdoor carpet for now,or will pull a carpet out of a wrecker car. Insted of sill mats I am going to use diamond plate as sill plates....................Fred

Hi does anyone know, what size of fuse is used for the clock, I know it's a 3 amp fuse, but my question is the fuse holder, how big is it, how long is the fuse that goes in it. I may just go buy a new fuse lnk and be done with it, what have some of you done on this forum...............Fred

Brendan, don't want to answer for Greg, but he has a 4.11 diff I believe, with his taller tires P225 75 15, it dropped his rpm down a bit at higher speeds. You see with a flattie in good shape, even with lower gears you can still cruise at 60 mph, were just not used to an engine hummin at 3000 rpm these days. At 65 mph in my go to work truck, which is 1994 Ford Ranger, it is cruisin at 65 mph with 2100 rpm, as it is a 4 spd auto trans...........Fred

Greg, looks like yall had a great time, BTW who owns the Chrys Bus Coupe