Faulkner

Bob, I took the red 20 gauge wire between the generator and the A terminal of the VR, moved the regulator end to the BAT terminal, and the generator end to the alternator. I cut the field wire at the generator end off and taped it up. The F terminal of the regulator now does nothing - you can remove it, or leave it - it’s now not connected to anything. by recycling the A wire to get a connection to the battery, I didn’t have to redo my harness.

Oh, and just to say - I'm at a decision point with this car: Whether to fish, or cut bait. If the trans is pulled to fix the leak, it makes good sense to replace the clutch at the same time. And the main seal too... And then I'm looking at some serious money.

Ah, for a good sniffer.... But, I had the motor oil changed (Rotella 10-40W) at the same time the gear oil was replaced (GL-1, 90W). I still have partially filled containers of each - comparing the viscosity between finger and thumb to the drop on the bottom of the trans, I'd say for sure it's gear oil. I know that motor oil can find its way to the trans for a car in motion, and I may still have a main seal leak, but I think it's minimal if so. I'm guessing that draining and topping off the trans is what exacerbated the gear oil leak. So who's the likely culprit in the diagram above? I replaced it, BTW, with the correct diagram...

Four years ago I bought a '54 Suburban that had sat for a good while, but was running - I had it delivered to a local shop for some mechanicals. One of the things he did was drop and clean the pan (there was little sludge, good news for me), and put on a new pan gasket. Having no experience with the car before that, I noticed some oil drips; I was able to snug up the pan, and convinced myself at that point that the bolts weren't sufficiently tight, not wanting to go there with the rear main seal. I didn't drive the car enough to know if the rear seal was or wasn't leaking. I recently had my mechanic replace the rear seal in my standard (with overdrive) transmission ((32) in the attached parts diagram), and drain/fill the trans with GL-1. Now I'm noticing drips again - and I'm wondering: Could it be from the front of the trans? Or now that I've driven the car for a bit, is it the main? Or possibly both?! I think (I have to crawl under, to be sure) that there's oil on the back surface of the bell housing, which would suggest a seal in the front of the trans - but I don't see anything as substantial as part (32) in the exploded diagram. Am I missing something?

The alternator is in, and working nicely!

My original generator had a 45 (50?) amp rating, so Bill’s 60A unit should do nicely. Here’s what he wrote back - I ordered the black: You can check out the item numbers below. Either one will work on your 54 engine.Thanks for your interest.Bill234664164273 Plain housings234694458280 Black Housings

Thanks, I have an inquiry to him now on his eBay store.

Thanks! I see that now, I was just going by the parts manual - it didn't occur to me that they would be at variance. Thanks again!

Here's the dataplate from the generator out of my '54 Suburban. The Chrysler P/N is 134323 - it's not listed in my '54 MoPar Parts List Manual. I include the page from the manual that lists generator P/Ns. The Auto-Lite number is GGW6001J. I understand from posts elsewhere on this forum, that the "J" in the Auto-Lite number pertains to the pulley. At one time, the same generator was offered on eBay for a '53-'55 Chrysler product. Is it likely that this generator was not original to the car? Does anyone have Autolite specs, that could provide the current rating? What's the appropriate voltage regulator for this generator? A final, unrelated question: Is there anyone making a solid state 6V, positive ground regulator for MoPars? Thanks Dan

Nice job on the center divider, Andy! And thanks for the mastic pics.

Yeah, 3M 08509 bedding compound is what I used around the perimeter, i.e., without actually forcing under the lip. A tight bead, taped off, top and bottom; it still leaked. The US version would probably be 3M 08693, a urethane compound. I think that's what I'm going to try next, this time forcing under the lip, at the risk of destroying the rubber. My hope is that I won't have to remove it, because it worked. BTW, there is a lock strip, but it's on the inside. Removal might make it easier to get compound between the pinch metal and gasket, but I think my trouble lies between the glass and the gasket - and I don't see removing the lock strip helping there.

Ah, you're Down Under! I found it: https://smitsgroup.co.nz/product/60160/holdfast-bison-windscreen-mastic-sealant-300ml-black Still, it says it's a polyurethane base; I'll probably stick with the 3M product, if urethane is the way I should go. Dan

I googled it, but can’t find it. Have a link? If it’s not urethane or silicone, what is it? Butyl? I’d like to check some reviews.

I have a '54 Plymouth Plaza Suburban. I've got a leak on both sides in the lower windshield corners in a heavy rain. The gasket itself seems to be in very good shape, and is pliable. Even if I could get a reproduction gasket (Bernbaum's, MoParPro, Roberts, Steele don't have it), I'm told that nothing is better than the original. I thought I had fixed it by tucking plumber's putty under the glass-side lip, but the leak persisted. I scraped it out, and next I tried a bead of 3M bedding caulk around both the inside and outside perimeter of the gasket, as shown in the picture (I taped it off first). Still no love; the bedding caulk has now been removed. I thought I'd try one more thing - using a tuck tool, prying up the glass-side lip and pushing in a bead of black urethane, and running it around the outside perimeter as well. I thought if I took some wide painter's tape, and straddled the glass-gasket border with it, I could use a razor blade to divide on the border; after I've filled the gap with urethane and struck off the excess with a popsicle stick, I could then just strip off the tape to minimize the mess. What are your thoughts about this? What have others done? Dan

Thassit. Thanks, Tod!

Can you provide the URL for "Tod's site", please?

OK, just one more question, then: This pertains to both ends, correct? Both bushings on each shock should be reamed to 11/16"?

Did you intend to post a link?

Did you use 37187, then? Drilling rubber is easy - so, you recycled your old sleeves after you reamed the rubber bushings, along with the hardware? And the rubber bushing length matched that of the old, so there was no play (or tightness)?

...and I appreciate the help, Bryan! When it's up on the lift, though, I don't want to deal with returns (or, modifications), so unless I can be convinced something will fit beforehand, I'll probably end up going with Andy Bernbaum (i.e., Chris Paquin). Twenty bucks more per shock, but I'm playing it safe.

Newbie alert: I've never replaced shocks. But I need help understanding something... It appears that the 37187 comes with a bolt that fits the ID of the sleeve. So why does the ID of the sleeve - or, bushing - matter? Isn't it the dimension of (both ends of) the bolt that matters, where I presume it fits into the frame of the car? Oh wait... Is it because you need two bolts?

That eBay ad shows the part number as 5752ST. FWIW, Summit identifies it as the same part as 5752. So eBay says it fits, but Amazon says it doesn't. My suspicion is that Amazon is correct, with Sniper's info corroborating. Rock Auto does not indicate that a 5752 is the correct P/N either; in fact, they have no part available for the front shock.

Here's what Amazon reports, Bryan... Sniper, did you compare the extended length of your old shock with these? Is that how you know they're short?

For 17 bucks apiece, I can get Gabriel shocks (P/N 81469) for the rear of my Suburban. But Gabriel does not offer front shocks; Monroe offers neither front, nor rear. Mother MoPar's P/N for the front is 1450 629. For ~55 bucks apiece, I can get front shocks from Bernbaum, Roberts and the like. Before I go that route: Has anyone found an acceptable substitute, that's more on the order of 17 bucks? -Dan

D'Oh! Thanks.