Tim Frank

1) Using eye protection is never a bad idea! ....~but~ 2) I have used this technique many times but can't remember using enough ooooomph on the hammer that I could have shattered the head. If you are hitting it that hard, you would be likely to damage the lead threads; or are those through-holes?

And how old are the points?

Shel, If you close the gap down from .026 to .020, I would expect the dwell angle to increase. I would not have "hung up" the meter. There was a good thread not long ago about dwell angle and using that instead of gap as the best way to set points. I think it might have been Don Coatney. Having cut my teeth on British cars (and my knuckles and fingers ), you needed to change/or adjust Lucas points as often as you would change underwear....dwell was the only way to go. Why not adjust to the spec'd dwell and reset timing and see how the beast runs? Rgds, Tim

Fred, A rule of thumb that I use when connecting a new but "unknown" electrical load is to connect an ammeter in series with it for a minute or so, double the current reading, and fuse it at the first higher value fuse that is available. Not that I would disagree with "2 or 3 should be right". Rgds, Tim

Don, You mentioned that you use non-detergent oil. I have always thought that n-d oils were more often used in applications such as compressors, transmissions, and a few types of transfer cases. The good folks in here can now set one (or both) of us straight on this.... Any comments on non detergent oil? Rgds, Tim

Jim, This website seems like a useful window shopping place. http://www.tcpglobal.com/aclchip.aspx?image=1954-plymouth-pg01.jpg Rgds, Tim

Million dollar advice from Norm at no charge! In fact, even if it does move you are STILL in good shape ~ since you aren't underneath because you took the extra seconds to check....

The boiling point of a 50/50 mix of Ethylene glycol and water is 225 deg F. The cap is really a non-event, and contributes little, unless something else is going on....the lower the number the better.

Lou, As long as you are just trying to get a reasonable perspective on what the change would look like, the basic photo editor that is supplied with Windows O/S MS Paint will do that for you. I am sure it is already installed on whatever computer you are using. rgds, Tim

Tim, If you are not in a panic, I'd be happy to rev up the old Atlas and turn a couple of those for you. I would need the actual dimensions. Could the centre section be hex?....i.e. I could turn down a piece of 7/16 hex stock ~ or just start with on-size CRS rod. I could get it done next week if that is soon enough, and mail it. Rgds, Tim

To echo the other Tim, "IMHO...use a new gasket...." The one time that I didn't, enough coolant got into a cylinder after shut down that when I started the engine next time, the ceramic blew off the plug, and the rod broke. That was admittedly bad luck, but the gasket looked pretty cheap in hindsight.

Someone sent me a similar pic with the caption "first meeting of the WDC....Women Drivers' Club"

Norm, I am usually guilty of never using 10 words to answer a question when I can get away with 50 The short answer to your question is that you do not need a high-end piece of software, in fact the picture editor that is included with virtually all Windows OS, called MS Paint, is really pretty good for a freebie. I use it a lot for marking up construction site inspection photos etc. You certainly don't have all the whistles and bells of an Adobe photoshop, but the airbrush tool in paint would let you "repaint" the entire car...in about 3 coats....and there are other tools that would allow touching up just the bolt heads. You can customise/define colours as well. Rgds, Tim

A Q&D test would be to put your voltmeter across the two coil terminals and crank the engine over. The reading should try to cycle from 0-12 V. If you don't get a reasonably smooth oscillation, you have a problem on the primary side. If you get the oscillation, you can move to the secondary side. Without knowing the history, did it stop running suddenly, or have you done some work and now it won't go?

Randy, you might try these guys. Cut and paste the link and see if it helps. Good luck, Tim http://tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/detail5.asp?color_code=Cruiser+maroon&ppgcode=601&manucode=50003&aclyear=1948&aclmake=plymouth&size=GL&radiobutton=AEℑ=1948-plymouth-pg02.jpg&submit=Submit Actually it looks like it is "clickable"....

Never ceases to amaze me that these clowns don't even do a rudimentary grammar and spell check. In fact they do not seem to "border following up" at all. Also, it looks to me like Sir "Geoge" Arisson owes you an "R".

If you are still looking for options, you did say that salvaging the drum is not mission-critical. I had the same problem years ago...ran out of time/patience/ideas and the drum had still not moved. Someone suggested that I split the drum. Worked great. Lower the drum onto a concrete block or rock or steel beam chunk/anvil or whatever...something really solid with no rebound. make sure that the car is still mostly supported on the original point... you only need a small percent of the weight on the bottom of the drum. With the B(iggest)FH you have, give a the top of the drum a really sharp hard smack. Took me two shots and the drum split in two pieces. Gorilla-mechanics for sure, but we have the same salt/corrosion problem in eastern ontario and sometimes two pieces become one...

Any chance some prankster put sugar in your gas?...

I am usually not a fan of the "small can of liquid magic/snake oil", but every older FI car that I have owned has had a real boost from a can of injector cleaner. Had a Volvo that couldn't get past 3000 RPM, after a shot of one of the proprietary cleaners it was like a switch had been turned on. Not at all suggesting that this would solve the problem, but it is probably the quickest and easiest thing to try. Good luck and nice gift horse!

Well, just so long as it's 24" of "general snow" as opposed to another 24" of that darn lake effect snow, everything is good.... Have to say, I am not that far away in straight-line miles ( maybe 200?) and have often heard of lake effect snow, but had no idea of how large a dump could take place as a result of the phenomenon. Wow!

On this site under "Reference" is a selection of Plymouth and Dodge original colours c/w current PPG paint code. If you have no worries about using a Chrysler colour on a Plymouth you might want to check out the 2 Dodge colours "Windward Green" and "Orinoco green" #s 304 and 305. (who dreams up these names? ) After looking at the link you sent, these colours seem to bracket the target that you have. The blurb called the colour on that woody/convertible "Avocado". The Seaquest green colour chip that is available is a bit washed out and hard to project on a big scale such as a car. The modern paint code should allow as exact a match as is possible. My 5 cents worth. Tim.

http://tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/cgi-bin/search/searchpic.pl?1948-chrysler-pg01.jpg

My two cents worth would be not to delay on the wiring. While the brakes are key for your safety, the wiring could easily compromise the vehicles safety. That is not so much to put the vehicle ahead of you, but rather you can delay getting it safe for the road to ensure that it does not catch fire when it gets there. If your wiring is anything like what I have found you will understand why I am not even putting the battery back in until i have replaced every inch of wire. My two cents worth.

I had the good fortune to work with an older, absolute ace machinist/tool and die maker. His belief was that a lot of parts are being made offshore and that the quality of material used in castings was all over the map. This manifests itself in porosity in plumbing and other fittings that should seal and end up seeping or oozing. He also believed that machining tolerances were compromised by the use of metric equipment that was set to run with metric - imperial conversion factors. Especially UN threads cut on metric equipment.

I was just pointing out that the drapes did not appear to match the carpet....